Discussions
A Design for Cheaper Wind Power
A design that draws on jet engine technology could halve the cost of generating electricity from wind.
Modeling Brain Blasts
A computer simulation reveals how blast waves reverberate around a soldier’s helmet.
Memristors Make Chips Cheaper
The first hybrid memristor-transistor chip could be cheaper and more energy efficient.
Astronauts Lose $100,000 Tool Kit
Important pieces of hardware float away as the astronauts watch in dismay.
Tongue Control
This video shows a person using the University of Wisconsin Brain-Computer Interface system with tongue stimulation.
Less-Invasive Brain Interfaces
This movie shows the thin-film micro-ECoG device being pressed down on the surface of water in a petri dish. The ultraflexible nature of the implant means that it cannot exert enough force to break the surface tension of the water. And the properties of polymer used allow it to stick and grab on to the water’s surface. The same thing happens when it is placed on the hydrated surface of the brain, allowing the implant to float with the brain as it moves within the skull without losing contact with the cortical surface.
Augmented Reality on Mobile Phones
A look at some of the newest developments.
Opening the Space Frontier
NASA’s Constellation Program plans to build spacecraft and vehicles to return astronauts to the Moon and possibly Mars.
The Shuttle Maneuvering in Space
The Space Shuttle Atlantis conducts a rendezvous pitch maneuver–a backflip to reach the same orbital velocity as another spacecraft–before docking with the International Space Station. Atlantis is traveling at an orbital velocity of 17,500 miles per hour and is rotating three-quarters of a degree per second.
Superstrong Carbon-Nanotube Fibers
A new process could make nanotube fibers that are strong enough to stop bullets.