Category Physics

Implanted microLED devices light up, activating peripheral nerve cells in mice. The devices are being developed and studied by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a potential treatment for pain that does not respond to other therapies. Credit: Gereau lab/Washington University

Building on wireless technology that has the potential to interfere with pain, scientists have developed flexible, implantable devices that can activate – and, in theory, block – pain signals in the body and spinal cord before those signals reach the brain. The implants one day may be used in different parts of the body to fight pain that doesn’t respond to other therapies.

“Our eventual goal is to use this technology to treat pain ...

Engineered hydrogel being pulled away from a glass surface. The material shows a property called “tough wet adhesion” comparable to tendon and bone interface. The wavy edge instability at the interface is a hallmark of strongly adhered soft material on a rigid surface. Credit: Felice Frankel

New ‘water adhesive’ is tougher than natural adhesives employed by mussels and barnacles. The hydrogel, a transparent, rubber-like material, can adhere to surfaces such as glass, silicon, ceramics, aluminum, and titanium with a toughness comparable to the bond between tendon and cartilage on bone.

APPS: Protective coatings on underwater surfaces eg boats and submarines...

Schematic Diagram of the Fabrication of the Pillar P-SPAES Membrane and Its Working Principle of Interlocking Effects. Credit: Copyright KAIST

Scientists have developed a new way of making fuel cell membranes using nanoscale fasteners, paving the way for lower-cost, higher-efficiency and more easily manufactured fuel cells. The internal workings of fuel cells vary, but basically all types mix hydrogen and oxygen to produce a chemical reaction that delivers usable electricity and exhausts ordinary water as a by-product. One of the most efficient types is the proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell, which operates at low enough temperatures to be used in homes and vehicles.

To generate electricity, PEM fuel cells rely on 2 chemical compartments separated by a permeable catalyst membrane...

User opening a file in a PixelDrone cone tree. Credit: Image courtesy of Queen’s University

An interactive swarm of flying 3D pixels (voxels) is set to revolutionize the way people interact with virtual reality. The system, called BitDrones, allows users to explore virtual 3D information by interacting with physical self-levitating building blocks – materials capable of changing their 3D shape in a programmable fashion – using swarms of nano quadcopters. Apps include real-reality 3D modeling, gaming, molecular modeling, medical imaging, robotics and online information visualization.

“BitDrones brings flying programmable matter, such as featured in the futuristic Disney movie Big Hero 6, closer to reality,” says Dr. Vertegaal...