Posts Tagged ‘mechanical engineering’
Earth & Environment - Jan 7, 2010 16:43 - 8 Comments
Pulling the plug on hybrid myths
U. CHICAGO—What’s the real deal with plug-in hybrid electric vehicles? Vehicle systems engineer Forrest Jehlik from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory would like to dispel some commonly held myths. (more…)
Science & Technology - Dec 18, 2009 12:09 - 3 Comments
Flying micro-machines mimic hummingbirds
U. BUFFALO (US)—The secret to the flight of the hummingbird and other tiny birds and insects lies in the looping, swirling flow of air, called a vortex, that their flapping wings create. (more…)
Science & Technology - Nov 18, 2009 12:55 - 2 Comments
Marveling over ‘molecular chicken wire’
VANDERBILT (US)—The hottest, thinnest, toughest new material in physics and nanotechnology is graphene: a remarkably flat molecule made of carbon atoms arranged in hexagonal rings much like molecular chicken wire. (more…)
Science & Technology - Nov 16, 2009 17:14 - 0 Comments
Tiny light beam budges nanoscale object
CORNELL (US)—With a bit of leverage, researchers have used a very tiny beam of light with as little as 1 milliwatt of power to move a silicon structure up to 12 nanometers. That’s enough to completely switch the optical properties of the structure from opaque to transparent, they report. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Nov 16, 2009 12:38 - 2 Comments
Doctors take 3-D tour before surgery
IOWA STATE (US)—James Oliver picked up an Xbox game controller, looked up to a video screen, and zipped through a patient’s chest cavity for an up-close look at the bottom of the heart. Oliver was using new software that allows doctors to take an accurate, 3-D tour of a patient’s anatomy in advance of surgery. (more…)
Science & Technology - Oct 5, 2009 18:00 - 1 Comment
3-D printed glass melds art, science
U. WASHINGTON (US)—A team of engineers and artists has developed a way to create glass objects using a conventional 3-D printer. The technique allows a new type of material to be used in such devices. (more…)
Science & Technology - Sep 14, 2009 14:18 - 1 Comment
Diamonds deliver best nanomedicine
NORTHWESTERN (US)—Gene therapy holds promise in treating a myriad of diseases, including cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. Developing a scalable system for delivering genes to cells both efficiently and safely, however, has been a challenge. (more…)
Science & Technology - Sep 2, 2009 14:59 - 0 Comments
Honey, who shrunk the laser light?
A bright point of light from a single plasmon laser emanates from the optical setup used by UC Berkeley researchers. (Courtesy: Xiang Zhang Lab/UC Berkeley)
Science & Technology - Aug 26, 2009 4:00 - 1 Comment
Bend it like bright LED screens
Stretchable micro-LED display, consisting of an interconnected mesh of printed micro LEDs bonded to a rubber substrate.
Science & Technology - Aug 14, 2009 4:00 - 0 Comments
‘Kissing’ tetrahedra break world record
“We wanted to know this: What’s the densest way to pack space?” says Salvatore Torquato. “It’s a notoriously difficult problem to solve, and it involves complex objects that, at the time, we simply did not know how to handle.” (Courtesy: Torquato Laboratory)
Earth & Environment - Aug 11, 2009 4:00 - 0 Comments
Beijing air sets Olympic gold standard
Above, a view of northwest Beijing on a clear day and, below, on a smoggy day.
Science & Technology - Jul 28, 2009 9:48 - 0 Comments
Tiny electronics via silicon with ‘afterburners’
“This gives the Intels and the Microns and the Samsungs of the world another tool to try, and I guarantee you they’ll be trying this,” says James Tour about a new technique that may improve integrated circuit design. (The microchips above feature an integrated circuit visible through the transparent window. Courtesy: Richard Wheeler/Wikimedia Commons)
Science & Technology - Jul 21, 2009 13:47 - 0 Comments
Faster than supersonic on ‘spiked’ jet fuel
“The idea of being able to put in a very small quantity and have such a dramatic effect is important,” says lead investigator Ilhan Aksay about adding nanocatalysts to jet fuel to improve performance.
Earth & Environment - Jul 20, 2009 12:28 - 1 Comment
Getting best eco-bang for biofuel buck
“Future carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere will tell us when we’re kidding ourselves about what actually works. For carbon management, the atmosphere is the ultimate accountant,” says Princeton University’s Robert Socolow.
Science & Technology - Jul 15, 2009 10:47 - 1 Comment
Dolphins zoom with ‘delta-wing’ flippers
Paul Weber and Laurens Howle with some of their model flippers. (Credit: Duke Photography)
Science & Technology - Jun 8, 2009 8:58 - 0 Comments
Slithery science of snake movement
How does an animal move without legs? Animals without legs tend to be long and slender, such as the corn snake above. This allows them to squeeze into spaces under branches and leaves. To move along flat ground, snakes use a variety of limbless “gaits,” analogous to those of the horse, such as the walk, trot, and gallop.
Science & Technology - May 12, 2009 16:46 - 0 Comments
Safety no longer a luxury with in-car sensors
UC IRVINE (US)—Drivers worldwide soon will navigate dangerous road conditions more safely, thanks to new sensor technology. The device features a microscopic gyroscope that alerts the safety system to correct when it detects the vehicle beginning to spin or roll. (more…)
Science & Technology - Apr 29, 2009 14:10 - 1 Comment
Ultra-sensitive nanodevice ‘wired’ by light
YALE (US)—In the push to detect motion on the atomic level—like the spin of a single electron—researchers from Yale University have proposed using silicon-based nanocantilevers that are smaller than the wavelength of light. The novel approach employs photonic principles, eliminating the need for electric transducers and expensive laser setups. (more…)
