Category Technology/Electronics

Dr. Gianluca Memoli, Mohd Adili Norasikin and Dr. Diego Martinez Plasencia with SoundBender.
Credit: University of Sussex

Researchers at the University of Sussex have become the first in the world to develop technology which can bend sound waves around an obstacle and levitate an object above it. SoundBender, developed by Professor Sriram Subramanian, Dr Gianluca Memoli and Dr Diego Martinez Plasencia at the University of Sussex, is an interface capable of producing dynamic self-bending beams that enable both levitation of small objects and tactile feedback around an obstacle.

The technology, to be presented at the 31st ACM User Interface Software and Technology Symposium in Berlin this Monday [October 15], overcomes two key limitations of previous ultrasound levitation set-ups, which were ...

Diagrammatic comparison of our bioinspired high-dynamic-range polarization camera with its biological counterpart, the mantis shrimp ommatidium.

New camera mimics mantis shrimp vision to significantly improve dynamic range and add polarization information. Inspired by the visual system of the mantis shrimp – among the most complex found in nature – researchers have created a new type of camera that could greatly improve the ability of cars to spot hazards in challenging imaging conditions.

The new camera accomplishes this feat by detecting a property of light known as polarization and featuring a dynamic range about 10,000 times higher than today’s commercial cameras. Dynamic range is a measure of the brightest and darkest areas a camera can capture simultaneously...

Researchers in MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering have developed a technique to harvest 2-inch diameter wafers of 2-D material within just a few minutes.
Credit: Peng Lin

Efficient method for making single-atom-thick, wafer-scale materials opens up opportunities in flexible electronics. Researchers have developed a technique to harvest 2-inch diameter wafers of 2-D material within just a few minutes. They can then be stacked together to form an electronic device within an hour.

Since the 2003 discovery of graphene, there has been significant interest in other types of 2-D materials as well. These materials could be stacked together like Lego bricks to form a range of devices with different functions, including operating as semiconductors...

The trillion-frame-per-second compressed ultrafast photography system. Credit: INRS

What happens when a new technology is so precise that it operates on a scale beyond our characterization capabilities? For example, the lasers used at INRS produce ultrashort pulses in the femtosecond range (10-15 s) that are far too short to visualize. Although some measurements are possible, nothing beats a clear image, says INRS professor and ultrafast imaging specialist Jinyang Liang. He and his colleagues, led by Caltech’s Lihong Wang, have developed what they call T-CUP: the world’s fastest camera, capable of capturing ten trillion (1013) frames per second. This new camera literally makes it possible to freeze time to see phenomena – and even light! – in extremely slow motion.

In recent years, the jun...