Office of Naval Research (ONR)

Common soil bacteria creates nano sized conductive wires

Scientists have genetically modified a common soil bacteria to create electrical wires that not only conduct electricity, but are thousands of times thinner than a human hair.

Tough new hydrogel hybrid doesn't dry out

Engineers have found a way to prevent hydrogels from dehydrating, with a technique that could lead to longer-lasting contact lenses, stretchy microfluidic devices, flexible bioelectronics, and even artificial skin.

Bionic leaf turns sunlight into liquid fuel

The days of drilling into the ground in the search for fuel may be numbered, because if Daniel Nocera has his way, it'll just be a matter of looking for sunny skies.

A flexible camera: a radically different approach to imaging

A team of engineers has developed a novel sheet camera that can be wrapped around everyday objects to capture images that cannot be taken with one or more conventional cameras.

MIT develops nontoxic way of generating portable power

Researchers at MIT have come up with an alternative system for generating electricity, which harnesses heat and uses no metals or toxic materials.

SheerWind selected by cleantech accelerator

A cost-effective, high-performance alternative to conventional wind technology, by capturing, concentrating, accelerating, and harvesting wind power in a funnel system.

Naval research grant will speed work on materials, energy

A grant will help researchers more efficiently test advanced materials being developed.

Engineers build biologically powered chip

Columbia University Engineering researchers have, for the first time, harnessed the molecular machinery of living systems to power an integrated circuit from adenosine triphosphate, the energy currency of life.

Band-aid senses temperature, lights up, and delivers medicine

Engineers have designed what may be the Band-Aid of the future: a sticky, stretchy, gel-like material that can incorporate temperature sensors, LED lights, and other electronics, as well as tiny, drug-delivering reservoirs and channels.

Engineer to build device to capture lost heat energy

An engineer is co-leading a team that is seeking ways to harness heat energy lost from automobiles, buildings and other devices.

Method for scaling up production of thin electronic material

Sheets of graphene and other materials that are virtually two-dimensional hold great promise for electronic, optical, and other high-tech applications. But the biggest limitation in unleashing this potential has been figuring out how to make these materials in the form of anything larger than tiny flakes.

Realizing carbon nanotube integrated circuits

Individual transistors made from carbon nanotubes are faster and more energy efficient than those made from other materials. Going from a single transistor to an integrated circuit full of transistors, however, is a giant leap.

World's largest ocean thermal plant

Makai Ocean Engineering celebrates the completion of the world's largest operational Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority.

Graphene gets competition

Graphene, the only one atom thick carbon network, achieved overnight fame with the 2010 Nobel Prize. But now comes competition: Such layers can also be formed by black phosphorous.

Sol-gel capacitor dielectric offers record-high energy storage

Using a hybrid silica sol-gel material and self-assembled monolayers of a common fatty acid, researchers have developed a new capacitor dielectric material that provides an electrical energy storage capacity rivaling certain batteries, with both a high energy density and high power density.

Tough biogel structures produced by 3-D printing

Researchers have developed a new way of making tough biocompatible materials, called "hydrogels," into complex and intricately patterned shapes.

Bulletproof battery

New battery technology from the University of Michigan should be able to prevent the kind of fires that grounded Boeing 787 Dreamliners in 2013.

Atom-thick CCD could capture images

An atomically thin material may lead to the thinnest-ever imaging platform.

Simple way to make material for energy storage, electronics

Researchers have created flexible, patterned sheets of multilayer graphene from a cheap polymer by burning it with a computer-controlled laser.

Research shows how giant clams harness the sun

Evolution in extreme environments has produced life forms with amazing abilities and traits.