Stories

A team of researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University has found a way to self-assemble complex structures out of bricks smaller than a grain of salt. The self-assembly method could help solve one of the major challenges in tissue engineering:...

To better predict severe weather, a device developed at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) has become a valuable tool in researchers' quest to determine how lightning is spawned in clouds.

"CubeSats,” and other small satellites, are making space exploration cheaper and more accessible: The minuscule probes can be launched into orbit at a fraction of the weight and cost of traditional satellites.

Bluetooth HD earmuffs, made by activewear company 180s, will debut this fall. The Bluetooth product, which warms your ears while also hiding speakers and a microphone, is another example of wearable computing — a technology area that includes trendy devices like smartwatches and Google Glass. Many...

An enemy convoy transporting a supply of fuel rumbles across the desert floor, an ideal target for armor-piercing incendiary projectiles. These projectiles are most useful for "after-armor effects," such as an incandescent flash immediately after penetrating a hard target. The resulting...

As the U.S. mission in Afghanistan changes and forces conduct more dispersed operations, new tactical communications equipment for vehicles at the company level will help extend the network over vast distances to keep soldiers connected and commanders informed.

When U.S pilots encounter enemy air defenses, onboard electronic warfare (EW) systems protect them by interfering with incoming radar signals – a technique known as electronic attack (EA) or jamming. Conversely, electronic protection (EP) technology prevents hostile forces from using...

A fog-harvesting system developed by MIT and Chilean researchers could provide potable water for the world’s driest regions.

University of Washington researchers have performed what they believe is the first noninvasive human-to-human brain interface, with researcher Rajesh Rao able to send a brain signal via the Internet to control the hand motions of fellow researcher Andrea Stocco.

Researchers at the Netherlands' Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) have designed, built, and tested what they say is the world's smallest autopilot for small unmanned aircraft.

NASA has released this conceptual animation depicting the agency's planned mission to find, capture, redirect, and study a near-Earth asteroid.

Astronomers at the University of Arizona, the Arcetri Observatory near Florence, Italy, and the Carnegie Observatory have developed a new type of camera that allows scientists to take sharper images of the night sky than ever before, and in visible light. Using a telescope mirror that...

The London borough of Brent is using a virtual receptionist, or hologram, to greet visitors in its new civic center. The hologram responds to questions about locations in the building, such as where to register births or where to head to apply for a marriage certificate. The virtual employee will be...

MIT researchers have developed a lightweight structure whose tiny blocks can be snapped together much like the bricks of a child’s construction toy. The new material, the researchers say, could revolutionize the assembly of airplanes, spacecraft, and even larger...

Iowa State University’s Hui Hu and Blake Johnsonare developing new technologies to accurately test and improve engine cooling strategies. Their current focus is to improve the turbine blades spun by the engine’s exhaust. Those blades at the back of the engine drive front blades that force...

A team of Army researchers developed a new gel-propellant engine called the vortex engine. Michael Nusca Ph.D., a researcher in Army Research Laboratory’s Propulsion Science Branch at Aberdeen Proving Ground, explained the new technology.

Young stars are violent objects — ejecting material at speeds as high as one million kilometers per hour. When this material crashes into the surrounding gas it glows, creating what is called a Herbig-Haro object.

MIT researchers have engineered a new rechargeable flow battery that does not rely on expensive membranes to generate and store electricity. The device, they say, may one day enable cheaper, large-scale energy storage.

Physicists at ETH Zurich have for the first time successfully teleported information in a solid state system. The researchers used a device similar to a conventional computer chip.

Last week, entrepreneur Elon Musk unveiled a transportation concept that he said could whisk passengers the nearly 400 miles between Los Angeles and San Francisco in 30 minutes. The theoretical Hyperloop would consist of carlike capsules traveling at more than 700 mph through enclosed tubes. The capsules, which would...

University of Washington engineers have created a new wireless communication system that allows devices to interact with each other without relying on batteries or wires for power.

University of Washington engineers have created a new communication technique, called ambient backscatter, that takes advantage of ambient TV and cellular transmissions. Two devices communicate with each other by detecting, harnessing, and reflecting the existing RF signals to...

University of Rochester researchers have measured for the first time light emitted by photoluminescence from a nanodiamond levitating in free space. The researchers used a laser to trap nanodiamonds in space and then, using another laser, caused the diamonds to emit light at given...