Airplane toilets are loud. For some, they are downright terrifying. But chin up, frequent flyers, because a group of Brigham Young University physicists have figured out how to make them quieter. After two years of trial and error, three academic publications and thousands of flushes, the BYU researchers have invented a vacuum-assisted toilet that is about half…
New Devices Morph and Transform Like Iron Man’s Suit
It took just over 10 years, but real science has finally caught up to the science fiction of Iron Man’s transforming exoskeleton suit. In a paper published today in Science Robotics, engineers at Brigham Young University detail new technology that allows them to build complex mechanisms into the exterior of a structure without taking up any actual space…
Photo of the Day: Research Produces 3-D Images Floating In ‘Thin Air’
In the original Star Wars film, R2D2 projects an image of Princess Leia in distress. The iconic scene includes the line still famous 40 years later: “Help me Obi Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope.” BYU electrical and computer engineering professor and holography expert Daniel Smalley has long had a goal to create the same…
Football Helmet Smartfoam Signals Potential Concussions In Real Time, Study Suggests
Most football fans have seen players get hit so hard they can barely walk back to the sideline. All too often, those players are back on the field just a few plays later, despite suffering what appears to be a head injury. While football-related concussions have been top of mind in recent years, people have…
First Truly Microfluidic ‘Lab On A Chip’ Device 3-D Printed
Researchers at BYU are the first to 3D-print a viable microfluidic device small enough to be effective at a scale much less than 100 micrometers. Microfluidic devices are tiny chips that can sort out disease biomarkers, cells and other small structures in samples like blood by using microscopic channels incorporated into the devices. The accomplishment,…
Machine Learning Could Be Key To Producing Stronger, Less Corrosive Metals
It may not be as catchy as chains and weak links, but physicists and engineers know “a material is only as strong as its weakest grain boundary.” OK, that’s not catchy at all, but here’s the point: grain boundaries are a big deal. They are the microscopic, disordered regions where atom-sized building blocks bind the…
Machine Learning Could be Key to Producing Stronger, Less Corrosive Metals
It may not be as catchy as chains and weak links, but physicists and engineers know “a material is only as strong as its weakest grain boundary.” OK, that’s not catchy at all, but here’s the point: grain boundaries are a big deal. They are the microscopic, disordered regions where atom-sized building blocks bind the…
Powerful Enough for a Gamer, Made for an Engineer
It’s like a scene from a gamer’s wildest dreams: 12 high-definition, 55-inch 3D televisions all connected to a computer capable of supporting high-end, graphics-intensive gaming. On the massive screen, images are controlled by a Wii remote that interacts with a Kinnect-like Bluetooth device (called SmartTrack), while 3D glasses worn by the user create dizzying added…
Playing Hunger Games: Are Gamified Health Apps Putting Odds in Your Favor?
Study breaks down prevalence of apps using game-like rewards to motivate For many people, finding motivation to exercise is a challenge. Thankfully, there are Zombies chasing you. At least that’s the approach of Zombies, Run!—one of more than 31,000 health and fitness apps on the market today, and one of the growing number of apps…