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Briefs

Materials

Helmet Made of Magnetic Metamaterials Could Improve Brain Scans

It may look like a bizarre bike helmet, or a piece of equipment found in Doc Brown’s lab in Back to the Future, yet this gadget made of plastic and copper wire is a...

Briefs

Sensors/Data Acquisition

Sensor Breakthrough Paves the Way for a Map of the World Under Earth’s Surface

The quantum gravity gradiometer was used to find a tunnel buried outdoors in real-world conditions one meter below the ground surface.

NASA Spinoff

Aerospace

Webb Telescope Mirror Tech Improves Eye Surgery on Earth

Eye surgery patients on Earth are benefiting from early research on the NASA’s James Webb Telescope’s enormous mirrors.

News

Materials

SAE International Extends Call for Abstracts, Seeks Submissions for AeroTech Conference

Engineering Events staff at SAE International in Warrendale, Pennsylvania, have extended the call for abstracts through September 21 for the...

Application Briefs

Aerospace

Cryogenic Thermal Subsystem

The Cryogenic Thermal Subsystem’s most critical function is to provide cooling to maintain the detectors in two of the Roman Coronagraph Instrument’s cameras at sufficiently low temperatures of approximately minus 161o F, which will allow them to function with the required sensitivity.

Articles

Design

Designing A/D Converters for the James Webb Space Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has four infrared cameras to view the stars.

5 Ws

Green Design & Manufacturing

5 Ws of Unmanned Lasers for Methane Detection

As concerns rise about methane, a CU startup is working toward plugging the leaks.

Briefs

Lighting Technology

Laser Processing Method for Optoelectronic Devices

This method increases the efficiency of light-emitting diodes and other optical elements.

Briefs

Photonics/Optics

Metalens for Virtual and Augmented Reality

The millimeter-sized flat lens can be used in wearable displays for virtual reality, which requires compact, lightweight, and cost-effective components.

Articles

Electronics & Computers

Transforming Battlespace Communications

The Russian invasion in Ukraine has certainly raised the security stakes and intensified the need for simultaneous communications streams over a single platform.

Articles

AR/AI

Deere Advances In-Field Autonomy

John Deere got “really serious” about autonomy in 2019, according to Joe Liefer, senior product manager of autonomy at John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group. Three years later – after forming an...

News

Semiconductors & ICs

Sensing Enters a New Era

More than 1.3 million people die on the world’s roadways each year and another 50 million are injured. While roadway safety has improved over time, all countries face formidable challenges in reducing the...

R&D

Medical

Deep UV Lasers for Device Sterilization

Engineers have created a deep-ultraviolet (UV) laser using semiconductor materials that show great promise for improving the use of UV light for sterilizing medical tools, among other applications....

Features

Medical

Designing Lenses for Near-Infrared and Fluorescence Endoscopy

Fluorescence endoscopy is becoming increasingly important in many medical diagnostic tests. Based on the molecular absorption of light, this technique works by revealing...

Articles

Photonics/Optics

Breakthrough Lightweight AR Eyeglasses

With AR eyeglasses, the screen of a mobile device can be transitioned to the lens of a pair of eyeglasses. The problem with that is that even though the technology has been around for a while, the...

Application Briefs

Aerospace

Cryocooler Technology

Northrop Grumman
Falls Church, VA
215-675-4949
www.northropgrumman.com

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, built in partnership with Northrop Grumman Corporation, is one step closer to being fully...

R&D

Medical

Micro-CAL Process Prints Fine Features in Glass Microstructures

Researchers have developed a new way to 3D print glass microstructures that is faster and produces objects with higher optical quality, design flexibility, and strength....

Briefs

Photonics/Optics

Diffraction Suppressed Mirror

Precise optical systems, especially those sensitive to information loss, are typically designed to minimize the use of mirrors. This is due to the Airy disk effect inherent to all conventional mirrors, which is a result of diffraction of the incident light. This effect represents information loss between the...

Briefs

Imaging

Shaping Light Enables 2D Microscopes to Capture 4D Data

Super temporal resolution microscopy allows imaging of fluorescent molecules 20 times faster than traditional lab cameras normally allow. A general method has been developed to let a...

Briefs

Electronics & Computers

Compact Laser Source Detects Pollution

A middle infrared light source can detect greenhouse and other gases as well as molecules in a person’s breath. The compact system, which resembles a tiny suitcase, contains just two parts: a standard...

Briefs

Photonics/Optics

Optical De-Multiplexing Method for QKD Encryption

Classical laser communication gimbals are coupled to 105um multimodal receiving fibers for the high-power transmission of data, fine pointing, and tracking. These fibers cannot be used in...

Briefs

Medical

Constructing 3D Models of Mineralized Tissue On-Demand

A technique to grow 3D tissue constructs, similar to human bone, in a laboratory environment has been developed by bioengineers at NASA Johnson Space Center. Problems arise when...

Briefs

Software

An Artificial Intelligence System to Identify Objects in Cluttered Scenes

Robotic vision has come a long way, reaching a level of sophistication with applications in complex and demanding tasks, such as autonomous driving and object...

Articles

Communications

Products of Tomorrow: June 2022

This column presents technologies that have applications in commercial areas, possibly creating the products of tomorrow. To learn more about each technology, see the contact information provided for that...

Briefs

Photonics/Optics

High-Power Terahertz Laser for Sensing and Imaging

A terahertz laser was developed with high constant power, tight beam pattern, and broad electric frequency tuning for a wide range of applications in chemical sensing and imaging. The...

Briefs

Imaging

Shaping Light with a Dynamically Tunable Smart Lens

The importance of optical image quality and the trend toward thinner smart-phones have pushed manufacturers to increase the number of cameras in order to provide cellphones with better...

Briefs

Photonics/Optics

A Laser-Based Volumetric Additive Manufacturing Method to 3D Print Glass

Traditional glassmaking techniques can be costly and slow, and 3D printing glass often results in rough textures, making them unsuitable for smooth lenses. Using a new...

Briefs

Imaging

Robot Senses Hidden Objects

Researchers have developed a robot that uses radio waves, which can pass through walls, to sense occluded objects. The robot, called RF-Grasp, combines this powerful sensing with more traditional computer vision...

NASA Spinoff

Photonics/Optics

Next-Generation High-Performance Lasers

NASA’ Deep Space Network (DSN), a sort of GPS system for space, relies on atomic clocks for extreme accuracy. Any modern navigation system must accurately time radio signals to triangulate a...