Tech

  1. Tech

    Little levers for satellites: Cilia may precisely dock tiny spacecraft

    Tiny artificial hairs that imitate biological cilia flex with enough muscle and finesse to maneuver tiny satellites into place for docking with a mother ship.

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  2. Tech

    Magnetic refrigerator gets down and homey

    Because it uses a permanent magnet, a new, prototype magnetic cooler takes up so little space that it could give rise to ordinary household refrigerators and air conditioners that run on magnetism instead of volatile liquids.

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  3. Tech

    Engineered crystal obeys inner bananas

    Flexing new skills at custom-designing crystals, researchers built a specific optical trait into a new organic crystal by tinkering with the shape of one of the crystal's constituent molecules.

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  4. Tech

    Many-armed magnets reveal stem cells

    Novel particles that combine magnetic crystals and many-branched polymers may permit doctors to track stem cells in people by using standard magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners.

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  5. Tech

    Little lamp may set quantum tech aglow

    By reliably emitting just one photon when excited by just one voltage pulse, a sophisticated takeoff on a common class of tiny lamps called light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, may help usher in exotic technologies that rely on quantum mechanics, including quantum cryptography and quantum computers.

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  6. Tech

    Fly lends an ear to microphone design

    The unique way some flies localize sound has inspired engineers to design tiny directional microphones for hearing aids and surveillance devices.

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  7. Tech

    Gadgets from the Quantum Spookhouse

    Despite much fanfare about proposed computers based on weird features of quantum mechanics, a whole array of other quantum technologies—navigation devices, chip-making equipment, atomic clocks and more—may also outshine their conventional cousins and be easier to implement than full-blown quantum computers.

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  8. Tech

    Technique senses damage before it hurts

    A new technique for automatically detecting damage to aircraft, buildings, and other structures may lead to practical damage-monitoring systems by reducing false alarms that make today's laboratory prototypes unsuitable for real-world use.

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  9. Computing

    Sneaky Calculations

    The same communication system that brings you the Web page of your choice can be exploited to perform computations.

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  10. Tech

    Wiring teensy tubes, strands into circuits

    Single-molecule transistors and other comparably small components are now at work in prototype circuits that may eventually lead to electronic devices crammed with up to 100,000 times more transistors per square centimeter than are on today's chips.

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  11. Tech

    Exploding wires open sharp X-ray eye

    Using exploding wires to make low-energy X-rays, a novel, high-resolution camera snaps X-ray pictures of millimeter-scale or larger objects—such as full insects—in which features only micrometers across show up throughout the image.

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  12. Tech

    Curve on golf club sends ball straight

    Although the curved faces of golf clubs called drivers blast balls sideways, their convex design works just right to compensate for other effects tending to make balls veer off the fairway, new calculations show.

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