Origami Microbots: Centuries-old artform guides cutting-edge advances in Tiny Machines

A new generation of micro-robotics inside Evgueni Filipov’s lab at the G.G. Brown Building on North Campus, Ann Arbor Mi. on June 17, 2020. Image credit: Robert Coelius/University of Michigan Engineering, Communications & Marketing

Engineers create centimeter-sized robots capable of more than ever before. Origami principles can unlock the potential of the smallest robots, enhancing speed, agility and control in machines no more than a centimeter in size.

University of Michigan researchers have demonstrated that behavioral rules underpinning the Japanese art of folding can expand the capabilities of these machines, creating potential for greater use in fields as diverse as medical equipment and infrastructure sensing.

“We’ve come up with a new way to design, fabricate and actuat...

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Strange Dismembered Star Cluster found at Galaxy’s Edge

Artist's impression of the Phoenix stream of stars. Credit: James Josephides, Swinburne Astronomy,
Artist’s impression of the thin stream of stars torn from the Phoenix globular cluster, wrapping around the Milky Way (left). Astronomers targeted bright red giant stars (artist’s impression, right) to measure the chemical composition of the disrupted Phoenix globular cluster. Credit: James Josephides, Swinburne Astronomy

An international team of astronomers has discovered the remnant of an ancient collection of stars that was torn apart by our own galaxy, the Milky Way, more than two billion years ago.

The extraordinary discovery of this shredded ‘globular cluster’ is surprising, as the stars in this galactic archaeological find have much lower quantities of heavier elements than in other such clusters...

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New Blood Test shows great promise in the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease

Plasma P-tau217 Concentrations in the Neuropathology Cohort

A new blood test demonstrated remarkable promise in discriminating between persons with and without Alzheimer’s disease and in persons at known genetic risk may be able to detect the disease as early as 20 years before the onset of cognitive impairment, according to a large international study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and simultaneously presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference.

For many years, the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s has been based on the characterization of amyloid plaques and tau tangles in the brain, typically after a person dies...

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New Fabric could help keep you Cool in the Summer, even Without A/C

Abstract Image
Thermoconductive, Moisture-Permeable, and Superhydrophobic Nanofibrous Membranes with Interpenetrated Boron Nitride Network for Personal Cooling Fabrics

Air conditioning and other space cooling methods account for about 10% of all electricity consumption in the U.S., according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces have developed a material that cools the wearer without using any electricity. The fabric transfers heat, allows moisture to evaporate from the skin and repels water.

Cooling off a person’s body is much more efficient than cooling an entire room or building...

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