A Tohoku University researcher has increased the performance of a high-power electrodeless plasma thruster, moving us one step closer to deeper explorations into space. Innovations in terrestrial transportation technologies, such as cars, trains, and aircraft, have driven historical technologies and industries so far; now, a similar breakthrough is occurring in space thanks to electric propulsion technology. Electric propulsion is a technique utilizing electromagnetic fields to accelerate a propellant and to generate thrust that propels a spacecraft. Space agencies have pioneered…
Space scientists may need to rethink how gamma-ray bursts are formed after new research led by the University of Bath in the UK shows new-born supramassive stars, not black holes, are sometimes responsible for these huge extragalactic bursts of energy. Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have been detected by satellites orbiting Earth as luminous flashes of the most energetic gamma-ray radiation lasting milliseconds to hundreds of seconds. These catastrophic blasts occur in distant galaxies, billions of light years from Earth. A sub-type…
Researchers at the Eelkema Lab have discovered a new process that uses fuel to control non-living materials, similar to what living cells do. The reaction cycle can easily be applied to a wide range of materials and its rate can be controlled – a breakthrough in the emerging field of such reactions. The discovery is a step towards soft robotics; soft machines that can sense what is happening in their environment and respond accordingly. The chemists published their findings in…
Physicists at ETH Zurich developed a versatile dual-comb laser that offers bright prospects for practical applications of optical delay scanning. Ultrafast laser technology has enabled a trove of methods for precision measurements. These include in particular a broad class of pulsed-laser experiments in which a sample is excited and, after a variable amount of time, the response is measured. In such studies, the delay between the two pulses should typically cover the range from femtoseconds to nanoseconds. In practice, scanning…
Indoor & outdoor wayfinding technology for vision-impaired people. Navigating an unfamiliar place is uniquely challenging for people with disabilities. People with blindness, deafblindness, visual impairment or low vision, as well as those who use wheelchairs, can travel more independently in urban areas with the aid of effective wayfinding technology. A new report from the National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) explores how to leverage low-cost methods to enable people to more easily move through public, urban indoor and outdoor…
Technology could help industry save millions in fuel consumption, reduce exhaust emissions. Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has developed a proof-of-concept system to autonomously detect compressed air leaks on trains and relay the location of the leaks to mechanical personnel for repair. The automated system could reduce the time, costs and labor needed to find and repair air leaks, and it could lower the locomotive industry’s overall fuel consumption and exhaust emissions. Trains use compressed air for a variety of functions,…
Cost-saving advance can fully automate pooled testing and detect multiple diseases. Using swarms of pinhead-sized magnets inside a handheld, all-in-one lab kit, UCLA researchers have developed a technology that could significantly increase the speed and volume of disease testing, while reducing the costs and usage of scarce supplies. The automated tests can be easily manufactured, deployed and performed timely at a doctor’s office, health clinic or at mass testing sites in airports and schools at the onset of any major…
H2020 project INSPIRE-5Gplus (https://www.inspire-5gplus.eu/) develops a fully Stand Alone 5G-in-a-Box. New fully Stand Alone 5G-in-a-Box has been integrated, configured and tested by Montimage in the H2020 project INSPIRE-5Gplus (https://www.inspire-5gplus.eu/). It integrates the MMT (Montimage Monitoring Tool) framework for improved analysis and cybersecurity of portable 5G solutions. The 5G-in-a-Box solution includes the following features: 5G-in-a-Box offers a 4G LTE and 5G NSA/SA network platform commercialised by Montimage and Cumucore. It can be used not only for experimental testing but also to…
Back to culture – Research led by University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover (TiHo), in cooperation with Hannover Medical School (MHH), Robert Koch Institute, Hannover Concerts, ProEvent Hannover and AWiAS Aviation Services GmbH, examined whether trained corona detection dogs can be used in everyday life. For the first of its kind study, the project team held four concerts at the end of 2021, at which the medical detection dogs sniffed sweat samples from all visitors at the entrance to detect SARS-CoV-2…
Free-living great tits differ considerably in the level of stress hormones in their blood. A research project at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence (in foundation) studied the birds over several years. The scientists observed large differences in how strongly glucocorticoid hormone levels fluctuated in individual great tits, as the birds experienced different environmental temperatures. Such differences among individuals can make it easier for bird populations to adapt to changing conditions – such as more frequent temperature extremes due…
COMPAMED 22: COMPAMED is the leading international marketplace for medical manufacturing suppliers. After the pandemic years 2020 and 2021, full halls and exhibitors from all over the world await the international audience again this year. Modern medical technology for diagnostics and therapy must meet increasing requirements for mobility and energy efficiency. For this reason, the demand for miniaturization solutions of medical components remains at a high level. Largest joint area at COMPAMED With 47 exhibitors, the “Hightech for Medical Devices”…
DFG funds International Research Training Group at University of Bayreuth. The University of Bayreuth, together with two Australian partner universities, the University of Melbourne and Monash University, is establishing a new International Research Training Group (IRTG) in the field of semiconductor research. The college will start in spring 2023 and will be funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) with more than six million euros for an initial period of five years. Outstanding young talents from the fields of physics,…
… with integrated neuromorphic data processing picks up speed. In the Fraunhofer lead project NeurOSmart, five institutes (ISIT, IPMS, IMS, IWU, IAIS)* are jointly researching a particularly energy-efficient and intelligent sensor for the next generation of autonomously acting systems. After just under a year of project work, the Fraunhofer researchers will present the expected sensor system and the hybrid, neuromorphic data processing pipeline at Electronica. The current trend for complex, demanding applications, such as autonomous driving, is toward mobile supercomputers…
A flipping action in a porous material facilitates the passage of normal water to separate it out from heavy water. A research group led by Susumu Kitagawa of Kyoto University’s Institute for Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS), Japan and Cheng Gu of South China University of Technology, China have made a material that can effectively separate heavy water from normal water at room temperature. Until now, this process has been very difficult and energy intensive. The findings have implications for industrial –…
According to a new study that combined GPS, satellite data, and numerical modelling, ice loss from northeast Greenland could be six times greater by the end of the century than previously thought. Ice is continuously streaming off Greenland’s melting glaciers at an accelerating rate, dramatically increasing global sea levels. New results published [DATE] in Nature indicate that existing models have underestimated how much ice will be lost during the 21st century. Hence, its contribution to sea-level rise will be significantly…
… using a non-toxic version of their deadly toxin. A delicacy in Japanese cuisine, puffer fish (fugu) also contain a lethal toxin. Improperly prepared puffer fish can cause the person eating it to experience food poisoning and a swift death. Such a terrible event can happen because the fish’s liver and ovaries contain a powerful neurotoxin called tetrodotoxin (TTX). However, though its purpose is unclear, puffer fish also have analogs of TTX that are non-toxic. Now, in a new study…
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