Stories

Lasers that emit ultrashort pulses of light can be used for numerous applications including micromachining, microscopy, laser eye surgery, spectroscopy and controlling chemical reactions. However, the quality of the results is limited by distortions caused by lenses and other optical components that are part of...

Satellite imagery obtained from NASA will help archeologist Bill Middleton of the Rochester Institute of Technology peer into the ancient Mexican past. Multi- and hyperspectral data will help build the most accurate and most detailed landscape map of the southern state of Oaxaca, where the Zapotec people...

The Langley Research Center has developed an innovative method for acquiring fluid-level measurements. This method eliminates the need for the fluid-level sensor to have a physical connection to a power source or data acquisition equipment. The complete system consists of a lightweight, thin-film magnetic-field-response fluid-level...

I didn't go to Wakefield, Rhode Island looking for great music. I was there to see the new U.S. headquarters of Dewetron, a leading manufacturer of data acquisition equipment and long-time NASA Tech Briefs advertiser. The last stop on our tour was a closed door, behind which was a small room that Dewetron...

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have created complex molecules containing zinc for use in portable sensors that detect the presence of plastic explosives. Sensors containing the zinc complexes are the first devices that allow the user to identify which type of explosive is present, since each metal complex...

In the effort to produce inexpensive, easily manufactured sources of sustainable, renewable power, solar cells continue to be a major focus - particularly flexible solar cells that can be applied directly to surfaces. Flexible solar cells are nothing new, but the methods by which they are made have progressed significantly in...

Cell-based sensors on a chip, which could speed up and improve the detection of everything from explosive materials to biological pathogens, are closer to reality, thanks to researchers at the University of Maryland's A. James Clark School of Engineering. The researchers - Benjamin Shapiro, Pamela Abshire, and Elisabeth Smela -...

Researchers at Auburn University have designed a rechargeable microscope illumination system that can be used by NASA scientists to observe microscopic life in places where there is no electricity. The patent-pending Ilumna 120, which contains a battery pack, condenser, and bulb with a built-in collimator, attaches to...

According to a study conducted by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), proposals to offset global warming by artificially seeding the stratosphere with sulfate particles could do more harm than good by having a negative impact on Earth's protective ozone layer. Such a plan might not only delay recovery of the ozone...

Robert Fisher and Cal Jordan of the Flash Center are among a team of scientists who will expend 22 million computational hours during the next year on the Blue Gene/P supercomputer at Argonne National Laboratory. The Flash Center will devote its computer allocation to studying Type Ia supernovas, in which temperatures reach billions...

Activation of the brain enzyme CaMKK2 is one step in the appetite stimulation pathway located in the hypothalamus section of the brain. Duke University Medical Center researchers blocked CaMKK2 in mice to tone down appetite, promote weight loss, and manage blood sugar. The researchers blocked the enzyme with a specialized molecule...

The Keyence PX Series rugged photoelectric sensors from Keyence Corp. of America have been selected as NTB's Product of the Month for May. The sensors feature an IP-69K environmental rating for high pressure (1,400 psi) applications at temperatures to 176 degrees F. They feature stainless steel casings, sensor heads backfilled...

A process to transmit medical images via cellular phones, developed by Hebrew University of Jerusalem researcher Prof. Boris Rubinsky, could provide sophisticated radiological diagnoses and treatment to most of the world's population lacking access to such technology. Designed to replace stand-alone medical imaging systems,...

“You can be sure if it’s Westinghouse.” Raise your hand if you recall that signature line from Westinghouse TV commercials, or if you grew up in a household with Westinghouse appliances. A lot of hands, I’m sure. Far fewer if I were to ask how many still used Westinghouse products today. As pieces of...

For years, scientists have known about silver's ability to kill harmful bacteria and, recently, have created consumer products containing silver nanoparticles. Now, a University of Missouri researcher has found that silver nanoparticles also may destroy benign bacteria that are used to remove ammonia from wastewater treatment...

A new study using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory indicates that globular clusters might be surprisingly less mature in their development than previously thought. Globular clusters are dense bunches of up to millions of stars that are found in the outskirts of galaxies, including the Milky Way. Understanding the nature of...

University of California at San Diego computer scientists have created a fog and smoke machine for computer graphics that cuts the computational cost of making realistic smoky and foggy 3-D images, such as beams of light from a lighthouse piercing thick fog. By cutting the computing cost for creating highly realistic imagery from...

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have developed techniques to create accurate movies of biological and chemical molecules. Scientists using the high-intensity X-rays at the Advanced Photon Source have measured images that are "blurred" by these motions and have used them to create more...

Dutch researchers at University Medical Center Utrecht and the Hubrecht Institute have succeeded in growing large numbers of stem cells from adult human hearts into new heart muscle cells. The stem cells are derived from material left over from open-heart operations. Until now, it was necessary to use embryonic stem cells to...

North Carolina State University geneticists have shown that environmental factors play a large role in whether certain genes are turned on or off. By studying gene expression of white blood cells in 46 Moroccan Amazighs, including desert nomads, mountain agrarians and coastal urban dwellers, the NC State researchers and...

For HIV/AIDS patients, a skipped pill could mean the difference between health and hazard for the entire population. A breath monitoring device developed by scientists at the University of Florida and Xhale Inc. could help prevent the emergence of drug-resistant strains of HIV, by monitoring medication adherence in...

Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the U.S. Army Dugway (Utah) Proving Ground have developed reliable methods, based on DNA analysis, to assess the concentration and viability of anthrax spores after prolonged storage. Because traditional methods to extract DNA from Bacillus...

Dye-sensitized solar cells are more flexible, easier to manufacture, and cheaper than existing solar technologies. Current lab prototypes are about half as efficient as the silicon-based cells used in rooftop panels and calculators. By using a popcorn-ball design - tiny kernels clumped into much larger porous spheres - researchers at...

Stanford University researchers, led by electrical engineering Professor Abbas El Gamal, are developing a camera built around a multi-aperture image sensor whose pixels measure 0.7 microns, several times smaller than pixels in standard digital cameras. The pixels are arranged in arrays of 256 pixels each, with a tiny lens atop each...

The traditional method to detect a hurricane's strength has been to fly airplanes through the most intense winds into the eye of the storm, carrying out wind-speed measurements as they go. But that approach requires specialized planes priced at $100 million each, with a single flight costing $50,000. Nicholas Makris, associate...

With funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Science Foundation, Virginia Tech researchers are working to create the prototype of a national internet-based geospatial database of underground water pipes. The objective of the water infrastructure research is to improve the decision-making process as it...

Research by two Queen's University scientists, Stan Brown and Alexei Neverov, has resulted in a new method for rapidly and safely destroying toxic agents such as chemical weapons and pesticides. Testing by an independent European defense corporation has shown the researchers' method to be over 99 percent effective when used on...

Although global warming has become a hotbed issue in recent years, the problem has been under investigation for at least 20 to 30 years, according to Dr. Steve Hipskind, Chief of NASA's Earth Science Division, Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA. Hipskind's group has focused on atmospheric and biospheric science research,...

Engineers at Purdue, Northwestern University, and the University of Southern California have created an active-matrix display using a new class of thin, transparent transistors and circuits. The transistors incorporate nanowires, tiny cylindrical structures assembled on glass or films of flexible plastic that are as thin as...