An interdisciplinary team of engineers at the University of Arkansas developed e-Nanoflex Sensor System – a wireless health-monitoring textile-based sensors that can be integrated into conventional sports bra or a vest. Since the monitored information can be sent in real time to a physician, hospital or the wearer’s smartphone, the technology enables easier monitoring of… »
Food scientists from Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) devised a process that spins starch into fine strands that could be used to create new type of bandages, as well as produce less expensive and more environmentally-friendly toilet paper, napkins and other products. Once the process is scaled to industrial size, companies could use starch fibers… »
Although Festo primarily represents a supplier of automation technology, our loyal readers have been introduced to them with various interesting biomimetic projects we covered through the years. On a recent Hanover Trade Fair 2012, Festo exhibited a couple of their new concepts, and in this article we’re going to write about human-machine interaction, music being… »
Inspired by nature, where textured surfaces ranging from lotus leaves to desert-beetle carapaces and moth eyes have developed in ways that often fulfill multiple purposes at once, a group of researchers from MIT developed a glass that is self-cleaning, virtually eliminates reflections, and resists fogging and glare. These features could lower the maintenance expenses for… »
Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, came across a relatively simple solution based on a mathematical connection between absorption and emission of light that could lead to improvement of flat-plate solar cell efficiency. Although their concept is counterintuitive, the researchers managed to demonstrate that solar cells which are able to emit light more efficiently… »
IBM Research started the Battery 500 Project to develop lithium-air battery technology that could be used to power a family-sized electric car for approximately 500 miles (800 km) on a single charge back in 2009. The project has recently got additional support from Asahi Kasei and Central Glass – two companies with decades of experience… »
Ruihong Zhang, a UC Davis professor of biological and agricultural engineering, has been working on her anaerobic digester technology for the past decade, bringing it from the laboratory to the pilot stage in 2006, and finally introducing it as first commercially available, high-solid anaerobic digestion system that is being commercialized by a Sacramento-based startup named… »
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) developed a miniature atom-based magnetic sensor that is capable to measure human brain activity at slightly less sensitivity compared to the “gold standard” for such experiments. On the other hand, it does have better portability and it costs less, and it could be used for biomedical applications such… »
