Innovators at NASA Langley developed a calibration system for automated fiber placement (AFP) machines. AFP is a composites manufacturing method offering speed, repeatability, and waste-minimization benefits over traditional layup techniques. Used to make aerospace parts and wind turbine blades, AFP

Engineers have designed a small tabletop device that can detect SARS-CoV-2 from a saliva sample in about an hour. The diagnostic is just as accurate as the PCR tests now used. The device can also be used to detect specific viral mutations linked to some of the SARS-CoV-2 variants that are now circul

By examining how fruit flies use eye movements to enhance flight control with a staggeringly fast reaction speed — about 30 times faster than the blink of an eye — researchers have detailed a framework to mimic this ability in robotics. The team studied the motions of fruit flies tethered in a virtu

Holographic Camera Sees the Unseen Northwestern University invented a new high-resolution camera that can see the unseen including around corners and through scattering media such as skin, fog, or potentially even the human skull. Called synthetic wavelength holography, the new method works by indir

Engineers designed a novel facemask that can diagnose the wearer with COVID-19 within about 90 minutes. The masks are embedded with tiny, disposable sensors that can be fitted into other face-masks and could also be adapted to detect other viruses. The sensors are based on freeze-dried cellular mach

Researchers at NASA Johnson improved their flash thermography capabilities by incorporating transient and lock-in thermography to their flash thermography NDE technology. This non-destructive evaluation (NDE) technology identifies flaws in materials used in airplanes, drones, and buildings. By addin

Ying Zhong, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of South Florida, and her team have invented a new way to print wearable sensors without polymer binders. They call their product e-skin. Tech Briefs: What gave you the idea to use electrostatic force for printing flexible s

As NASA expands its quest to discover exoplanets — planets beyond our solar system — it also grows its toolbox. Over the summer, a new tool called NEID (pronounced NOO-id) delivered its first batch of data on the nearest and best-studied star, our Sun. The NEID spectrometer, which will help locate a

Processes and structures within the body that are normally hidden from the eye can be made visible through medical imaging. Scientists use imaging to investigate the complex functions of cells and organs and search for ways to better detect and treat diseases. In everyday medical practice, images fr

A microwave radiation sensor with 100,000 times higher sensitivity than currently available commercial sensors has been developed. The bolometer was fabricated by exploiting the giant thermal response of graphene to microwave radiation. The microwave bolometer is capable of detecting a single microw

Inspired by a concept for discovering exoplanets with a giant space telescope, a team of researchers is developing holographic lenses that render visible and infrared starlight into either a focused image or a spectrum. The experimental method could be used to create a lightweight flexible lens, man

NASA launches satellites, rovers, and orbiters to investigate humanity’s place in the Milky Way. When these missions reach their destinations, their scientific instruments capture images, videos, and valuable insights about the cosmos. Communications infrastructure in space and on the ground enables

Who Adding winged flight to small-scale electronic systems allows highly functional, miniaturized electronic devices to be deployed to sense the environment for contamination monitoring, population surveillance, Sun exposure, or disease tracking. What About the size of a grain of sand, the flying

Multifunctional antimicrobial dressings were developed that feature fluorescent sensors that glow brightly under UV light if infection starts to set in and can be used to monitor the healing progress. The smart dressings harness the powerful antibacterial and antifungal properties of magnesium hydro

Incorporation of distinct telescopes into larger coordinated networks can enhance their discovery and follow-up capacity. However, challenges still remain in scaling, deploying, organizing, and scheduling such networks. A Chinese-French joint team from the Space Variable Object Monitor (SVOM) missio

With the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), mankind’s understanding of the universe — and its origins — will increase exponentially. Originally called the Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST) and renamed in September 2002 to honor former NASA administrator James Webb, the JWST repr

Table-based optical measurement is a quick, simple, and accurate method for both measuring and reverse engineering flat and folded/formed sheet metal components; gaskets, seals, and O-rings; laminations; paper, acetate, and electronic drawings; as well as other opaque and semi-transparent flat mater

When you’re testing the build of a car, you have to check its many subsystems: the battery, the engine, the cabin, the thermal-management system, the gearbox, the chassis, and the suspension. “Which part is the toughest to simulate?” a Tech Briefs reader asked an industry expert from the technology

Self-flying drones and autonomous taxis that can safely operate in fog may sound futuristic, but new research at Sandia National Laboratories’ fog facility is bringing the future closer. Fog can make travel by water, air, and land hazardous when it becomes hard for both people and sensors to detect

Scientists at the University of Birmingham have succeeded in creating an experimental model of an elusive kind of fundamental particle called a skyrmion in a beam of light. The breakthrough provides physicists with a real system demonstrating the behavior of skyrmions, first proposed 60 years ago by