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… »
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… »
An Oxford company has developed new solar cell technology that is manufactured from cheap, abundant, environmentally benign and non-corrosive materials, and the ability to be scaled to any volume. The solar cells can be printed onto glass or other surfaces, and they are available in a range of colors. That makes them ideal for new buildings… »
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… »
Synthetic biology is a relatively new area of research that combines biology and technology. Genetically modified cells can be altered in order to communicate with each other as if they were electronic circuits. A group of researchers in Gothenburg has managed to alter yeast cells in to build complex systems that could help the body’s… »
University of Utah physicists managed to store information for 112 seconds in what may become the world’s tiniest computer memory – magnetic “spins” in the centers or nuclei of atoms. Afterwards, they were able to retrieve and read the data electronically – a big step toward using the new kind of memory for both faster… »
Researchers from the University of Greenwich are using ethical synthetic biology to create “living” materials that could be used to clad buildings and absorb the CO2 from the air. In collaboration with an architectural practice and a building materials’ manufacturer, the idea is to use protocells – bubbles of oil in an aqueous fluid sensitive… »
There are many efforts to invent ways to make water desalination a low energy consumption process. Water purification usually requires a lot of energy as well, while utility companies need large amounts of water for energy production. Their goal is to find a low-energy-required treatment technology. Researchers from the University of Colorado Denver College of… »
