• Improving oil recovery, aiding environmental cleanup

    Researchers have taken a new look at an old, but seldom-used technique developed by the petroleum industry to recover oil, and learned more about why it works, how it could be improved, and how it might be able to make a comeback not only in oil recovery but also environmental cleanup

  • New, affordable instant warnings of bridge collapse

    The Federal Bureau of Transportation lists nearly 70,000 U.S. bridges as “structurally deficient,” requiring extra surveillance; in addition, more than 77,000 others are categorized as “obsolete” — exceeding their intended lifespan and carrying loads greater than they were designed to handle; researchers developed a new technology for monitoring these 150,000 aging U.S. highway bridges

  • A second look at off-shore use of vertical-axis wind turbines

    Wind energy researchers are re-evaluating vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) to help solve some of the problems of generating energy from offshore breezes; though VAWTs have been around since the earliest days of wind energy research, VAWT architecture could transform offshore wind technology

  • A device used to measure nuclear weapons effects is now used for rocket propulsion system

    Can a device formerly used to test nuclear weapons effects find a new life in rocket propulsion research? That is the question in which researchers seek an answer; when assembled, the device will tip the scales at nearly fifty tons, and will be “one of the largest, most powerful pulse power systems in the academic world,” according to one researcher

  • Researchers say spoofed GPS signals can be countered

    From cars to commercial airplanes to military drones, global positioning system (GPS) technology is everywhere — and researchers have known for years that it can be hacked, or as they call it, “spoofed”; the best defense, they say, is to create countermeasures that unscrupulous GPS spoofers can not deceive

  • Milestone for a Raytheon bomb which acquires, tracks, and then hits moving targets

    Raytheon said its Small Diameter Bomb II (SDB II) program achieved a milestone when it successfully engaged and hit a moving target during a flight test at the White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico; the bomb, released from an F-15E, acquired, tracked, and guided to a moving target using its tri-mode seeker, scoring a direct hit

  • Using dolphins’ signal processing method for sea-mine detection

    One way for Iran to close the Straits of Hormuz to shipping is to place thousands of sea mines in the water; research examine how dolphins process their sonar signals, using the findings to provide a new system for man-made sonar to detect targets, such as sea mines, in bubbly water

  • Cutting massive power use at big data companies in a flash

    Big data needs big power; the server farms that undergird the Internet run on a vast tide of electricity — Google, for example, uses enough electricity in its data centers to power about 200,000 homes; now, a team of engineers has a solution that could radically cut that power use — a new type of memory in companies’ servers that demands far less energy than the current systems

  • New rapid diagnostic test for pathogens, contaminants developed

    Using nanoscale materials, researchers have developed a single-step method rapidly and accurately to detect viruses, bacteria, and chemical contaminants; the method could be used to detect pathogens and contaminants in biological mixtures such as food, blood, saliva, and urine

  • Unmanned systems emulate animals’ conditioned fear-response mechanism for self-preservation

    When animals in the wild engage in eating or grazing, their eyes, ears, and sense of smell continuously monitor the environment for any sense of danger; researchers developed a similar conditioned fear-response mechanism for unmanned systems

  • Using cold plasma to fight fires

    Traditional fire-suppression technologies focus largely on disrupting the chemical reactions involved in combustion; from a physics perspective, however, flames are cold plasmas; DARPA, the Pentagon’s research arm, theorized that by using physics techniques rather than combustion chemistry, it might be possible to manipulate and extinguish flames

  • New international plan to tackle cyber crime, make Internet safer

    A new international plan to tackle cyber crime has been launched; the new research roadmap has been developed by leading international cyber security researchers along with industry and government experts, and it aims to help make the Internet of tomorrow a safe and secure platform which is vital for global economic growth and societal development

  • New sensors detect contaminants in water

    Many organic contaminants in the air and in drinking water need to be detected at very low-level concentrations; researchers have investigated the use of graphene oxide films in which the semiconductor titanium dioxide (TiO2) and metal nanoparticles are deposited on opposite sides of the graphene surface

  • Clay-based coating holds promise of green flame retardants

    The thick, fast-forming coating has a uniformly high concentration of flame-inhibiting clay particles, and it adheres strongly to the Swiss cheese-like surface of polyurethane foam, which is used in furniture cushions, carpet padding, children’s car seats, and other items

  • Loo turns poo into power

    Researchers have invented a new toilet system that will turn human waste into electricity and fertilizers and also reduce the amount of water needed for flushing by up to 90 percent compared to current toilet systems