Feature Channels: Engineering

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In the first study of its kind, scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory quantitatively show that electric vehicles (EVs) will meet the daily travel needs of drivers longer than commonly assumed. They found that batteries that have lost 20 percent of their originally rated energy storage capacity can still meet the daily travel needs of more than 85 percent of U.S. drivers.

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Computer scientists at Washington University in St. Louis tackled some big data about an important protein and discovered its connection in human history as well as clues about its role in complex neurological diseases.

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Researchers at UT Dallas have created materials that exploit the electromechanical properties of specific nanofibers to stretch to up to seven times their length, while remaining tougher than Kevlar.

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A team of chemists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison has set the stage for more efficient and sturdier portable electronic devices and possibly a new generation of solar cells based on organic materials.

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Gyroscopes are rarely found in nature, and scientists know of just one group of insects that have gyroscope-like sensors. But two University of Washington researchers have discovered that insect wings may act as gyroscopes, enabling insects to perform aerial acrobatics and maintain stability and direction.

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The honeycomb structure of pristine graphene is beautiful, but a national group of researchers has discovered that if the graphene naturally has a few tiny holes in it, you have a proton-selective membrane that could lead to improved fuel cells.

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Wei Tang, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at New Mexico State University, is taking a cue from nature to devise the next generation of integrated low-power, wearable micro-devices.

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An atomically thin membrane with microscopically small holes may prove to be the basis for future hydrogen fuel cell, water filtering and desalination membranes, according to a group of 15 theorists and experimentalists, including three theoretical researchers from Penn State.

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Drexel University researchers, along with colleagues at Aix-Marseille University in France, have discovered a high performance cathode material with great promise for use in next generation lithium-sulfur batteries that could one day be used to power mobile devices and electric cars.

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In a scant five years of development, hybrid perovskite solar cells have attained power conversion efficiencies that took decades to achieve with the top-performing conventional materials, but scientists have lacked a clear understanding of the precise goings on at the molecular level. New findings by University of Utah physicists help fill that void.

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Columbia engineers have invented a technology—full-duplex radio integrated circuits—that can be implemented in nanoscale CMOS to enable simultaneous transmission and reception at the same frequency in a wireless radio. Up to now, this has been thought to be impossible: transmitters and receivers either work at different times or at the same time but at different frequencies. Electrical Engineering Professor Harish Krishnaswamy’s team is the first to demonstrate an IC that can accomplish this.

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Howard Hughes Medical Institute scientists have simplified the chemical synthesis of small molecules, eliminating a major bottleneck that limits the exploration of a class of compounds offering tremendous potential for medicine and technology.

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Construction crews may someday use a plant molecule called lignin in their asphalt and sealant mixtures to help roads and roofs hold up better under various weather conditions and make them more environmentally friendly. The research will be presented today at the 249th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society.

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Chlorine, a disinfectant used in most wastewater treatment plants, may be failing to eliminate pharmaceuticals from wastes. As a result, trace levels get discharged from the treatment plants into waterways. Now, scientists are reporting that chlorine treatment may encourage the formation of new, unknown antibiotics that could enter the environment, potentially contributing to the problem of antibiotic resistance. They will present the research at the 249th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society.

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One person’s trash literally could become another’s high-tech treasure, according to researchers who have developed a way to turn discarded packing peanuts into components for rechargeable batteries that could outperform the ones we use currently. They will report on the process for the first time today at the 249th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society.

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A plastic used in filters and tubing has an unusual trait: It can produce electricity when pulled or pressed. This ability has been used in small ways, but now researchers are coaxing fibers of it to make even more electricity for a wider range of applications from green energy to “artificial muscles.” They will report progress on a novel form of this plastic at the 249th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society.

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Squid are the ultimate camouflage artists, blending almost flawlessly with their backgrounds so that unsuspecting prey can’t detect them. Using a protein that’s key to this process, scientists have designed “invisibility stickers” that could one day help soldiers disguise themselves, even when sought by enemies with tough-to-fool infrared cameras.

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Increasing natural gas production could provide a bridge to a lower carbon future. However, methane that is leaked into the atmosphere from this process could speed global warming and climate change. And there is controversy over just how much methane is lost. Researchers today will present new methods to determine methane’s leakage rate and problems inherent in discovering and assessing leakage at the 249th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society.

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The sweet taste and smell of antifreeze tempts children and animals to drink the poisonous substance, resulting in thousands of accidental poisonings in the United States every year. But today researchers will describe a new, nontoxic product based on a common food additive that could address this health issue and help the environment at the same time.

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Iowa State University aerospace engineers are developing dual-rotor technology to improve the energy harvest of wind turbines.

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Jim Edgar, university distinguished professor of chemical engineering, has received a patent for his process that can build better semiconductors and improve electronic devices.

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In collaboration with Australian researchers, Argonne National Laboratory’s scientists are using decades of experience analyzing vehicle fuel injectors to study medical inhalers, hoping to unlock the secrets of the devices that are so well known to asthma sufferers everywhere.

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Researchers in the Texas Analog Center of Excellence (TxACE) in the University’s Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science created an electronic device using CMOS technology that detects electromagnetic waves to create images at nearly 10 terahertz, which is the highest frequency for electronic devices. The device could make night vision and heat-based imaging affordable.

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Iowa State University researchers are developing technologies – including heated pavements, electrically conductive concrete and nanostructured superhydrophobic coatings – to quickly and economically clear snow and ice from airport runways.

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A team of Vanderbilt engineers is using magnetic force to design new and improved instruments for minimally invasive surgery. The use of magnetic actuation allows them to create tools that are more flexible and more powerful than conventional designs, which place the instruments on the end of long sticks.

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A team of URI engineers has created a new paper-based platform for conducting a wide range of complex medical diagnostics. The key development was the invention of fluid actuated valves embedded in the paper that allow for sequential manipulation of sample fluids and multiple reagents in a controlled manner to perform complex multi-step immune-detection tests without human intervention.

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UAH researchers borrowed from biological structures called tubercles that humpback whales use to maneuver in the ocean to make a piezoelectric energy harvester for use as an airflow or fluid speed and direction-sensing device.

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A mechanical engineer and his team have developed a computer-controlled camera that enables their robotic ankle to see where it is going.

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The complex parts of the blue light known as the Cherenkov Effect can be measured and used in dosimetry to make therapies safer and more effective.

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A research team led by the University of Chicago’s Dmitri Talapin has demonstrated how semiconductors can be soldered and still deliver good electronic performance.

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Stereotypes are a powerful force in discouraging girls from careers in computer science and engineering, but there are ways to effectively counteract them, two new studies from the University of Washington find.

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An expanded view of lightning around the globe is coming closer for scientists at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), thanks to a repurposed measuring instrument.

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Bin Zheng, OU electrical and computer engineering professor and Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust Cancer Research Scholar, and his research team have developed image processing algorithms to generate quantitative image markers by analyzing multiple digital X-ray images and building statistical data learning-based prediction models. The goal is to develop a new quantitative image analysis method that better predicts cancer risk or cancer prognosis, which ultimately leads to help establish more effective personalized cancer screening and treatment strategies.

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Meteorologists from The Weather Channel broadcast segments on the unique re-creation of the Moore, Oklahoma, tornado in the Cube at the Moss Arts Center at Virginia Tech.

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Holographic video displays, featuring 3-D images, are about to "go large" and become a lot more affordable at the same time, thanks to the work of a team of Brigham Young University researchers and their collaborators at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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Sandia National Laboratories researchers have developed a single electroforming technique that tailored key factors to better thermoelectric performance: crystal orientation, crystal size and alloy uniformity. The work is outlined in a paper, “Using Galvanostatic Electroforming of Bi1-xSbx Nanowires to Control Composition, Crystallinity and Orientation,” in MRS Bulletin.

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It’s about transforming corn stover, dried distillers grain solids and even native grasses into a product more than 1,000 times more valuable—graphene. Assistant professor Zhengrong Gu of the South Dakota State University agricultural and biosystems engineering department is converting biochar into graphene which he hopes can one day be used in place of expensive, activated carbon to coat the electrodes of supercapacitors.

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Engineers have shone new light on an emerging family of solar-absorbing materials that could clear the way for cheaper and more efficient solar panels and LEDs. The materials, called perovskites, are particularly good at absorbing visible light, but had never been thoroughly studied in their purest form: as perfect single crystals. Using a new technique, researchers grew large, pure perovskite crystals and studied how electrons move through the material as light is converted to electricity.

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Virginia Tech’s Pablo Tarazaga, an expert in the field of smart materials, has received a prestigious 2015 Air Force Young Investigator Award, valued at $449,600 over a three-year period. Tarazaga, a mechanical engineer, is one of only 57 scientists and engineers in the U.S. to receive this honor.

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A new process that can sprout microscopic spikes on nearly any type of particle may lead to more environmentally friendly paints and a variety of other innovations.

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New battery technology from the University of Michigan should be able to prevent the kind of fires that grounded Boeing 787 Dreamliners in 2013.

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As nanomachine design advances, researchers are moving from wondering if the nanomachine works to how long it will work—an important question as there are so many potential applications, e.g., for medical uses including drug delivery and early diagnosis. Columbia Engineering Professor Henry Hess observed a molecular shuttle powered by kinesin motor proteins and found it to degrade when operating, marking the first time degradation has been studied in detail in an active, autonomous nanomachine.

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Scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory show that etching a nanoscale texture onto silicon creates an antireflective surface that works as well as state-of-the-art thin-film multilayer antireflective coatings for solar cells.

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Empa and the University Hospital Zurich have joined forces to develop a sensor that gages the blood sugar through skin contact. And best of all: No blood samples are necessary, not even to calibrate the sensor. “Glucolight” is initially to be used in premature babies to avoid hypoglycemia and subsequent brain damage.

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Manufacturers have begun experimenting with a new generation of “cobots” designed to work side-by-side with humans, and UW-Madison researchers are playing an important role in making these human-robot collaborations more natural and efficient. Bilge Mutlu, an assistant professor of computer sciences, is working with counterparts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to determine best practices for effectively integrating human-robot teams within manufacturing environments. Their research is funded by a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) as part of its National Robotics Initiative program.

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Columbia Engineering professor Elizabeth Hillman has developed SCAPE, a new microscope that images living things in 3D at very high speeds. Her approach uses a simple, single-objective imaging geometry that requires no sample mounting or translation, making it possible to image freely moving living samples. SCAPE’s ability to perform real-time 3D imaging at cellular resolution in behaving organisms could be transformative for biomedical and neuroscience research. (Study published on Nature Photonics's website 1/19/2015.)

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An international team of researchers says climate change, the loss of biosphere integrity, land-system change, and altered biogeochemical cycles like phosphorus and nitrogen runoff have all passed beyond levels that put humanity in a “safe operating space.” Civilization has crossed four of nine so-called planetary boundaries as the result of human activity, according to a report published today in Science by the 18-member research team.

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A group of University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers has provided new insights on hydrophobic interactions within complex systems. In a study published today in the journal Nature, the researchers show how the nearby presence of polar (water-attracted, or hydrophilic) substances can change the way the nonpolar hydrophobic groups want to stick to each other.

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While researchers in ORNL’s buildings group focus on increasing energy efficiency using new foam insulation panels, the nanophase materials sector experiments with catalyst performance, revealing an oxidation discovery that could help reduce vehicle emissions. Additionally, ORNL researchers aim to reduce the size, weight and power for some particle accelerators with development of a new voltage supply. And by using water and nano-sized particles isolated from trees and plants, scientists explore low-cost and nontoxic metal oxides.

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