Tech

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Glow with the flow

Potentially usable electricity flows when water is forced through millions of ceramic tubes thinner than a human hair.

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Wings of Change

Inspired by the Wright brothers, who steered their first flyer by twisting its pliant wings, engineers are developing versatile and flexible flying machines expected to undergo radical shape changes in flight.

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Electronic Thread: Fiber transistor may lead to woven circuits

By coating flexible metal fibers with semiconductors, researchers have developed individual threads that act as transistors and that should be linkable into circuits by means of wires included among a fabric's threads.

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Plastic Memories: Polymer materials store data permanently

Researchers have fabricated a memory device that stores data permanently in electrically-conducting polymers.

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Laser beam powers flying machine

Caught in a laser's glare on its maiden launch, a lightweight drone with a solar panel demonstrated that continuous flight powered by ground-based lasers is possible.

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Craft Tech

The Craft Technology Group at the University of Colorado, Boulder, interweaves computation with craft materials both new and old. This Web site offers glimpses of innovative projects involving the use of software to design mechanical toys and paper sculptures, embedding computation and behavior in simple objects such as tacks and hinges, developing affordable three-dimensional printing, […]

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Timing Is Everything: Implantable polymer chip delivers meds on schedule

A polymer microchip implanted under the skin could deliver multiple doses of medications at programmed intervals, eliminating the need for pills and injections.

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Sweet-toothed microbe tapped for power

Using a newly discovered bacterium that both frees electrons from sugars and injects those charges straight into electric circuits, scientists have created a fuel cell that converts carbohydrates to electricity with extraordinary efficiency.

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Wash Those Hands!

A Florida-based company is now developing a laser-based scanning technology to scout for dirty hands. Installed in restaurant washrooms or daycare centers, it could identify fecal traces — evidence that hand washing was incomplete. Indeed, these sensors might even be coupled to a lock that allows workers back into a kitchen after a restroom break, notes Richard Stroman, vice president of eMerge Interactive, which is applying for a patent on the system. Kitchen or food-processing-plant workers who don't pass the laser test would be forced to go back and lather up again.

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Special Delivery: Metallic nanorods shuttle genes

A new gene therapy technique relies on nanorods made of gold and nickel to deliver genes to cells in the body.

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The Daily Flicks: Morphing ink may bring video to newspapers

New types of electronic-paper pixels may eventually make it possible to view full-color video clips in your morning newspaper.

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Dream Machines from Beans: Legume proteins provide motion

Plant proteins swell and shrink in response to calcium, sparking new ideas for micromachines.