Geckos and many other animals have heads that are too small to triangulate the location of noises the way we do, with widely spaced ears. Instead, they have a tiny tunnel through their heads that measures the way incoming sound waves bounce around to figure out which direction they came from. Facing their own [...]
A graywater purification device, which is made based on nanostructured ceramic membranes, was recently unveiled in a nanotechnology exhibition in Tehran. The device was unveiled on the sidelines of the 11th International Nanotechnology Exhibition, during a ceremony attended by Iranian Vice-President for Science and Technology Sorena Sattari. The water purifier has been designed and [...]
The key to making such tiny devices in large quantities lies in a method the team developed for controlling the natural fracturing process of atomically-thin, brittle materials, directing the fracture lines so that they produce miniscule pockets of a predictable size and shape. Embedded inside these pockets are electronic circuits and materials that [...]
What’s your favorite science fiction use of nanotechnology? Are you a fan of the Terminator, or the Borg from Star Trek, that imitate humans or assimilate them? Or are you fascinated by the replicators in Stargate:SG1, which can self-assemble, self-replicate and take the form of anything from space ships and buildings, to machinery, to [...]
Groundbreaking new technology could allow 100-times-faster internet by harnessing twisted light beams to carry more data and process it faster. Broadband fiber-optics carry information on pulses of light, at the speed of light, through optical fibers. But the way the light is encoded at one end and processed at the other affects data speeds. [...]
Hacker attacks on everything from social media accounts to government files could be largely prevented by the advent of quantum communication, which would use particles of light called "photons" to secure information rather than a crackable code. The problem is that quantum communication is currently limited by how much information single photons can help [...]
Personal electronic devices -- smartphones, computers, TVs, tablets, screens of all kinds -- are a significant and growing source of the world's electronic waste. Many of these products use nanomaterials, but little is known about how these modern materials and their tiny particles interact with the environment and living things. Now a research team [...]
As artificial intelligence has become increasingly sophisticated, it has inspired renewed efforts to develop computers whose physical architecture mimics the human brain. One approach, called reservoir computing, allows hardware devices to achieve the higher-dimension calculations required by emerging artificial intelligence. One new device highlights the potential of extremely small mechanical systems to achieve these [...]
Nanodiamonds - the tiny crystalline carbon - have fascinating chemical and surface properties and hold promising applications in quantum computing, optoelectronics, and medicine. These materials measure hundreds of thousands of times smaller than a single grain of sand. In order to counterfeit these nanoscopic gemstones, organic explosive molecules are exposed to intense detonations in [...]
LAS CRUCES, N.M. — Members of an independent NASA safety panel said they were worried that the Oct. 11 Soyuz launch failure could make safety concerns with the agency's commercial crew program even worse. The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP), in a previously scheduled meeting at the Johnson Space Center Oct. 11 only hours [...]
