Hyperbolic paraboloid origami harnesses bistability to enable new applications
Researchers are looking the 'hypar' origami for ways to leverage its structural properties.
Read moreEngineering
Play equipment that gets kids moving
Parents will be pleased to know that more is not always better when it comes to play equipment for their children.
Read moreStroke patients relearning how to walk with peculiar shoe
Clinical trials have been completed on a therapeutic shoe engineered to improve stroke recovery. They've proven successful, allowing for the patented product to hit the market by the end of the year.
Read moreResearchers build microscopic biohybrid robots propelled by muscles, nerves
Researchers have developed soft robotic devices driven by neuromuscular tissue that triggers when stimulated by light — bringing mechanical engineering one step closer to developing autonomous biobots.
Genetically engineered plasmid can be used to fight antimicrobial resistance
Researchers have engineered a plasmid to remove an antibiotic resistance gene from the Enterococcus faecalis bacterium, an accomplishment that could lead to new methods for combating antibiotic resistance.
Read moreLook out, invasive species: The robots are coming
Researchers published the first experiments to gauge whether biomimetic robotic fish can induce fear-related changes in mosquitofish, aiming to discover whether the highly invasive species might be controlled without toxicants or trapping methods harmful to wildlife. Their findings indicate that even brief exposure to a robotic replica of the mosquitofish's primary predator can provoke meaningful avoidance behaviors and physiological changes associated with the loss of energy reserves, potentially translating into lower rates of reproduction.
Read moreThe magic wavelength of cadmium
Researchers experimentally determined a property of cadmium called the magic wavelength which is considered essential for the development of the most accurate clocks ever envisaged. The researchers hope this may permit simple and robust atomic clocks so accurate they could be used to improve our understanding of current theories and even test for new physics.
Read moreParamagnetic spins take electrons for a ride, produce electricity from heat
Local thermal perturbations of spins in a solid can convert heat to energy even in a paramagnetic material — where spins weren't thought to correlate long enough to do so. This effect, which the researchers call 'paramagnon drag thermopower,' converts a temperature difference into an electrical voltage.
Read moreTeam discovers polymorph selection during crystal growth can be thermodynamically driven
Scientists provide solid calculation to demonstrate the structural transformation in colloidal crystallization can be entirely thermodynamic, in contrast to the kinetic argument, from both theoretical and computational perspectives.
Read moreGroovy! These grooved patterns better mitigate shock waves
Engineers have discovered a method that could make materials more resilient against massive shocks such as earthquakes or explosions. They found that cutting small grooves in obstacle materials diminished the impacts of what's called the reflected shock wave–once the initial wave has hit the spiral of obstacles and bounced back.
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