Arrays of transistors made of nanowires could form the basis of a new class of devices nearly as sensitive to mechanical force as human skin is, according to research published today in Science.

The inventor of the technology, Zhong Lin Wang, a professor of materials science and engineering at Georgia Tech, says it has immediate applications in human-machine interfaces. For example, it could be used to capture electronic signatures … Read More → "Nanoscale pressure sensors mimic human skin"

The Propul~Surf is being developed by a group of high school seniors studying science and engineering at the Lycee Parc Chabrieres school in the suburbs outside Lyon, France. It is based on Archimedes’ screw, a large screw for moving water from low to high ground popularly traced back to the 3rd century B.C. While the screw can take slightly different forms, they all carry water upward via rotating threading. In a time before modern … Read More → "Propul~Surf screw-propelled snowboard rips uphill (video)"

Over the past several years, scientists have developed so-called “camera pills,” that can be swallowed by patients and then transmit video from within their bodies. While such non-digestible gadgets could serve as an invaluable means of imaging, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University are now looking into tiny electronic medical devices that could be swallowed and partially digested, providing non-invasive treatment in … Read More → "Edible electronic medical devices could be swallowed like regular pills"

… Read More → "Robot inspired by sea turtles uses flippers to navigate tough terrain (video)"

What does art look like in the age of “hacked matter,” when anyone can print anything on-demand? That’s the question Shane Hope, a New York-based visual artist, is trying to answer. In “Nano-Nonobjective-Oriented Ontographs and Qubit-Built Quilts,” his new show at Chelsea’s Winkleman Gallery, Hope is showing a collection … Read More → "Artist “nanofactures” paintings using a 3D printer and molecular modelling software"

Whether you’re a researcher wishing to study living insects in conditions requiring a lethal vacuum, or you’re that insect in the vacuum simply wishing not to die, scientists have found a solution to your problem. Using only a common chemical and a scanning electron microscope (SEM), a team at the Hamamatsu University School of Medicine developed a process that allows insects to survive in a vacuum of about a millionth of atmospheric pressure. Not just a new … Read More → "Nano-suited insects survive in a vacuum"

“One” is a photo series of London street scenes in which a single person in each photo is subtly animated. The animated photos, or “cinemagraphs,” were created by photographer Nicolas Ritter.
via Laughing Squid</ … Read More → "Subtly animated GIFs of London street scenes focus on one person"

… Read More → "Synthetic biology Kickstarter aims to make glowing plants"

Fujitsu Laboratories has developed a next generation user interface which can accurately detect the users finger and what it is touching, creating an interactive touchscreen-like system, using objects in the real word.

“We think paper and many other objects could be manipulated by touching them, as with a touchscreen. This system doesn’t use any special hardware; it consists of just a … Read More → "Touchscreen interface for seamless data transfer between the real and virtual worlds"