Pennsylvania State University

Treeswift's Autonomous Robots Take Flight to Save Forests

Forests cover 30% of the Earth's landmass, but that number is on the decline. Despite forests' crucial role in conserving wildlife and processing carbon dioxide, many are threatened by deforestation and wildfires. Complicating these threats is the lack of quantitative information that foresters and environmental researchers need for making important decisions to preserve forests.

AI Keeps an Eye on Volcano Movements

Radar satellites can collect massive amounts of remote sensing data that can detect ground movements at volcanoes in near real time. These ground movements could signal impending volcanic activity and unrest; however, clouds and other atmospheric and instrumental disturbances can introduce significant errors in those ground movement measurements. Now, researchers have used artificial intelligence to clear up that noise, drastically facilitating and improving near real-time observation of volcanic movements and the detection of volcanic activity and unrest.

Engineers Print Wearable Sensors Directly on Skin Without Heat

Wearable sensors are evolving from watches and electrodes to bendable devices that provide far more precise biometric measurements and comfort for users. Now, an international team of researchers has taken the evolution one step further by printing sensors directly on human skin without the use of heat.

Using Wearable Technology to Prevent Kidney Stones

Kidney stones are a painful and expensive medical problem, and people who suffer from kidney stones once are likely to experience them a second time. Recurrence can often be prevented if patients increase urine output by increasing the amount of water that they drink. Though this may seem easy, fewer than 50% of people who have suffered from kidney stones are able to drink the recommended amount of fluids.

Thin Layer Protects Battery, Allows Cold Charging

In the search for a reliable, quick-charging, cold-weather battery for automobiles, a self-assembling, thin layer of electrochemically active molecules may be the solution, according to a team of researchers.

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.

Directly Printing 3D Tissues Within the Body

A collaboration has produced a specially-formulated bio-ink designed for printing directly in the body.

Supercapacitor Promises Storage, High Power and Fast Charging

A new supercapacitor based on manganese oxide could combine the storage capacity of batteries with the high power and fast charging of other supercapacitors, according to researchers.

In East Africa, a Race to Outsmart Locusts with Drones and Data

While the eyes of the world are on the novel coronavirus, East Africa continues to struggle with another crisis of biblical proportions: growing swarms of ravenous locusts. Both crises are extraordinary in scale, and both foes multiply so quickly that governments are struggling to contain them.

Scientists Tap Unused Energy Source to Power Smart Sensor Networks

The electricity that lights our homes and powers our appliances also creates small magnetic fields that are present all around us. Scientists have developed a new mechanism capable of harvesting this wasted magnetic field energy and converting it into enough electricity to power next-generation sensor networks for smart buildings and factories.

High Energy Li-Ion Battery is Safer for Electric Vehicles

A lithium-ion battery that is safe, has high power and can last for 1 million miles has been developed by a team in Penn State's Battery and Energy Storage Technology (BEST) Center.

Design Approach May Help Fix Bias in Artificial Intelligence

Bias in artificial intelligence and machine learning programs is well established. Researchers are now proposing that software developers incorporate the concept of "feminist design thinking" into their development process as a way of improving equity - particularly in the development of software used in the hiring process.

Engineers Mix and Match Materials to Make New Stretchy Electronics

At the heart of any electronic device is a cold, hard computer chip, covered in a miniature city of transistors and other semiconducting elements. Because computer chips are rigid, the electronic devices that they power, such as our smartphones, laptops, watches, and televisions, are similarly inflexible. Now a process developed by engineers may be the key to manufacturing flexible electronics with multiple functionalities in a cost-effective way.