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    Category Physics

    Now you can ‘Build your own’ Bio-Bot

    February 13, 2017, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics, Biology/Biotechnology

    Bio-bot design process overview.

    (a) Bio-bot design is inspired by biological design in the body. (b) Bio-bot skeletons and muscle bioactuator injection molds are designed using computer-aided design (CAD) software (Steps 1 and 2), (c) tested using finite element analysis (FEA) software (Steps 20–25), and (d) manufactured via stereolithographic 3D printing (Steps 3–10). (e) Muscle rings are tissue-engineered and coupled to bio-bot skeletons (Steps 11–16), and assessed via (f) immunohistochemical staining (Step 26) and (g) externally stimulated force production (Step 19). Each step of the design process (a–g) is iterative, and feedback from each step is used to improve the functionality of the bio-bot with each iteration. Scale bars, 2 mm (e); 500 μm (f). a,c,f adapted with permission from ref...

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    Dual-function Nanorod LEDs could make Multifunctional displays

    February 11, 2017, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    A laser stylus writes on a small array of multifunction pixels made by dual-function LEDs than can both emit and respond to light. Credit: Image courtesy of Moonsub Shim, University of Illinois

    A laser stylus writes on a small array of multifunction pixels made by dual-function LEDs than can both emit and respond to light. Credit: Image courtesy of Moonsub Shim, University of Illinois

    Cellphones and other devices could soon be controlled with touchless gestures and charge themselves using ambient light, thanks to new LED arrays that can both emit and detect light. Made of tiny nanorods arrayed in a thin film, the LEDs could enable new interactive functions and multitasking devices. “These LEDs are the beginning of enabling displays to do something completely different, moving well beyond just displaying information to be much more interactive devices,” said Prof. Moonsub Shim. “That can become the basis for new and interesting designs for a lot of electronics...

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    Ancient Signals from the Early Universe

    February 11, 2017, Categories  Physics, Astronomy/Space

    A still image from a computer simulation of an oscillon, a strong localized fluctuation of the inflaton field of the early universe. According to the calculations of Prof. Stefan Antusch and his team, oscillons produced a characteristic peak in the otherwise broad spectrum of gravitational waves. Credit: University of Basel, Department of Physics

    A still image from a computer simulation of an oscillon, a strong localized fluctuation of the inflaton field of the early universe. According to the calculations of Prof. Stefan Antusch and his team, oscillons produced a characteristic peak in the otherwise broad spectrum of gravitational waves. Credit: University of Basel, Department of Physics

    For the 1st time, theoretical physicists from the University of Basel have calculated the signal of specific gravitational wave sources that emerged fractions of a second after the Big Bang. The source of the signal is a long-lost cosmological phenomenon called “oscillon...

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    New Engineered material can Cool Roofs, Structures with Zero energy consumption

    February 10, 2017, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics, Environment/Geology

    CU boulder researchers demonstrating their newly engineered material

    A team of University of Colorado Boulder engineers has developed a scalable manufactured metamaterial — an engineered material with extraordinary properties not found in nature — to act as a kind of air conditioning system for structures. It has the ability to cool objects even under direct sunlight with zero energy and water consumption.

    University of Colorado Boulder engineers have developed a scalable manufactured metamaterial to act as a kind of air conditioning system for structures. It has the ability to cool objects even under direct sunlight with zero energy and water consumption...

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