Schematic of the electrically pumped quantum dot micro-ring laser.
Credit: Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, HKUST
Decades ago, the Moore's law predicted that the number of transistors in a dense integrated circuit doubles approximately every two years. This prediction was...
This is a closeup of the flexible sensor.
Credit: University of British Columbia
Picture a tablet that you can fold into the size of a phone and put away in your pocket, or an artificial skin that can sense your body's...
Image credit:Flickr/richardghawley
The sight of propeller-like rotating blades positioned high up the pole of a tall horizontal-axis wind turbine (HAWT) may be familiar to many. Often grouped in wind farms, HAWTs provide significant amounts of energy for local communities. One...
3-D printing has come a long way since the first "rapid prototyping" patent was rejected in 1980. We've evolved from basic designs to a wide range of highly-customizable objects. Still, there's a big issue: once objects are printed, they're...
Credit: Stanford University
Here's how to build a whirligig: Thread a loop of twine through two holes in a button. Grab the loop ends, then rhythmically pull. As the twine coils and uncoils, the button spins at a dizzying speed.
Now,...
Credit: The Ohio State University
Researchers here have made a discovery in materials science that sounds like something from the old Saturday morning cartoon Super Friends: They've found a way to deactivate "nano twins" to improve the high-temperature properties of...
The schematic at left shows the design for an experimental transistor made of a semiconductor called beta gallium oxide, which could bring new ultra-efficient switches for applications such as the power grid, military ships and aircraft. At right is...
Tools and building blocks made by 3D printing with lunar and Martian dust.
Credit: Image courtesy of Northwestern University
When humans begin to colonize the moon and Mars, they will need to be able to make everything from small tools to...
Nature has produced exquisite composite materials--wood, bone, teeth, and shells, for example--that combine light weight and density with desirable mechanical properties such as stiffness, strength and damage tolerance.
Since ancient civilizations first combined straw and mud to form bricks, people...
Using a new technique they call 'in-air microfluidics', University of Twente scientists succeed in printing 3D structures with living cells. This special technique enable the fast and 'in-flight' production of micro building blocks that are viable and can be...
This full-scale timber girder bridge tested at the J. Lohr Structures Laboratory at South Dakota State University is 50-feet long and 9.5-feet wide.
Credit: Image courtesy of South Dakota State University
Glulam timber bridges are viable and cost-effective options for replacing...
