Stories

Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and a team from the University of Vienna have collaborated to cool a miniature mechanical object to its lowest possible energy state using laser light — paving the way for the development of exquisitely sensitive...

This week's Question: Steven Jobs, the visionary co-founder of Apple, died last week at the age of 56. While the company has offered updates to its innovative technologies like the iPhone, iPad, and iPod, some have questioned whether new executive leadership will be able to innovate,...

The Army is using a new helicopter simulator, called the Non-rated Crew Member Manned Module (NCM3), to train helicopter crews on the rear of both the CH-47 Chinook and UH-60 Black Hawk. Through specially created virtual reality glasses, which fit the same as night vision goggles, soldiers can practice and...

University of Utah chemists developed a method to design and test new catalysts – substances that speed chemical reactions and are crucial for producing energy, chemicals and industrial products. By using the new method, the chemists also discovered that the sizes and electronic properties of...

Idaho National Laboratory researchers have recently demonstrated a new sample preparation technique that makes it easier to examine irradiated fuel at the nanoscale. This accomplishment revealed material behavior that suggests increased stability of a new type of reactor fuel. Further study and...

Coherent terahertz radiation has historically been very difficult to generate, and the search for an easy-to-use, compact source continues today. Northwestern University researchers recently developed a simpler way to generate single-chip terahertz radiation — a discovery that could benefit...

A new method of extracting sugars from biomass could lead to more sustainable, inexpensive biofuel production. Unlike more expensive techniques that focus on enzymes, this method, developed at Iowa State University, relies on pyrolysis of lignocelluslosic biomass: quickly heating the biomass without oxygen to...

University of Texas at Austin researchers have discovered how to extract and use information in an individual image to determine how far objects are from the focus distance, a feat only accomplished by human and animal visual systems until now. Like a camera, the human eye has an auto-focusing...

The black box, an airplane’s digital flight-data recorder, holds massive amounts of data, documenting the performance of engines, cockpit controls, hydraulic equipment, and GPS systems, typically at regular one-second intervals throughout a flight. Analysts have been studying...

A technology commonly used for designing buildings, bridges, and aircraft has now been used to aid breast tissue reconstruction in cancer patients. Researchers from Australia, Germany, Singapore, and Georgia Tech have used computer-aided design (CAD) to create an extremely accurate mold of...

This week's Question: Google Wallet, an Android mobile app launched earlier this month, is slowly being rolled out to the public. The application allows users to make purchases with their phones. The technology uses near field communication (NFC) chips to store and remit credit card data,...

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology have built a simple nanoantenna that directs red and blue colors in opposite directions, even though the antenna is smaller than the wavelength of light. The findings – published in the online journal Nature Communications this week – can lead to optical...

A team of researchers at MIT and Children’s Hospital Boston has built cardiac patches studded with tiny gold wires that could be used to create pieces of tissue whose cells all beat in time, mimicking the dynamics of natural heart muscle. The development could someday help...

Research scientists from the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications are optimizing the technologies that make it possible to watch TV in 3D without technical aids such as 3D glasses. A new four-camera system will even be able to handle live transmissions.

A scanner that combines the convenience of a desktop scanner with the functionality of a powerful laboratory imaging device has been developed at the University of Oxford (UK), and is now being commercialized by a new company, Oxford Multi Spectral (OMS) Limited, which was spun out by...

A team of researchers in Munich, Germany, has developed a new imaging technology using laser light to detect cancer based on molecular signatures, leading to the localization of even small cancer cell nests that surgeons might otherwise overlook during surgery. The technique has been...

This week's Question: The European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, reported that a neutrino beam fired from a particle accelerator near Geneva to a lab 454 miles away in Italy traveled 60 nanoseconds faster than the speed of light — a claim that potentially questions Einstein's 1905 special...

The winning design of a NASA student competition to create a new greener aircraft looks a little like a cross between a plane and a Swiss Army knife. More than 20 seniors from the University of Virginia contributed to the winning design and project they called the VERDe Atrema or Virginia...

Officials at the Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom Air Force Base are working with Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. to provide the Air Force with a deployable precision approach landing capability to support contingency operations or humanitarian missions across the globe.

Boeing (Everett, WA) has delivered the first 787 Dreamliner to Japan's All Nippon Airways (ANA). The 787 Dreamliner is an all-new airplane featuring a host of technologies that benefit both airlines and passengers. It is the first mid-size airplane capable of flying long-range routes, enabling...

Marlow Industries (Dallas, TX) has introduced the EverGen series of thermoelectric-based energy harvesting devices, offering a zero-maintenance power solution for wireless sensor applications. EverGen thermal energy harvesters power wireless sensors without a battery, reducing replacement...

A polymer has been shown to offer 10 times the piezoelectric effect of crystals and ceramics, making it potentially suitable for hundreds of everyday uses, according to researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.Until now, scientists did not believe that non-polar polymers were capable of exhibiting...