Tech

Tech

Tiny Timepiece: Atomic clock could fit almost anywhere

Physicists have shrunk the high-tech heart of an atomic clock to the size of a rice grain.

Tech

Electrifying Toxic Cleanup: Electrodes could stimulate removal of radioactive waste

Researchers have devised a bioremediation system that electrically stimulates bacteria to break down toxic chemicals in the environment.

Tech

Helping circuits get enough oxygen

The search for new insulators needed for making ever-smaller circuits may get a boost from a new electron microscopy technique sensitive to a single oxygen atom missing from a crystal layer.

Tech

Sound power for deep-space travel beyond sun’s reach

An unusually efficient new type of power unit for spacecraft uses sound to convert heat to electricity.

Tech

Ocean Envy

By mimicking the flippers of penguins, whales, and dolphins, engineers hope to make ocean vessels that are as maneuverable and efficient as the marine animals.

Tech

A new deep-sea submersible

Scientists have announced a 4-year, $21.6-million design-and-construction effort to replace the aging research submersible Alvin.

Tech

Aerodynamics for Beginners

NASA’s Glenn Research Center offers an extensive online tutorial on the basics of aerodynamics. Aimed at elementary and high school teachers, the site provides lots of useful information and has slides and worksheets suitable for classroom use at various levels. Go to: http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/bga.html

Tech

Neutrons may spotlight cancers

Researchers have taken a first step toward developing neutron beams as a medical diagnostic tool that might provide earlier detection of cancers.

Tech

When the Chips are Down

Scientists seek alternatives to a computer technology nearing its limits.

Tech

Novel sensing system catches the dud spud

A new device can detect a single potato that's infected with bacterial soft rot while buried deep in a storage crate with hundreds of healthy tubers.

Tech

Lighting the Way for Water: New strategy for steering drops with finesse

Using a beam of ultraviolet light, researchers manipulate tiny drops of water on a surface—a demonstration that could lead to ultrafast and highly precise chemical reactions on a chip.

Tech

Quantum dots light up cancer cells in mice

Brightly fluorescent crystals known as quantum dots have the potential to seek out cancerous cells in the body, a trick that could lead to highly precise cancer screening.