Hi Tech & Innovation news

Electronics & Semiconductors

Shape-morphing brain sensor adheres to curved surfaces for ultrasound neurostimulation

Transcranial focused ultrasound, a non-invasive technique to stimulate specific areas of the brain using high-frequency sound waves, could be a promising treatment strategy for many neurological disorders. Most notably, it ...

Engineering

Scientists develop novel digital encoding system using fluorescent pixels

A team of scientists has developed a novel digital encoding and data storage system based on a combination of microcapsules containing different luminescent dyes and phase change materials. This work represents an important ...

Engineering

Lasers provide boon for manufacturing of ceremonial Thai umbrellas

Seen atop pagodas, inside Buddhist ordination halls, and in royal palaces, the tiered umbrella is one of Thailand's oldest and most sacred ornamental symbols. Constructing one of these ornate pieces, also called chatras, ...

Engineering

New origami-inspired system turns flat-pack tubes into strong building materials

Engineers at RMIT University have designed an innovative tubular structural system that can be packed flat for easier transport and pop up into strong building materials. This breakthrough is made possible by a self-locking ...

Engineering

New device simplifies manipulation of 2D materials for twistronics

A discovery six years ago took the condensed-matter physics world by storm: Ultra-thin carbon stacked in two slightly askew layers became a superconductor, and changing the twist angle between layers could toggle their electrical ...

Hi Tech & Innovation

Japan plans driverless bullet trains

Shinkansen bullet trains could be whizzing around Japan without drivers from the mid 2030s, one of its main rail operators said, motivated in part by the country's demographic crisis.

Engineering

Revolutionizing 3D printing through microwave technology

In the rapidly evolving world of 3D printing, the pursuit of faster, more efficient and versatile production methods is never-ending. Traditional 3D printing techniques, while groundbreaking, are often time-consuming and ...

Hi Tech & Innovation

DeepLabCut-Live! Real-time marker-less motion capture for animals

Gollum in "The Lord of the Rings," Thanos in the "Avengers," Snoke in "Star Wars," the Na'vi in "Avatar"—we have all experienced the wonders of motion-capture, a cinema technique that tracks an actor's movements and translates ...

Engineering

Army computer models unveil secret to quieter small drones

It's no secret the U.S. Army wants its small unmanned aerial systems to operate quietly in densely-populated regions, but tests to achieve this can be expensive, time-consuming and labor-intensive according to researchers.

Engineering

Desktop 3-D printing in metal or ceramics

These spur gears—seen here with a euro cent coin for scale—have been produced in stainless steel to a space standard of quality using nothing more than an off-the-shelf desktop 3-D printer.

Engineering

Headset over headphone: Canceling unnecessary and unwanted noise

Reporting in the journal Scientific Reports, the team of Tong Xiao, Xiaojun Qiu and Benjamin Halkon highlight the positive impacts for health and wellbeing of their 'virtual Active Noise Control/Cancelation (ANC) headphone' ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Apple may bring Force Touch to Macbook's Touch Bar

It appears Apple is planning an interesting touch for a future generation of its most powerful notebook, the Macbook Pro. In a recently disclosed patent application, Apple has indicated it will introduce Force Touch to an ...

Robotics

Bracing for busier skies with drone traffic management research

Over eight days of testing, 369 drone flights launched and landed at a rural test site outside Blacksburg. In a slice of airspace that covered less than a quarter of a mile, as many as 12 aircraft were sometimes flying at ...

Hi Tech & Innovation

FlyingCab acceptance study: When taxis conquer the skies

Fraunhofer IAO and Volocopter GmbH have joined forces in the FlyingCab acceptance study to analyze user opinion regarding flying taxis, which, among other things, will make transportation more individual and flexible. But ...