• Metallic nanostructures make security and medical sensors possible

    New sensors could be tailor-made instantly to detect the presence of particular molecules, for example poisons or explosives in transport screening situations, or proteins in patients’ blood samples, with high sensitivity

  • Post-Ike ideas for defending Galveston include extending sea wall

    Texas A&M oceanographer proposes extending Galveston’s seawall to the island’s West End, building a similar structure along Bolivar Peninsula, and constructing massive Dutch-like floodgates at the entry to Galveston Bay; oceanographer says his proposed wall and gate system could repel most surges

  • New concept for New York, New Jersey storm barriers

    With worries about rising sea level and more intense storm, British engineering firm Harlow offers a new concept for protecting New York City and parts of the new Jersey coast against storm surges

  • DARPA looking for construction material made of solar cells

    What if there was a material made of solar cells but which would be strong and flexible enough to be used for making planes and cars? There would be no need for an engine — or for batteries, as the material would generate and store power

  • £44 million to U.K. universities to share knowledge with business

    U.K. Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) created the Knowledge Transfer Accounts (KTA) program to increase collaboration between academia and business; so far, the EPSRC’s KTA programs have awarded a total of £44 million

  • Texas university offers maritime degree

    The growing security mandates imposed on U.S. sea ports, and need to manage these mandates with but minimal disruption of the flow of commerce, have led Texas Southern University to begin to offer a new degree program in maritime transportation; the bachelor’s and master’s degrees will prepare students in three areas: maritime logistics, security, and environmental compliance

  • The purpose of fingerprints

    All wrinkles on our bodies are the result of bending and stretching of the skin — except fingerprints, which are not the result of repeated motion; scientists speculate that fingerprints are there to enhance tactile sensation — although science cannot yet come up with the reason why all of us have a unique set of prints

  • Mathematicians provide new insight into tsunamis

    The number and height of the tsunami waves hitting the shoreline depends critically on the shape of the initial surface wave in deep water; from this it is possible to work out whether a “trough” or a “peak” is the leading wave

  • Mathematician foresees tight races in MLB's Eastern divisions

    The baseball season is about the begin, and a professor of mathematics has developed an intricate model to predict the winners of the American and National leagues; his model computes the probability of a team winning a game against another team with given hitters, bench, starting pitcher, relievers, and home field advantage

  • Composite materials extend life of existing bridges

    The Obama administration’s stimulus package directs large amounts of money toward rehabilitating the aging U.S. infrastructure; Jayhawks researchers are testing a new class of devices that could double the life of America’s existing bridges using composite materials

  • Breakthrough: Robot makes scientific discovery on its own

    Researchers build a robot which used artificial intelligence to discover simple but new scientific knowledge about the genomics of the baker’s yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae; not only this: the robot hypothesized that certain genes in baker’s yeast code for specific enzymes, which catalyze biochemical reactions in yeast — and then devised experiments to test these predictions, ran the experiments, interpreted the results, and repeated the cycle

  • DARPA wants stealthy 3D building-interior mapping kit

    SWAT teams, special forces units, and first responders often are called upon to storm buildings in which terrorists hide; would it not be better if these units had up-to-date, accurate pictures of the insides of the structures they are about to storm? DARPA thinks it is a good idea

  • Full-body imaging systems deployed to airports

    Millimeter wave and backscatter technologies may be a popular alternative to searches, but privacy remains an issue

  • Disinfectants create toxic by-products

    Using disinfectants to keep water drinkable was one of the major achievements of the twentieth century; a recent study now shows that the chemicals used to purify the water we drink and use in swimming pools react with organic material in the water yielding toxic consequences

  • UAV relies on alternative energy for silent performance

    U.S. Navy researchers merge two separate efforts — UAV technology and fuel cell systems — to develop UAV with stealthy characteristics: small size, reduced noise, low heat signature, and zero emissions