Tech
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Soaking Up Rays
Although light shines through body parts of a primitive marine sponge much as it does through sophisticated optical fibers for telecommunications, scientists differ on whether sponges hold clues to better fibers for humankind.
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Setting electronics in artificial stone
Electronics components made of Portland cement may one day be part of buildngs and roadways that double as gargantuan sensors or other current-carrying devices.
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Having gathered moss, water drops roll
A coating of water-repellent powder transforms water droplets into remarkably mobile and resiliant balls, hoops, or peanut-shaped blobs.
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Biotechnology may fortify U.S. Army
A government-sponsored study says the U.S. Army may benefit from advances in biotechnology during the next 25 years, including sensors that identify soldiers by the food they ate, protein-based computers, near-instant vaccines, and automated wound treatments.
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Optics oddity challenges microchip makers
An obscure optical effect called instrinsic birefringence has suddenly appeared as a threat to technology for making denser, faster microchips.
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Dances with Robots
Soldiers, rescue workers, and others may attain superhuman strength, speed, and endurance as a result of a new military program to develop powered robotic exoskeletons contoured to a person's body.
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Device fingers chemical thugs at scene
A compact, new instrument exploits quantum mechanics to rapidly identify illegal drugs, pollutants, and other chemicals, on the spot.
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Robosaur roams with spring in its step
The novel dinosaur robot Troodon takes two-legged walking machines onto new terrain.
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Polymer takes dim view of explosives
By spraying surfaces with a light-emitting polymer, researchers have taken a step toward making new sensors for traces of common explosives.
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Getting Nanowired
Makers of nanowires may overcome the limits that loom for microchip fabrication.
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Electromagnetism acts oddly in device
Without breaking any physical laws, a novel, fiberglass-copper structure affects microwaves so strangely that a beam of radiation passing through it bends at an angle opposite from what it get bent at an angle opposite from what it would have exiting any other known material.
