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2016

Stamping technique creates functional features at nanoscale dimensions

Someday, high-tech stamping might bring us food packaging that displays a digital countdown to warn of spoiling produce, or even a window pane that shows the day's forecast, based on measurements of the weather conditions outside.

Wall-jumping robot is most vertically agile ever built

Roboticists have designed a small robot that can leap into the air and then spring off a wall, or perform multiple vertical jumps in a row, resulting in the highest robotic vertical jumping agility ever recorded.

Prototype chip just three atoms thick

Researchers have demonstrated how it might be possible to mass-produce atomically thin materials and electronics. Why would this be useful? Because such thin materials would be transparent and flexible as well, in ways that would enable electronic devices that wouldn't be possible to make with silicon.

A tiny squeeze gives a big boost in performance

A nanosize squeeze can significantly boost the performance of platinum catalysts that help generate energy in fuel cells, according to a new study.

One-time pollutant may become valued product

Chemists have discovered that one or more organic compounds in a family that traditionally has been known as pollutants could offer an important advance to make cheap, reliable batteries.

Researchers say 2D boron may be best for flexible electronics

Though they're touted as ideal for electronics, two-dimensional materials like graphene may be too flat and hard to stretch to serve in flexible, wearable devices. "Wavy" borophene might be better, according to scientists.

Next big renewable energy source could be right beneath your feet

Triboelectricity is the same phenomenon that produces static electricity on clothing. Chemically treated cellulose nanofibers are a simple, low-cost and effective alternative for harnessing this broadly-existing mechanical energy source.

Beaver-inspired wetsuits in the works

Engineers have now fabricated fur-like, rubbery pelts and used them to identify a mechanism by which air is trapped between individual hairs when the pelts are plunged into liquid.

New kind of supercapacitor made without carbon

Researchers have for the first time developed a supercapacitor that uses no conductive carbon at all, and that could potentially produce more power than existing versions of this technology.

Vaporsens

David Pugh interviewed Angela Mitcham, Business Development and Partnerships manager at Vaporsens, an exciting startup based on nanofibre sensors for detection of over 30 compounds of interest, primarily for the security industry.

3-D-printed robots with shock-absorbing skins

A new method for 3-D printing soft materials that make robots safer and more precise in their movements — and that could be used to improve the durability of drones, phones, shoes, helmets, and more.

Grant to examine conjugated polymers for flexible electronics

The National Science Foundation has awarded $1.2M to three researchers for a proposal which aims to identify the key polymeric properties of conjugated polymers used to develop flexible electronics.

Wearable tech efficiently converts body heat to electricity

Researchers have developed a new design for harvesting body heat and converting it into electricity for use in wearable electronics. The researchers also identified the optimal site on the body for heat harvesting.

Grant to improve the way robots interact with people in factories

A three-year, $1 million project funded by the National Science Foundation to help change the role of robots in factories and make it easier for machines to work alongside people.

Battery you can swallow could enable future ingestible medical devices

Non-toxic, edible batteries could one day power ingestible devices for diagnosing and treating disease. One team reports new progress toward that goal with their batteries made with melanin pigments, naturally found in the skin, hair and eyes.

Artificial muscle for soft robotics: low voltage, high hopes

Researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have developed a dielectric elastomer with a broad range of motion that requires relatively low voltage and no rigid components.

Researchers invent novel materials for better batteries

Inventors are paving the way for the future with energy-efficient batteries for sensors, portable devices and electric cars.

Fungi recycle rechargeable lithium-ion batteries

Old batteries often wind up in landfills or incinerators, potentially harming the environment. And valuable materials remain locked inside. Now, a team of researchers is turning to naturally occurring fungi to drive an environmentally friendly recycling process to extract cobalt and lithium from tons of waste batteries.

New lithium-oxygen battery greatly improves energy efficiency

Lithium-air batteries are considered highly promising technologies for electric cars and portable electronic devices because of their potential for delivering a high energy output in proportion to their weight.

Solar cell captures CO2 and sunlight, produces burnable fuel

Researchers have engineered a potentially game-changing solar cell that cheaply and efficiently converts atmospheric carbon dioxide directly into usable hydrocarbon fuel, using only sunlight for energy.

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