Stories
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Articles: Motion Control
Reliability and longevity directly impact the cost of using Q-switched, diode pumped, solid state, ultraviolet lasers in industrial applications. Damage to the intracavity harmonic crystal is often...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
With novel optoelectronic chips and a new partnership with a top silicon-chip manufacturer, MIT spinout Ayar Labs aims to increase speed and reduce energy consumption in computing, starting with...
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
MIT researchers have designed an optical filter on a chip that can process optical signals from across an extremely wide spectrum of light at once, something never before...
Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs
A Robust Waveguide Millimeter-Wave Noise Source
A noise source is an enabling technology for passive millimeter-wave remote sensing applications such as atmospheric sounding, and precipitation and ice cloud measurements. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center has developed a packaged noise source that will allow calibration of the front end at the...
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Fabricated using inexpensive and widely available organic pigments used in printing inks and cosmetics, an artificial retina was developed that consists of tiny pixels like a digital camera sensor on a...
Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs
Colloids — insoluble particles or molecules anywhere from a billionth to a millionth of a meter across — are so small they can stay suspended indefinitely in a liquid or even in air. Robots about...
Briefs: Imaging
Many low-cost sensors (or cameras) may spatially or electronically under-sample an image. Similarly, cameras taking pictures from great distances, such as aerial photos, may not obtain detailed...
Products: Materials
Thermography Systems
Advanced Thermal Solutions, Norwood, MA, announced the tvLYT™ liquid crystal thermography system that provides a portable solution for temperature measurement of electronics, circuit...
Articles: Test & Measurement
This column presents technologies that have applications in commercial areas, possibly creating the products of tomorrow. To learn more about each technology, see the contact information provided for that innovation.
Articles: Manufacturing & Prototyping
The Create the Future Design Contest was launched in 2002 by Tech Briefs Media Group (publishers of Tech Briefs magazine) to help stimulate and reward engineering innovation. Since...
Articles: Test & Measurement
Internet of Things (IoT) applications — whether for city infrastructures, factories, or wearable devices — use large arrays of sensors collecting data for transmission over the Internet to a central,...
Question of the Week: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
What NASA Spin-Off Stands Out to You?
NASA technologies have led to many of the commercial products and innovative solutions we use every day, from memory foam and freeze-dried foods to exercise equipment and water purifiers. The October issue of Tech Briefs showcased a number of these NASA spinoffs.
Read the Tech Briefs feature article, and share...
Blog: Aerospace
Rivers Ingersoll spoke with Tech Briefs about why it is so important to have an up-close understanding of the hummingbird and nectar bat.
Products: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
SEGGER Microcontroller Systems, Gardner, MA, introduced emPack, a complete operating system for IoT devices and embedded systems. It is delivered in source code for 8-, 16-, and 32-bit microcontrollers and microprocessors,...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Wearable technologies are exploding in popularity in both the consumer and research spaces, but most of the electronic sensors that detect and transmit data from wearables are made of hard,...
5 Ws: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Who
Billions of objects ranging from smartphones and buildings, to machine parts and medical devices, to furniture and office supplies — any object that has a need to communicate with or sense other objects.
Briefs: Materials
Polymer Nanofiber-Based Reversible Nano-Switch/Sensor Schottky Diode (nanoSSSD) Device
Innovators at NASA's Glenn Research Center have developed a unique nano-structure device that operates as a nano-switch/sensor for detecting toxic gases and ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Conventional microsensors are limited by their short life, high cost and...
Briefs: Materials
Optical fibers have been traditionally produced by making a cylindrical object called a preform — essentially, a scaled-up model of the fiber — and then heating it. Softened material...
Articles: Semiconductors & ICs
The benefits of NASA's space exploration efforts are not limited to the cosmos. NASA technologies provide innovative solutions for people around the world. NASA missions have generated thousands of spinoffs —...
Articles: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
NASA at 60: Celebrating Success
Over the past 60 years, NASA scientists and engineers have developed many advanced technologies and processes. But NASA has also partnered with industry, using commercially available products to complete its missions. Here, some of those companies join NASA in celebrating these collaborative successes.
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
When hit with light, semiconductors (materials that have an electrical resistance in between that of metals and insulators) generate an electric current....
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A process for engineering next-generation soft materials with embedded chemical networks that mimic the behavior of neural tissue lays the foundation for soft active matter with highly...
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
It is often desirable to sense the angular position of a rotating part. Numerous kinds of rotation sensors have been developed over the years; one type is a capacitive sensor, where a capacitance...
Facility Focus: Energy
In 1951, the first nuclear reactor in Idaho was built, starting a legacy at what is now Idaho National Laboratory (INL). INL is the site where 52 pioneering nuclear reactors were designed and...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center is offering opportunities for its new fiber optic mass flow sensor system. Capable of measuring multi-phase flows in a pipe, the technology is minimally invasive,...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
NASA's Langley Research Center, in collaboration with Michigan State University (MSU), has developed a microphone array that...
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Configuration Enables RFID Tags to Work as Sensors
The detection and localization of gas releases, such as methane from leaking natural gas pipelines or nitrogen oxides from failing electrical equipment, require high sensitivity to the target gas and insensitivity to non-target gases. Infrared (IR) absorption spectroscopy gives highly specific...
Articles: Electronics & Computers
This column presents technologies that have applications in commercial areas, possibly creating the products of tomorrow. To learn more about each technology, see the contact information provided for that innovation.
Q&A: Medical
A team led by UCSD has built a stretchable electronic patch that can be worn on the skin like a bandage and used to wirelessly monitor a variety of physical and electrical...
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: Power
Hydrogen Engines Are Heating Up for Heavy Duty
Upcoming Webinars: Electronics & Computers
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: Energy
Battery Abuse Testing: Pushing to Failure
Upcoming Webinars: AR/AI
