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Methods are available for the determination of building stability in the event of an earthquake. These methods involve the development of existing shaking table technology to allow more efficient characterization of structural properties. View this technology here. An approach accompanied by a comprehensive algorithm and...

Methods are available for the determination of building stability in the event of an earthquake. These methods involve the development of existing shaking table technology to allow more efficient characterization of structural properties. View this technology here.

Multiple-quantum-well (MQW) photodetectors of a proposed type would contain active regions comprising multiple superlattice subregions. These devices would have complex structures: The superlattice of each subregion would be designed for enhanced absorption of photons in a desired wavelength band...

A paper [Chem. Phys. Lett. 345, 295 (2001)] describes theoretical studies of excited electronic states of nitrogen molecules, with a view toward utilizing those states in synthesizing tetrahedral N4, or Td N4 — a metastable substance under consideration as a high-energy-density rocket...

A document discusses concepts for the design of an antenna to be deployed from a spacecraft for measuring the ambient electric field associated with plasma waves at a location within 3 solar radii from the solar photosphere. The antenna must be long enough to extend beyond the...

A report describes an improved high-voltage isolator for preventing electrical discharge along the flow path of a propellant gas being fed from a supply at a spacecraft chassis electrical potential to an ion thruster at a potential as high as multiple kilovolts. The isolator must survive launch...

University of Delaware researchers have developed an inexpensive, nonchlorine- based technology that can remove harmful microorganisms, including viruses, from drinking water. The patented technology incorporates highly reactive iron in the filtering process to deliver a chemical "knock-out punch" to a host of notorious...

Georgia Tech researchers have developed a new protoype engine that uses up to 40% less fuel by running on solar power while in space and by fine-tuning exhaust velocity. The key to the engine improvements is the ability to optimize the use of available power. A traditional chemical rocket engine (attached to a satellite ready...

Biologists at Yale University (New Haven, CT) are developing a process to trap viruses in habitats that force their extinction. Viruses are chemically lured into the wrong cells, thus preventing virus reproduction and alleviating disease. The research was conducted on phi-6 virus populations in environments containing different mixtures...

Brown University researchers are creating a technology that will allow doctors and scientists to see inside living humans and animals, and watch their bones move in 3D as they run, fly, jump, swim, and slither. This high-resolution, high-speed imaging system will contribute to better treatments for knee, shoulder, wrist, and back...

Delta-doped, back-illuminated charge-coupled devices (CCDs) are used as detector arrays in high-performance double- focusing miniature mass spectrometers of Mattauch-Herzog design (described below). The uses of delta-doped CCD detector arrays eliminates the need for microchannel plates...

Equipment and a method for rapidly assaying solid surfaces for contamination by bacterial spores are undergoing development. The method would yield a total (nonviable plus viable) spore count of a surface within minutes and a viable-spore count in about one hour. In this method, spores...

A simplified, lightweight system for dissipating heat of a regenerative fuel- cell system would include a heat pipe with its evaporator end placed at the heat source and its condenser end integrated into the wall of the regenerative fuel cell system gas-storage tanks. The tank walls act as heat-radiating surfaces...

A document discusses the focal-plane calibration of the Spitzer Space Telescope by use of the instrument pointing frame (IPF) Kalman filter, which was described in "Kalman Filter for Calibrating a Telescope Focal Plane" (NPO-40798), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 30, No. 9 (September 2006), page 62. To...

The Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) in Houston is part of the Universities Space Research Association, and is a NASAfunded institute that conducts research in the lunar, planetary, and terrestrial sciences on behalf of university science departments and NASA. The most recent project...