Current lab-on-a-chip technology is relatively expensive because chips must be specifically designed to perform certain types of chemical analyses, with channels created in glass or plastic and tiny pumps and valves directing the flow of fluids for testing. In order to counter that, the researchers from Perdue University have invented a technique that uses inexpensive… »

Even before the wider usage of touch-screen devices, there was a need for scratch-proof glass materials which protect the screens of our favorite gadgets. The folks from Asahi Glass Company (AGC), Japan’s largest glass maker, announced they will launch worldwide sales of Dragontrail – a glass material that is highly receptive to chemical strengthening, to… »

The fruit fly has evolved a method for arranging the tiny, hair-like structures it uses to feel and hear the world. A team of researchers in Israel and at Carnegie Mellon University were inspired by that method and they think it could be used for more effectively deployed wireless sensor networks, such as environmental monitoring,… »

After writing about bird-protection glass and blast-resistant glass, here’s an article about glass which is stronger and tougher than steel. A new type of damage-tolerant metallic glass has been developed and tested by a collaboration of researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the California Institute of… »

Researchers from Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) have broken one of the major roadblocks on the path to growing transplantable tissue in the lab, because they found a way to grow the blood vessels and capillaries needed to keep tissues alive. In a combination with their previous research, the team could grow… »

As we mentioned in our article about top 5 gadgets in 2010, last year was a lot about 3D display technology. Aside various breakthroughs in solar power harvesting efficiency, there were breakthroughs in production and design of solar panels. We reported how first synthetic life was created, and there have been many breakthroughs in the… »

Aside increased rivalry between smart phone manufacturers, the past year has been marked by two other omnipresent trends. One of the most mentioned subjects last year were tablets, which are becoming gaining on popularity – a fact confirmed by the increased number visitors who are viewing our website from such devices. Another popular subject were… »

If nothing else, the world around us had much more time to shape itself to the current layout we can see around us. By learning from nature, and implementing those ideas, we can improve the efficiency of current designs and technologies, or even come up with new technologies just by mimicking nature. Biomimicry has been… »