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A 40-cm-diameter plasma device has been developed as a source of ions for material-processing and ion-thruster applications. Like the device described in the immediately preceding article, this device utilizes electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) excited by microwave power in a magnetic field to generate...

A new type of lens design features broadband achromatic performance as well as telecentricity, using a minimum number of spherical elements. With appropriate modifications, the lens design form can be tailored to cover the range of response of the focal-plane array, from Si (400–1,000 nm) to InGaAs...

Researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are using a $2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop a physics-based virtual model that can simulate a patientís breathing in real time. When used in conjunction with existing 3D models, adding the fourth dimension of time could improve the accuracy...

A recently invented method of detecting a selected messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) or deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequence offers two important advantages over prior such methods: it is simpler and can be implemented by means of compact equipment. The simplification and miniaturization...

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...

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...

A paper describes direct numerical simulations (DNSs) of three-dimensional mixing-layer flows undergoing transition to turbulence; the mixing layers may or may not be laden with evaporating liquid drops. In contrast to most studies in this field, the...

An improved nozzle has been developed to replace nozzles used previously in an apparatus that generates a substantially unidirectional beam of molecules passing through a vacuum at speeds of several kilometers per second. The need to replace the previous nozzles arose from a complex set...

The same Duke University Pratt School of Engineering research team that first developed real-time, 3D ultrasound imaging has modified the commercial version of the scanner to produce an even more realistic perception of depth. The researchers created an updated version of the image-viewing software, making it possible to achieve a...

By 2020, NASA plans to establish a long-term human presence on the Moon, which means that necessities such as fuel, food and oxygen, and spare parts would have to get from the Earth to the Moon as predictably as an Earth-based delivery system - especially when the delivery point is 240,000 miles...

Understanding the functional significance of the folds in the outermost layer of the brains of large mammals is one of the big open questions in neuroscience. A team led by MIT, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School researchers recently developed a tool that could aid such studies by helping researchers "see" how...

In a crash, keeping the occupants alive and uninjured is paramount. As a part of the Structural Dynamics Branch in the Research and Technology Directorate at NASA Langley, the Landing and Impact Research Facility (LandIR) tests the safety of aircraft by crashing them. Dr. Karen Jackson is part of the research team.

Nominations for Nanotech Briefs' third annual Nano 50 awards competition are being accepted through 11:59 PM today, April 2. The awards honor the top 50 innovators, products, and technological advancements that demonstrate the greatest potential toward developing the commercialization of nanotechnology. Previous winners include...

A Fiber Optic-Based Integration System (FOBIS) has been developed that may be capable of in-situ, real-time biological monitoring, and is based on a single fiber optic system. A compact, multi-functional device, the FOBIS incorporates three working units (a Micro-Flow Cytometer, a Micro-Photometer, and a Micro-Sensor)...

University of Illinois scientists have fabricated the world's smallest chain-mail fabric that consists of a network of small rings about 500 microns in diameter and even smaller links about 400 microns long. The rings and links are built upon a planar substrate and then released to create a flexible sheet that can bend along two...