Bizarre Things: Matter & Energy

June 10, 2024

Top Headlines

Four-Legged, Dog-Like Robot 'Sniffs' Hazardous Gases in Inaccessible Environments

June 10, 2024 — Nightmare material or truly man's best friend? A team of researchers equipped a dog-like quadruped robot with a mechanized arm that takes air samples from potentially treacherous situations, such as ...

Protocol for Creating 'Wired Miniature Brains'

June 10, 2024 — Researchers have developed -- and shared -- a process for creating brain cortical organoids -- essentially miniature artificial brains with functioning neural ...

Researchers Demonstrate the First Chip-Based 3D Printer

June 10, 2024 — Researchers have demonstrated the first chip-based 3D printer, a tiny device that emits reconfigurable beams of visible light into a well of resin that rapidly cures into a solid shape. The advance could enable a 3D printer small enough to fit in ...

Liquid Metal-Based Electronic Logic Device That Mimics Intelligent Prey-Capture Mechanism of Venus Flytrap

June 6, 2024 — A research team has developed a liquid metal-based electronic logic device that mimics the intelligent prey-capture mechanism of Venus flytraps. Exhibiting memory and counting properties, the device ...

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Researchers Create Skin-Inspired Sensory Robots to Provide Medical Treatment

June 10, 2024 — Scientists have created innovative soft robots equipped with electronic skins and artificial muscles, allowing them to sense their surroundings and ...

People Feel More Connected to 'Tweezer-Like' Bionic Tools That Don't Resemble Human Hands

June 6, 2024 — Some say the next step in human evolution will be the integration of technology with flesh. Now, researchers have used virtual reality to test ...

A New Way of Designing Auxetic Materials

June 4, 2024 — Auxetics defy common sense, widening when stretched and narrowing when compressed. Researchers have now made the process of using them much easier, paving the way for new types of auxetic products -- ...

Some Countries Could Meet Their Total Electricity Needs from Floating Solar Panels

June 4, 2024 — Floating solar photovoltaic panels could supply all the electricity needs of some countries, new research has shown. The researchers calculated the ...

Enhancing Nanofibrous Acoustic Energy Harvesters With Artificial Intelligence

June 3, 2024 — Scientists have employed artificial intelligence techniques to improve the design and production of nanofibers used in wearable nanofiber acoustic ...

A Technique for More Effective Multipurpose Robots

June 3, 2024 — MIT researchers developed a technique to combine robotics training data across domains, modalities, and tasks using generative AI models. They create a combined strategy from several different ...

The Unexpected Connection Between Brewing Coffee and Understanding Turbulence

June 3, 2024 — Using unconventional statistical mechanics to understand fluid dynamics, a professor helped solve a 150 year old physics problem of how turbulent ...

Study Is Step Towards Energy-Efficient Quantum Computing in Magnets

May 29, 2024 — Researchers have managed to generate propagating spin waves at the nanoscale and discovered a novel pathway to modulate and amplify them. Their discovery could pave the way for the development of ...

What Are the Risks of Hydrogen Vehicles in Tunnels?

May 28, 2024 — A team has analyzed the risk and damage potential of hydrogen vehicles in tunnels and derived recommendations. Their conclusion? Any damage would be extensive, but its occurrence is ...

Electrochromic Films -- Like Sunglasses for Your Windows?

May 29, 2024 — Advances in electrochromic coatings may bring us closer to environmentally friendly ways to keep inside spaces cool. Like eyeglasses that darken to provide sun protection, the optical properties of ...

Unraveling the Physics of Knitting

June 4, 2024 — A team used experiments and simulations to quantify and predict how knit fabric response can be programmed. By establishing a mathematical theory of knitted materials, the researchers hope that ...

Public Have No Difficulty Getting to Grips With an Extra Thumb, Study Finds

May 29, 2024 — Researchers have shown that members of the public have little trouble in learning very quickly how to use a third thumb -- a controllable, prosthetic extra thumb -- to pick up and manipulate objects. ...

Close to 1 in 2 Surveyed Say They Would Use Air Taxis in the Future

May 28, 2024 — Through a study of 1,002 participants, scientists have found that almost half (45.7 per cent) say they intend to use air taxis when they become available, with over one-third (36.2 per cent) planning ...

Imperceptible Sensors Made from 'Electronic Spider Silk' Can Be Printed Directly on Human Skin

May 24, 2024 — Researchers have developed a method to make adaptive and eco-friendly sensors that can be directly and imperceptibly printed onto a wide range of biological surfaces, whether that's a finger or ...

Strings That Can Vibrate Forever (Kind Of)

May 22, 2024 — Researchers have engineered string-like resonators capable of vibrating longer at ambient temperature than any previously known solid-state object -- approaching what is currently only achievable ...

'Fossilizing' Cracks in Infrastructure Creates Sealing That Can Even Survive Earthquakes

May 22, 2024 — In a new study, a team of researchers used research on fossilizing techniques to create a new method for sealing cracks and fractures in rocks and bedrock using a 'concretion-forming ...

3D Printing Robot Creates Extreme Shock-Absorbing Shape, With Help of AI

May 21, 2024 — See how an autonomous robot created a shock-absorbing shape no human ever could -- and what it means for designing safer helmets, packaging, car bumpers, and ...

Physicists Propose Path to Faster, More Flexible Robots

May 17, 2024 — Physicists revealed a microscopic phenomenon that could greatly improve the performance of soft devices, such as agile flexible robots or microscopic capsules for drug ...

Diamond Glitter: A Play of Colors With Artificial DNA Crystals

May 17, 2024 — Using DNA origami, researchers have built a diamond lattice with a periodicity of hundreds of nanometers -- a new approach for manufacturing semiconductors for visible ...

Spider Silk Sound System

May 16, 2024 — Researchers have investigated how spiders listen to their environments through webs and found that the webs match the acoustic particle velocity for a wide range of sound frequencies. Playing sound ...

Jet-Propelled Sea Creatures Could Improve Ocean Robotics

May 15, 2024 — Scientists have discovered that colonies of gelatinous sea animals swim through the ocean in giant corkscrew shapes using coordinated jet propulsion, an unusual kind of locomotion that could inspire ...

Robotic 'SuperLimbs' Could Help Moonwalkers Recover from Falls

May 15, 2024 — SuperLimbs, a system of wearable robotic limbs, can physically support an astronaut and lift them back on their feet after a fall, helping them conserve energy for other essential ...

Animal Brain Inspired AI Game Changer for Autonomous Robots

May 15, 2024 — A team of researchers has developed a drone that flies autonomously using neuromorphic image processing and control based on the workings of animal brains. Animal brains use less data and energy ...

Robots' and Prosthetic Hands' Sense of Touch Could Be as Fast as Humans

May 15, 2024 — Research could pave the way for a prosthetic hand and robot to be able to feel touch like a human hand. The technology could also be used to help restore lost functionality to patients after a ...

A Simple Quantum Internet With Significant Possibilities

May 15, 2024 — It's one thing to dream up a quantum internet that could send hacker-proof information around the world via photons superimposed in different quantum states. It's quite another to ...

Virtual Reality Becomes More Engaging When Designers Use Cinematic Tools

May 14, 2024 — Cinematography techniques can significantly increase user engagement with virtual environments and, in particular, the aesthetic appeal of what users see in virtual ...

Creating a Green Composite Material from Japanese Washi Paper

May 14, 2024 — Japanese washi paper is renowned for its aesthetic beauty and its wide-array of usages. Now, a group of researchers have made a green composite material from washi which boasts a 60% increase in ...

Cats Purrfectly Demonstrate What It Takes to Trust Robots

May 13, 2024 — Would you trust a robot to look after your cat? New research suggests it takes more than a carefully designed robot to care for your cat, the environment in which they operate is also vital, as well ...

Good Vibrations: New Tech May Lead to Smaller, More Powerful Wireless Devices

May 9, 2024 — What if your earbuds could do everything your smartphone can, but better? A new class of synthetic materials could allow for smaller devices that use less ...

A Better Way to Control Shape-Shifting Soft Robots

May 9, 2024 — A new machine-learning technique can train and control a reconfigurable soft robot that can dynamically change its shape to complete a task. The researchers also built a simulator that can evaluate ...