Engineering News

July 10, 2016

Robotic Stingray With Light-Activated Rat Cells

Robot Shows How First Land Animals Moved

New Biomaterial May Manipulate Organs

'Soft Motor' to Power Versatile Soft Robots

Latest Headlines

updated 12:14pm EDT

Fundamental Limits of Invisibility Cloaks Determined

July 5, 2016 — The researchers' theory confirms that it is possible to use cloaks to perfectly hide an object for a specific wavelength, but hiding an object from an illumination containing ... read more

On the Path Toward Molecular Robots

July 5, 2016 — Scientists have developed light-powered molecular motors that repetitively bend and unbend, bringing us closer to ... read more

Integrated Trio of 2-D Nanomaterials Unlocks Graphene Electronics Applications

July 5, 2016 — A new article describes the development of the first useful device that exploits the potential of charge-density waves to modulate an electrical ... read more

Integrated Trio of 2D Nanomaterials Unlocks Graphene Electronics Applications

July 5, 2016 — Graphene has emerged as one of the most promising two-dimensional crystals, but the future of electronics may include two ... read more

From Super to Ultra-Resolution Microscopy

July 5, 2016 — Scientists have, for the first time, been able to tell apart features distanced only 5 nanometers from each other in a densely packed, single molecular structure and to achieve the so far highest ... read more

Bouncing Droplets Remove Contaminants Like Pogo Jumpers

July 5, 2016 — Researchers are exploring whether surfaces can shed dirt without being subjected to ... read more

New Discovery Could Better Predict How Semiconductors Weather Abuse

July 5, 2016 — Scientists have found a way to better predict how thin-film semiconductors weather the harsh conditions in systems that convert sunlight, water and carbon dioxide ... read more

Pedal Powered Cinema

July 5, 2016 — A team of engineering students has produced a bicycle powered generator which could power a 55 watt projector for the time required to watch ... read more

Fine-Tuning Prosthetics for Cyclists

July 4, 2016 — Disabled cyclists will be among those competing at the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in September 2016. Ensuring top performance calls for prosthetics of superior design, but tailoring them to ... read more

How to (Better) Model Beam Transport

July 3, 2016 — Electrically charged wire meshes are used throughout science and engineering to guide, focus and analyse charged particles and may be found in areas as diverse as unmanned satellite propulsion ... read more

A Chinese Robot to Solve City Parking Misery

Dolphin Inspired Sonar Technology

Robot Could End Parallel Parking Dread

Robots Do Battle as Leipzig Hosts RoboCup 2016

Utilizing a Broader Share of the Solar Spectrum

June 30, 2016 — Small flakes of graphene could expand the usable spectral region of light in silicon solar cells to boost their efficiency, new research ... read more

Vision Through the Clouds

June 29, 2016 — Poor weather can often make the operation of rescue helicopters a highly risky business, and sometimes even impossible. A new helmet-mounted display may in the future be able to help pilots detect ... read more

Engineers to Use Cyborg Insects as Biorobotic Sensing Machines

June 28, 2016 — A team of engineers is looking to capitalize on the sense of smell in locusts to create new biorobotic sensing systems that could be used in homeland security ... read more

One Giant Leap for the Future of Safe Drug Delivery

June 28, 2016 — By using an innovative 3-D inkjet printing method, researchers have taken the biggest step yet in producing microscopic silk swimming devices that are biodegradable and harmless to a biological ... read more

Trees With Altered Lignin Are Better for Biofuels, Study Shows

June 28, 2016 — By engineering a novel enzyme involved in lignin synthesis, scientists have altered the lignin in plant cell walls in a way that increases access to biofuel building blocks without inhibiting plant ... read more

Researchers Devise Tool to Improve Imaging of Neuronal Activity in the Brain

June 27, 2016 — In a partnership melding neuroscience and electrical engineering, researchers have developed a new technology that will allow neuroscientists to capture images of the brain almost 10 times larger ... read more

New Artificial Intelligence Beats Tactical Experts in Combat Simulation

June 27, 2016 — Artificial intelligence recently won out during simulated aerial combat against US expert tacticians. Importantly, it did so using no more than the processing power available in a tiny, affordable ... read more

Robots Come to Each Other's Aid When They Get the Signal

June 27, 2016 — Sometimes all it takes to get help from someone is to wave at them, or point. Now the same is true for robots. Researchers have completed work on a project aimed at enabling robots to cooperate with ... read more

This Message Will Self-Destruct

June 24, 2016 — In movies and television shows, audio tapes or other devices self-destruct after delivering the details of impossible missions. Scientists have taken it to a new ... read more

Ultrathin, Flat Lens Resolves Chirality and Color

June 23, 2016 — Researchers have developed an ultra-compact, flat lens that can simultaneously capture both spectral information and the chirality of an ... read more

Nanoscientists Develop the 'Ultimate Discovery Tool'

June 23, 2016 — The discovery power of the gene chip is coming to nanotechnology. Researchers have figured out how to make combinatorial libraries of nanoparticles in a very controlled way. Some of the nanoparticle ... read more

A Strategy for 'Convergence' Research to Transform Biomedicine

June 23, 2016 — A new report calls for increased support of 'convergence research,' which integrates physical and life sciences for revolutionary advances in biomedical ... read more

Novel Controller Allows Video Gamer Who Lacks Hands to Compete With His Feet

June 23, 2016 — Engineering graduate students, one of whom lost his hands to meningitis, design and build a foot-activated video game ... read more

3D Brain-on-a-Chip

June 23, 2016 — To study brain cell’s operation and test the effect of medication on individual cells, the conventional Petri dish with flat electrodes is not sufficient. For truly realistic studies, cells have to ... read more

Lasers Carve the Path to Tissue Engineering

June 23, 2016 — A new technique combines microfluidics and lasers to guide cells in 3-D space, overcoming major limitations to tissue ... read more

Engineers Develop New, Low-Cost Way to Capture Carbon

June 22, 2016 — A research team reports an unconventional reversible chemical reaction in a confined nanoenvironment. The discovery, a milestone in clarifying the scientific underpinnings of moisture-swing chemical ... read more

Tracking Aluminum Used to Purify Tap Water

June 21, 2016 — Scientists have developed a new analysis method that uses magnetic fields to quickly and accurately measure the concentration of aluminum used to purify tap water. These findings can potentially be ... read more

Robotic Motion Planning in Real-Time

June 20, 2016 — Robots with multi-jointed arms must plan their motion, a difficult problem that requires time-consuming computation. Simply picking an object up in an environment that has not been pre-engineered for ... read more

Artificial Synapse Rivals Biological Ones in Energy Consumption

June 20, 2016 — Researchers have succeeded in fabricating an organic nanofiber electronic device that emulates not only the important working principles and energy consumption of biological synapses but also the ... read more

New Trick for Controlling Emission Direction in Microlasers

June 17, 2016 — Researchers have found a way to give photons, or light packets, their marching orders. The researchers have capitalized on the largesse of an energy state in an optical field to make photons in their ... read more

Thursday, June 30, 2016