Archive

Opening Doors to Foldable Electronics with Inkjet-Printed Graphene
Article

Imagine a bendable tablet computer or an electronic newspaper that could fold to fit in a pocket. The technology for these devices may not be so far off. Northwestern University researchers have recently developed a graphene-based ink that is highly conductive and tolerant to bending, and they have used it to inkjet-print graphene patterns that could be used for extremely detailed, conductive...

Drawing closer to Alzheimer’s magic bullet?
Article

Imagine a pharmaceutical prevention, treatment or even cure for Alzheimer’s disease. It is almost impossible to overstate how monumental a development that would be and how it would answer the prayers of millions. Though science isn’t there yet, a new study published in The Journal of Neuroscience spearheaded by USC Davis School of Gerontology researchers offers a tantalizing glimpse...

Solar-powered ship beats its own trans-Atlantic speed record
Article

With its previous circumnavigation of the planet, it had already set the record for longest distance traveled by a purely solar-powered boat. Now, the Tûranor PlanetSolar (which is also the world’s largest solar-powered watercraft), has broken its own 2010 record for fastest Atlantic crossing by a solar-powered boat. As part of a scientific expedition that began last month, the...

Solar Kettle boils water using the Sun's rays
Article

The solar kettle gives you hot/boiling water on tap wherever there is sunshine. Whether camping in a tent, motor-home, caravanning or on manoeuvres with the army; the solar kettle means no more reliance on gas stoves just to make a cuppa. You have an unlimited source of free energy! The Solar Kettle is an ideal companion for bird watchers, fishing enthusiasts and anyone else who enjoys...

Acrobatic XRL robot takes cliffs and valleys in its stride
Article

XRL is a lighter version of X-RHex, designed to be more agile while maintaining the same leg spacing as RHex, and features the same modular payload architecture to support a variety of research needs. X-RHex Lite (XRL) is a design study in methods of utilizing the same laboratory on legs components as X-RHex, in a slightly different configuration to simplify fabrication, while minimizing...

Advance in Nanotech Gene Sequencing Technique
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Now, a team led by University of Pennsylvania physicists has used solid-state nanopores to differentiate single-stranded DNA molecules containing sequences of a single repeating base. The study was led by Marija Drndić, an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the School of Arts and Sciences, along with graduate students Kimberly Venta and Matthew Puster and post-...

New World Record in Wireless Data Transmission
Article

Researchers of the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics and the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology have achieved the wireless transmission of 40 Gbit/s at 240 GHz over a distance of one kilometer. Their most recent demonstration sets a new world record and ties in seamlessly with the capacity of optical fiber transmission. In the future, such radio links will be able to close gaps...

Asteroid 1998 QE2 to Sail Past Earth Nine Times Larger Than Cruise Ship
Article

On May 31, 2013, asteroid 1998 QE2 will sail serenely past Earth, getting no closer than about 3.6 million miles (5.8 million kilometers), or about 15 times the distance between Earth and the moon. And while QE2 is not of much interest to those astronomers and scientists on the lookout for hazardous asteroids, it is of interest to those who dabble in radar astronomy and have a 230-foot (70-meter...

Skills learning program in middle schools dramatically reduces fighting
Article

Middle school children who completed a social-emotional skills learning program at school were 42 percent less likely to engage in physical fighting a year later, according to a new study in the Journal of Adolescent Health. The study, which is ongoing, involves more than 3,600 children at 36 middle schools across Illinois and Kansas, the largest sample to date used to investigate the impact of a...

This Crawling Inchworm Robot Can Be Printed Out and Folds Itself
Article

Self-folding happens thanks to shape memory polymers that contract when heated. By printing these polymers on one side of a hinged substrate and then heating them, the hinge can be made to bend. The amount of bend is controlled by etching flexible connectors that connect both sides of the hinge, and with enough hinges heated in the right order, it’s possible to create fairly complex folded...