Interfacial dynamics research may make industry machines safer, more efficient
Researchers with the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University are taking complex interactions between drops of water and material surfaces and...
View ArticleResearchers look to unleash creativity with custom cyber manufacturing
Before the Industrial Revolution, custom products were handmade by highly skilled individuals. Basic products that most people have in their homes today were very expensive and considered luxuries...
View ArticleStudents, doctors develop next-generation surgical implants
Two groups of undergraduate students at Duke University have been creating biomedical devices for their senior design projects with a campus rarity—a titanium 3-D metal printer.
View ArticleEngineering research focuses on bringing efficiency to network processes
It is human nature to seek to spend the least amount of energy, time and cost on any given task to achieve a desirable result, whether that is working out at the gym, finding the best path to travel to...
View ArticleStudy researches 'gorilla arm' fatigue in mid-air computer usage
Researchers at Purdue University's C Design Lab are studying arm and muscle fatigue connected to advancements in the use of hand gestures for mid-air computer interaction.
View ArticleResearchers developing robotic prosthetics to help restore balance in fall...
We all lose our balance sometimes; we slip, we fall, we get back up. But for some, life is a balance beam, and merely walking around poses great risks of tripping, slipping or falling. Dr. Pilwon Hur,...
View ArticleInspired by geckos, researchers engineer soft gripping system that...
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems have developed a soft gripping system that uses differential air pressure and a gecko-inspired adhesive for...
View ArticleNew way to test self-driving cars could cut 99.9 percent of validation costs
Mobility researchers at the University of Michigan have devised a new way to test autonomous vehicles that bypasses the billions of miles they would need to log for consumers to consider them road-ready.
View ArticleWearable system helps visually impaired users navigate
Computer scientists have been working for decades on automatic navigation systems to aid the visually impaired, but it's been difficult to come up with anything as reliable and easy to use as the white...
View ArticleCrystalline structures database provides recipes for non-expert 'chefs'...
In response to popular demand, materials scientists at Duke University have resurrected an online cookbook of crystalline structures that started when the World Wide Web was Netscape Navigator and HTML...
View ArticleBatteries that "drink" seawater could power long-range underwater vehicles
The long range of airborne drones helps them perform critical tasks in the skies. Now MIT spinout Open Water Power (OWP) aims to greatly improve the range of unpiloted underwater vehicles (UUVs),...
View ArticleMethod assesses instructor performance in 'freeform classroom'
Engineering education researchers have developed a method to assess the effectiveness of instructors who are using an innovative teaching approach that could play a role in boosting the number and...
View ArticleSpiky ferrofluid thrusters can move satellites
Brandon Jackson, a doctoral candidate in mechanical engineering at Michigan Technological University, has created a new computational model of an electrospray thruster using ionic liquid ferrofluid—a...
View ArticleStudy predicts heart cells' response to dwindling oxygen
Time is of the essence when treating a patient undergoing a heart attack. Cardiac surgeons attempt to quickly stabilize the heart by applying reperfusion, a technique that restores oxygen to the heart...
View ArticleCicada wings may inspire new surface technologies
Researchers are looking to insects - specifically cicadas - for insight into the design of artificial surfaces with de-icing, self-cleaning and anti-fogging abilities.
View ArticleHeat-conducting plastic could lead to lighter electronics, cars
Advanced plastics could usher in lighter, cheaper, more energy-efficient product components, including those used in vehicles, LEDs and computers—if only they were better at dissipating heat.
View ArticleEngineers develop tools to share power from renewable energy sources during...
If you think you can use the solar panels on your roof to power your home during an outage, think again. During an outage, while your home remains connected to the grid, the devices that manage your...
View ArticleResearchers helping connect fluid dynamics research to brain trauma
As many YouTube videos show, striking the top of a liquid-filled bottle can shatter the bottom. Now researchers are hoping to use new knowledge of that party trick to help fill a gap in something much...
View ArticleResearchers design the building blocks of synthetic muscle using...
Each time you flex your bicep, millions of molecular motors work together in a complex process inside your muscle. These motors—called myosin—are chemically-powered proteins. Combinations of them...
View ArticleAccelerator company develops product to help wind turbines
Sharks swimming deep in the ocean, geckos climbing up trees and wind turbines towering over West Texas don't have a lot in common. At least, not yet.
View ArticleEngineers identify key to albatross' marathon flight
The albatross is one of the most efficient travelers in the animal world. One species, the wandering albatross, can fly nearly 500 miles in a single day, with just an occasional flap of its wings. The...
View ArticleBeyond EPA's Clean Power decision: Climate action window could close as early...
As the Trump administration repeals the U.S. Clean Power Plan, a new study from the University of Michigan underscores the urgency of reducing greenhouse gas emissions—from both environmental and...
View ArticleStudy takes a unique approach to new generation of smart drug delivery carriers
Imagine a tiny capsule, smaller than the tip of a needle, that could be programmed to release medicine at a specific location in your body and is inexpensive, easy to make, and more effective than the...
View ArticleRooftop wiretap aims to learn what crows gossip about at dusk
What are crows saying when their loud cawing fills a dark winter's evening? Despite the inescapable ruckus, nobody knows for sure. Birds congregate daily before and after sleep, and they make some...
View ArticleEmber research: Smaller branches pack the fastest, biggest fire-spreading punch
As the West tallies the damages from the 2017 wildfire season, researchers at Oregon State University are trying to learn more about how embers form and about the blaze-starting potential they carry.
View ArticleResearchers 3-D print lifelike artificial organ models
A team of researchers led by the University of Minnesota has 3D printed lifelike artificial organ models that mimic the exact anatomical structure, mechanical properties, and look and feel of real...
View ArticleAir pollution project harnesses the power of backyard science enthusiasts
Right now, a handful of motivated Fort Collins citizens are doing something a little out of the ordinary. They're collecting cutting-edge scientific data from their backyards that may soon help NASA...
View ArticleVehicles could get 'nerves' that sense damage with new research
Helicopters, tanks and other vehicles could someday be made of "smart material" that senses damage, similar to how nerves tell the body it has been injured, with the help of new research based at...
View ArticleResearchers taking optical device out of the lab and into the clinic to...
In a paper published in Nature Scientific Reports, a team of researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) has demonstrated how a device that uses beams of light to grip and manipulate tiny...
View ArticleBreast cancer research gets a mechanical boost
One of the most puzzling questions in breast cancer research is why some tumors stay put, while rogue cells from others break free and spread to surrounding tissues, the first step toward creating a...
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