Technology News

Caltech Engineers Develop One-way Transmission System for Sound Waves
Tuesday, July 26, 2011 - 13:21

While many hotel rooms, recording studios, and even some homes are built with materials to help absorb or reflect sound, mechanisms to truly control the direction of sound waves are still in their infancy. However, researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have now created the first tunable acoustic diode-a device that allows acoustic information to travel only in one direction, at controllable frequencies.

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Scientists decipher brain commands for different grasp types
Monday, July 25, 2011 - 07:02
Quickly grabbing a cup of coffee is an everyday action for most of us. For people with severe paralysis however, this task is unfeasible – yet not “unthinkable”. Because of this, interfaces between the brain and a computer can in principle detect these “thoughts” and transform them into steering commands. Scientists from Freiburg now have found a way to distinguish between different types of grasping on the basis of the accompanying brain activity.

 

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Sharper, Deeper, Faster: Interdisciplinary Team Develops Advanced Live-Imaging Approach
Monday, July 25, 2011 - 06:50

For modern biologists, the ability to capture high-quality, three-dimensional (3D) images of living tissues or organisms over time is necessary to answer problems in areas ranging from genomics to neurobiology and developmental biology. The better the image, the more detailed the information that can be drawn from it. Looking to improve upon current methods of imaging, researchers from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have developed a novel approach that could redefine optical imaging of live biological samples by simultaneously achieving high resolution, high penetration depth (for seeing deep inside 3D samples), and high imaging speed.

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Improving batteries’ energy storage
Monday, July 25, 2011 - 06:50

In the paper published last year, the team had estimated the kinds of improvement in gravimetric efficiency that might be achieved with lithium-air batteries; this new work "realizes this gravimetric gain," Shao-Horn says. Further work is still needed to translate these basic laboratory advances into a practical commercial product, she cautions.

 

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Soft spheres settle in somewhat surprising structure
Sunday, July 24, 2011 - 17:52

Latex paints and drug suspensions such as insulin or amoxicillin that do not need to be shaken or stirred may be possible thanks to a new understanding of how particles separate in liquids, according to Penn State chemical engineers, who have developed a method for predicting the way colloidal components separate based on energy.

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New photonic crystals have both electronic and optical properties
Sunday, July 24, 2011 - 17:22

In an advance that could open new avenues for solar cells, lasers, metamaterials and more, researchers at the University of Illinois have demonstrated the first optoelectronically active 3-D photonic crystal.  "We've discovered a way to change the three-dimensional structure of a well-established semiconductor material to enable new optical properties while maintaining its very attractive electrical properties," said Paul Braun, a professor of materials science and engineering and of chemistry who led the research effort.

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