TU Delft researchers have developed the DelFly Explorer, which they claim is the first Micro Air Vehicle with flapping wings that can avoid obstacles by itself.
Its low weight (20 grams) opens up new possible applications for MAVs, the researchers suggest.
With its two flapping, transparent wings, the DelFly resembles a robotic dragonfly. The micro aircraft has a binocular vision system that weighs four… read more
Cornell researchers have 3D-printed a working loudspeaker, seamlessly integrating the plastic, conductive and magnetic parts, and ready for use almost as soon as it came out of the printer.
The loudspeaker is a project led by Apoorva Kiran and Robert MacCurdy, graduate students in mechanical engineering, who work with Hod Lipson, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and a leading 3-D printing innovator.
The researchers… read more
A team of researchers at MIT and the University of California at Berkeley has found a simple, inexpensive treatment that may help to unleash graphene’s potential. Currently, many suggested uses of graphene require treatments that can be expensive and difficult to apply predictably.
The new method is described in a paper published in the journal Nature Chemistry, co-authored by MIT doctoral students Priyank Kumar and Neelkanth Bardhan,… read more
IBM just unveiled its annual 5 in 5 — five predictions about technology innovations that IBM expects will change the way we work, live and play within the next five years.
This year’s IBM 5 in 5 explores the idea that everything will learn — driven by a new era of cognitive systems where machines will learn, reason and engage with us in a more naturalized and personalized… read more
New research published published online in Cell Reports on December 12, 2013 (open access) with the nematode C. elegans suggests that combining mutants can lead to radical lifespan extension.
Scientists at the Buck Institute combined mutations in two pathways well known for lifespan extension and report a synergistic five-fold extension of longevity — these worms lived to the human equivalent of 400 to 500 years — introducing… read more
Facebook has named New York University Professor Yann LeCun the director of a new laboratory devoted to research in artificial intelligence and deep learning.
LeCun, a professor at NYU’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, is a pioneer in this growing field. In the 1980s, LeCun proposed one of the early versions of the back-propagation algorithm, the most popular method for training artificial neural… read more
China’s Chang’e-3 lunar probe landed on the Moon Saturday evening, China time, Xinhuanet reports. The country’s first moon rover, which was on board the probe, separated from the lander early on Sunday.
China expects to gain a scientific understanding of the moon and develop its space technologies through its lunar program, said Wu Zhijian, spokesman with the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense.… read more
A second code hiding within DNA has been discovered by University of Washington scientists, containing information that changes how scientists read the instructions contained in DNA and interpret mutations to make sense of health and disease.
Some scientists are skeptical about “hype” regarding the announcement.
Since the genetic code was deciphered in the 1960s, scientists have assumed that it was used exclusively to write… read more
Drawing inspiration from how beetles and tree frogs keep their feet attached to submerged leaves, National University of Singapore (NUS) researchers have developed the first effective process, called “face-to-face transfer,” to grow and transfer high-quality graphene on silicon and other stiff substrates.
Graphene has outstanding electronic, optical and mechanical properties, but there has been no practical way to grow and transfer graphene for use in semiconductors with minimal… read more
Synthetic, man-made cells and ultrathin electronics built from a new form of “zero-dimensional” carbon nanotube (CNT) may be possible, thanks to research at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering.
When created, single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) have a length-to-diameter ratio of up to 132,000,000:1 (think long wires that entangle, forming a one-dimensional structure). This clustering makes it difficult to achieve high purity, water solubility,… read more
Rice University bioengineers have developed a hydrogel scaffold for regeneratomg craniofacial bone tissue. The hydrogel starts as a liquid, solidifies into a gel in the body, and liquefies again for removal.
The material developed in the Rice lab of bioengineer Antonios Mikos is a soluble liquid at room temperature that can be injected where needed. At body temperature, the material turns instantly into a gel to… read more
Imagine playing a video game like Call of Duty and having the ability to lead your virtual army unit while moving freely throughout your house or other environments.
Gaming could become this realistic, thanks to new technology that allows for highly accurate 3D motion tracking.
“WiTrack,” developed by Dina Katabi’s research group at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence… read more
Australian researchers have developed a handheld “BioPen” that will allow surgeons to precisely design and deliver customized bone and other implant materials (live stem cells and growth factors) at the time of surgery to regenerate bone, cartilage, muscle, or nerve tissue.
Here’s how it works:
University of Missouri researchers have developed a technique to form a virtual wall for oily liquids that will help confine them to a certain area, aiding researchers who are studying these complex molecules. This development will have future implications in the guided delivery of oil and effective blockage of oil spreading.
“Our work is based on micro/nanoelectromechanical systems, or M/NEMS, which can be thought of as miniaturized… read more
Researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida have identified a number of agents — some already used in the clinic for different disorders — that may force shape-shifting in tumor cells to immobilize them and thus prevent metastasis.
“We are starting to understand mechanistically how cancer cells move and migrate, which gives us opportunities to manipulate these cells, alter their shape, and stop their spread,” says the study’s lead… read more