Sagita's hot air-powered Sherpa rethinks the ultra-light helicopter

Certainly one of the more intriguing things on display at this year's Paris Air Show, the Sherpa by Belgian startup Sagita aims to make the helicopter simpler, more efficient, more reliable and more affordable. The helicopter's rotors are directly driven by turbines which are themselves powered by hot air and fumes from the helicopter's power plant. Sagita claims that this makes... More »

Spot-welding graphene nanoribbons atom by atom

Scientists at Aalto University and Utrecht University have created single atom contacts between gold and graphene nanoribbons. In their article published in Nature Communications, the research team demonstrates how to make electrical contacts with single chemical bonds to graphene nanoribbons. Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb lattice. It is anticipated to be a... More »

Data Highways for Quantum Information

Researchers at the Vienna University of Technology quantum mechanically couple atoms to glass fiber cables. Now, they have shown that their technique enables storage of quantum information over a sufficiently long period of time to realize global quantum networks based on optical fibers. Will emails be quantum encrypted in the future? Will we be able to teleport quantum states over large... More »

Volvo's electric roads concept points to battery-free EV future

Consider a future where trucks and buses continuously are supplied with electric power without carrying large batteries. Instead, power lines are built into the surface of the road. This could be a future solution for long-distance trucks and buses running on electricity

The Volvo Group already has extensive knowledge about electric drivetrains, but in order to become world leading in sustainable transport solutions, the Volvo Group must find even more solutions that allow the vehicles to operate on renewable energy. A great deal of this energy will be distributed as electricity. However, the challenge is about supplying the vehicle with electricity power when... More »

New fluorescent protein from eel revolutionizes key clinical assay

Many scientists dream of making a single discovery that provides fundamental insight into nature, may be used to help save human lives, and can assist in the preservation of an endangered species. In new research reported in the journal Cell, a Japanese team is on the verge of accomplishing this nearly impossible feat

Unagi, the sea-going Japanese freshwater eel, harbors a fluorescent protein that could serve as the basis for a revolutionary new clinical test for bilirubin, a critical indicator of human liver function, hemolysis, and jaundice, according to researchers from the RIKEN Brain Science Institute. The discovery also sheds light on the mysterious and endangered Unagi that could contribute to its... More »

The Body Electric: Researchers Move Closer to Low-Cost, Implantable Electronics

Aiding Organ Transplants to be First Application of New Technology

New technology under development at The Ohio State University is paving the way for low-cost electronic devices that work in direct contact with living tissue inside the body. The first planned use of the technology is a sensor that will detect the very early stages of organ transplant rejection. Paul Berger, professor of electrical and computer engineering and physics at Ohio State, explained... More »

Nano-thermometer enables first atomic-scale heat dissipation measurements

In findings that could help overcome a major technological hurdle in the road toward smaller and more powerful electronics, an international research team involving University of Michigan engineering researchers, has shown the unique ways in which heat dissipates at the tiniest scales. A paper on the research is published in the June 13 edition of Nature. When a current passes through a material... More »

UPC researchers have discovered a technique to produce cheaper and more flexible multiple thin crystalline silicon wafers

A team of researchers from the Nanoengineering Research Centre (CRNE) and the Department of Electronic Engineering at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech (UPCn has found a way to make the manufacture of crystalline silicon materials faster and more affordable. The results of their research have recently been published in the online version of the landmark journal... More »

New tasks become as simple as waving a hand with brain-computer interfaces

Small electrodes placed on or inside the brain allow patients to interact with computers or control robotic limbs simply by thinking about how to execute those actions. This technology could improve communication and daily life for a person who is paralyzed or has lost the ability to speak from a stroke or neurodegenerative disease. Now, University of Washington researchers have demonstrated that... More »

SolePower insole charges devices using the power of walking

SolePower is a power-generating shoe insole for charging portable electronics like cell phones, music players, or GPS devices. Foot-powered, energy harvesting devices aren't anything new. What we're doing differently is building the device into a removable insole so it doesn't need to be embedded in a shoe. This means you can swap it between your favorite pair of sneakers and... More »

Experimental procedure shows promise for treatment of MS

A phase 1 clinical trial for the first treatment to reset the immune system of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients showed the therapy was safe and dramatically reduced patients’ immune systems’ reactivity to myelin by 50 to 75 percent, according to new Northwestern Medicine research. In MS, the immune system attacks and destroys myelin, the insulating layer that forms around nerves in... More »

EPFL presents a modular aircraft at Le Bourget

Go to the train station to take the plane. Board on a capsule to reach the airport by rail, and then - without leaving your seat - fly to another city. The Clip-Air project, being developed at EPFL since 2009, envisions a modular aircraft consisting of a flying wing onto which it is possible to attach one, two or three capsules as required. Its concept allows us to take a glimpse at the air... More »

New Metamaterial Doubles Up on Invisibility

The new material's artificial "atoms" are designed to work with a broad range of light frequencies. With adjustments, the researchers believe it could lead to perfect microscope lenses or invisibility cloaks

One of the exciting possibilities of metamaterials – engineered materials that exhibit properties not found in the natural world – is the potential to control light in ways never before possible. The novel optical properties of such materials could lead to a "perfect lens" that allows direct observation of an individual protein in a light microscope or, conversely,... More »

Robots could lend a helping hand

With a rapidly ageing population, the number of people with dementia and other age-related disabilities is expected to soar by 2050.

Coupled with warnings about future shortages of health workers and doctors, scientists are working to identify solutions that can meet the future healthcare needs of society. The concept of applying findings from different technological areas to assist people in their daily activities, while also alleviating pressures on health professionals and carers, has emerged as a potential... More »

Firefighting Robot Paints 3D Thermal Imaging Picture for Rescuers

Engineers in the Coordinated Robotics Lab at the University of California, San Diego, have developed new image processing techniques for rapid exploration and characterization of structural fires by small Segway-like robotic vehicles. 
 A sophisticated on-board software system takes the thermal data recorded by the robot’s small infrared camera and maps it onto a 3D scene constructed from... More »