Collaboration between researchers at the Clemson University and the Georgia Institute of Technology resulted with a promising new binder material for lithium-ion battery electrodes. Known as alginate, the material is extracted from common, fast-growing brown algae, and it could boost energy storage, while eliminating the use of toxic compounds now used to manufacture the components…. »

Rice University engineering researchers have made a breakthrough that could allow wireless phone companies to double throughput on their networks without adding a single cell tower. Instead using two frequencies to send and receive data, Rice’s new “full-duplex” technology allows wireless devices like cell phones and electronic tablets perform this communication with cell towers while… »

The adhesive surface of gecko’s toes has inspired many research groups to try to mimic this ability in an artificial material. Researchers at the A*STAR Institute of Materials Research and Engineering and co-workers at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore claim that they came up with the closest biomimicry yet, and that their synthetic gecko toe… »

The Warren and Katharine Schlinger Laboratory for Chemistry and Chemical Engineering building is a part of California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and it is expected to receive LEED Gold certification. Along with focus on sustainability and resource conservation, the Schlinger Laboratory will foster innovative and productive scientific collaborations between diverse research groups in chemistry and… »

Programming a computer to observe events and find commonalities is called machine learning. There are many examples of this process being perfected by many researchers around the world, but a team of researchers from the Cornell University Personal Robotics Laboratory is teaching robots to find their way around in new environments and manipulate objects with… »

A Case Western Reserve University researcher has built a prototype blade that is substantially lighter and more durable compared to materials currently used in blades of wind turbines. He came up with a polyurethane blade reinforced with carbon nanotubes, which make the material eight times tougher compared to other materials which are currently used as… »

Certain biological materials exhibit exceptional strength due to their complex structure which has been perfected through time. Inspired by the perfected structures found in nature, researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute are collaborating on a project named Bionic Manufacturing. It aims to develop plastic products that are lightweight and strong, while being economic in their use… »

Researchers from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) are cooperating in order to develop a technology that could be used as the first nuclear power plant for production of electricity on potential future extraterrestrial bases. Although far different from the familiar terrestrial nuclear power stations, they are… »