MIT scientists have developed a systematic approach to research the structure of spider “silk” (which ounce for ounce, is stronger than steel) and how spiders optimize their own webs. The researchers are blending computational modeling and mechanical analysis to 3D-print synthetic spider webs, with the goal of fabricating and testing synthetic spider-web structures.
“This is the first methodical exploration of its kind,” says Professor Markus… read more
NASA and the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute (America Makes) are holding a new $2.25 million competition, the 3-D Printed Habitat Challenge, to design and build a 3-D printed habitat for deep space exploration, including the agency’s journey to Mars.
The program is designed to advance the additive construction technology needed to create sustainable housing solutions for Earth and beyond. The idea is to… read more
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers have made novel graphene aerogel microlattices with an engineered architecture, using a 3D printing technique known as “direct ink writing.” The research, which could lead to better energy storage, sensors, nanoelectronics, catalysis, and separations, is described in an open-access paper in the April 22 edition of the journal Nature Communications.
Lawrence Livermore National
The most detailed study to date of skin wound healing, conducted by University of Manchester scientists with 40 volunteers, has provided new evidence that electrical stimulation accelerates wound healing.
In the new research, half-centimeter harmless wounds were created on each upper arm of the volunteers. One wound was left to heal normally, while the other was treated with electrical pulses* over a period of two weeks. The… read more
Fabrication size limits — one of the barriers to using graphene on a commercial scale — could be overcome using a new method developed by researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).
Graphene, a one-atom-thick material that is about 100 times stronger than steel by weight, has enormous commercial potential but has been impractical to employ on a large scale, mainly… read more
Limitless, a TV series sequel to the movie, picks up after the events of the film. Edward Mora (Bradley Cooper), now a powerful senator and presidential hopeful, reveals the power of the mysterious drug NZT to Brian Finch (Jake McDorman) — who is then coerced by the FBI into using his newfound cognitive abilities to solve complex cases. Cooper is also executive producer.
Google announced today (May 15) that it test a few of its new Volkswagen Beetle-like prototype self-driving vehicles on roads in Mountain View, Calif. this summer Unlike Google’s previous prototype test vehicles, these will have safety drivers aboard, and with a steering wheel, accelerator pedal, and brake pedal if needed.
These vehicles are designed for local driving, with speed capped at 25mph.
Google said the… read more
MIT researchers have discovered that a deep-learning system designed to recognize and classify scenes has also learned how to recognize individual objects.
Last December, at the Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, MIT researchers announced the compilation of the world’s largest database of images labeled according to scene type, with 7 million entries. By exploiting a machine-learning technique known as “deep learning,” they used… read more
Researchers at the University of California, Riverside Bourns College of Engineering and the Russian Academy of Sciences have demonstrated a new type of pattern recognition using a “magnonic” holographic memory device, intended to improve hardware for speech and image recognition.
The device is based on patterns of sound and images that are encoded into the phase (timing) of spin waves, which are collective oscillations of… read more
A team of engineers and researchers at Washington University in St. Louis is developing a device to restore sensory feedback for those qwith upper limb prosthetic devices, allowing people to feel touch, and hot and cold through their prosthetic hands.
If it works, upper-limb amputees who use motorized prosthetic devices would be able to feel various sensations through the prosthetic by stimulating the nerves in the upper… read more
Supplementing the plant-based Mediterranean diet with antioxidant-rich extra virgin olive oil or mixed nuts has been associated with improved cognitive function in a study of older adults in Spain, according to an open-access article published online by JAMA Internal Medicine.
Previous research suggests following a Mediterranean diet may be associated with better cognitive function and a lower risk of dementia. However, the observational studies that have examined these… read more
GE engineers have made a simple proof-of-concept 3D-printed mini jet engine that operates at 33,000 rotations per minute.
The backpack-sized jet engine was built over the course of several years to test the technology’s abilities and to work on a side project together.
“We wanted to see if we could build a little engine that runs almost entirely out of additive manufacturing parts,” says one of the engineers.… read more
A high-performance 3D microbattery that could be integrated into microchips at production volumes has been developed by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign researchers.
Miniaturizing a battery to fit in a microchip is a major challenge, but it would be important for providing power to microscale devices such as actuators, distributed wireless sensors and transmitters, and portable and implantable medical devices, explained Paul Braun, a professor of … read more
An international team of scientists has developed a new technique to embed transparent, flexible graphene electrodes into fibers commonly used in textiles. The technology makes it possible to create wearable electronic devices, such as clothing containing smartphones and devices for biomedical monitoring and personal security.
The monolayer graphene was grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on copper foil and applied to fibers commonly used by… read more
A new radio telescope array developed by a consortium led by Caltech can simultaneously image the entire sky at radio wavelengths with unmatched speed, helping astronomers to search for objects and phenomena that pulse, flicker, flare, or explode.
The Owens Valley Long Wavelength Array (OV-LWA) is already producing unprecedented videos of the radio sky. Astronomers hope that it will help them piece together a more complete picture of… read more