Science360
New multilayered materials ready for take off
When it comes to aircraft engines, rocket motors and nuclear power plants, the ""heat"" is constantly on to make the parts inside stronger, more reliable and more durable. In fact, when an airplane takes off, the materials in the hottest...
Science360
Hydrogen Trail Blazers
Officer Tom McCloghry is a cop on the beat, patrolling downtown Columbia, South Carolina to keep the streets safe. And, though it's not so unusual these days to see police on Segways, this one is different. This is a hydrogen hybrid...
Science360
Humanoid robot 'Russell' engages children with autism
With support from the National Science Foundation, mechanical and computer engineer Nilanjan Sarkar and psychologist Zachary Warren at Vanderbilt University have developed a learning environment for kids with autism, built around...
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'Smart implants' dissolve after healing
We all know that injuries happen and doctors sometimes have to use metal screws or plates to support broken bones while the bones heal. What if that implanted metal just disintegrated on its own after the injury heals? A team at the NSF...
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Japanese Quake Test
In Miki, Japan, a six-story wooden model condominium was shaken by the equivalent of a 7.5 magnitude earthquake. The test was said to be the largest simulated earthquake ever attempted with a wooden structure. The full-scale building sat...
Science360
Carbon nanotubes scaling up to surpass single-story silicon
A Stanford University engineering team has been busy bringing its grand achievement of 2013 -- the world's first carbon nanotube computer -- to a grand scale by making the performance competitive with silicon-based processors. And the...
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Electronic Tattoo Monitors Brain, Heart And Muscles
Imagine if there were electronics able to prevent epileptic seizures before they happen, or electronics that could be placed on the surface of a beating heart to monitor its functions. The problem is that such devices are a tough fit....
Science360
On the road to resiliency: Researchers map Hurricane Sandy impact in New York City
Hurricane Sandy was the deadliest of the 2012 hurricane season and is the second costliest hurricane in U.S. history! While many scientists will be studying ""Sandy"" for years to come, some researchers are focused instead on how to make...
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Engineering innovative seismic retrofits that dont break the bank
Researchers at the state-of-the-art Structural Engineering and Materials Laboratory at the Georgia Institute of Technology are using a full-scale model building to test new ways to protect structures from earthquakes and potentially save...
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Small business, big stage: NSF-funded start-ups at CES 2016
The familiar phrase ""wearing your heart on your sleeve"" took on a whole new meaning during the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Wearable health tracking devices broke into full stride and some of them got a head start...
Science360
Do smart electricity meters on conservation?
With smart electricity meters, consumers can measure electricity usage in real time, even find out how they stack up against their neighbors. But, does having that information impact consumers' electricity usage? With support from the...
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Metal Foam
Afsaneh Rabiei is a materials engineer at North Carolina State University who, with support from the National Science Foundation, has developed metal foam that's lighter but much stronger than ""real"" metal. It's designed for use in...
Science360
Neuroimaging reveals detailed semantic maps across human cerebral cortex
In the functional MRI room at the University of California, Berkeley, it's story time. All in all, getting a brain scan for this project on language learning isn't a bad gig -- just kick back, listen to some stories and watch some...
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NSF Science Now 13
This week's episode of NSF Science Now highlights new primate fossil discoveries in Tanzania, the first screening method to detect the early presence of ovarian cancer, a polymer material that more efficiently utilizes solar energy and...
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Engineers investigate possible lingering impacts from Elk River chemical spill
In January 2014, thousands of gallons of chemicals, including crude 4-methylcyclohexanemethanol, or MCHM, spilled into West Virginia's Elk River, near Charleston. The spill ultimately contaminated the local water supply and approximately...
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Sustainable chemistry center works to transform electronics manufacturing
The changes brewing in this lab could make that smartphone you carry smarter, lighter and more sustainable. It's one of many devices getting an electronic makeover at the Center for Sustainable Materials Chemistry (CSMC). With support...
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NSF Science Now: Episode 45
In this episode, we tested out a computational design tool that transforms flat materials into 3-D shapes, a virtual reality environment that is helping autistic teens learn to drive, a new novel underwater microscope and, finally,...
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NSF Science Now: Episode 16
WIRELESS NETWORK STORY: CALLING FOR HELP MAY SOON GET A LITTLE BIT EASIER FOR THE ELDERLY. ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HAVE DEVELOPED A NETWORK OF WIRELESS SENSORS THAT CAN DETECT A PERSON FALLING. THIS MONITORING...
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Osorb: Absorbent Nanomaterial Cleans up Toxic Water
Science is full of surprises. Chemist Paul Edmiston's search for a new way to detect explosives at airports, instead, led to the creation of what's now called ""Osorb,"" swellable, organically-modified silica, or glass, capable of...
Science360
Geomagic
What do space shuttle safety measures and modern shoemaking have in common? Both use a 3-D design and engineering technology that streamlines a wide range of inspection and manufacturing processes. Geomagic is an industry leader in the...
Science360
Cubelets: Small Robots Teach Big Science Lessons
Cubelets are magnetic, electronic building blocks, each with a small computer inside, that can be connected in many different ways to move around a table, follow a hand signal, turn on a light, play sounds, or do many other creative...
Science360
Cactus 'flesh' cleans up toxic water
University of South Florida engineering professor Norma Alcantar and her team are using the ""flesh"" from Prickly Pear cacti, called mucilage, to clean up oil and other toxins from water. With support from the National Science...
Science360
Silver Saver
Conservation scientist Glen Gates at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore is working on new ways to protect museum-quality silver from the ravages of time. Fine silverware and silver pieces on display at museums are exposed to air and...
Science360
Engineering slick solutions for sticky problems
The natural world has many tricks to teach us about efficiency and design. Take the carnivorous pitcher plant: Its super slippery surface acts like a slide for unsuspecting ants that can't stop themselves from sliding right into the...