Tag: engineering

New Futuristic Fabrics to Keep Cool Engineering New Technologies 

New Futuristic Fabrics to Keep Cool

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By Katherine Lindemann Inspired by lithium batteries and kitchen plastic wrap, engineers at Stanford University have developed a plastic material that helps the body radiate heat, lowering skin temperature and cooling the wearer. To be suitable for clothing, the material is flexible and—importantly—opaque. The teams are now working on a woven version of the textile. Po-Chun Hsu contributed to the research as a member of the Yi Cui research group. We asked him to tell us more. ResearchGate: Where did the idea for this material come from? Po-Chun Hsu: The…

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Flight: Photo by Max Goldberg Physics 

Ruminations on Flight

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By Rosalind Rude I have a friend who pilots his own aircraft. He’s been away from it for a while so now he is boning up, re-sharpening his skills to get back in the saddle, or back in the cockpit. As he recently explained to me, piloting an aircraft is nothing like driving a car or riding a bike.   Yaw, Pitch, and Roll There are three axes in play during flight: The airplane turns left and right (yaw). The airplane’s nose goes up and down (pitch). The body of…

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Women in STEM Careers, Women in Action Engineering Get to Know a Scientist Science Videos 

Women in STEM Careers, Women in Action

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By Chantal Brine We have teamed up with Techsploration to bring you the Women in Action video series featuring women working in STEM careers. In this, the first video of many, meet hydrogeologist Nora Donald and learn about the important work she does. Techsploration’s Women In Action series delivers a quick overview of over forty careers in sciences, technology, trades, and engineering. The series features short clips of various female role models who share “the best thing” about their careers. The series introduces young women to careers in which females…

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People walked over the Hongo River in Fukuyama City, Japan on the MB4.0 temporary bridge. (Photo courtesy of Hiroshima University, Japan Construction Method and Machinery Research Institute, Hoshikei-kinzoku Industry Co.,Ltd., Akashin Co.,Ltd., Sankyo Tateyama, Inc., and Yokoyama Kisokouji Co.,Ltd.) Engineering 

Temporary Bridge for Emergency Evacuation

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By Kate Stone Earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, and landslides, and other natural disasters can damage infrastructure, such as bridges. What can be done to aid the rapid evacuation of survivors and delivery of aid? Enter the Mobile Bridge® Version 4.0 (MB4.0), a new concept in temporary bridge construction. In the aftermath of a natural disaster, rapid repair of infrastructure is crucial. Expanding in just five minutes and capable of carrying automobiles, MB4.0 is being hailed as the world’s fastest, largest, strongest, and lightest expanding temporary bridge. It’s a new type of…

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Clean Hydrogen: Stanford graduate student Haotian Wang and colleagues have developed a novel water splitter that produces clean-burning hydrogen from water 24 hours a day, seven days a week. (Photo Courtesy of L.A. Cicero/Stanford News Service) Engineering New Technologies 

Clean Hydrogen Production for 200 Hours

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By Kate S. Scientists at Stanford University have just built a low-cost water splitter that uses a single catalyst to produce both hydrogen and oxygen gas. This is an invention that could pave the way for a boom in production of clean-burning cars. The scientists say that their device, which can run nonstop for an unprecedented period of time, could provide a renewable source of clean-burning hydrogen fuel for transportation and industry. The team used lithium-ion battery technology to create one low-cost catalyst that is capable of driving the entire…

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Frosted Smart Windows: Window tinting can turn milky for privacy while still allowing 90 percent or more of sunlight to enter (Courtesy of Tim Zarki, University of Cincinnati) Engineering New Technologies 

Stay Tuned for Low-cost, Smart Windows

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By Kate S. Today, the University of Cincinnati announced that, together with industry partners, they’ve invented new ‘smart window’ shade technology that could improve upon existing windows and blinds. The researchers say that this patent-pending research will lead to low-cost window tinting that dynamically adapts for brightness, color, and opacity. The new tech is designed to provide privacy while allowing light in. A collaboration between the University of Cincinnati, Hewlett Packard, and EMD/Merck Research Labs has resulted in a patent-pending product that the team is calling ‘tunable’ window tinting. The…

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Brainprint: Sarah Laszlo, an assistant professor of Psychology, in her laboratory (Jonathan Cohen, Binghamton University photographer) Biology Engineering New Technologies 

Can Brainprints Replace Passwords?

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By Kate S. How many passwords do you keep track of? How many have you forgotten? According to researchers from Binghamton University, remembering lots of complicated codes may one day be a thing of the past. The unique way your brain responds to certain words could be used to replace passwords. Studying Brain Biometrics The research team monitored the brain signals of 45 volunteers as they read a list of 75 acronyms, such as FBI and DVD. They recorded the brain’s reaction to each group of letters, focusing on the…

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This figure shows how a gorilla and a human to grip and move an object. The dots indicate positions in which the object can be gripped. (Yale University) Biology Engineering 

Better Understanding the Human Grip

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The human hand is an evolutionary wonder: 26 percent of the bones in our bodies are in our hands. Now, scientists are coming to better understand the grip and special grasping ability of humans and other primates. In a new study, a research team found that even the oldest known human ancestors may have had precision gripping skills comparable to modern humans. This includes Australopithecus afarensis, a creature that predates the first known stone tools by about a million years. Manual dexterity is traditionally viewed as a key adaptation that…

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University of Vermont scientists Peter Dodds and Chris Danforth led a new Big Data study confirming that humans use more happy words than sad words. Psychology 

Preference for Positive, Happy Words

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In 1969, two psychologists at the University of Illinois proposed what they called the Pollyanna Hypothesis–the idea that there is a universal human tendency to use positive, happy words more frequently than negative ones. “Humans tend to look on (and talk about) the bright side of life,” they wrote. That speculation has provoked debate ever since. Now, scientists at the University of Vermont have gathered a data set of billions of words to support the 1960s theory. People Use More Happy Words Than Sad Words The researchers collected samples of ten…

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BYU's VuePod is controlled by a Wii remote that interacts through BlueTooth technology with a SmartTrack device. (Mark A. Philbrick) Engineering New Technologies 

VuePod: Powerful New Virtual Reality System

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By Kate Stone Since Facebook paid $2 billion to acquire the virtual reality gaming device, Oculus Rift, the 3D industry seems to be booming. Now, Brigham Young University (BYU) has added its own invention to the mix. Principally made for use in engineering, yet powerful enough for gaming, the VuePod is especially exciting because it’s comparatively cheap to build. While the VuePod is certainly not the first immersive visualization system in academia, it might be the most cost effective. Other 3D systems cost as much as $10 million to build…

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