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Researchers unveil large robotic jellyfish that one day could patrol oceans

Virginia Tech College of Engineering researchers have unveiled a life-like, autonomous robotic jellyfish the size and weight of a grown man, 5 foot 7 inches in length and weighing 170 pounds.

The prototype robot, nicknamed Cyro, is a larger model of a robotic jellyfish the same team – headed by Shashank Priya of Blacksburg, Va., and professor of mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech – unveiled in 2012. The earlier robot, dubbed RoboJelly, is roughly the size of a man's hand, and typical of jellyfish found along beaches.

Discovery opens door to efficiently storing and reusing renewable energy

Two University of Calgary researchers have developed a ground-breaking way to make new affordable and efficient catalysts for converting electricity into chemical energy.

Their technology opens the door to homeowners and energy companies being able to easily store and reuse solar and wind power. Such energy is clean and renewable, but it's available only when the sun is shining or the wind is blowing.

Opposites attract: How cells and cell fragments move in electric fields

Like tiny crawling compass needles, whole living cells and cell fragments orient and move in response to electric fields — but in opposite directions, scientists at the University of California, Davis, have found. Their results, published April 8 in the journal Current Biology, could ultimately lead to new ways to heal wounds and deliver stem cell therapies.

Swarming robots could be the servants of the future

Swarms of robots acting together to carry out jobs could provide new opportunities for humans to harness the power of machines.

Researchers in the Sheffield Centre for Robotics, jointly established by the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University, have been working to program a group of 40 robots, and say the ability to control robot swarms could prove hugely beneficial in a range of contexts, from military to medical.

Wilderness therapy programs less risky than daily life, UNH research finds

DURHAM, N.H. – Adolescents participating in wilderness and adventure therapy programs are at significantly less risk of injury than those playing football and are three times less likely to visit the emergency room for an injury than if they were at home, a new study by University of New Hampshire researchers finds. These findings, based on an analysis of risk management data from 12 programs providing outdoor behavioral healthcare in 2011, were reported in the latest issue of the Journal of Therapeutic Schools and Programs.

Theory and practice key to optimized broadband, low-loss optical metamaterials

The union of theory and practice makes broadband, low-loss optical devices practical, which is why two groups of Penn State engineers collaborated to design optical metamaterials that have custom applications that are easily manufactured.

Scientists propose revolutionary laser system to produce the next LHC

An international team of physicists has proposed a revolutionary laser system, inspired by the telecommunications technology, to produce the next generation of particle accelerators, such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

The International Coherent Amplification Network (ICAN) sets out a new laser system composed of massive arrays of thousands of fibre lasers, for both fundamental research at laboratories such as CERN and more applied tasks such as proton therapy and nuclear transmutation.

The results of this study are published today in Nature Photonics.

Diabetes: Computer based interventions provide limited support

Self-management interventions delivered by computer and mobile phone currently provide limited benefits for people with diabetes, according to a systematic review published in The Cochrane Library. Although computer and mobile phone-based self-management programmes had small positive effects on blood sugar levels, these effects seemed to be short-lived.

Cold cities less sustainable than warm cities, research suggests

Living in colder climates in the US is more energy demanding than living in warmer climates.

This is according to Dr Michael Sivak at the University of Michigan, who has published new research today, 28 March, in IOP Publishing's journal Environmental Research Letters.

Dr Sivak has calculated that climate control in the coldest large metropolitan area in the country – Minneapolis – is about three-and-a-half times more energy demanding than in the warmest large metropolitan area – Miami.

Michigan Tech researcher slashes optics laboratory costs

Just as the power of the open-source design has driven down the cost of software to the point that it is accessible to most people, open-source hardware makes it possible to drive down the cost of doing experimental science and expand access to everyone. As part of this movement, a Michigan Technological University lab has introduced a library of open-source, 3-D-printable optics components in a paper published in PLOS One from the Public Library of Science.

Penn engineers enable 'bulk' silicon to emit visible light for the first time

Electronic computing speeds are brushing up against limits imposed by the laws of physics. Photonic computing, where photons replace comparatively slow electrons in representing information, could surpass those limitations, but the components of such computers require semiconductors that can emit light.

Now, research from the University of Pennsylvania has enabled "bulk" silicon to emit broad-spectrum, visible light for the first time, opening the possibility of using the element in devices that have both electronic and photonic components.

Magnetic fingerprints of interface defects in silicon solar cells detected

In theory, silicon-based solar cells are capable of converting up to 30 percent of sunlight to electricity - although, in reality, the different kinds of loss mechanisms ensure that even under ideal lab conditions it does not exceed 25 %. Advanced heterojunction cells shall affront this problem: On top of the wafer's surface, at temperatures below 200 °C, a layer of 10 nanometer disordered (amorphous) silicon is deposited. This thin film is managing to saturate to a large extent the interface defects and to conduct charge carriers out of the cell.

(Flash) Gordon: Superhero supercomputer helps battle autism

When it officially came online at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) in early January 2012, Gordon was instantly impressive. In one demonstration, it sustained more than 35 million input/output operations per second--then, a world record.

Simulations uncover obstacle to harnessing laser-driven fusion

A once-promising approach for using next-generation, ultra-intense lasers to help deliver commercially viable fusion energy has been brought into serious question by new experimental results and first-of-a-kind simulations of laser-plasma interaction.

Dysphagia: Patients with swallowing difficulties could benefit from new sensor

People suffering from swallowing difficulties, especially stroke patients, could be evaluated more efficiently and non-invasively thanks to research on a small sensor that's externally placed on the neck near the thyroid and records how a person swallows.