Stories
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Briefs: Aerospace
Double-Fed Induction Linear Alternator
This technology was developed to address the limitations of traditional, single-fed linear alternators that require permanent magnets, adhesive bonding organics, and heavy iron laminations for flux control. They experience eddy-current losses and require electromagnetic interference protection. Furthermore,...
Briefs: Software
Design Software Identifies a Product's Performance Tradeoffs
Designing any product — from complex car parts to wrenches — is a balancing act with conflicting performance tradeoffs. Making something lightweight, for instance, may compromise its durability.
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Algorithm Predicts How Electromagnetic Waves Interact with Materials at the Smallest Scales
Magnetic materials can attract or repel each other based on their polar orientation — positive and negative ends attract each other, while two positives or two negatives repel. When an electromagnetic signal like a radio wave passes through such materials,...
Briefs: Energy
Conventional electrolytes used in lithium-ion batteries that power household electronics like computers and cellphones are not suitable for lithium-metal batteries....
Briefs: Energy
Used since 2013, electroceutical bandages — which use electrical impulses to treat medical issues — kill bacteria around a wound, allowing wounds to heal faster. In addition, if infection is...
Briefs: Power
Directly converting electrical power to heat is easy; however, converting heat into electrical power is not as easy. To address this issue, a tiny silicon-based device was developed that can harness...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Silicon is a naturally occurring material commonly used as a semiconductor in electronic devices; however, researchers have exhausted the potential of devices with semiconductors made of...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
All-Fiber, Optically Controlled Optical Switch
An optical switch is a device where information-bearing light may be directed to one of several outputs. Prior art optical switches have mainly been integrated optical waveguide structures such as titanium-diffused (Ti) waveguides in lithium-niobate (LiNbO3) or gallium-arsenide (GaAs) structures, or...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Researchers have integrated two technologies widely used in applications such as optical communications, bio-imaging, and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) systems to create a new infrared light-focusing...
Briefs: Wearables
Self-Powered, Washable, Wearable Displays
Clothing usually is formed with textiles and has to be both wearable and washable for daily use; however, smart clothing has had a problem with its power sources and moisture permeability, which causes the devices to malfunction. To solve this problem, a textile-based, wearable display module technology was...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Lithium-ion batteries commonly used in consumer electronics are notorious for bursting into flame when damaged or improperly packaged. Inspired by the unusual behavior of some liquids...
INSIDER: Materials
A team of engineers at Tufts University has developed a series of 3D printed metamaterials with unique microwave or optical properties that go beyond what is possible using...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Waterproof Graphene Electronic Circuits
The many applications of graphene, an atomically-thin sheet of carbon atoms with extraordinary conductivity and mechanical properties, include the manufacture of sensors. These transform environmental parameters into electrical signals that can be processed and measured with a computer. Due to their...
Briefs: Aerospace
When engineers want to test the aerodynamic properties of the newly designed shape of a car, airplane, or other object, they would normally model the flow of air...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
NASA’s Langley Research Center has developed a new way to reduce the high-temperature heating requirement of sapphire substrates in wafer production. The growth of...
Q&A: Electronics & Computers
Dr. Sultana won funding to advance a nanomaterial-based detector platform that can sense environmental parameters from minute concentrations of target gases and vapors, to...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Traditionally, electronics are cooled using a heat sink that transfers the heat generated by the electronic system into the air or a liquid coolant. For the heat sink to work, it has to be...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Transparent, Self-Healing Electronic Skin
Scientists have taken inspiration from underwater invertebrates like jellyfish to create an electronic skin with similar functionality. Like a jellyfish, the electronic skin is transparent, stretchable, touch-sensitive, and self-healing in aquatic environments.
Blog: Electronics & Computers
Dr. Peter Cavanagh talks with Tech Briefs about his journey in the 1980s as he turned a running shoe into a tracking computer.
INSIDER: Semiconductors & ICs
In the field of inorganic semiconductors, dimensions below 100 nanometers are already standard. However, organic semiconductors have not been able to keep up. In...
INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Many major advances in medicine, especially in neurology, have been sparked by recent advances in electronic systems that can acquire, process, and interact with biological...
INSIDER: Communications
Researchers at the Tokyo Institute of Technology have devised a strategy to support high-speed mobile data access using the millimeter-wave spectrum for a fifth-generation (5G)...
Facility Focus: Transportation
Battelle Memorial Institute was founded in the early part of the 20th century as a charitable trust focused on research in metallurgy and allied industries. Founder Gordon Battelle studied metallurgy...
Briefs: Motion Control
Mechanical systems such as engines and motors rely on two principal types of motions of stiff components: linear motion, which involves an object moving from one point to another in a straight line,...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Technique Provides Rapid Assessment of Radiation Exposure
Researchers have developed a new technique that assesses radiation exposure in about an hour using an insulator material found in most modern electronics. The technique can be used to triage medical cases in the event of a radiological disaster.
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Wearable biosensors for health monitoring lack a lightweight, long-lasting power supply. A new method was developed for making a charge-storing system that is easily integrated into clothing...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Rechargeable, High-Temperature, Molten Salt Battery
Growing demand for electric vehicles and more sustainable forms of transport means finding new forms of energy storage such as batteries, supercapacitors, and fuel cells. Currently, a major challenge facing the industry is the poor performance quality of rechargeable batteries, which often lose...
5 Ws: Energy
Who
Millions of people who rely on pacemakers, defibrillators, and other livesaving implantable devices powered by batteries that need to be replaced every five to 10 years.
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Signal Combiner for Wideband Communication
NASA’s Glenn Research Center has devised an efficient new method of combining primary and secondary signals with minimal loss and noise. With its ability to reduce system noise, this novel signal combiner delivers the best opportunity to receive a desired signal not easily distinguished from background...
Top Stories
Blog: Power
My Opinion: We Need More Power Soon — Is Nuclear the Answer?
Blog: AR/AI
Aerial Microrobots That Can Match a Bumblebee's Speed
News: Energy
Blog: Electronics & Computers
Turning Edible Fungi into Organic Memristors
Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control
Microscopic Swimming Machines that Can Sense, Respond to Surroundings
INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Webcasts
Upcoming Webinars: Automotive
Hydrogen Engines Are Heating Up for Heavy Duty
Upcoming Webinars: Transportation
Advantages of Smart Power Distribution Unit Design for Automotive...
Upcoming Webinars: Transportation
Quiet, Please: NVH Improvement Opportunities in the Early Design...
Upcoming Webinars: Sensors/Data Acquisition
From Spreadsheets to Insights: Fast Data Analysis Without Complex...
Upcoming Webinars: Test & Measurement
Battery Abuse Testing: Pushing to Failure
Upcoming Webinars: Transportation
