News by Subject Technology & Engineering

An international research team at the Swiss Light Source (SLS) has set a new tomography world record using a rotary sample table developed at the HZB. With 208 three-dimensional tomographic X-ray images per second, they were able to document the dynamic processes involved in the foaming of liquid aluminium. The method is presented in the journal Nature Communications.

He solved a 127-year-old physics problem on paper and proved that off-centred boat wakes could exist. Five years later, laboratory experiments proved him right.

The majority of soft robots today rely on external power and control, keeping them tethered to off-board systems or rigged with hard components. Now, researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and Caltech have developed soft robotic systems, inspired by origami, that can move and change shape in response to external stimuli, paving the way for fully untethered soft robots.

An experiment with a water-saving 'smart' faucet shows potential for reducing water use. The catch? Unbeknownst to study participants, the faucet's smarts came from its human controller.

Researchers at the UW have used machine learning to develop a new system that can monitor factory and warehouse workers and tell them how ergonomic their jobs are in real time.

Empa has developed an innovative, electrohydraulically actuated valve train for internal combustion engines, that enables completely free adjustment of stroke and timing, while at the same time being robust and cost effective. This valve train was mounted on a serial production engine and has been running successfully for several months. The new technology saves up to 20% fuel.

Researchers from the University of New Hampshire's Marine School are part of the crew, led by National Geographic Explorer-at-Large Robert Ballard, that is setting out to find answers to disappearance of famed pilot Amelia Earhart. UNH has developed an autonomous surface vehicle (ASV), or robot, that can explore the seafloor in waters that may be too deep for divers.