Category Technology/Electronics

Screenshot of video (https://youtu.be/GCT0KwFw-pM) showing 3D printing of stretchable electronic sensory devices that could give robots the ability to feel their environment and is a major step forward in printing electronics on real human skin. Credit: Shuang-Zhuang Guo and Michael McAlpine, University of Minnesota

Uni of Minnesota engineering researchers have developed a revolutionary process for 3D printing stretchable electronic sensory devices that could give robots the ability to feel their environment. The discovery is also a major step forward in printing electronics on real human skin. “This stretchable electronic fabric we developed has many practical uses,” said A/Prof. Michael McAlpine...

On the left is a low-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) image of a ferroelectric material that is continuously graded from barium strontium titanate (BSTO, top) to barium titanate (BTO, bottom). The material is grown on a gadolinium scandate (GSO) substrate buffered by a strontium ruthenate (SRO) bottom electrode. To the right are local nanobeam diffraction-based 2D maps of a-axis and c-axis lattice parameters that confirm large strain gradients in the ferroelectric material. The material is promising as electrically-tunable capacitors with extreme temperature stability. Credit: Anoop Damodaran/Berkeley Lab

Scientists have greatly expanded the range of functional temperatures for ferroelectrics, a key material used in a variety of everyday applications, by creating...

University of Illinois engineer Milton Feng and his team have introduced an upgrade to transistor lasers that could boost computer processor speeds. Credit: Photo by L. Brian Stauffer

Engineers are unveiling an upgrade to the transistor laser that could be used to boost computer processor speeds – the formation of two stable energy states and the ability to switch between them quickly. Modern computers are limited by a delay formed as electrons travel through the tiny wires and switches on a computer chip. To overcome this electronic backlog, engineers would like to develop a computer that transmits information using light, in addition to electricity, because light travels faster than electricity.

Having two stable energy states, or bistability, within a transistor allows the device to for...

First autonomously controlled ‘capsule robot’ explores colon

Researchers cite future role in improving acceptance, accuracy of colonoscopy. New research shows that an 18-mm magnetized capsule colonoscope, which can be paired with standard medical instruments, successfully performed intricate maneuvers inside the colon while guided by an external magnet attached to a robotic arm. Researchers believe this technology will reduce the potential discomfort of colonoscopies and lead to more people undergoing the life-saving screening test. Researchers hope the capsule robot, which is inserted rectally, could be used safely and effectively in the future on humans to identify and remove pre-cancerous lesions and tumors detected during colonoscopy.

Dr...