Tech
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Tech
Tapping sun’s light and heat to make hydrogen
Researchers have demonstrated a highly efficient means of splitting water molecules to generate hydrogen fuel.
- Tech
Electronic skin senses touch
A pressure-detecting membrane laminated onto a sheet of flexible plastic electronics may lead to artificial skin for robots.
- Tech
Flashy Transistors: Electronic workhorses also shed light
Researchers have discovered that the transistor can emit light, a yet-untapped talent.
- 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.
