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Stories about: sensors


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Windows 8’s Sensor Support Explained

Windows 8 was meant to be used on mobile devices too, which means that support for sensors will also be included in it. In fact, it appears that Microsoft has been keen on packing the functionality inside its upcoming platform, and that this was a focus from day one. Now, the company has provided some more info on...

25 January 2012
10:31 GMT

Nanotube Track Individual Molecules in Water

A group of investigators based at the US Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory announces the development of a study technique that allows semiconducting carbon nanotubes to identify and track individual molecules through water. This finding is extremely important due to the massive number of ph...

11 January 2012
03:00 GMT

Using Your Kinect to Study Glaciers

The Microsoft Kinect motion sensor can be used to map the underbelly of moving glaciers, a PhD student named Ken Mankoff proved last summer. He made a dive underneath Rieperbreen Glacier in Svalbard, Norway, carrying the sensor, and produced a 3D map of the glacier's underside. This is an innovative use for a d...

15 December 2011
03:46 GMT

How to Create Nanoscale Pores in Materials

A group of investigators at the University of Cambridge, in the United Kingdom, announces the development of a new strategy for creating nanoporous materials. They explain that this innovation makes it considerably easier to produce this class of substances, which have numerous applications. For instance, they can b...

30 November 2011
03:38 GMT

Graphene-Based Sensors Put Similar Devices to Shame

Scientists based at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) say that a new generation of gas sensors could put existing devices to shame. They add that the key to improving performances to such an extent is the use of the bi-dimensional carbon compound graphene. Discovered only in 2005, the material already broug...

23 November 2011
10:25 GMT

Skin-Like Sensor Developed at Stanford

Using a new approach to controlling carbon nanotubes, researchers at the Stanford University have recently created a new type of transparent, skin-like sensor. The device can be stretched by a wide margin without losing its properties. According to the research team, the sensor can be stretched up to twice is orig...

25 October 2011
02:34 GMT

Advanced Biosensors Produced from Glass Stamps

The field of consumer electronics is currently heading to a point where each individual smartphone will be outfitted with a sensitive biosensors. The instrument will be able to detect dangerous chemicals and radiations, as well as any diseases in the body based on a small droplet of blood. Researchers at the Massachu...

19 October 2011
05:21 GMT

New Smartphone Sensor Can Detect Hazardous Chemicals

A group of experts at the American space agency announce the development of a new technology for measuring air quality, as well as for detecting hazardous chemicals in the environment. The new sensors will be able to function while powered by a simple smartphone. The tool was showcased on September 28 in Los Ange...

1 October 2011
03:54 GMT

Graphene Harvests Energy from Flowing Water

There appears to be no limit to the amount of things graphene can do. The 2D carbon compound was recently demonstrated to be able to harvest energy from flowing water, producing small amounts of electricity. This is an applications that not even its creators envisioned. Though it's unlikely that graphene-based s...

19 July 2011
08:47 GMT

Monitor Sensor Coatings for Buildings Developed

Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in collaboration with German physicists at the University of Potsdam, develop a coating material that can be used to monitor building integrity.The team says that the sensor-laden, fabric-like material has electrical properties, and that it could be inexpe...

30 June 2011
09:42 GMT

New Stretchable Electronics Created in Sweden

Experts at the Uppsala University (UU), in Sweden, announce the creation of a new sensors, which can be stretched and deformed, and still remain capable of sending wireless signals to a computer. The work represents an important step forwards in the effort to create deformable electronics, devices that function like ...

17 June 2011
02:55 GMT

Damage Sensors Listen for Thuds in Space

While in space, astronauts and cargo are at some risk of being struck by various impactors, including space junk or micrometerorites. Now, experts propose the development of a new type of sensors, that would literally listen for the sounds such impacts would make.This would help astronauts on the International Space ...

3 June 2011
02:13 GMT

Space Sensor Helps Produce Insulating Windows

A technology originally developed for use in outer space is currently being used to create new energy-saving windows and insulating glass. This is possible through the use of a new sensors, which space agencies use to measure the number of oxygen atoms in the proximity of space vehicles. But experts had the idea o...

3 May 2011
02:32 GMT

US Seismic Sensors Installed East of Mississippi Too

Scientific studies seeking to determine which areas of the United States are the most prone to experiencing earthquakes have shown that the West Coast is at the highest risk. But the East Coast may be threatened as well, and so experts are expanding a critical sensors network east of the Mississippi.In western states...

1 April 2011
03:27 GMT

HTV-2 Will Be Deorbited Tomorrow

On Tuesday, March 29, the H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV-2) will be deorbited intentionally. The spacecraft will meet a fiery end, disintegrating in Earth's atmosphere, but not before conducting a series of experiments that will yield more insight into this destructive process. The unmanned cargo capsule was detache...

28 March 2011
09:54 GMT

Wireless Computer Is Just 1 Cubic Millimeter

A team of investigators in the United States announces the development of a new, computer-like sensor, which has a volume of just one cubic millimeter. The instrument features many of the components a regular computer has. The device is composed of a small processor, a pressure sensor, a thin-film lithium battery, a ...

28 February 2011
03:37 GMT

Stretchable Electronics Used to Create Eye-Shapes Camera

One of the main goals towards which the electronics industry is currently working is breaking out of 2D construction patterns. Recently, a milestone was achieved when light sensors were placed on a curved surface to produce an eyeball-shaped camera. Stretchable electronics could find a tremendous number of potential ...

19 January 2011
16:01 GMT

Microscopes No Longer Needed to Monitor Bacteria

A group of researchers from the University of Michigan in Ann Harbor (UM) announces the creation of a monitoring method for bacteria that eliminates the need for microscopes. Their technique relies on using a device made from components that are commercially available and cheap. In fact, the team says, their innovati...

18 January 2011
03:30 GMT

Grid Bottlenecks No Longer an Issue

One of the most serious problems affecting may grids, sensor networks, computers and electronics is that some setups are so designed that signals have to pass through so-called bottlenecks at given times. These are points inside a grid or a network through which all data needs to pass before it can spread further. Th...

11 January 2011
10:06 GMT

Elephant Trunks Inspire Advanced Robotic Arm

A team of German experts announces the creation of an advanced robotic arm, a device that was designed with inspiration from nature. Its creators modeled their design after the way the elephant trunk is put together and operated. The large mammals have trunks that are actually a fusion of their upper lip with the bas...

25 November 2010
09:25 GMT

Schrader EZ-Sensor Gauges Your Car's Tire Pressure

Knowing when it's about time to check your tires' pressure can prove to be extremely helpful, not only because it might prevent certain unwanted incidents, but also because deflated tires translate into a higher level of fuel consumption, not exactly the best possible idea during these rather bleak economic...

3 November 2010
04:54 GMT

Ocean Surveillance Network Long Overdue

Marine experts and oceanographers believe that a monitoring network to cover all of the world's oceans should have been set into place years ago,and is therefore long overdue. Such a sensor network could be used to keep track of all the changes that take place in the global waters, such as for example how reefs ...

1 November 2010
05:23 GMT

People Could Underlie Advanced Mobile Internet Network

A team of investigators believes that outfitting people with wearable, wireless sensors could form the basis of strong, powerful mobile Internet networks, that would provide uninterrupted access to the Web.The idea comes from experts at the Queen's University Belfast, who believe that such sensors would enable h...

29 October 2010
06:54 GMT

Seafloors Mapped from Seals' Heads

A team of oceanographers has employed a less-usual method of surveying the sea floor, when they attached sensors to the heads of seals. This led to discoveries that would have been difficult to make otherwise.The investigators, who are conducting their research in Antarctica, explain that gluing sensors to the heads ...

8 October 2010
17:01 GMT

MIT Health Center Only Needs a Video Camera

Researchers at MIT have developed a new method for analyzing health indicators such as blood pressure, pulse and respiration, which only needs a low-cost video camera to operate. At this point, checking for vital signs is cumbersome, in the sense that a lot of manual work or sensor devices are needed to draw out usef...

4 October 2010
06:52 GMT

Using Cars as Mobile Sensors

A team of investigators at the MIT is proposing that cars be used as mobile, highly-efficient sensors for detecting traffic jams and other related issues that may delay traffic. The team believes that all warning methods that now exist to tell drivers were circulation has stopped have drastic limitations, which canno...

24 September 2010
05:41 GMT

Portable Drug Test Devices to Hit the Market Soon

According to experts, a novel instrument that can detect whether a person has consumed cannabis or cocaine may be made available to police officers and concerned moms around the world within 2 years. The disposable test would be very cheap and affordable, with initial cost estimates placing it at as little as $2. It ...

22 September 2010
07:00 GMT

Canonical Demonstrates Context-Aware User Interface

Canonical, through Christian Giordano, presented a few days ago a demonstration of a system which detects physical context, and that could be implemented in future versions of the Ubuntu operating system.With the help of a webcam or infra-red/ultra-sound sensors, the idea of this context-aware UI (user interface) con...

21 September 2010
10:35 GMT

A (Transmitter's) Journey to the Center of the Earth

Propositions for missions to analyze the Earth's interior are currently exhibiting a spike in numbers, with experts believing that what may have looked like science-fiction only a few years ago might become true.Scientists have thus far poked and prodded in virtually all environments imaginable, from the deep oc...

21 September 2010
01:32 GMT

Smart 'E-Shirt' Reads Data Instantly

An European collaboration has recently signed an agreement that led to the development of a new type of smart e-shirt, a senor that can collect and display data on physical exercises or abilities instantly. The new device is expected to be especially sought-for by professional athletes, or by avid fitness and workout...

17 September 2010
10:31 GMT

Artificial Skin Made Possible with New Electric Sensor

A team of experts may have just developed the foundation for producing artificial skin. They constructed a series of electronic sensors that are both ultra-sensitive and highly flexible. According to the investigators, it would appear that the innovation is capable of sensing touches as light as butterfly, which make...

13 September 2010
05:30 GMT

Using Kites to Conduct Wind Speed Measurements

Ever since the time of Benjamin Franklin, kites have been used as scientific equipments in a variety of simple and complex tasks. This has been owed to the fact that they are inexpensive to operate, and also capable of carrying a fair amount of sensing equipment given sufficient wind to lift it up. Sensors are even t...

28 July 2010
09:55 GMT

New Space Docking Navigation System Tested

Though space agencies have carried out the procedure successfully many times, docking to the International Space Station (ISS) is no easy task. Still, both manned and unmanned spacecraft need to do it once every couple of months, in order to sustain the six-astronaut crew currently in orbit. In order to address this ...

27 July 2010
06:08 GMT

New Sensors for Robots in the Works

One of the main goals in the field of robotics has been to endow machines with the ability to understand and make sense of the environment they are navigating. This has thus far been achieved by using video cameras and shape- and pattern-recognition software. However, the capabilities that this approach has are sever...

8 April 2010
10:44 GMT

New Sensors Can Track How Diseases Evolve

One of the main goals researchers in medicine have been striving towards over the past few years is developing extremely efficient sensors that could be implanted in the human body and used to monitor and track the development of various diseases. Having this ability would ensure that the most correct course of treat...

29 March 2010
03:55 GMT

Sensor Arrays Capable of Identifying Single Molecules Created

Detecting single molecules inside the body, such as the ones that some types of cells use to communicate with each other, has been a long-standing goal in science for many years. Now, investigators at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in the United States, have managed to produce a new type of sensor a...

8 March 2010
04:48 GMT

New Camera Technology Has Massive Appeal

British researchers announce the development of a new class of photographic technology, which allows for high-resolution images to be snapped alongside a very high-speed video. The innovation could have significant applications in a variety of scientific fields, as well as for a number of technological processes, and...

15 February 2010
05:37 GMT

New Sensor Has Unprecedented Sensitivity

Researchers at the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have recently been able to exploit a phenomenon that has for a long time stopped electronics manufacturers from doing what they do best in order to create a new class of advanced chemical and biological sensors. The new instr...

13 February 2010
06:25 GMT

New Sensor Could Run Almost Perpetually

Scientists have recently created a new type of sensor, one that is capable of working almost around the clock. The device could enable a wide array of new medical implants that could be used in situations where conventional sensors are too large, bulky, or have insufficient battery life. This particular machine is ve...

10 February 2010
02:44 GMT

Sensor Can Detect the 'Smell' of Cancer

Researchers have known for a long time that, as soon as cancer cells start developing inside a host, they release certain chemicals that may be used to track them down. Investigators often refer to these biomarkers as the “scent trail” that tumors leave behind, and methods of enabling drugs to follow up o...

27 January 2010
10:07 GMT

A Journey in Marine Acoustics

Everybody knows that whales communicate using very high-pitched sounds that resemble clicks. These sounds can be heard over incredibly long distances, and prove that the creatures are intelligent and able to understand each other. But this discovery, for example, was only made possible through the use of acoustic sur...

30 December 2009
19:31 GMT

Japanese Experts Create Motorized Knee

Researchers in Japan are known for their affinity in the field of creating enhancement devices for the human body, allowing regular people to perform feats that they would otherwise be incapable of. This is also the case with scientists at the Tsukuba University, who recently developed a new type of accessory, in the...

22 December 2009
18:01 GMT

Autonomous Wireless Sensor Driven by Piezoelectrics

Researchers at the IMEC (Interuniversity Microelectronics Center), in Belgium, announce the development of a new class of ultrasmall, fully autonomous, wireless sensors, which are powered up via micromachined piezoelectric harvesters. The new achievement was reached by using the Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) ...

16 December 2009
16:01 GMT

Wiimotes Make Excellent Hydrological Sensors

With the rising popularity of the Nintendo Wii gaming console, a lot of households around the world can now boast having at least one or two Wii remotes (Wiimotes) around. Priced at around $40 each, the wireless devices may seem expensive for home use, but they are a bargain for members of the scientific community. T...

15 December 2009
08:45 GMT

NASA Develops iPhone-Mounted Chemical Sensors

Smartphones are already an indispensable commodity to a lot of people, and have become an integrated part of their daily lives. Some use them to surf the Web and post updates on Facebook and Twitter, while others use facilities such as document viewers and editor, and slideshow presentations. But now, researchers at ...

28 November 2009
03:58 GMT

RFID Can Now Be Inserted in More Production Processes

In a move that is bound to restrict people's privacy, as always, researchers have discovered a new way of implanting RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) chips into much more material and products than thought possible. Until now, only things that were made at temperatures of less than 100 degrees Celsius could...

25 November 2009
02:59 GMT

Atlantis Crew Conducts Heat Shield Inspection

All NASA shuttles are protected upon atmospheric reentry by a ceramics-based heat shield, which is able to handle the thousands of degrees that heat up the spacecraft' underbellies. For all their resilience, these heat shields are extremely sensitive, and even minor impacts can cause very dangerous dents. After ...

18 November 2009
02:35 GMT

Underwater Probes to Survey Aquatic Ecosystems

Nature is the most potent source of inspiration for just about every aspect of human activity, from painting and music to nanotechnology and, apparently, underwater biomimetic probes. Two experts at the Michigan State University (MSU) have recently taken it upon themselves to create robotic fish, made out of advanced...

2 November 2009
06:01 GMT

ARES I-X Test Flight Successfully Completed

Though some experts argued yesterday that the new suborbital test flight for the American space agency's ARES I-X rocket was not a complete success, the reality couldn't be farther from the truth, NASA says in a press release on its official website. According to the notice, the two-minute powered flight we...

29 October 2009
04:32 GMT

Plasmon Resonances Set Foundation for New Sensors

A team of scientists has recently managed to produce a new type of measurement technology that relies on the optical resonances that form inside nanoparticles. These so-called plasmon resonances may prove to be the basis for a new class of sensors, experts from the Chalmers University of Technology, who have been beh...

26 October 2009
06:45 GMT


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