Category Physics

Future technology for contactless medical procedures. In the perhaps not so distant future, surgeons could perform a range of medical procedures all without touching the patient, thanks to advancements in ‘acoustic tweezers’.

Surgeons won’t be shrunk and sent into the body like in the 1960s Sci-Fi, Fantastic Voyage, but could program a specialised array of mini-speakers to create an intricate sound field that ‘traps’ and manipulates selected objects in ‘acoustic tweezers’ for manipulation within tissue.

Advancements in acoustic tweezers from Professor Bruce Drinkwater in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Bristol, and his...

Scientists have developed a 3D-printed robotic hand which can play simple musical phrases on the piano by just moving its wrist. And while the robot is no virtuoso, it demonstrates just how challenging it is to replicate all the abilities of a human hand, and how much complex movement can still be achieved through design.

The robot hand, developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge, was made by 3D-printing soft and rigid materials together to replicate of all the bones and ligaments – but not the muscles or tendons – in a human hand...

Sophisticated shape-shifters for soft robots, biomedical applications. Rice University scientists have created a rubbery, shape-shifting material that morphs from one sophisticated form to another on demand.

The shapes programmed into a polymer by materials scientist Rafael Verduzco and graduate student Morgan Barnes appear in ambient conditions and melt away when heat is applied. The process also works in reverse.

The smooth operation belies a battle at the nanoscale, where liquid crystals and the elastomer in which they’re embedded fight for control...

A team of researchers led by Osaka University developed an inexpensive large-scale flexible thermoelectric generator (FlexTEG) module with high mechanical reliability for highly efficient power generation. Through a change in direction of the top electrodes at the two sides of the module and the use of high density packaging of semiconductor chips, the FlexTEG module has more flexibility in any uniaxial direction...