Tech
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Tech
Ghost Town Busters
Facing the threat of a radioactive mess from a dirty bomb, government and industry labs are creating novel cleaning agents and fixatives to aid rescue operations and speed restoration of contaminated zones.
- Tech
Bionic Bacteria: Gold nanoparticles make gadgets of living microbes
Researchers have created an electromechanical device out of living microbes.
- Tech
Road Warriors: Robotic vehicles triumph over desert obstacles
In a landmark contest that has spurred advances in robotic-vehicle technology, five driverless racing machines piloted themselves over more than 200 kilometers of rugged desert terrain.
- Computing
Untangling a Web: The Internet gets a new look
A new mathematical model of the Internet shows that it may not be as vulnerable to centralized attacks as previous research suggested.
- Tech
Humane bloodletting
Medical researchers have designed a new lancet that dramatically reduces the pain experienced by lab mice during blood-sampling procedures.
- Tech
Light sensor may improve battlefield tools
A new microscale ultraviolet-light sensor could help shrink the size of some military field systems used for detecting biowarfare agents and clandestine communications to the dimensions of a cell phone.
- Tech
Getting a charge out of backpacking
A backpack enhanced with springs, gears, and a generator converts the up-and-down motions of the wearer into enough electricity to power portable electronic gadgets.
- Tech
Growing Expectations
Biofuels made from waste agricultural plant matter are gaining prominence as new technologies make them increasingly competitive with petroleum fuels.
- Tech
Stepping Lightly: New view of how human gaits conserve energy
Using a simple mathematical model, scientists may have pinpointed the key aspects of human locomotion that make ordinary walking and running the most energy-efficient ways for people to get around on foot.
- Tech
Electronics Gets Y’s: Nanotubes branch out as novel transistors
Y-shaped nanotubes might become a common component in ultrasmall electronic circuitry.
- Tech
Body-fluid battery
A battery that's activated by body fluids such as saliva or urine may one day power devices ranging from disposable home health-care testing kits to emergency radio transmitters that turn on with a lick.
- Tech
Wings warp for birdlike agility
An easily maneuverable, bird-size airplane whose wings can change shape in flight may be able to carry out a variety of assignments in tight spots.
