News by Subject Technology & Engineering

By leveraging molecular beam epitaxy deposition and high-quality materials with large dielectric constants, University of California, Santa Barbara researchers pursue future radio-frequency materials and devices capable of being 'tuned' to adapt to changing environments.

From skeletal remains found among ancient owl pellets, a team of scientists has recovered the first ancient DNA of the extinct West Indian mammal Nesophontes, meaning 'island murder.' They traced its evolutionary history back to the dawn of mammals 70 million years ago. The authors, including Selina Brace, Jessica Thomas, Ian Barnes et al., published their findings in the advanced online edition of Molecular Biology and Evolution.

For the first time, the NIST researchers have measured the transfer of motion through the contacting parts of a microelectromechanical system at nanometer and microradian scales.

Technology for reading signals directly from the brain developed by Stanford Bio-X scientists could provide a way for people with movement disabilities to communicate.

Mosquitoes are more likely to feed on cattle than on humans if they carry a specific chromosomal rearrangement in their genome, reducing their odds of transmitting the malaria parasite, reports Bradley Main at the University of California, Davis in a study published Sept. 12, 2016, in PLOS Genetics.

A team of chemists has developed a method to yield highly detailed, three-dimensional images of the insides of batteries. The technique, based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), offers an enhanced approach to monitor the condition of these power sources in real time.

MIT researchers and their colleagues are designing an imaging system that can read closed books. In the latest issue of Nature Communications, the researchers describe a prototype of the system, which they tested on a stack of papers, each with one letter printed on it. The system was able to correctly identify the letters on the top nine sheets.

Is life better or worse after sticking your Fitbit in a drawer? UW researchers surveyed hundreds of people who had abandoned self-tracking tools and found emotions ranged from guilt to indifference to relief that the tracking experience was over.