Latest Stories

News

Mechanical & Fluid Systems

WCX 2023: Biomimicry Inspires Product Development

Nature has always served as a giant classroom where problem-solving lessons are taught — a “storehouse of inspiration for new and different ideas,” noted Trisha Brown, co-director of...

Briefs

Sensors/Data Acquisition

Electro-Optic Materials Research

Here, a summary of the main lines of effort for the Electro-Optics Materials Research program including its goals and major accomplishments of the past five years.

Briefs

Aerospace

MOVPE Growth of LWIR AlInAs/GaInAs/InP Quantum Cascade Lasers: Impact of Growth and Material Quality on Laser Performance

Quantum cascade lasers are compact coherent optical sources that emit over a wide wavelength range in the mid- to long-infrared as well as into part of the terahertz spectrum.

Briefs

Sensors/Data Acquisition

Designing Sensory and Adaptive Composite Materials

Newly developed computational approaches aid in the design of composites that exhibit remarkable abilities to both sense external cues and adapt to these cues in controllable, "programmable" ways.

Articles

Manned Systems

Supplier Tech Gets the Germs Out

Confidence in autonomous and rideshare mobility took a significant dive in 2020, as consumers shunned public transport due to the coronavirus pandemic. Technologies to safeguard the health and safety of...

Briefs

Aerospace

Agile Robust Autonomy: Inspired by Connecting Natural Flight and Biological Sensors

Understanding the mechanics of insect flight could help improve the agility, autonomy, robustness and integrated sensing and processing of unmanned aerial vehicles.

Articles

Electronics & Computers

Outsourcing Plasma Treatments for Surface Modification

For many manufacturers, plasma-applied coatings and surface treatments can play a significant role in new product development.

Application Briefs

Materials

Ruggedized Bioprinter

nScrypt Inc.Orlando, FL407-275-4755www.nscrypt.com nScrypt has partnered with the U.S. Military, the Uniformed Services University 4D Bio3 Program, and The Geneva Foundation to move bioprinting out of sterile biology...

Technology Report

Materials

Nexcel Project Turns Christmas Trees, Chewing Gum and Flashlight Batteries into Engine Oil

What is the connection between a Christmas tree, chewing gum, used frying oil and 14 flashlight batteries? Answer: together with some other commonly...

Briefs

Physical Sciences

Circuit Models for Robust, Adaptive Neural Control

This project seeks to reproduce the neural circuits used by the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans for locomotion. Caenorhabditis elegans is a small (~1.2 millimeter) nematode found in rotting...

Application Briefs

Test & Measurement

Biological Threat Detectors

FLIR Systems, Inc.Wilsonville, OR1-800-254-0630www.flir.com/IBAC2 FLIR Systems, Inc. announced recently that it has received a delivery order for FLIR IBAC™ 2 biological agent detector systems to support the United...

News

Design

DARPA Subject Controls Multiple Simulated Aircraft with Brain-Computer Interface

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) officials confirmed that an individual equipped with an experimental brain-computer interface (BCI) was able...

Briefs

Materials

Bioinspired Surface Treatments for Improved Decontamination: Commercial Products

In January 2015, the Center for Bio/Molecular Science and Engineering at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) began an effort to evaluate and develop top-coat type...

Briefs

Aerospace

Reactive, Multifunctional, Micellar, Composite Nanoparticles for Destruction of Bio-Agents

Multifunctional composites have been investigated for destruction of bio-agents. These materials’ unique properties at the nano scale, including their...

Briefs

Sensors/Data Acquisition

Selective, Sensitive, and Robust Electrochemical Detection of Anthrax

There exists an unmet need for rapid, sensitive, and field-stable assays for pathogen detection. Bacillus anthracis is the causative agent of anthrax poisoning. This Gram-positive bacterium secretes a tripartite toxin including a cell-binding protective antigen (PA), and the...

Briefs

Test & Measurement

Sensing Suspicious Powders Using Noncontact Optical Methods

Suspicious powder incidents continue to be a disruptive and costly problem. In-situ assessment of suspicious powders within inorganic matrices, particularly with powders of biological...

Briefs

Materials

Fabricating Porous Systems for Super-Dense Memories and Sensors

This project was dedicated to solving basic scientific issues and developing the scientific basis that underlies the improvement of super-dense memories, towards the terabit-per-square-inch goal and the engineering of chemical and biological sensors. Both applications rely on porous...

Briefs

Physical Sciences

Component Identification in Multi-Chemical Mixtures with Swept-Wavelength Resonant-Raman Spectroscopy

The utilization of ultraviolet resonance Raman spectroscopy for the detection and identification of chemical, biological, and nuclear hazards is of great interest due to the sensitivity and specificity afforded by this technique. Detection by means...

Briefs

Software

Software System for Microbial Genome Sequence Annotation

The annotation of genomes from next-generation sequencing platforms needs to be rapid, high-throughput, and fully integrated and automated. Although a few Web-based annotation services have recently become available, they may not be the best solution for researchers that need to annotate a...

Briefs

Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Functionalized Silk Materials

T he goal of this work was to exploit the novel structural, physical, and biological features of silk proteins towards functionalization of materials systems generated from this family of protein. A new generation of functional silk systems is sought to provide novel materials with precise control of material features....

Briefs

Physical Sciences

Development of an Electrochemical Biosensor for Organophosphate Chemicals

Detection of organophosphate (OP) compounds has attracted much attention in terms of safeguarding human health, owing to their frequent use as pesticides in agriculture and their potential use as chemical warfare agents. Among a variety of biological methods based on the...

Briefs

Medical

Genetic Studies of Responses of Bones to Mechanical Stresses

Progress has been reported in a continuing program of molecular genetic studies of the responses of bones to mechanical stresses. Prior studies in mice and humans had provided evidence that mechanical loading stimulates bone formation and that immobilization or loss of mechanical...

Briefs

Physical Sciences

Advances Toward Development of "Smart Dust" Biosensors

Progress has been made toward meeting several technical challenges in a continuing effort to develop “smart dust” sensors for remote detection of chemical and biological agents. Until...

Briefs

Information Technology

Enlightened Multiscale Simulation of Biochemical Networks

A continuing research project is dedicated to development of mathematical and software infrastructure in support of post genomics research in systems biology. One near-term objective of the project is to contribute to deeper understanding of the organizational principles of biological...

Briefs

Physical Sciences

Biologically Inspired Processing of Image and Sound Data

A report describes progress in a research program oriented toward developing artificial-intelligence capabilities for processing images and sounds in changing environments. This research focuses on extending the state of the art in mid-level processing of visual and auditory signals,...

Briefs

Physical Sciences

Novel Methods of Detecting Buried Explosive Devices

Several novel methods of detecting landmines and other buried explosive devices have been proposed and are subjects of continuing research. The use of trained dogs has been shown to be an...

Briefs

Medical

Implantable Electrochemical Sensors for Metabolic Monitoring

Arrays of electrochemical sensors that include specially coated (as described below) gold electrodes on flexible polyimide sheets have been fabricated and tested in a continuing...

Briefs

Physical Sciences

Progress in Research on Bacteria-Powered Motors

Progress has been made on several fronts in research on biomotors and especially on microscopic motors powered by bacteria. The progress consists mostly of advances in the art of attaching motile bacterial cells to surfaces in specific, pre-designed microarrays.

Briefs

Electronics & Computers

Nanowire-Based Chemical and Biological Sensor Arrays

Acontinuing effort that supplements and complements the one summarized in the immediately preceding article is dedicated to the development of nanowire-based sensor arrays, with emphasis on maximizing the utility of such arrays for real-time sensing of molecular species associated with chemical...