University of Maryland

First fabric to automatically cool or insulate depending on conditions

Despite decades of innovation in fabrics with high-tech thermal properties that keep marathon runners cool or alpine hikers warm, there has never been a material that changes its insulating properties in response to the environment. Until now.

A new dimension for batteries

Engineers have created a thin battery, made of a few million carefully constructed "microbatteries" in a square inch. Each microbattery is shaped like a very tall, round room, providing much surface area - like wall space - on which nano-thin battery layers are assembled.

Projects drive biopharmaceutical manufacturing innovation

The National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals is pleased to announce a group of projects, designed to advance biopharmaceutical manufacturing and workforce development in the United States.

These robots are tiny. And they are awesome

No one said building tiny robots was easy. But the payoff? Huge. Inspired by the strength, speed, and agility of insects microrobots could be used to help avoid catastrophic collapses by inspecting bridges and other large infrastructure, or deployed in search scenarios after a natural disaster such as an earthquake. In effect, robots the size of an ant could go where humans can't or shouldn't—accessing tight spaces, operating under various weather and safety conditions, and autonomously executing tasks for long periods of time—to help save lives.

Roads Need More Electricity: They Will Make It Themselves

As more and more capabilities are added to roads instead of simply covering a country with extra roads, they are starting to make their own electricity, notably as solar road surface but then with added silent wind turbines, photovoltaic verges and barriers and more.

Roads need more electricity: They will make it themselves

For now, electricity for road systems is provided by very expensive infrastructure to the grid except for a few solar/ wind street lights in China and Korea for example. However, as more and more capabilities are added to roads instead of simply covering a country with extra roads, they are starting to make their own electricity, notably as solar road surface but then with added silent wind turbines, photovoltaic verges and barriers and more.

4D smart scaffolds for tissue engineering

While 3D bioprinting is widely used to construct complex biocompatible structures, researchers are now attempting to extend the technique into the fourth dimension. Here, 3D printed objects can be made to "self-transform" over time, which means that they can take on different forms or functions when exposed to physical stimuli such as osmotic pressure, heat, current UV light or other energy sources.

Why a robot can't yet outjump a flea

When it comes to things that are ultrafast and lightweight, robots can't hold a candle to the fastest-jumping insects and other small-but-powerful creatures. New research could help explain why nature still beats robots, and describes how machines might take the lead.

A higher-energy, safer and longer-lasting zinc battery

A team of researchers has created a water-based zinc battery that is simultaneously powerful, rechargeable, and intrinsically safe.

Psst! A whispering gallery for light boosts solar cells

Trapping light with an optical version of a whispering gallery, researchers have developed a nanoscale coating for solar cells that enables them to absorb about 20 percent more sunlight than uncoated devices.

New fuel cell has exceptional power density and stability

A team of researchers has created a new fuel cell offering both exceptional power densities and long-term stability at optimal temperatures, a discovery that heightens the viability of incorporating fuel cells into a sustainable energy future.

3D printed implants could improve treatment for hearing loss

Researchers using CT scans and 3-D printing have created accurate, custom-designed prosthetic replacements for damaged parts of the middle ear, according to a study.