Stories

At the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at the University of California San Diego, Caltech computational seismologist Jeroen Tromp can give the public movies that tell the story about earthquakes in a language that's easy to understand, revealing waves of ground motion spreading out from the earthquake. He can deliver...

Specialty Lubrication in New Product Design Wednesday, September 19, 2007, 2:00 PM EST Lubricants are often the forgotten components in the design of moving elements. Last-minute redesign and changes can be avoided by considering lubricant performance needs during the design phase. High-performance equipment generates...

The 2007 Create the Future Design Contest, presented by SolidWorks Corp. and NASA Tech Briefs, is now open for entries in these categories: Machinery, Equipment, and Component Technology; Consumer Products; Medical; Safety and Security; Transportation; and Sustainable Technologies.

Blood vessels that have been tissue-engineered from bone marrow adult stem cells may serve as a patient's source of new blood vessels following a coronary bypass or other procedures that require vessel replacement. A team of researchers from the University at Buffalo Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering have...

A small-scale enterprise is in need of mechanized processes and technologies designed for biological pre-processing (pre-conditioning) of basic wastes prior to composting with worms. The methods and equipment should be efficient, environmentally acceptable, ensure high performance, and be previously tested in practice. Click...

Biomedical engineers at Virginia Tech and the University of California Berkeley have developed a new minimally invasive method of treating cancer, and they anticipate clinical trials on individuals with prostate cancer will begin soon. The process is called irreversible electroporation (IRE). Electroporation is a phenomenon...

In the near future, you may get up in the morning, put on a "smart" T-shirt, and automatically have your health monitored. When it's dirty, the shirt gets washed or dry-cleaned. Researchers from the University of South Australia have developed smart garments with tiny embedded electronics that can monitor your heart or respiratory...

Each month, NTB highlights tech briefs related to a particular area of technology in a special section called Technology Focus. Here are some of the technologies featured in the July issue focus on Sensors. "Smart" Sensor Module Stennis Space Center has developed an assembly that contains a sensor, signal conditioning...

A solid-state oxygen microsensor measures the potential difference (EMF) generated by two electrodes deposited on a solid oxygen-ion-conducting electrolyte and located in a known and preferably constant temperature gradient in the same ambient atmosphere. The microsensor is used for combustion systems to maintain and improve...

The 2007 Create the Future Design Contest, presented by SolidWorks Corp. and NASA Tech Briefs, is now open. Youíre invited to submit your innovative design ideas in the following categories: - Machinery, Equipment, and Component Technology - Consumer Products - Medical - Safety and Security - Transportation - Sustainable...

The N4917A optical receiver stress test set from Agilent Technologies (Santa Clara, CA) has been named PTB's Product of the Month for July. It provides repeatable conformance and characterization test results, and allows users to accurately characterize and verify standard conformance of receiver optical subassemblies and...

Technology for manufacturing diffraction gratings for spectrometry has not changed significantly in the past 40 years. But, according to Dr. Christoph M. Greiner of LightSmyth Technologies, that has changed thanks to deep-ultraviolet (DUV) reduction photolithography. In a feature article in the July issue of Photonics Tech...

High Stress Compatible Fiberglass Fabric for Sewn Applications The Johns Manville Company invites proposals for improved performance concepts in high-stress applications of non-woven fiberglass. Advanced Pattern Recognition Technologies These sensors, algorithms, neural network systems, optics and camera...

University of California, Riverside nanotechnologists have controlled the color of very small particles of iron oxide suspended in water simply by applying an external magnetic field to the solution. The discovery has potential to greatly improve the quality and size of electronic display screens and to enable the manufacture...

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is seeking proposals for LANdroids -- a fleet of miniature, intelligent mobile robots that will aid military communications in urban settings. The goal is to create small, inexpensive robotic radio relay nodes that dismounted warfighters will drop as they deploy. The nodes...

Origin 8 Windows-based data analysis and graphing software from OriginLab Corp., Northampton, MA, has been named NTB's Product of the Month for July. The software operates around a revamped workbook space, which allows results of an analysis to be placed into a worksheet within the raw data's workbook. Parameter values,...

An electromagnetic actuator is a highly sensitive motion control device that employs more reliable and cleaner electromagnetic technologies to replace slower, less precise, larger, noisier, and environmentally unfriendly hydraulic omponents. This patented technology uses an armature in the form of a piston that moves on its own...

Researchers at Purdue University's Birck Nanotechnology Center have used nanotechnology to create transparent transistors and circuits, a step that promises applications from e-paper and flexible color screens for consumer electronics, to "smart cards" and heads-up displays in auto windshields. The transistors are made of...

This monthly review lets you "meet" the new advertisers appearing in Embedded Technology. Here's a sneak peek at the products, services, and offers available from July's first-time advertisers: Tri-M Engineering (Port Coquitlam, BC, Canada) offers the HE104+DX 108-watt high-efficiency PC/104+ power supply with a 6V to 40V DC...

Embedded Technology (ET) magazine features board-level electronics and COTS solutions for design engineers, as well as a variety of product offerings. Embedded applications and technologies that use various communications options such as ZigBee and WiFi need to be secured against the same problems inherent in any other networked...

Novel Nano-Structured Concept for Thermal Protection System Lightweight carbon-carbon (C/C) composites produced by pressure-assisted co-polymerization of carbon fibers, hydrocarbons and fullerenes have excellent mechanical properties and high thermal stability that make them ideal for thermal protection applications....

Inspired by the device used to find lost coins in the sand, Johns Hopkins University biomedical engineering students have invented a small handheld metal detector to help doctors locate hidden orthopedic screws that need to be removed from patients' bodies. The device emits a tone that rises in pitch as the surgeon moves closer...

Brown University researchers have devised a way to control both the size and composition of iron-platinum nanorods and nanowires. Nanorods with uniform shape and magnetic alignment are one key to the next generation of high-density information storage, but have been difficult to make in bulk. The technique...

NASA has released its CLARAty (Coupled-Layer Architecture for Robotic Autonomy) robotic software for public downloading. CLARAty is an integrated framework for reusable robotic software that defines interfaces for common robotic capabilities such as pose estimation, navigation, locomotion, and planning. In addition to supporting multiple...

New and/or advanced curing technologies are needed to incorporate into a metal packaging protective coating and decoration process. Systems could be used in metal containers for aerosols, beverages, food products and specialty packaging, all of which require external and/or internal protective coatings. Click here to respond...

A prototype of what may be the next generation of personal computers has been developed by researchers at the University of Maryland. The system is capable of computing speeds 100 times faster than current desktops and is based on parallel processing on a single chip, an approach that allows the computer to perform different...

A portfolio of technologies applies mid-infrared spectroscopy to the analysis of fluids, including blood, serum, and other biological fluids. Tests are non-destructive and the techniques require no reagents or other chemicals. The spectroscopic signatures obtained from the samples can be used to aid the diagnosis of disease, since...

NASA recently tested the first nanotechnology- based electronic device to fly in space. The test showed that the Nano ChemSensor Unit could monitor trace gases inside a spaceship. This technology could lead to smaller, more capable environmental monitors and smoke detectors in future crew habitats.

You've got one day left to sign up for NASA Tech Briefs' FREE webinar, Virtual Testing at the CAD Stage with Simulation Software, sponsored by Noran Engineering. The live event takes place tomorrow, June 27, at 2:00 PM EST. In order to successfully compete in the global marketplace, your product design process needs to be the...