Stories

On June 5, NASA's MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft flew past Venus just 338 km above the planet's surface and shot a laser into the clouds. Although MESSENGER is on a mission to Mercury, the spacecraft must pass by Venus for a gravity assist en route. In passing, researchers hope to...

Multiprocessing system architectures come in all shapes and sizes, so it is dangerous to make any generalizations. But perhaps there's agreement that most systems can be classified as either symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) or asymmetric multiprocessing (AMP).

High performance multi-core processors are providing opportunities to consolidate multiple applications into a single system. However, embedded applications often have real-time requirements that cannot be put in jeopardy by other software clamoring for the same system resources such as CPU...

A partnership between NASA and the U.S. Naval Academy is offering students the chance to build a satellite called "MidSTAR-2" through a U.S. Department of Defense program that will carry four experiments into space in 2011 to look at different parts of Earth's atmosphere, gamma rays, and solar winds. Scientists at NASA's Goddard...

Beneath the waves near Key Largo, FL, an underwater lab called Aquarius provides a safe harbor for scientists to live and work for weeks at a time. For NASA, Aquarius provides an environment that is analogous to the International Space Station (ISS) and the space shuttle. To maintain Aquarius, NASA recruited Invocon of Conroe, TX, to...

The Magtorque sensor provides a simple, low-cost means to monitor torque on rotating elements. It uses a small and magnetoelastic sensor attached to the shaft that is monitored remotely via an inductive pickup. It provides sensitive and repeatable measurements of applied torque without direct physical contact. More...

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is researching the use of cell phones equipped with sensors that could detect biological agents such as anthrax, as well as radioactive isotopes and toxic chemicals. Since fixed sensors can't be placed everywhere, the solution could soon be in everyone's hands. Gentag, a Washington,...

This monthly review lets you "meet" the new advertisers appearing in Defense Tech Briefs (DTB). Here's a sneak peek at the products, services, and offers available from June's first-time advertisers. Alpha Security Group is a publicly traded company that seeks to acquire a homeland security or defense business. Contact Steve...

This modulator was developed to provide circuitry and apparatus that create specialized optical signals suitable for use as a digital photonic clock, a pulse amplitude modulator, and a bi-stable optical memory cell. More information here.

Researchers from Freight Pipeline Company (FPC) taking part in a National Science Foundation (NSF)-sponsored project have found that bricks made from fly ash -- fine ash particles captured as waste by coal-fired power plants -- may be even safer than predicted. Instead of leaching minute amounts of mercury as earlier predicted, the...

Researchers at Virginia Tech, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the University of Georgia have proposed using polysaccharides, or sugary carbohydrates, from biomass to directly produce low-cost hydrogen for the new hydrogen economy.

This monthly review lets you "meet" the new advertisers appearing in NTB and its supplements. Here's a sneak peek at the products, services, and offers available from May's first-time advertisers. 3Dconnexion (San Jose, CA) is a provider of 3D navigation devices for 3D design and visualization applications.

A global specialty chemical company is seeking innovative "green" renewable raw materials, products, and processes for replacement of existing non- environmentally friendly solvents, while not compromising the performance or significantly increasing the cost. To respond to this Tech Need click here.

NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) now enables scientists to forecast solar radiation storms, giving future astronauts time to seek shelter and ground controllers time to safeguard satellites. The new method offers as much as one-hour advance notice when a storm is approaching.

As part of NASA's Partnership Seed Fund program, Goddard Space Flight Center is integrating the ILIADS software, a geospatial information system (GIS) it developed for lunar applications, with Questus(TM), a management and planning software tool developed by United Space Alliance (USA) for space shuttle operations. The...

This invention provides low-molecular-weight polyesters and polyamides useful for flushing wet pigments and manufacturing color concentrates. More specifically, the compositions of the invention are effective for flushing wet pigments, producing pigment dispersions, and then producing colored polymers with the pigment...

First responders will be able to better prepare individuals with special needs thanks to new open-source software developed at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Lab. The Special Population Planner software is an extension to commercial ArcView Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software, and provides a...

A team of researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) has uncovered certain properties of shish-kebabs -- tiny structures that can form when polymers crystallize during flow -- that should lead to improved materials in the most widely used plastics. Shish-kebabs are made of polymers known as polyolefins. In...

Researchers at Purdue University are developing a system that uses mathematical models and sensors to locate passengers releasing hazardous materials or pathogens inside airline cabins. The research has shown that the technique can track a substance to an area the size of a single seat. The technique, called "inverse...

A method is needed to visually detect the presence of pathogenic bacteria or microbes on human hands regardless of the presence of beneficent micro- organisms and without killing the latter. The solution must be safe for humans and easily applicable by a common user. To respond to this Tech Need click here.

A patch of Martian soil analyzed by NASA's rover Spirit is so rich in silica that it may provide some of the strongest evidence yet that ancient Mars was much wetter than it is now. The processes that could have produced such a concentrated deposit of silica require the presence of water.

The Laser-Based Item Monitoring System (LBIMS), developed by researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, balances the need for high-resolution monitoring and personal safety with confidentiality and personal privacy. Using low-cost reflective tags placed on objects, LBIMS maps the precise location...

University of Rochester (New York) researchers have developed custom- designed contacts for people with keratoconic eyes, which are rare but disabling. From the side, the eyes look more pointed or cone-shaped than round. The condition causes people to see halos, and double and triple images. About 1 in 2,000 people suffer from the...

CLEANSENS is a non-dispersive infrared gas photometer used to measure the presence and concentration of high-GWP (Global Warming Potential) gases, including HFCs, PFCs, and SF6. It uses a patented dual-beam sensor to achieve a very wide dynamic range of detection. The sensor employs an electrically...

A team from Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA, has been awarded the 2006 NASA Government Invention of the Year for the MacroFiber Composite Actuator and Sensor (MFC), an actuator and sensor system that is more durable than a piezoelectric system, and provides increased unidirectional...

Imaging Technology(TM), a supplement to NASA Tech Briefs published three times a year, contains a special section called Applications. Here's an Insider preview of an Application story in the automotive field in the June issue: Infrared Night Vision Expands What Drivers Can "See" Seven years ago, General Motors (GM) became the...

A method and system allow you to combine inductive coupling for remote power and data transmission and capacitive coupling, while the IC card is attached to the terminal in order to transfer a large amount of energy. For more information, click here. The Technology Business Briefs portray licensing or selling opportunities...

Researchers at Northwestern University's Center for Quantum Dots (CQD) have developed new quantum dot infrared photodetectors (QDIPs) that could result in new imaging techniques for medical and biological imaging, night vision, and infrared imaging from space. Using nanotechnology to...