For some people, a critical link – the one sending signals from brain to body, the one connecting thought to action – does not work properly, or in some cases, has been severed entirely.  Marcus Gerhardt, CEO and co-founder of the Salt Lake City, UT-based company Blackrock Neurotech, is creating a t

In the field of space technology, Centre Suisse d’Electronique et de Microtechnique (CSEM) has been a partner of the European Space Agency (ESA) for many years. One focus of their joint research is eliminating vibration emissions originating from components aboard satellites. In addition to limiting

In a paper published in Nature Machine Intelligence, a team of scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS) introduced a robust soft haptic sensor named “Insight” that uses computer vision and a deep neural network to accurately estimate where objects come into contact wit

Electronic control units, or ECUs, drive the connections in a vehicle. The microprocessors support a variety of features, from airbag deployment and parking assistance to memory seats and power steering. Additionally, a car’s sensors pick up information from around the vehicle and send that back to

High-resolution solid-state lidar using an array of MEMS switches will reduce its cost to match that of inexpensive, chip-based cameras and radar systems — removing a major barrier to adopting lidar for autonomous vehicles. Although inexpensive, chip-based cameras and radar systems have moved into t

A fabric behaves like a fluid, says professor Yoel Fink from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which explains perhaps why designers often even refer to the “flow” of a garment. “The fabrics that were wearing have small waves going through them,” said Fink, a professor of Materials Science a

Researchers have developed a technique to quickly determine certain properties of a material, like stress and strain, based on an image of the material showing its internal structure. The approach could one day eliminate the need for physics-based calculations, instead relying on computer vision and

Researchers have used graphene — one of the strongest, thinnest known materials — to detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus in laboratory experiments. The discovery has potential applications in the fight against COVID-19 and its variants. In experiments, researchers combined sheets of graphene — which are mor

Having diabetes means a lifelong obligation of insulin shots and monitoring of blood glucose levels. But a team of researchers has developed a way to control the secretion of insulin just by wearing contact lenses. The wirelessly driven smart contact lens technology can detect diabetes and further t

A new imaging technique, developed by the teams of Professors Jinyang Liang and Fiorenzo Vetrone at the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS), can measure temperature in 2D, without contact. This accurate real-time temperature detection could one day improve photothermal therapy and

A sensor the size of a Band-Aid can measure a babys blood oxygen levels, a vital indication of the lungs’ effectiveness and whether the babys tissue is receiving adequate oxygen supply. Unlike current systems used in hospitals, this miniaturized wearable device is flexible and stretchable, wireless,

A wearable gas sensor was developed that is an improvement on existing wearable sensors because it uses a self-heating mechanism that enhances sensitivity. It allows for quick recovery and reuse of the device. Other devices of this type require an external heater. In addition, other wearable sensors

Stretchable, bendable “smart” textiles are poised to reshape clothes of all kinds, creating new opportunities for integrating advanced monitoring technologies into everyday items. Researchers are applying neuroscience and psychophysiology to build responsive technologies like those integrated in sma

If the smart textiles of the future are going to survive, their components are going to need to be resilient. Researchers have developed an ultra-sensitive, resilient strain sensor that can be embedded in textiles and soft robotic systems. The researchers created a design that looks and behaves very

A natural-gas leak-detection tool uses sensors and machine learning to locate leak points at oil and gas fields, promising automatic, affordable sampling across vast natural gas infrastructure. The Autonomous, Low-cost, Fast Leak Detection System (ALFaLDS) was developed to discover accidental releas

A prototype device was developed that can electronically replicate the way human skin senses pain. The device mimics the bodys near-instant feedback response and can react to painful sensations with the same speed that nerve signals travel to the brain. The artificial skin reacts instantly when pres

Materials that contain special polymer molecules may someday be able to warn us when they are about to fail. Researchers have improved previously developed force-sensitive molecules, called mechanophores, to produce reversible, rapid, and vibrant color change when a force is applied. The color chang

Low-cost jelly-like materials, developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge, can sense strain, temperature, and humidity. And unlike earlier self-healing robots, they can also partially repair themselves at room temperature. Soft sensing technologies could transform robotics, tactile inte

An emerging challenge for the extrusion press industry is older hydraulics technology. Many presses continue using inefficient and unreliable hydraulic pumps. Superior Extrusion recently confronted this situation. In 1996, the company purchased a used 1,650-ton Farrel press. In use since 1971, the 7

High-capacity, fast-charging supercapacitor energy storage devices have been limited by the composition of their electrodes — the connections responsible for managing the flow of electrons during charging and dispensing energy. Researchers have now developed a better material to improve connectivity