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Carbon-Neutral Process Turns Rice Waste into Silica Compounds
The technique extracts silica from rice hull ash, saving six tons of carbon emissions per ton of silica compounds produced and 90 percent of the costs.
Magnetic Nanoparticle Chains Could Aid Soft Robot Control
The ability to control the motion of soft robots, coupled with their flexibility, gives them potential applications ranging from biomedical technologies to manufacturing processes.
Swimming Devices Could Deliver Drugs Inside the Body
Researchers gave the devices a catalytic coating on one side, which created a chemical reaction when fuel molecules were added and caused the device to move on a pre-determined route.
Piezoelectric Device Generates Energy from Gravity
The energy yield from the so-called Piezo method, which converts mechanical pressure into electrical energy, is increased from 20% to 80%.
Cowin Crowdsources Features for New Vehicle
Cowin invited the public to submit designs for 13 different aspects of the vehicle, including interior design, infotainment system and headlights.
Supercapacitor Thread Developed That Can Power Phones
Advances mean that thread capable of storing and supplying enough power for common devices, and being manufactured at industrial scale, may be a reality.
SpaceX Launch Vehicle Lands Vertically as Planned
Elon Musk's company completed a vertical landing of its Falcon 9 rocket on December 21, a first for the vehicle.
Plasma Produced in Wendelstein 7-X Fusion Reactor
The first plasma had a duration of 1/10th of a second and achieved a temperature of around 1 million degrees.
Nissan Launches Automotive Design Platform
Engineering VDI uses graphics processing to allow designers access to a virtual 3D CAD workstation.
Stretchable Sensor Made from Chewing Gum, Carbon Nanotubes
To make their sensor suppler, a team member chewed a piece of gum, washed it with ethanol and let it sit overnight.
Bio-Based Building Materials: Low Carbon and Energy-Efficient
Bio-based construction materials can achieve a 50% reduction in embodied energy and CO2 emissions at the component level.
Keep It Dry: Your Guide to Waterproof Membranes
Waterproofing is the combination of materials used to prevent water intrusion into the structural elements of a building or its finished spaces.
Rotameters: How They Work and How to Use Them
Rotameters are also known as variable area flow meters. Variable area flow meters work by measuring the flow rate as the fluid travels through a tapered tube where the cross sectional area of the tube gradually becomes greater as the fluid travels through the tube.
DOE Finalizes Commercial AC, Furnace Efficiency Standards
New efficiency standards for commercial air conditioners and furnaces could save businesses $167 billion on utility bills and cut carbon emissions by 885 million metric tons.
Method Cleans Mine Water in Hours, Not Months
Mines can re-use water from settling ponds only a bit at a time—the part skimmed off the top. The rest of the water is useless, and the land those ponds occupy could be used for other purposes.
Hyperloop Track to Be Sited in Las Vegas
The company is one of several trying to realize Elon Musk's vision of high-speed, pod-based travel through a partial-vacuum tube.
Piezoelectric Sensors Could Generate Energy on Texas Roads
Electricity could be used to power roadside lights, traffic signals, billboards, charging stations for electric cars and roadway monitoring sensors.
California DMV Drafts Rules on Autonomous Vehicle Deployment
Proposed rule requires a driver and may prompt other states to follow suit.
Robotic Hand Controlled by Muscle Vibrations
Prototype sensor system detects mechanical signals from vibrations produced by muscle fibers that move when muscles flex.
Metal Particles: Clean Fuel of the Future?
The idea takes advantage of a property of metal powders: when burned, they react with air to form stable, nontoxic solid-oxide products that can be collected for recycling.