Advances in brain-computer interfaces, restorative neurotechnology, and assistive robot technology have led to a new study that reports, while using the BrainGate neural interface system, two people with tetraplegia were able to reach for and grasp objects in three-dimensional space using robotic arms that they controlled directly with brain activity. Providence, Rhode Island (Brown University) [...]

With a $20 million U.S. Department of Energy grant, Stanford researchers plan to use some of the world’s fastest supercomputers to model the complexities of hypersonic flight, focusing on how fuel and air flow through a scramjet engine. Aeronautical engineers believe hypersonic planes flying at seven to 15 times the speed of sound will someday [...]

In a two-part paper, a team of scientists from MIT, Caltech and University of Technology in Munich examined network coding and ways to both minimize error and maximize capacity. In its early years, information theory — which grew out of a landmark 1948 paper by MIT alumnus and future professor Claude Shannon — was dominated [...]

Scientists at the Berkeley Lab have developed a way to generate power using harmless viruses that convert mechanical energy into electricity. Their generator is the first of its kind to produce electricity by harnessing the piezoelectric properties of a biological material and could lead to devices that harness electrical energy from the vibrations of everyday [...]

In an effort to harness the power of ocean waves, engineers designed and built a floating “power buoy” that measures 8 feet across, 10 feet wide and 18 feet long. The buoy uses the upward and downward motion of waves, combined with the weight of a metal plate, to move a hydraulic piston, resulting in [...]

A team of engineers and scientists just completed work on NDCX-II, a special-purpose particle accelerator designed to produce a high-quality, dense beam that can rapidly deliver a powerful punch to a solid target. The just-completed NDCX-II, the second generation Neutralized Drift Compression Experiment at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), [...]

New silicon battery technology is a major step forward in creating smaller, lighter and longer-lasting batteries. The new design contains a double-walled silicon nanotube coated with a thin layer of silicon oxide and can operate for more than 6,000 cycles with 85 percent capacity remaining. For more than a decade, scientists have tried to improve [...]

A step in the right direction, a VW Passat TDI set the world record for longest distance on one tank of clean diesel fuel. The stock 2012 Passat TDI was equipped with a six-speed manual transmission and had an average of 84.1 miles per gallon during its three day trip totaling 1626 miles. Herndon, Virgina [...]

The future might smell better thanks to scientists at the USDA that are investigating new antimicrobial treatments for clothing. Using an environmentally friendly method to produce silver nanoparticles, researchers are prompting the silver nanoparticles to form directly on cotton fibers, eliminating the handling and storage of the antimicrobial agents prior to application. Socks, T-shirts and [...]

Engineers at UC Berkeley released their smartphone-equipped floating robots in the Sacramento River to field test their ability and to demonstrate their water monitoring technology. Equipped with mobile sensors, these robots can quickly be deployed to provide real-time, high-resolution data in hard-to-map waterways. Berkeley – A fleet of 100 floating robots took a trip down [...]

Scientists at the University of Washington are using nanotechnology manufacturing techniques to build and refine portable diagnostics that have surfaces with tiny posts of varying height and spacing. When shaken, the surface moves drops along certain paths to conduct medical or environmental tests. As medical researchers and engineers try to shrink diagnostics to fit in [...]

Focusing on balance between her family, religion and work with carbon nanomaterials, Jing Kong has found a home at MIT and has pioneered a new method of producing large sheets of graphene. A life in academia was a natural career path for Jing Kong, the daughter of two Chinese academics at Tianjin Finance and Economics [...]