3D Display Could Bring Touch to the Digital World

Imagine an iPad with a surface that can morph and deform, allowing you to draw 3D designs, create haiku poems that jump out from the screen, and even hold your partner’s hand from an ocean away. Such is the vision of a team from the University of Colorado Boulder.

A Gentle-Yet-Strong, Dexterous, Precise, Robotic Gripper

Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a robotic gripping device that is gentle, strong, dexterous, and precise enough to pick up microfilms that are 20 times thinner than a human hair.

Modified EEG Measures Brain's Electrical Activity During Immersive VR Interactions

Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have modified a commercial virtual reality (VR) headset, giving it the ability to measure brain activity and examine how we react to hints, stressors, and other outside forces.

Here's an Idea: A Plant-Based Gel That Saves Lives

A hemostatic gel technology that rapidly controls bleeding could transform wound care.

How Much Do You Know About Soft Robots?

Unlike rigid-body robots, which have a finite number of joints and thus limited freedom, soft robots are made of flexible materials and operate by continuous deformation. So, how much do you know about soft robots? Find out with this quiz.

Print 3D Metal Objects at Room Temperature Using a Conductive Metallic Gel

Professor Michael Dickey, of North Carolina State University, and his team have developed a unique process that allows you to print 3D metal objects that have good electric and thermal conductivity as well as good structural properties.

Generative Design Puts Hydrogen Fuel Cell Development in High Gear

Toyota Research Institute of North America has developed a simulation-driven generative design method and applied it to the design of flow field microchannel plates, which direct the movement of fluid reactants in microreactors like hydrogen — oxygen fuel cells.

Product of The Month

See the product of the month: InnoPhase IoT, Inc.'s Talaria TWOTM Ultra-low power (ULP) Wi-Fi optimized market-ready solution for cloud-connected IP video IoT devices.

A Gripper That Grasps by Reflex

Looking to give robots a more nimble, human-like touch, MIT engineers have now developed a gripper that grasps by reflex. Rather than start from scratch after a failed attempt, the robot adapts in the moment.

Mind-Controlling Machines

Researchers from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) have developed biosensor technology that will allow you to operate devices, such as robots and machines, solely through thought-control.

Caterpillar-Inspired Soft Robotics Locomotion

Researchers have demonstrated a caterpillar-like soft robot that can move forward, backward, and even dip under narrow spaces. Its movement is driven by a novel pattern of silver nanowires.

'Toggle Switch' Could Help Quantum Computers Become More Versatile

Quantum-computer designers are constantly faced with challenges, but a new device from a team at NIST may make them easier to solve.

Clean, Sustainable Fuels Made from ‘Thin Air’ and Plastic Waste

Researchers have demonstrated how carbon dioxide can be captured from industrial processes — or even directly from the air — and transformed into clean, sustainable fuels using just the energy from the sun.

New Bioinspired Robot Flies, Walks, and More

A newly created real-life Transformer can reconfigure its body to achieve eight distinct types of motion and can autonomously assess the environment it faces to choose the most effective...

Turning Old Maps into 3D Digital Models of Lost Neighborhoods

Researchers have developed machine learning tools that can extract details about individual buildings from maps to make 3D digital models.

Earthly Twin Offers Test Bed for NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover

OPTIMISM, the full-scale engineering model of Perseverance, on Earth is helping NASA assess the risk of potential driving hazards on the surface of the Red Planet.

Smart Material Challenges Newton’s Laws of Motion

The team has developed a prototype metamaterial that uses electrical signals to control both the direction and intensity of energy waves passing through a solid material.

Megawatt Electrical Motor Could Help Electrify Aviation

Aerospace engineers designed a 1-megawatt electrical motor that is a stepping stone toward electrifying the largest aircraft.

Superlubricity Coating for Nearly Friction-Free Surfaces

Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have invented a coating that could dramatically reduce friction in common load-bearing systems with moving...

'Artificial Memory' Can Help Robots Find Missing Objects

Engineers at the University of Waterloo have discovered a new way to program robots to help people with dementia locate objects they need but have lost.

3D-Printed Talking Robot Heads Could Improve Audio Tech

The Augmented Listening Laboratory at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is using 3D-printed, humanoid robots for research to improve acoustics.

Engineers “Grow” Atomically Thin Transistors on Top of Computer Chips

Emerging AI applications, like chatbots that generate natural human language, demand denser, more powerful computer chips. But semiconductor chips are...

The World’s First Wood Transistor

Transistors are considered by some to be an invention just as important to humanity as the telephone, the light bulb, or the bicycle. Today, they are a crucial component in modern electronic devices,...

AI Can Run 10,000 Microbial Experiments per Day

The artificial intelligence platform — BacterAI — mapped the metabolism of two microbes associated with oral health — with no baseline information to start with.

Key Design Considerations for Automated Production of EV Batteries

Examining an EV battery degassing automated cell that is widely installed across the industry exemplifies many design features.