Pressure sensors keep vacuum panels at their insulating best

Mar 10 | News

Vacuum panels are particularly good for insulating buildings—as long as the vacuum does not leak. A tiny pressure sensor developed by engineers at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany constantly checks the condition of the vacuum and indicates whether the insulation effect is still present.

Crucial time for Boeing as 787 flights ramp up

Mar 10 | News

Even as EADS pulled out of the bidding process for the U.S. Air Force’s $35 billion contract for aerial refueling planes, the defense contractor Boeing is facing a busy time in it’s commercial business: the second Boeing 787 Dreamliner landed yesterday in Victorville, Calif., marking the first flight-test operations outside Washington state.

Honeywell signs agreement to provide system-design for Shell

Mar 9 | News

Honeywell announced that it has signed a global five-year agreement to be a Main Automation Contractor (MAC) for Shell.

Next wave of microelectronic biomedical devices

Mar 9 | News

A team of  engineers from MIT’s Microsystems Technology Laboratory (MTL) are working on tiny, low-power chips that could diagnose heart problems, monitor patients with Parkinson’s disease or predict seizures in epileptic patients.

Cincinnati Incorporated targets capacity increase with plant investments

Mar 4 | News

Cincinnati Incorporated is turning the tables on the economic downturn, and positioning itself for the recovery, much as it prompts its own customers to do.

Developing a helicopter that would investigate nuclear disasters

Mar 4 | News

Students at Virginia Tech’s Unmanned Systems Laboratory are perfecting an autonomous helicopter they hope will never be used for its intended purpose. Roughly six feet long and weighing 200 pounds, the re-engineered aircraft is designed to fly into American cities blasted by a nuclear weapon or dirty bomb.

Microrings could nix wires for communications in homes

Mar 4 | News

Purdue Univ. researchers have developed a miniature device capable of converting ultrafast laser pulses into bursts of radio-frequency signals, a step toward making wires obsolete for communications in the homes and offices of the future.

A clean energy America…is it coming or not?

Feb 24 | RDBlog

Almost a year ago, the buzz during the downturn was that the economic stimulus will help boost jobs in a sort of national improvement program reminiscent of the 1930s. Our coal would be phased out. Our grids would get smart. Our cars would get hybridized.

New JEOL TEM quickly breaks into picoscale territory

Feb 19 | New To Market

 Just three weeks after its installation at the Univ. of Texas San Antonio campus, the latest transmission electron microscope from JEOL delivered data on silicon samples that resolved down to 78 picometers, a level that enables atom-by-atom chemical mapping.

Flexible solar cells created with silicon wire arrays

Feb 17 | News

Using arrays of long, thin silicon wires embedded in a polymer substrate, a team of scientists from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) has created a new type of flexible solar cell that enhances the absorption of sunlight and efficiently converts its photons into electrons.

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Much ado about next to nothing

Mar 15

The recent review of the past 10 years of the National Nanotechnology Initiative--as presented by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology--suggested the rise of nanomanufacturing as the near future of nanotechnology. But the actual proposed funding reflects a cautious approach, even about nanotech in general.

Lunar tires, space MRSA, and resonating microfluidics

Mar 5

I typically attend the annual Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy each year in pursuit of specific coverage. This year, I sought out candidates for coverage in a vacuum technology article, and pulled together some instruments for a spectroscopy guide. But as busy as that kept me, it wasn’t all mass spectrometers and vacuum pumps on the show floor.  

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NuGard Coating Ashburn Hill

Jan 7

NuGard First Response Protective Clothing are lightweight coveralls, jackets, and pants that provide protection from heat and flame while keeping the wearers body temperature constant.

Multi-Touch Music Maker

Jan 7

Professor David Wessel shows his multi-touch interface that uses computer technologies that allow him to experiment with fine controls to "caress" the instrument.