Two engineers at the University of South Carolina conducted research that showed a modified store-bought T-shirt can act like a supercapacitor and store an electrical charge. “We wear fabric every day,” said Xiaodong Li, a professor of mechanical engineering at the school. “One day our cotton T-shirts could have more functions; for example, a flexible energy storage device that could charge your cell phone or your iPad.” Li and his associates used a store-bought T-shirt, which was then soaked in a fluoride solution and baked at a high temperature in an oxygen-free oven. Once removed, the resulting fibers were converted from cellulose to activated carbon capable of storage an electrical charge.
Scientific American reports that a team of scientists from Rice University in Houston and the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium have been working on a “spray-on” battery that’s deployed through an aerosol can. Although the idea has a vague “They called me mad, mad!” sound to it, Scientific American says that the invention could conceivably transform any surface into a potential energy storage device. The magazine says the spray is layered like most batteries with “a positive current collector, a cathode that attracts positively charged ions, an ion-conducting separator, an anode to attract negative ions, and a negative current collector.” Team member Neelam Singh says that the technology he’s helping to develop could even lead to “paint-on solar cells” that could transform entire houses into “solar-energy capture-and-storage devices.” More →
A team of researchers at the University of Southern California have developed a data transmission technology capable of moving the equivalent of 70 DVDs in one second. Led by Alan Willner, an electrical engineering professor at USC, the team was able to improve upon existing twisted light technology to achieve throughput speeds of 2.56 terabits per second over a distance of approximately five feet. More →
An international team of researchers has created a technology that projects images on an ultra-thin display made entirely of soap bubbles. The team uses ultrasonic vibrations to alter the display's properties, such as its transparency and surface, to produce a flat or even a 3D image. The project is called the colloidal display, and is being worked on by researchers from the University of Tokyo, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Tsukuba. The bubble mixture used in the research is similar to consumer-grade soap, although it is more sophisticated and harder to pop — in fact, objects can even pass through the film without destroying it. “The combination of the ultrasonic waves and ultra thin membranes makes more realistic, distinctive, and vivid imageries on screen,” the team wrote on its website. “This system contributes to open up a new path for display engineering with sharp imageries, transparency, BRDF and flexibility.” A video demonstration follows below.
When traveling overseas or even across the country, we are forced to deal with long lines, disgruntled TSA agents, crying babies and hours of terrible movies. Airline travel has become such a hassle that this writer is more likely to embark on a multi-day road trip than hop on the next flight out of JFK. For years, TV shows and movies have imagined different and unique ways we might travel, but most of them are very far fetched in terms of currently-available technology. While various countries employ high-speed bullet trains, the airlines are still the fastest way to get from A to B for the time being. If one company’s technology manages to gain support, however, this might not be the case in the near future. More →
An experimental solar-powered airplane embarked on its first transcontinental flight on Thursday, The Associated Press reported. The Solar Impulse plane left Switzerland and, after a pilot change in Spain, should reach North Africa next week. The aircraft features a 207-foot wingspan and more than 12,000 solar panels. The project began in 2003 and is estimated to cost about $100 million over 10 years. The Swiss traveled to Belgium and France last year to complete the Solar Impulse’s first international flight. The mission to Africa is described as the final dress rehearsal before a round-the-world flight that will include stops in the United States using a newer and more improved model scheduled to be unveiled in 2014. More →
Microsoft’s Kinect motion and voice-based controller accessory was launched with gaming in mind, but researchers have taken the technology in a number of different directions. German researchers transformed the Kinect into an interactive augmented reality X-ray machine, and Microsoft Research is now in the process of trialing the use of its Kinect sensor as a surgical assistant. More →
One of Microsoft’s latest research projects offers gesture controls using a computer’s speakers, microphone and inaudible sounds. The technology is called “SoundWave” and it utilizes the Doppler effect to detect gestures. With the help of a computer’s speakers and microphone, SoundWave can detect the frequency change of a sound wave by using inaudible sounds and measuring the change in feedback as a hand gesture is performed. Even if a user is playing music on his or her laptop or there’s a lot of background noise, SoundWave will still be able to detect gestures. The technology can even detect when a person walks to or away from a computer, and respond by unlocking or locking the device. Microsoft’s video demonstration follows below. More →
The United States Patent and Trademark office recently published details surrounding a patent from Samsung regarding a technology that strategically implants electrodes into the human brain called Implantable Medical Devices (IMDs). The South Korea-based company states that an IMD may be implanted into a human body and be used to help monitor primary organs such as the heart and brain itself, PatentBolt reported on Wednesday. The IMD may also be used to monitor a patient’s physiological and pathological state, though Samsung notes that it may be difficult to control or change operation of the IMD because of the complex procedure involved with implanting it into the body. The IMD would also be accompanied by an external user device that could be used to display information to a patient’s doctor or to medical personnel in the event of an emergency. More →
The United States is challenging every entrepreneur, engineer, developer and inventor to create the first military robot. The individual or team that creates a humanoid robot capable of walking on two legs and performing various tasks — driving vehicles and using tools — will be awarded $2 million by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The humanoid army isn’t intended for the battlefield, however; the military is interested in using robots for disaster-response scenarios in which robots will be able to assist service members in high-risk situations. “Robots undoubtedly capture the imagination, but that alone does not justify an investment in robotics,” said DARPA Acting Director, Kaigham J. Gabriel. “For robots to be useful to DoD they need to offer gains in either physical protection or productivity. The most successful and useful robots would do both via natural interaction with humans in shared environments.” The Robotics Challenge will begin in October 2012 and run through December 2014. Read on for DARPA’s press release. More →
Cell phones, tablets, cars and even weapons systems that can heal themselves when scratched or cracked are no longer confined to science fiction. During the American Chemistry Society’s annual conference on Monday, University of Southern Mississippi Professor Marek Urban demonstrated the new material and discussed numerous potential applications. When scratched or cracked, the new plastic responds on a molecular level and regenerates to repair itself without leaving any signs of damage. According to some scientists, the material is considered the ”Holy Grail of Material Science.” Read on for more. More →
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have created an ultra-fast camera that can see around corners, Digital Trends reported on Wednesday. Once work on the camera is complete, the team believes it can be utilized by the military to see over walls or around corners in combat zones. The camera is able to reconstruct a hidden object using scattered laser light, which bounces off walls and surfaces that are close to the obstructed object. “We are all familiar with sound echoes, but we can also exploit echoes of light,” said Ramesh Raskar, head of the Camera Culture Research Group at the MIT Media Lab. The camera is able to record an image every two picoseconds, allowing the location of the object to me measured with extreme precision. An algorithm can then process the collected data and use it to construct an image of the hidden object. The technique takes several minutes to produce an image, however the scientists hope to eventually get the entire process down to a mere 10 seconds. A video from the science journal Nature showcasing the technology follows below. More →
