Last update

Engineering

Wave-shaped wall and roof designs can protect against hurricane-force winds

Florida State University faculty are helping build stronger structures by examining how wave-shaped patterns on exterior walls and roofs reduce wind loads on low-rise buildings by up to 60%.

Engineering

Solar cells gain efficiency by emitting light in fewer directions

Solar cells absorb sunlight and convert it into electricity. This process, however, is not perfect, and a large part of the solar energy is simply lost along the way. Some of it is lost as heat, while photons with insufficient ...

Telecom

Laser-sculpted bumps that guide light around obstacles could make fiber-optic communications faster and more reliable

University of Maryland (UMD) assistant professor Avik Dutt and research colleagues have demonstrated a new way to control light precisely by using microscopic structures created on the surface of hair-thin glass fibers.

Engineering

How to head into VR without wearing a headset

A person wearing bulky goggles, turning awkwardly in circles and reaching out to grab something that isn't there—that is the image many of us have of virtual reality, and one that researchers at Kyushu University want to ...

Technology news

Engineering

Modular tire design aims to cut waste and monitor road conditions

Although tires are a vehicle's sole point of contact with the road, their basic design has barely changed in decades. Once worn down, millions of tons of tire casings—whose main structure remains intact—end up as difficult-to-manage ...