Stories

A $35 "snubber" developed by the Air Force Research Lab’s Propulsion Directorate, is a vibration damper that will prevent cracks in the J-seal on the F-119's engine inlet case, a spoked, ring-like device that helps control the air going into the engine.

Select pilots early next year will begin testing new flight control software, funded in part by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), intended to facilitate aircraft landings on Navy carrier decks with unprecedented accuracy. Pilots performing carrier landings today line up with a...

To improve electronic devices, scientists are on the hunt for new semiconductor materials, which control the flow of electricity. A group of scientists were recently surprised to find the interface of two particular complex oxides — the polar lanthanum chromium oxide, LaCrO3,...

Tiny wires could help engineers realize high-performance solar cells and other electronics, according to University of Illinois researchers. The research group, led by electrical and computer engineering professor Xiuling Li, developed a technique to integrate compound semiconductor...

A team at Stanford’s School of Engineering has demonstrated an ultrafast nanoscale light-emitting diode (LED) that is orders of magnitude lower in power consumption than today’s laser-based systems and is able to transmit data at the rapid rate of 10 billion bits per second....

Arizona State University researchers have created a new compound crystal material, called erbium chloride silicate, that can be used to develop the next generation of computers, improve the capabilities of the Internet, increase the efficiency of silicon-based photovoltaic cells to...

This week's Question: As part of a five-year, $1.58 million research project named AudACiOus, a group of University of Nottingham scientists will attempt to program the genetic components of a cell to perform any desired function, without requiring extensive modification...

Using leftover high-speed electrons from SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory’s Linac Coherent Light Source, researchers have successfully generated intense pulses of light in a largely untapped part of the electromagnetic spectrum: the so-called terahertz gap.Falling between...

A mobile robot, designed with spider-like legs, can explore terrain that is beyond human reach. With a camera and measurement equipment on board, the robot will provide emergency responders with an image of the situation on the ground, along with any data about poisonous substances. As a...

New research by engineers at the Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science demonstrates that nanomechanical resonators can operate at much higher amplitudes than previously thought. The results represent an advance in optomechanics, in which the force of light is used to control mechanical devices. The...

'Lateral lines' in fish contain hundreds of tiny pressure and velocity sensors that enable them to navigate through currents and eddies as efficiently as possible. To mimic that ability, MIT researchers have developed sensitive, MEMS-based pressure sensors and mounted them on a small...

Solar-powered energy collected by panels made of silicone is limited — contemporary panel technology can only convert approximately seven percent of optical solar waves into electric current. Researchers at Tel Aviv University are now working to develop a more efficient solar panel composed...

Underwater vehicles have become good at using propellers and thrusters to stay in one place, even in strong currents. But holding on to a surface while exerting force to do a job has been a challenge. Now, MIT researchers are tackling this issue by designing a “controllable adhesion system” that...

This week's Question: A new study from Common Sense Media shows that infants and toddlers spend twice as much time with screen media as they do with books. While television is still the dominant media device in most young children's lives, the study, based on...

A new laser-driven technique allows remote, non-invasive and rapid mapping of sound fields, which will provide loudspeaker manufacturers with detailed data on which to design their technology. The technique builds on the laser vibrometer and relies on a phenomenon called the acousto-optic effect. To...

NASA engineers have produced a material that absorbs on average more than 99 percent of the ultraviolet, visible, infrared, and far-infrared light that hits it — a development that promises to open new frontiers in space technology. The nanotech-based coating is a thin layer of multi-walled...

An international team has developed transistors using natural cotton fibers — an innovation that represents a significant leap forward because it lays the groundwork for creating even more complex devices, such as cotton-based circuits, which in turn open doors to the creation of wearable electronic devices...

Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have shed light on the role of temperature in controlling a fabrication technique for drawing chemical patterns as small as 20 nanometers. This technique could provide an inexpensive,...

This week's Question: Two recent ePetitions on a "We the People" petition site asked the government to acknowledge the presence of aliens. A reply from a research assistant from the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy emphasized that the government was actively looking for...