Tech

Computing

Hairy Calculations: Picturing tresses in a truer light

Hard-to-simulate blond hair may look more natural in future animations thanks to a new computer model that allows for hairs' transparency and includes the illumination produced by light propagating from hair to hair.

Tech

Litmus test gets tiny

When zapped by a laser, new, light-sensitive nanobaubles could provide a reading of pH, or how acidic or basic a solution is, even from deep inside living cells.

Tech

Farm-Fuel Feedback: Soybeans have advantages over corn

A new analysis of two biofuels finds that while both provide more energy than they consume, soybean biodiesel gives more bang for the buck than ethanol made from corn.

Tech

Smells Like the Real Thing

Chemical sensors that take cues from the mammalian pattern-based approach to identifying odors and flavors create colorful readouts that even the eyes can distinguish.

Tech

Power Play: Shift from loss to gain may boost silicon devices

By tapping solar cell-like behavior in a silicon optical amplifier, engineers have shown that light-manipulating components made from silicon can become power recyclers rather than power wasters, an advance that boosts prospects for silicon optical devices.

Tech

Hot Prospect: Simple burner keeps pollution counts down

A new type of combustion chamber reduces pollution with less complexity and a safer, more reliable design.

Tech

Blinding spies’ digital eyes

To prevent unauthorized picture taking, an automated antispy system spots digital cameras and zaps them with confounding flashes of light.

Tech

Humanlike touch from chemical film

A nanoparticle-laden, pressure-detecting membrane feels textures with about the same sensitivity as human skin.

Tech

Pumping Alloy

A new way to power artificial muscles improves the prospects for making lifelike humanoid robots and prosthetic limbs.

Tech

How Products are Made

What does it take to manufacture an accordion or a zipper? Organized alphabetically by product name, this intriguing Web site provides details on how a wide variety of everyday and basic products are made. Go to: http://www.madehow.com/

Tech

Quantum-Dot Leap

Multiple electrons from photons in quantum dots could be a boon to solar cells and other technologies.

Tech

Directing tubular traffic

Researchers have shown that they can steer individual protein tubes along tiny channels of a glass chip.