Stories

I mentioned in my last blog post I will travel to Anaheim in early February to attend several shows, notably the Pacific Design & Manufacturing Show and Medical Design & Manufacturing West. That means once again subjecting myself to the rigors of airport security - whipping out my photo ID, emptying my pockets...

As the holidays fade and the New Year unfolds, it’s back to business for most of us. For NASA Tech Briefs, that includes a bunch of trade shows and conferences our editors will attend over the next few months. One show I plan to attend is the Pacific Design & Manufacturing Show, taking place at the Anaheim Convention...

The first Question of the Week for 2010 concerns airline security. The recent foiled attempt by a Nigerian terrorist to set off a bomb aboard a Northwest Airlines flight landing in Detroit has renewed concerns that current X-ray technology is insufficient in detecting concealed weapons and...

As another decade comes to a rapid close, it seems like just yesterday that the main topic of discussion was how to prepare for the impending Y2K disaster that was supposed to throw computer networks into chaos and create massive disruptions in our lives. Though most level-headed citizens did not buy into the Y2K hype, many...

One may not normally associate Santa Claus with cutting-edge science and technology, but a story in our recent Tech Briefs INSIDER newsletter shows that notion is outdated. The story, based on research by North Carolina State University professor Dr. Larry Silverberg, paints a picture of St. Nick as a technical guru....

Have a son or daughter fascinated by space travel? NASA has invited more than 350 student rocketeers from middle schools, high schools, colleges, and universities to take part in its 2009-2010 Student Launch Projects. The contest is designed to inspire students to channel their interests in science,...

This week's question concerns patent law. Traditionally, the courts have limited patent eligibility to inventions that involve machinery or physical transformations. Increasingly, innovations in the areas of software, medical diagnostics, and finance have raised questions concerning the eligibility...

A lecture from Berkeley Lab's Environmental Energy Technologies Division covers some promising materials research efforts that are expected to lead to improved battery technology. Mark Verbrugge, the director of the Chemical Sciences and Materials Systems Lab at General Motors'...

As someone who’s driven a number of years for hundreds of thousands of miles, I normally don't like someone telling me how to drive. I'm guiding the car at a speed I feel comfortable with, see the road obstacles ahead, and (supposedly) know where I’m going. Well, researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology...