science wire

ANN ARBOR-Low-energy terahertz radiation could potentially enable doctors to see deep into tissues without the damaging effects of X-rays, or allow security guards to identify chemicals in a package without opening it. But it's been difficult for engineers to make powerful enough systems to accomplish these promising applications.

Engineers at the University of California, San Diego are developing nanofoams that could be used to make better body armor; prevent traumatic brain injury and blast-related lung injuries in soldiers; and protect buildings from impacts and blasts. It's the first time researchers are investigating the use of nanofoams for structural protection.

Press Release: New Book by Carnegie Mellon Roboticist Suggests Humans Brace Themselves for Robo-Innovation-Carnegie Mellon News - Carnegie Mellon University "Robot Futures" Foresees Society That Will

MIT researchers improve efficiency of quantum-dot photovoltaic system by adding a forest of nanowires.

Bioengineering professor Wentai Liu uses a toy eyeball to illustrate the electronic retinal implant that helps restore eyesight to the blind.

Robots can observe human behavior and - like a human baby - deduce a reasonable approach to handling specific objects.

Today's smartphones and computers offer gestural interfaces where information arrives at users' fingertips with a swipe of a hand. Still, researchers have found that most technology falls short in making people feel as if they're interacting with virtual objects the same way they would with real objects.

A new way of reasoning about what happens when a robot's limb strikes an object could lead to more efficient and reliable robotic-control systems.

Al Brockett, Pratt & Whitney's vice president of engineering module centers, has spearheaded the company's collaboration with Penn State.

The University of Chicago and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have signed an agreement to begin exploring a research partnership that would create new water production and purification technologies for deployment in regions of the globe where fresh water resources are scarce.

Stanford Report, March 14, 2013 Engineers at Stanford have developed a prototype single-fiber endoscope that improves the resolution of these much-sought-after instruments fourfold over existing designs.

Plain-looking but inherently strange crystalline materials called 3D topological insulators (TIs) are all the rage in materials science. Even at room temperature, a single chunk of TI is a good insulator in the bulk, yet behaves like a metal on its surface. Researchers find TIs exciting partly because the electrons that flow swiftly across their surfaces are "spin polarized": the electron's spin is locked to its momentum, perpendicular to the direction of travel.

The University of Birmingham will receive one of four large grants as part of a multimillion pound investment in leading engineering research projects to be announced by Minister for Universities and Science, David Willetts today (12 March 2013).

Innovative engineering projects announced today, including a new Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering at UCL, will bring leading engineers and scientists together to address some of the major engineering challenges facing the world.

A University of Sydney research program focussed on photonic signal processing to improve defence capability is among a handful of projects to receive federal government funding announced today by Minister for Defence Science and Personnel Warren Snowdon. Mr Snowdon made the announcement at the University of Sydney's School of Electrical and Information Engineering , where technology related to one of the proposals funded was demonstrated.

Imagine that the chips in your smart phone or computer could repair and defend themselves on the fly, recovering in microseconds from problems ranging from less-than-ideal battery power to total transistor failure. It might sound like the stuff of science fiction, but a team of engineers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), for the first time ever, has developed just such self-healing integrated chips.

Robot's custom-designed electric motors are powerful and efficient. A 70-pound "cheetah" robot designed by MIT researchers may soon outpace its animal counterparts in running efficiency: In treadmill tests, the researchers have found that the robot - about the size and weight of an actual cheetah - wastes very little energy as it trots continuously for up to an hour and a half at 5 mph.

The first experimental observation of a quantum mechanical phenomenon that was predicted nearly 70 years ago holds important implications for the future of graphene-based electronic devices. Working with microscopic artificial atomic nuclei fabricated on graphene, a collaboration of researchers led by scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC) Berkeley have imaged the "atomic collapse" states theorized to occur around super-large atomic nuclei.

A new battery technology provides double the energy storage at lower cost than the batteries that are used in handheld electronics, electric vehicles, aerospace and defence.

A fortnight-long festival showcasing science and engineering in the city, which is led by the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University, returns this month in a new form, bigger and better than ever before.

Scientists are being backed by government to put the UK at the forefront of a growing global high-tech electronics industry.

Stanford Report, March 5, 2013 Stanford scientists have developed a novel way to calculate the energetic cost of building large batteries and other storage technologies for the electrical grid.

The University of Liverpool's Stephenson Institute is part of one of the successful research projects to receive funding to enhance the 'manufacturability' of graphene, one of the thinnest, strongest and most conductive materials known to man.

The University of Liverpool's Stephenson Institute is part of one of the successful research projects to receive funding to enhance the 'manufacturability' of graphene, one of the thinnest, strongest and most conductive materials known to man.

Yale's vast art collection includes celebrated works by van Gogh, Cezanne, Hopper, and Rothko. But the flashiest new canvas on campus hangs on a wall - and ceiling - in the School of Engineering & Applied Science (SEAS).

A multi-university team of researchers has artificially engineered a unique multilayer material that could lead to breakthroughs in both superconductivity research and in real-world applications. The researchers can tailor the material, which seamlessly alternates between metal and oxide layers, to achieve extraordinary superconducting properties — in particular, the ability to transport much more electrical current than non-engineered materials.

Shutterbug scientists are being encouraged to submit interesting, unusual or otherwise noteworthy images to a College of Science and Engineering photography competition. Academic staff, research associates and postgraduate students are eligible for entry to the College's Technical Photography contest.

The hawk moth's wings are a blur of mottled grey motion as it hovers tethered to a steel rod in large white plastic orb. Outside the orb in the darkened room where I stand, a projector casts moving patterns of dimmed light onto the sphere's surface, illuminating the moth's field of vision with oscillating stripes.

Just like electronics, living cells use electrons for energy and information transfer. Despite electrons being a common "language" of the living and electronic worlds, living cells cannot speak to our largely technological realm. Cell membranes are largely to blame for this inability to plug cells into our computers: they form a greasy barrier that tightly controls charge balance in a cell.

Providing a secure and sustainable energy supply is one of the key issues facing the UK today. Finding innovative solutions to this challenge will involve academics working with local authorities, businesses and governments.

McGill University researchers are developing low-cost and high-performance electric engines for the next generation of electric vehicles, in collaboration with industrial partners Linamar, TM4, and Infolytica.

Civil and structural engineers will explore the durability of high-tech composite materials of the type used in aerospace and automotive industries in a bid to unlock their full potential for infrastructure and civil engineering works.

Harvard student chapter of Engineers Without Borders works with villages in the Dominican Republic to find clean water By Bonnie Lei '15 Manuel Ramos '14, Leah Gaffney '15, Tunde Demuren '15, and Dip

A revolutionary liquid-cooled computer server that could slash the carbon footprint of the internet is being tested at the University of Leeds.

Calit2 Outreach Coordinator Saura Naderi (left) and mixed martial arts fighter Amanda Lucas combine their talents to control Robo Hammer, one of the robot fighters in SyFy's "Robot Combat League.

The Department of Mechanical Engineering at Imperial has been at the forefront of research to develop the next generation of vehicles for more than 40 years.

From 'Main Street' firms to multinationals, improvements possible in funding of research, collaboration among manufacturers.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.

While the demand for ever-smaller electronic devices has spurred the miniaturization of a variety of technologies, one area has lagged behind in this downsizing revolution: energy-storage units, such as batteries and capacitors. Now, Richard Kaner, a member of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA and a professor of chemistry and biochemistry, and Maher El-Kady, a graduate student in Kaner's laboratory, may have changed the game.

Our digitized world of instant communication is enabled by the transfer of high-speed signals across many systems within a device. As modern signal speeds are pushed to quickly accommodate gigabytes of data, disturbances that were once considered minor, such as weather changes, now become more serious, with the potential to stop systems and corrupt data.

Quick, efficient chip cleans up common flaws in amateur photographs. Your smartphone snapshots could be instantly converted into professional-looking photographs with just the touch of a button, thanks to a processor chip developed at MIT.

A European project to develop robotic tutors that will support teachers and motivate students in secondary schools is being led by University of Birmingham engineers and computer scientists, in collaboration with Heriot-Watt University and other European partners.

DiscoverE, a youth outreach program run by the University of Alberta's Faculty of Engineering, has won a Google RISE (Roots in Science and Engineering) Award for its achievements in increasing access and interest in engineering, technology and science.

Robotic technology from Oxford University that enables a car to 'drive itself' for stretches of a route has been shown driving a Nissan Leaf electric car.