Tech
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Tech
Sound power for deep-space travel beyond sun’s reach
An unusually efficient new type of power unit for spacecraft uses sound to convert heat to electricity.
- Tech
Ocean Envy
By mimicking the flippers of penguins, whales, and dolphins, engineers hope to make ocean vessels that are as maneuverable and efficient as the marine animals.
- Tech
A new deep-sea submersible
Scientists have announced a 4-year, $21.6-million design-and-construction effort to replace the aging research submersible Alvin.
- Tech
Aerodynamics for Beginners
NASA’s Glenn Research Center offers an extensive online tutorial on the basics of aerodynamics. Aimed at elementary and high school teachers, the site provides lots of useful information and has slides and worksheets suitable for classroom use at various levels. Go to: http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/bga.html
- Tech
Neutrons may spotlight cancers
Researchers have taken a first step toward developing neutron beams as a medical diagnostic tool that might provide earlier detection of cancers.
- Tech
Lighting the Way for Water: New strategy for steering drops with finesse
Using a beam of ultraviolet light, researchers manipulate tiny drops of water on a surface—a demonstration that could lead to ultrafast and highly precise chemical reactions on a chip.
- Tech
Quantum dots light up cancer cells in mice
Brightly fluorescent crystals known as quantum dots have the potential to seek out cancerous cells in the body, a trick that could lead to highly precise cancer screening.
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- Tech
Nanorods go for the gold
Gold blobs grown onto the ends of tiny, rod-shaped crystals provide potential points for electric contact and chemical liaisons that could enable such semiconductor bits to self-organize into complex circuits or structures.
- Tech
Sweet Frequency: Implantable glucose sensor transmits data wirelessly
Modeled after antitheft magnetic strips, a new implantable glucose sensor for diabetes patients could do away with daily pinprick tests.
- Tech
Sixth Sense
A budding technology called electric field imaging may soon enable devices such as appliances, toys, and computers to detect the presence of people and respond to their motions.
- Tech
DNA puts its best foot forward
A robot made of DNA has taken its first steps, suggesting that such devices could eventually be used for nanoscale manufacturing.
