Category Technology/Electronics

The vinebot is a tube of soft material that grows in one direction. Credit: L.A. Cicero/Stanford News Service

A newly developed vine-like robot can grow across long distances without moving its whole body. It could prove useful in search and rescue operations and medical applications. Imagine rescuers searching for people in the rubble of a collapsed building. Instead of digging through the debris by hand or having dogs sniff for signs of life, they bring out a small, air-tight cylinder. They place the device at the entrance of the debris and flip a switch. From one end of the cylinder, a tendril extends into the mass of stones and dirt, like a fast-climbing vine. A camera at the tip of the tendril gives rescuers a view of the otherwise unreachable places beneath the rubble.

This is just o...

1. Lithium titanate Crystal structure with bulk continuum
2. A zoomed-up image of the atomic arrangement on the LiTi2O4 film surface
The three-fold symmetry indicated here reveals the spinel crystal structure.

Researchers have applied advanced scanning methods to visualize the previously unexplored surface of a superconductor: lithium titanate. Researchers at Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tohoku University and the University of Tokyo have applied advanced scanning methods to visualize the previously unexplored surface of a superconductor: lithium titanate (LiTi2O4).

LiTi2O4 is the only known example of a spinel oxide superconductor...

Highly elastic polyrotaxane-polyacrylic acid polymers hold together silicon microparticles as they expand and contract while charging and discharging. Credit: Adapted from Jang Wook Choi and colleagues

Scientists have reported a molecular pulley binder for high-capacity silicon anodes of lithium ion batteries. Silicon anodes are receiving a great deal of attention from the battery community. They have 3~5-times higher capacities compared with those using current graphite anodes in lithium ion batteries. A higher capacity means longer battery use per charge, which is particularly critical in extending the driving mileage of all-electric vehicles...

1.The board game Save the Planet is an open source, cooperative game that is adaptable and customizable, making it an educational tool that grows with kids and enables creative freedom with everything from its “Good Deeds” cards to personalized game play figurines. The total cost with both 2-D and 3-D printing came to $2.89. 2. Legos

Cheap, plastic toys – no manufacturer necessary. The 2020 toy and game market is projected to be $135 billion, and 3D printing brings those profits home. People have scoffed that 3D printers are simply toys themselves. But they probably didn’t realize how much money is made off playthings...