Collaborate Disseminate
Creating synthetic proteins is a promising avenue of study, but could we take shortcuts on nature’s blueprint and make more efficient versions? Scientists at UC Berkeley have found that simpler combos of synthetic building blocks can make for protein a… Continue reading Synthetic proteins simplify nature to outperform the real thing
The tiny Pacific mole crab (Emerita analoga) has a unique talent, in that it can burrow straight down into the sand using its flexible legs. An experimental new robot copies that capability, and it could actually have some practical applications.Contin… Continue reading Crab-inspired robot uses fabric-stretching legs to bury itself
Ordinarily, quadcopter drones have to tilt their front end downward when flying forward, increasing their frontal area and thus increasing drag. An experimental new drone gets around this problem, by only tilting its rotors.Continue ReadingCategory: Dr… Continue reading Passive-tilting rotors shown to boost drone speed and efficiency
Old electronics are tricky to recycle, meaning they clog up landfills while locking valuable metals away. Now scientists have demonstrated printed circuits that can be degraded on demand, returning their materials to reusable forms.Continue ReadingCate… Continue reading Electronic circuit degrades on demand into recyclable pieces
We’re all maybe a little bit surly the day after a sleepless night, but a new study suggests selfishness can be directly related to how well rested we are. The robust research offered evidence, from both an individual and a societal level, to demonstra… Continue reading How an epidemic of poor sleep may be making us a more selfish society
A team from the University of Illinois and UC Berkeley has demonstrated a new cooling method that sucks heat out of electronics so efficiently that it allows designers to run 7.4 times more power through a given volume than conventional heat sinks.Cont… Continue reading New heat spreading tech delivers 740% increase in circuit power density
Research into the way humans came to enjoy alcohol in the manner that we do is an interesting area of evolutionary science, with some suggesting its roots can be traced back millions of years. One school of thought is that apes and monkeys were lured t… Continue reading “Drunken monkey” field study confirms primates’ taste for alcoholic fruit
Quadcopters may be versatile drones, but those four spread-out arms do keep them from performing certain tasks. An experimental new drone addresses that shortcoming, with arms that passively fold down as needed.Continue ReadingCategory: Drones, Technol… Continue reading Drone makes itself more useful by passively folding in mid-air
When leaping geckos crash head-first into vertical surfaces such as tree trunks, they’re able to hang onto that surface instead of bouncing off and falling to the ground. Scientists have discovered what allows them to do so, and copied the capability i… Continue reading New understanding of gecko landing process may lead to nimbler robots
In a breakthrough that could open up exciting new possibilities in computing and electronics, scientists in the US have developed a two-dimensional magnetic material that is the thinnest in the world. The magnet is just a single atom thick and, unlike … Continue reading World’s thinnest magnet is just a single atom thick