Category Technology/Electronics

This is ultrasonic imaging of the forearm.
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New research has shown future wearable devices, such as smartwatches, could use ultrasound imaging to sense hand gestures. Computers are growing in number and wearable computers, such as smartwatches, are gaining popularity. Devices around the home, such as WiFi light bulbs and smart thermostats, are also on the increase. However, current technology limits the capability to interact with these devices. Hand gestures have been suggested as an intuitive and easy way of interacting with and controlling smart devices in different surroundings. For instance, a gesture could be used to dim the lights in the living room, or to open or close a window...

This image shows an energy diagram of the WSe2-MoSe2 device. When a photon (1) strikes the WSe2 layer, it knocks loose an electron (2), freeing it to conduct through the WSe2 (3). At the junction between the two materials, the electron drops down into MoSe2 (4). The energy given off in the drop catapults a second electron from the WSe2 (5) into the MoSe2 (6), where both electrons are free to move and generate electricity. Credit: University Communications, UC Riverside

New research invokes quantum mechanical processes that occur when two atomically thin materials are stacked together...

Transmittance electron microscopic image of the composite photocatalyst with two components, black phosphorus (BP) and graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4). Credit: Osaka University

Researchers have developed new metal-free photocatalyst and show visible and near infrared light-driven production of hydrogen from water. “We were pleased to find a good amount of hydrogen produced from water using our new composite photocatalyst with graphitic carbon nitride and black phosphorus,” lead author Tetsuro Majima says. “But what we didn’t expect to find was that even when using low-energy light, in the near infrared, the photocatalyst continued to produce hydrogen.”

Like graphite, graphitic carbon nitride forms in large sheets, but carbon nitride sheets also have holes that can interact with hydrogen ...

A three-layered glove developed by materials chemist Trisha Andrew has one layer coated by the conducting polymer PEDOT and is powered by a button battery weighing 1.8 grams. Credit: UMass Amherst

Vapor deposition method for nano-coating fabric to create sewable, weavable, electrically heated material. Skiers, crossing guards and others who endure frozen fingers in cold weather may look forward to future relief as manufacturers are poised to take advantage of a new technique for creating electrically heated cloth. Researchers have made gloves that keep fingers as warm as the palm of the hand.

The three-layered glove, with one layer coated by the conducting polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxytiophene), also known as PEDOT, are powered by a button battery weighing 1.8 grams...