The spectral transmission-reflectance-intensity (TRI)-Analyzer attaches to a smartphone and analyzes patient blood, urine, or saliva samples as reliably as clinic-based instruments that cost thousands of dollars. Credit: Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed technology that enables a smartphone to perform lab-grade medical diagnostic tests that typically require large, expensive instruments...

The development of graphene-based flexible textile supercapacitor using a simple and scalable printing technique is a significant step towards realising multifunctional next generation wearable e-textiles Credit: University of Manchester

New research from Manchester University has demonstrated flexible graphene oxide battery-like devices printed directly on to textiles using a simple screen-printing technique. The current hurdle with wearable technology is how to power devices without the need for cumbersome battery packs. Devices known as supercapacitors are one way to achieve this. A supercapacitor acts similarly to a battery but allows for rapid charging which can fully charge devices in seconds.

The new solid-state flexible supercapacitor device has been demonstrated by using conductiv...

1. This is an artistic rendering of fiber-shaped implantable batteries using biocompatible electrolytes.
Credit: Guo et al.
2. Guo et al. Multi-functional Flexible Aqueous Sodium-Ion Batteries with High Safety. Chem, 2017 DOI: 10.1016/j.chempr.2017.05.004

Researchers in China have engineered bendable batteries that can run on body-inspired liquids such as normal IV saline solution and cell-culture medium. In their work the authors designed alternatives to lithium-ion batteries by focusing on the mechanical-stress demands of wearable electronics such as smartwatches and the safety requirements of implantable electronics.

“Current batteries like the lithium-ion ones used in medical implants generally come in rigid shapes,” says Yonggang Wang, a chemistry professor at Fudan University and the C...

Galaxy cluster Abell 2744, imaged with the Hubble Space Telescope. The cluster lies in the constellation of Sculptor and contains several hundred galaxies. Credit: NASA, ESA, and R. Dupke (Eureka Scientific, Inc.), et al.

Australian scientists have discovered why heavyweight galaxies living in a dense crowd of galaxies tend to spin more slowly than their lighter neighbours. “Contrary to earlier thinking, the spin rate of the galaxy is determined by its mass, rather than how crowded its neighbourhood is,” says study Associate Professor Sarah Brough of UNSW Sydney and the ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics. The finding, based on a detailed study of more than 300 galaxies, is published in The Astrophysical Journal.

To measure how fast their galaxies rotated, the researchers use...