The lateral line is a hydrodynamic imaging system found in fish and aquatic amphibians enables them to accomplish a variety of underwater activities such as localization of moving prey or predators, detection of stationary objects, schooling without colliding and social communication. It consists of numerous hair cell sensors called neuromasts which are distributed all over… »

You might have tried to balance a ping-pong ball floating above your mouth or you might have seen a demo in a classroom or science museum where a jet of compressed air keeps a ball floating above the ground, seemingly defying gravity. A pair of grad students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have… »

Researchers, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, are also working on capsule additives designed to heal failures in lithium-ion battery electrodes, to prevent the short-circuiting that can sometimes cause a fire. Capsules filled with conductive nanotubes that rip open under mechanical stress could be placed on circuit boards in the areas that are important… »

A team of researchers at the University of Illinois has created the world’s first acoustic “superlens”. It is an innovation that could have practical implications for high-resolution ultrasound imaging, non-destructive structural testing of buildings and bridges, and novel underwater stealth technology. According to the results, the acoustic system is analogous to an inductor-capacitor circuit. The… »