insideengineer.com

Sensors detect chemical agents

TJ — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:44:12 +0000

Sensors that detect chemical agents and illegal drugs are being developed by scientists at Queen’s University Belfast. The devices will use special gel pads to ‘swipe’ an individual or crime scene to gather a sample which is then analysed by a scanning instrument that can detect the presence of chemicals within seconds. This will allow better, [...]

Intelligent low-cost sensors could drive down the cost of food

TJ — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:31:47 +0000

Work to develop intelligent low-cost sensors could help drive down the price of fresh food in shops and supermarkets. Scientists and engineers at The Syngenta Sensors University Innovation Centre, at the University of Manchester, are working on technology that will allow more scientific ‘best before’ dates to be set by food producers and retailers. Researchers are looking [...]

Carbon nanotube springs could store more energy than lithium-ion batteries

TJ — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:16:48 +0000

Carbon nanotubes used as springs have the potential to compete with batteries for energy storage, according to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) scientists. New research suggests that carbon nanotubes could be formed into tiny springs capable of storing as much energy, pound for pound, as state-of-the-art-lithium-ion batteries, and potentially more durable and reliably. Theoretical analysis shows the [...]

Retina implant could help blind people regain a useful level of vision

TJ — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:30:24 +0000

Inspired by the success of cochlear implants that can restore hearing to some deaf people, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are working on a retinal implant that could one day help blind people regain a useful level of vision. The eye implant is designed for people who have lost their vision from retinitis [...]

Bacterial parasite could help stop the spread of tropical disease

TJ — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:25:23 +0000

Infecting mosquitoes with a bacterial parasite could help prevent the spread of the devastating tropical disease lymphatic filariasis, according to research by Oxford University scientists. Lymphatic filariasis affects more than 120 million people worldwide – over 40 million of these are seriously incapacitated and disfigured by the disease. It is caused by infection with the parasitic [...]

Sensitive microchip quickly determines cancer type and severity

TJ — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:32:00 +0000

Researchers at the University of Toronto have used nanomaterials to develop an inexpensive microchip sensitive enough to quickly determine the type, and severity of a patient’s cancer so that the disease can be detected earlier for more effective treatment. The device can sense the signature biomarkers that indicate the presence of cancer at the cellular level, [...]

Disposable chip detects low concentrations of explosives in water

TJ — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 09:02:54 +0000

A sensitive disposable chip developed at Stanford University can detect low concentrations of the explosive trinitrotoluene (TNT) and a close chemical cousin of the toxic nerve agent sarin, in water samples. Chemical engineering associate professor Zhenan Bao, who lead the Stanford University group that developed the chip, said that although many researchers around the world have [...]

Artificial nose sniffs out toxic industrial chemicals

TJ — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 09:33:21 +0000

A team from the University of Illinois have developed an artificial nose that can detect toxic industrial chemicals (TICs) by visualising odours. According to team leader Ken Suslick, the inexpensive sensor array used in the ‘artificial nose’ could be useful in detecting high exposures to chemical that pose serious health risks in the workplace or through [...]

A thermometer for the Earth

Matt — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 12:15:17 +0000

According to climate change experts, our planet has a fever — melting glaciers are just one stark sign of the radical changes we can expect. But global warming’s effects on farming and water resources is still a mystery. A new Tel Aviv University invention, a real-time “Optical Soil Dipstick” (OSD), may help solve the mystery [...]

Femtoseconds lasers help formation flying in space

Matt — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 12:11:05 +0000

The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) has helped to establish that femtosecond comb lasers can provide accurate measurement of absolute distance in formation flying space missions. NPL, along with collaborators, produced technical reports for the European Space Agency. The conclusions demonstrated that the lasers were a suitable method for measurement in such missions. Formation flying missions involve multiple [...]