Stories

Scientists recently unveiled a new genre of tiny, biocompatible electronic devices that could be implanted into the body to relieve pain or battle infection for a specific period of time, and then dissolve harmlessly. These “transient electronics,” described at a meeting of the...

NASA is one of the top research entities in the world, producing technologies that range from electronics and new materials, to state-of-the-art robotics and sensors. Readers of NASA Tech Briefs get a firsthand look at these new technologies every month. But how many of you have had the chance to go behind the scenes at...

If quantum computers are ever to be built, qubits will have to be made more robust and more numerous. Qubits, the quantum equivalent of the bits used in conventional computers, can easily lose their orientation in a process called decoherence when confronted with a noisy environment....

Engineers at NASA's Ames Research Center and amateur radio operators around the world collaborated to reconstruct an image of Earth sent to them from three smartphones in orbit. The joint effort was part of NASA's nanosatellite mission, called PhoneSat.

Researchers at MIT and Sandia National Laboratories have used transmission electron microscope (TEM) imaging to observe, at a molecular level, what goes on during a reaction called oxygen evolution as lithium-air batteries charge. The reaction is thought to be a bottleneck limiting further...

Robots can continually discover and refine their understanding of objects, say researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute. The Lifelong Robotic Object Discovery (LROD) process, developed by the research team, enabled a two-armed, mobile robot to use color video, a Kinect depth camera, and...

As consumers increasingly use cheaper, smaller tablets and smartphones, a recent IDC report showed that PC sales are down 14% year over year, and Apple's desktop sales are flat. PCs are still more powerful than competing computing devices, and still have a prominent role in the enterprise, but...

Scientists of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt, together with dental technicians, have digitally analyzed modern human teeth using finite element analysis to evaluate the biomechanical behavior of teeth under...

Sandia National Laboratories researchers Lisa Deibler and Arthur Brown had a ready-made problem for their computer modeling work when they partnered with the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Kansas City Plant (KCP) to improve stainless steel tubing that was too hard to meet...

A team of researchers at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) and the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering at the University of California, San Diego, has developed a highly scalable computer code that promises to dramatically cut both research times and...

Using bundles of vertical zinc oxide nanowires, Georgia Tech researchers have fabricated arrays of piezotronic transistors capable of converting mechanical motion directly into electronic controlling signals. The arrays could help give robots a more adaptive sense...

A new 3D motion detection system could help identify baseball pitchers who are at risk for shoulder injuries, according to a new study conducted at Loyola University. The system can be used on the field and requires only a laptop computer. Other systems that evaluate...

Fraunhofer Institute research scientists use an electric racing car to present novel solutions for battery management and electronic sensor systems, together with an industry partner. EVE, a racing car with a very quiet engine, goes from 0 to 100 in 3.6 seconds. EVE is powered by two...

A seahorse tail’s exceptional flexibility is due to its structure, made up of bony, armored plates, which slide past each other. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, are hoping to use a similar structure to create a flexible robotic arm equipped with muscles made out of polymer, which...

Engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama are making progress on the agency's new rocket by listening closely to the roar of four thrusters. The agency is developing the new rocket, called the Space Launch System, or SLS, at Marshall. This vehicle will enable space exploration...

Inspired by the biology of a fly, with submillimeter-scale anatomy and two wafer-thin wings that flap almost invisibly, 120 times per second, a tiny device from Harvard University researchers represents cutting-edge micromanufacturing and control systems.

A new summer camp, called "Camp Grounded," invites over 200 adults to take a break from technology for a weekend. The retreat, which takes place near Anderson Valley, Calif., brings people together in a "summer camp" atmosphere. The rules are: No technology use, no cell phones allowed, and no...

With the growing threat of improvised explosive devices over the past decade, Army researchers have been hard at work testing and evaluating ways to keep Soldiers safe from bomb blasts. The U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command analyzes under-body blasts, known as UBBs.

Inspired by the complex fly eye, an interdisciplinary team led by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Northwestern University has developed a hemispherical digital camera with nearly 200 tiny lenses, delivering wide-angle field of view and sharp images.

Radar systems today depend increasingly on phased-array antennas, an advanced design in which extensive grids of solid state components direct signal beams electronically. Phased array technology is replacing traditional electro- mechanical radar antennas – the familiar...

For Staff Sgt. Stephen Kovac, getting important information and instructions to the rest of his platoon was a struggle. He could radio back to higher headquarters and wait for the calls to filter back down, losing precious seconds during an operation. Or, he said, he could "yell and...

Kamal Sarabandi is an electrical engineering professor at the University of Michigan. His specialty is remote sensing—detecting objects and gathering information from a distance. For several years ending in mid-2012, he was funded by the Department of Defense to tweak a type of radar not...

Robots are now able to intelligently maneuver within clutter, gently making contact with objects while accomplishing a task. The new control method has wide applications, ranging from robots for search-and-rescue operations to assistive robotics for people with disabilities.

The SPIE Defense Security & Sensing Show in Baltimore, which began on Monday and ends today, provided attendees with an exhibit hall full of new products and technologies. If you weren’t at the show, here’s some of what you missed:

A NASA-funded sounding rocket mission will launch from an atoll in the Pacific. The mission will help scientists better understand and predict the electrical storms in Earth's upper atmosphere. Storms interfere with satellite communication and global positioning signals.

A "Smartphone Physical" debuted at the TEDMED conference in Washington D.C. this month. Using devices and attachments paired with an iPhone, patients were able to measure and record their blood pressure, lung function, weight, oxygen saturation, and eyesight. The technology, developed by...