A team of researchers from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Harvard University and Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology has developed a way to make batteries in almost any shape that can be imagined. In their paper published in the journal ACS Nano, the researchers describe the process used to make the batteries and…
Researchers Show What Can Happen When Drone Collides with Airplane
A team at the University of Dayton Research Institute has created a video showing what can happen to an airplane when it collides with a drone. They have presented their findings along with the video at this year’s Unmanned Systems Academic Summit. Because of the vast difference in size between small civilian drones and commercial…
Demonstrating High Performance 2-D Monolayer Transistors On Paper Substrates
A pair of researchers, Saungeun Park and Deji Akinwande, with the University of Texas at Austin, recently demonstrated high-performance 2-D monolayer transistors on paper substrates at this year’s International Electron Devices Meeting. At their presentation, they reported creating graphene and molybdenum disulfide transistors on a normal paper substrate and how well they worked—nearly as well…
New Soft Rubber For Creating Self-Healing Robots
A team of researchers at Vrije Universiteit Brussel has developed a type of rubber that can be used with robots to allow them to self-heal when cut. In their paper published in the journal Science Robotics, the team describes the rubber, how it self-heals and how it performed when tested. One of the big goals for robot engineers…
Chinese Team Sends Quantum Keys To Ground Stations And Teleports Ground To Satellite Signals
Two Chinese teams working with quantum encryption and entanglement have achieved two more goals toward building a quantum space-based communication network. In the first experiment, one team succeeded in sending quantum keys from a satellite to two ground stations. In the second, another team sent entangled photons from the ground to a satellite. Both teams…
Bubble Technique Used To Measure Sheer Forces Between Graphene Sheets
A team of researchers from China and the U.S. has devised a relatively simple means for measuring the shear forces that exist between sheets of graphene and other materials. In their paper published in the journal Physical Review Letters, the group describes the technique and the results they found when using it to measure shear forces…
Moon Express Reveals Plans For Private Exploration Of The Moon
Private company Moon Express has announced via its website its plans for exploring the moon—plans that include sending three craft to the moon over the next three years. Officials with the company have also been speaking with the press regarding their ambitions. As noted on the website, to date, just three entities have sent working…
Mechanical Third Thumb Offers Extended Hand Abilities
Dani Clode, a grad student at the Royal College of Art in London, has created what she calls the “Third Thumb”—a system that adds a mechanical thumb to the opposite side of a natural thumb on a human hand. She showcased her invention at this year’s RCA graduate exhibition. What is perhaps most intriguing about…
World View Enterprises Looking To Popularize Use Of Stratospheric Balloons
World View Enterprises bills itself on its website as a “full-service commercial launch provider”—it offers to take various types of equipment up to the edge of space using a balloon for a short amount of time for less money than NASA charges. The newly burgeoning field of balloon science is the topic of a Feature…
Software On Mars Rover Allows It To Pick Research Targets Autonomously
A team of researchers form the U.S., Denmark and France has created a report regarding the creation and use of software meant to give exploratory robots in space more autonomy. In their paper published in the journal Science Robotics, the team describes the software, called Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science (AEGIS), and how well it…
New Version of Vantablack Coating Even Blacker Than Original
U.K.-based Surrey Nanosystems has announced that it has improved on the original Vertically Aligned Nanotube Array BLACK (Vantablack coating) which the company claimed to be the blackest material ever made. The original Vantablack was found to absorb 99.96 percent of visible (and ultraviolet and infrared) light—the new Vantablack is darker—so much so that it cannot…
Data From GRAIL Spacecraft Suggest Moon May Have Large Lava Tubes
A team of researchers with Purdue University has found evidence from lunar-mapping spacecraft that the moon may have large lava tubes that could conceivably be used to house astronauts and supplies. In their paper published in the journal Icarus, the team describes their study of data from NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) twin spacecraft…
Data From ISS Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer Suggests Possibility Of Unknown Source Of Positrons
A team of researchers known as the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) Collaboration has found evidence of a possible unknown source of positrons making their way through the universe to Earth. In their paper published in Physical Review Letters, the team offers a report on cosmic ray strikes that have been reported by the AMS aboard the…