Max Planck Institute

Soft Robot Actuators Heal Themselves

Repeated activity wears on soft robotic actuators, but these machines' moving parts need to be reliable and easily fixed. Now a team of researchers has a biosynthetic polymer, patterned after squid ring teeth, that is self-healing and biodegradable, creating a material not only good for actuators, but also for hazmat suits and other applications where tiny holes could cause a danger.

Tiny Drug Delivery Robots Travel Through the Blood Stream

Scientists took a leukocyte as the blueprint and developed a microrobot that has the size, shape and moving capabilities of a white blood cell. They covered the ball-shaped microroller with a magnetic nanofilm on one side and with anti-cancer drugs on the other. Simulating a blood vessel in a laboratory setting, they succeeded in magnetically navigating the microroller through this dynamic and dense environment.

Fraunhofer FEP

Fraunhofer FEP is one of many Fraunhofer institutes across Germany. This profile examines their recent work on image sensors that combine a silicon backplane with an organic light absorbing layer to extend the wavelength detection range into the SWIR region.

Tests Measure Solar Panel Performance Beyond Established Standards

Photovoltaics used in solar panels are sensitive to environmental factors and often suffer degradation over time. International Electrotechnical Commission standards for accelerated degradation do not include field tests. While some testing facilities have made data available, much of the data needed to make business decisions for PV is not available publicly.

Artificial Intelligence as Behavioral Analyst

What is the common ground between making a cup of tea and putting on your shoes? Both actions consist of several movements in a row.

Chiton Mollusk Provides Model for New Armor Design

The motivations for using biology as inspiration to engineering vary based on the project, but the combination of flexibility and protection seen in the chiton mollusk was all the motivation necessary.

Promising Discovery Could Lead to a Better, Cheaper Solar Cell

Researchers have gained tantalizing new insights into the properties of perovskites, one of the world's most promising materials in the quest to produce a more efficient, robust and cheaper solar cell.

New method improves measurement of animal behavior using deep learning

A new toolkit goes beyond existing machine learning methods by measuring body posture in animals with high speed and accuracy.

Nylon as a building block for transparent electronic devices?

As the microelectronic industry is now shifting toward wearable electronic gadgets and electronic textiles, the comprising electronic materials, such as ferroelectrics, should be integrated with our clothes.

Researchers are developing an efficient OLED consisting of one layer

Organic light-emitting diodes are components that no longer consist of compounds containing the semiconducting material gallium, but of so-called organic compounds in which carbon is a main component. Compared to conventional light-emitting diodes, however, the luminosity and lifetime of OLEDs are currently lower, which is why they represent a current field of research.

Scissors get stuck -- another way bacteria use CRISPR/Cas9

In biotech these days, CRISPR/Cas9 is a hot topic, because of its utility as a precise gene editing tool. Before humans repurposed it, CRISPR/Cas9 was a sort of internal immune system bacteria use to defend themselves against phages, or viruses that infect bacteria, by slicing up the phages' DNA.

Special nanotubes could improve solar power and imaging technology

Physicists discovered a novel kind of nanotube that generates current in the presence of light. Devices such as optical sensors and infrared imaging chips are likely applications, which could be useful in fields such as automated transport and astronomy. In future, if the effect can be magnified and the technology scaled up, it could lead to high-efficiency solar power devices.

AI make editing video as easy as editing text

In television and film, actors often flub small bits of otherwise flawless performances. Other times they leave out a critical word. For editors, the only solution so far is to accept the flaws or fix them with expensive reshoots.

Flexible circuits for 3D printing

A research cooperation has developed a process suitable for 3D printing that can be used to produce transparent and mechanically flexible electronic circuits.

Artificial intelligence to boost Earth system science

A study by German scientists shows that artificial intelligence can substantially improve our understanding of the climate and the Earth system. Especially the potential of deep learning has only partially been exhausted so far. In particular, complex dynamic processes such as hurricanes, fire propagation, and vegetation dynamics can be better described with the help of AI.

Predicting leaky heart valves with 3D printing

Researchers have created a novel 3D printing workflow that allows cardiologists to evaluate how different valve sizes will interact with each patient's unique anatomy, before the medical procedure is actually performed.

Recreate your favorite paintings using deep learning and 3-D printing

The empty frames hanging inside the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum serve as a tangible reminder of the world's biggest unsolved art heist. While the original masterpieces may never be recovered, a team from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) might be able to help, with a new system aimed at designing reproductions of paintings.

Successful second round of experiments with Wendelstein 7-X

The goal of fusion research is to develop a climate- and environment-friendly power station. Like the sun, it is to derive energy from the fusion of atomic nuclei. Since the fusion fire only ignites at temperatures of over 100 million degrees, the fuel - a low-density hydrogen plasma - must not come into contact with cold vessel walls. Held by magnetic fields, it floats in an almost contact-free manner in the interior of a vacuum chamber.

Facilitating diagnosis with a new type of biosensor

Scientists have developed a new type of biosensor able to precisely quantify metabolites using a single drop of blood. The accuracy and simplicity of the procedure could make it a tool of choice for diagnosing and monitoring several diseases.

Biosensor chip wirelessly detects disease

Researchers have developed a chip that can detect a type of genetic mutation known as a single nucleotide polymorphism and wirelessly send the results in real time to a smartphone, computer, or other electronic device. The chip is at least 1,000 times more sensitive at detecting an SNP than current technology.