Tech
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Tech
Gene Screen: Ultrasensitive nanowires catch mutations
Researchers have devised a nanowire sensor that binds to DNA molecules and produces an electrical signal almost instantaneously.
- Tech
Gel Bots? Vibrated goo mimics slithery motions
The ability of soft, jellylike hydrogels to move as do snails, snakes, and inchworms may point the way to a new class of squishy robots that promise to be simple, quiet, and versatile.
- Tech
Gel Bots? Vibrated goo mimics slithery motions
The ability of soft, jellylike hydrogels to move as do snails, snakes, and inchworms may point the way to a new class of squishy robots that promise to be simple, quiet, and versatile.
- Tech
Glow with the flow
Potentially usable electricity flows when water is forced through millions of ceramic tubes thinner than a human hair.
- Tech
Glow with the flow
Potentially usable electricity flows when water is forced through millions of ceramic tubes thinner than a human hair.
- Tech
Wings of Change
Inspired by the Wright brothers, who steered their first flyer by twisting its pliant wings, engineers are developing versatile and flexible flying machines expected to undergo radical shape changes in flight.
- Tech
Electronic Thread: Fiber transistor may lead to woven circuits
By coating flexible metal fibers with semiconductors, researchers have developed individual threads that act as transistors and that should be linkable into circuits by means of wires included among a fabric's threads.
- Tech
Plastic Memories: Polymer materials store data permanently
Researchers have fabricated a memory device that stores data permanently in electrically-conducting polymers.
- Tech
Laser beam powers flying machine
Caught in a laser's glare on its maiden launch, a lightweight drone with a solar panel demonstrated that continuous flight powered by ground-based lasers is possible.
- Tech
Craft Tech
The Craft Technology Group at the University of Colorado, Boulder, interweaves computation with craft materials both new and old. This Web site offers glimpses of innovative projects involving the use of software to design mechanical toys and paper sculptures, embedding computation and behavior in simple objects such as tacks and hinges, developing affordable three-dimensional printing, […]
- Tech
Timing Is Everything: Implantable polymer chip delivers meds on schedule
A polymer microchip implanted under the skin could deliver multiple doses of medications at programmed intervals, eliminating the need for pills and injections.
- Tech
Sweet-toothed microbe tapped for power
Using a newly discovered bacterium that both frees electrons from sugars and injects those charges straight into electric circuits, scientists have created a fuel cell that converts carbohydrates to electricity with extraordinary efficiency.
