NASA Mars Rover Can Choose Laser Targets on Its Own
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jul 22, 2016 -
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity is now selecting rock targets for its laser spectrometer - the first time autonomous target selection is available for an instrument of this kind on any robotic planetary mission.
Using software developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, Curiosity is now frequently choosing multiple targets per week for a laser and a telescopic camera t ...
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Artificial muscle for soft robotics: Low voltage, high hopes
Boston MA (SPX) Jul 22, 2016 -
Soft robots do a lot of things well but they're not exactly known for their speed. The artificial muscles that move soft robots, called actuators, tend to rely on hydraulics or pneumatics, which are slow to respond and difficult to store.
Dielectric elastomers, soft materials that have good insulating properties, could offer an alternative to pneumatic actuators but they currently require ...
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Unconventional quasiparticles predicted in conventional crystals
Princeton NJ (SPX) Jul 22, 2016 -
An international team of researchers has predicted the existence of several previously unknown types of quantum particles in materials. The particles - which belong to the class of particles known as fermions - can be distinguished by several intrinsic properties, such as their responses to applied magnetic and electric fields. In several cases, fermions in the interior of the material show thei ...
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Quantum drag
Iowa City IA (SPX) Jul 22, 2016 -
Friction and drag are commonplace in nature. You experience these phenomena when riding in an airplane, pairing electrical wiring, or rubbing pieces of sandpaper together.
Friction and drag also exist at the quantum level, the realm of atoms and molecules invisible to the naked eye. But how these forces interact across materials and energy sources remain in doubt.
In a new study, Uni ...
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RMIT researchers make leap in measuring quantum states
Melbourne, Australia (SPX) Jul 22, 2016 -
A breakthrough into the full characterisation of quantum states has been published today as a prestigious Editors' Suggestion in the journal Physical Review Letters.
The full characterisation (tomography) of quantum states is a necessity for future quantum computing. However, standard techniques are inadequate for the large quantum bit-strings necessary in full scale quantum computers.
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Minimalist swimming microrobots
Washington DC (SPX) Jul 22, 2016 -
When scaling down robots to the micrometer scale for tiny tasks such as incising tissue and puncturing retinal veins, minimalism is key. To make smaller, simpler microrobots, researchers at Drexel University have developed a fabrication method which utilizes the minimum geometric requirements for fluid motion - consisting of just two conjoined microparticles coated with bits of magnetic debris. ...
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Graphene photodetectors: Thinking outside the 2-D box
Madrid, Spain (SPX) Jul 19, 2016 -
In a recent work published in Nature Communications, the research group led by ICREA Professor at ICFO Frank Koppens demonstrate a novel way to detect low-energy photons using vertical heterostructures made by stacking graphene and other 2D semiconducting materials.
By studying the photoresponse of these atomically thin sandwiches, the researchers have shown that it is possible to generate ...
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