TakkTile sensor – inexpensive tactile sensing with MEMS barometers

By Damir Beciri
18 April 2013

takktile-array-sensorResearchers at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have developed an inexpensive tactile sensor for robotic hands that is sensitive enough to turn a brute machine into a dexterous manipulator. Named TakkTile, the sensor is intended to put what is currently being developed in laboratories within the grasp of commercial inventors, teachers,… »

Bioinspired microneedle adheres 3 times stronger than surgical staples

By Damir Beciri
17 April 2013

adhesive-microneedle-1Inspired by a fish parasitic worm, a group of researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) devised a way to close surgical wounds that appears better than anything currently available for clinical use. Once perfected, the invention could be used as replacement for staples and sutures used in the operating room, as well as to… »

Fujitsu touch control interface can work with low cost equipment

By Damir Beciri
One Comment16 April 2013

fujitsu-information-interaction-1Fujitsu Laboratories developed a technology that enables gesture-based information interaction which merges digital data and real objects. As many of its competitors in user interface niche, the technology can accurately detect where the user’s finger is and what is being touched. However, what makes it different compared to other approaches is the fact it uses… »

BIQ House has bioreactive façade with algae filled panels

By Damir Beciri
2 Comments14 April 2013

biq-house-1Although the idea of bioreactive façade with algae has been around for a while, the BIQ house is the world’s first building that actually utilizes this technology. The building is a pilot project that showcases this idea as a part of the the International Building Exhibition (IBA) in Hamburg. At the same time, the system… »

A small chip embeds seven devices which enable navigation without GPS

By Damir Beciri
13 April 2013

timu-michigan-pennyGlobal Positioning System (GPS) provides location and time information in as long as there is a clear line of sight from the measured position to four or more GPS satellites. While some places such as tunnels, some bridges, garages or canyons disallow GPS to function properly, interference or malfunction of GPS satellites could prove disastrous… »

Tears-inspired material changes its properties on stimuli

By Damir Beciri
11 April 2013

tunable-fluid-infused-porous-filmsInspired by properties of the liquid film that coats the eyes, a team of researchers at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard cooperated in order to design a new kind of adaptive material able to change its transparency and wetability features when… »

Mimicking bean leaves ability to trap bedbugs on the way

By Damir Beciri
9 April 2013

bedbug-kidney-bean-leaf-1Inspired by a traditional Balkan bedbug remedy, researchers at UC Irvine and the University of Kentucky have documented how microscopic hairs on kidney bean leaves effectively stab and trap these biting insects. The researchers are going to use these findings to develop materials that mimic the geometry of the leaves in order to aid in… »

Fusion powered rocket for faster interplanetary voyages

By Damir Beciri
One Comment8 April 2013

fusion-powered-rocket-1University of Washington researchers and scientists at MSNW, a Redmond-based space-propulsion company, are building components of a fusion-powered rocket that could accelerate interplanetary traveling. The researchers claim that once perfected, fusion-powered rockets could enable 30- and 90-day expeditions to Mars. That could lead to significantly lower traveling time, costs, as well as crew’s health risks…. »