• Nature inspires advances in ultrasound technology

    Sonar and ultrasound, which use sound as a navigational device and to paint accurate pictures of an environment, are the basis of many technologies, including medical ultrasound machines and submarine navigation systems; when it comes to more accurate sonar and ultrasound, however, animals’ “biosonar” capabilities still have the human race beat – but not for long

  • DARPA to boost cyber research spending by 50 percent

    Last week, the head of the Department of Defense’s advanced research arm announced that the agency would increase cyber research spending by 50 percent over the next five years to develop both defensive and offensive capabilities

  • Brazilian fern inspires waterproof coating

    A floating weed that clogs waterways around the world has at least one redeeming feature: it has inspired a high-tech waterproof coating intended for boats and submarines

  • Innovative ultrasonic nozzle changes the way water cleans

    Scientists have developed a revolutionary ultrasonic attachment for taps, which massively enhances the ability of water to clean; currently, industry uses excessive water, power, and additives for cleaning

  • Rebuilding dried-up swamps to protect New Orleans from hurricanes

    During the past four decades, swamps and wetlands which used to offer New Orleans a natural defense against hurricane, were dried and paved over. The city has launched a new project to restore a key area of cypress swampland near the Lower 9th Ward, an effort they called essential to protecting the metro area in the event of another major hurricane.

  • White House: no evidence of, contact with extra terrestrials

    Two petitions, signed by 17,000, were submitted to the White house; the first demanded immediate disclosure of the U.S. government’s knowledge of and communications with extraterrestrial beings, the second a formal acknowledgement from the White House that extraterrestrials have been engaging the human race; in response, the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy wrote that the U.S. government has no evidence that any life exists outside our planet, or that an extraterrestrial presence has contacted or engaged any member of the human race

  • Making counter-hacking cool

    NYU-Poly will, for the first time, open cyber security awareness week events on 11-12 November to student guests interested in digital privacy and security — not just the so-called “cyber ninjas” who qualified as national finalists in feats of digital forensics, ethical hacking, and research; the event is expected to attract up to 400 student finalists, professionals, academics, and guests

  • Tiny robot can survey hard-to-reach places

    A flying robot the size of a dinner plate can zoom to hard-to-reach places; the tiny propeller-powered robots can be packed away into a suitcase; they have multiple cameras which enable them to see the world around them as they navigate their way through buildings

  • Hybrid power plants: cost effective way to go green

    Hybrid cars, powered by a mixture of gas and electricity, have become a practical way to “go green” on the roads; now researchers at Tel Aviv University are using the hybrid approach to power plants as well

  • New tech could turn clothes into touch sensors

    Everything from clothes and headphone wires to coffee tables could soon become interactive touch devices thanks to the development of new sensor technology; researchers at the University of Munich and the Hasso Plattner Institute are working to integrate technology originally designed to detect damaged underwater cables into touch sensors that can be installed in virtually anything

  • Researchers fire 1,000th shot on laboratory railgun

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    Scientists reached a milestone in the Electromagnetic Railgun program when they fired a laboratory-scale system for the 1,000th time on 31 October, the raygun is a long-range weapon that launches projectiles using electricity instead of chemical propellants

  • Anthropomorphic robot testing chemical protection

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    Boston Dynamics is showing its PETMAN — an anthropomorphic robot for testing chemical protection clothing used by the U.S. Army

  • Gecko-inspired tank robot has many applications

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    Researchers have developed a tank-like robot that has the ability to scale smooth walls, making it suitable for a range of applications such as inspecting pipes, buildings, aircraft, and nuclear power plants, and also for search and rescue operations

  • Competition for reassembling shredded documents

    Today’s troops often confiscate the remnants of destroyed documents in war zones, but reconstructing these documents is a daunting task; DARPA, the Pentagon’s research arm, is conducting a competition to find the best technology for reassembling shredded documents

  • Printing a building -- additive manufacturing research moves into construction

    Additive manufacturing — commonly known as 3-D printing — has been used for a surprisingly large range of products and projects, while the devices themselves have continually declined in cost and size; now the technology turns its attention to concrete and building