Engineering articles

Guessing robots predict their environments, navigate better
Engineers at Purdue University are developing robots able to make "educated guesses" about what lies ahead as they traverse unfamiliar surroundings, reducing the amount of time it takes to successfully navigate those environments.

Australia weighs in to make the perfect kilogram
Australian scientists and optical engineers will be making a perfect sphere that may one day re-define the kilogram – and tomorrow they're taking delivery of the cylinder of silicon from which it will be made.

Scientists announce stem cell line from new source
Scientists have created a new stem cell line from a clinically unusable human egg in a development that could have major implications for research into illnesses such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, liver disease and diabetes.

Chemists advance organic semiconductor processing
Any machinist will tell you that a little grease goes a long way toward making a tool work better. And that may soon hold true for plastic electronics as well.

Pairing nanoparticles with proteins
In groundbreaking research, scientists have demonstrated the ability to strategically attach gold nanoparticles - particles on the order of billionths of a meter - to proteins so as to form sheets of protein-gold arrays. The nanoparticles and methods to create nanoparticle-protein complexes can be used to help decipher protein structures, to identify functional parts of proteins, and to "glue" together new protein complexes. Applications envisioned by the researchers include catalysts for converting biomass to energy and precision "vehicles" for targeted drug delivery.

Worlds fastest supercomputer delivers breakthrough science simulations for the NNSAS nuclear weapons program
The BlueGene/L supercomputer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory topped the list of the world's fastest computers for a record sixth straight time, according to the new Top500 list released Wednesday, June 27 at the International Supercomputing Conference in Dresden, Germany.

New nano-method may help compress computer memory
A team of chemists at Brown University has devised a simple way to synthesize iron-platinum nanorods and nanowires while controlling both size and composition. Nanorods with uniform shape and magnetic alignment are one key to the next generation of high-density information storage, but have been difficult to make in bulk.

Transparent transistors to bring future displays, 'e-paper'
Researchers have used nanotechnology to create transparent transistors and circuits, a step that promises a broad range of applications, from e-paper and flexible color screens for consumer electronics to "smart cards" and "heads-up" displays in auto windshields. The transistors are made of single "nanowires," or tiny cylindrical structures that were assembled on glass or thin films of flexible plastic.

Smart suit doesn't miss a beat
Imagine wearing a smart T-shirt or a suit embedded with tiny electronics that can monitor your heart or respiratory function wirelessly. When dirty, you take it off and throw it in the wash or have it dry-cleaned.

Search engine mashup
A mashup of two different types of web search tools could make find the useful nuggets of information among all the grit on the Internet much easier.

New, invisible nano-fibers conduct electricity, repel dirt
Tiny plastic fibers could be the key to some diverse technologies in the future -- including self-cleaning surfaces, transparent electronics, and biomedical tools that manipulate strands of DNA.

Smart traffic boxes could help monitor roads, save money
Ohio State University engineers are working to make the traffic control boxes that stand beside major freeways smarter.

Engineers provide insight into the dynamics of molecular self-assembly
By studying how a layer of molecules grows into an ordered layer from the edge of a rectangular silicon wafer, engineers at North Carolina State University, working with researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), have established the time evolution of self-propagating self-assembly fronts. The team is the first to confirm the phenomenon in a real physical system.

Transistors based on carbon nanotubes get faster and faster
Researchers at the Institute of Electronics, Microelectronics and Nanotechnologie (IEMN / CNRS – Universités Lille 1 and Valenciennes, Institut supérieur de l'électronique et du numérique) and the Department of Solid-state Physics at the French Atomic Energy Agency (CEA), have succeeded in making transistors from carbon nanotubes on a silicon substrate.

Bright future for nano-sized light source
A bio-friendly nano-sized light source capable of emitting coherent light across the visible spectrum, has been invented by a team of researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the University of California at Berkeley.

Silicon chip beams light through a liquid-core waveguide to detect one particle at a time
By guiding light through liquid-filled channels smaller than a human hair, researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and Brigham Young University have succeeded in building a silicon chip that can detect tiny particles one at a time.

A simple magnet can control the color of a liquid, making new technologies possible
University of California, Riverside nanotechnologists have succeeded in controlling the color of very small particles of iron oxide suspended in water simply by applying an external magnetic field to the solution. The discovery has potential to greatly improve the quality and size of electronic display screens and to enable the manufacture of products such as erasable and rewritable electronic paper and ink that can change color electromagnetically.

How the brain and an iphone differ
How many simple objects can you think about at once? Even though people feel they have rich visual experiences, researchers have found that the average person is only aware of about four items at a time.

A walking robot goes mountaineering
The human gait is a marvel of coordination. All aspects of movement control – from the angle of the knee joints to the momentum of the hip up to the balance point of the torso – need to be meticulously adjusted. In addition, the gait is adaptable to different environments. Walking on ice is different from walking on solid ground, walking uphill is different from downhill.

Scientists create breakthrough sensor capable of detecting individual molecules
Applied physicists at the California Institute of Technology have figured out a way to detect single biological molecules with a microscopic optical device.