image: Closeup of a Brachymeles kadwa lizard species on a leaf. view more Credit: Philip Bergmann, Clark University Snakes and lizards have distinct body movement patterns. Lizards bend from side to side as they retract their legs to walk or run. Snakes, on the other hand, slither and undulate, like a wave that travels down … Read more
Osaka, Japan – Scientists from the Institute of Laser Engineering at Osaka University created a prototype terahertz optical spectroscopy system with a sensing area equivalent to the cross-sectional area of just five human hairs. By measuring the shift in peak transmittance wavelength of a terahertz radiation source, the concentration of even trace dissolved contaminants in … Read more
Microplastics are found almost everywhere on Earth and can be harmful to animals if they are ingested. But it’s hard to remove such tiny particles from the environment, especially once they settle into nooks and crannies at the bottom of waterways. Now, researchers in ACS ‘ Nano Letters have created a light-activated fish robot that … Read more
First there’s weakness and throbbing in the arm muscles that take on the immune-teaching chemicals. Then the fatigue and aches spread until your whole body is complaining. It turns out those of us who experience this reaction to the COVID-19 vaccines have markers in our blood that indicate a more active immune response, but a … Read more
Researcher Laura Rossi and her group at TU Delft have found a new way to build synthetic materials out of tiny glass particles – so-called colloids. Together with their colleagues from Queen’s University and the University of Amsterdam, they showed that they can simply use the shape of these colloids to make interesting building blocks … Read more
Four cubic colloids made from glass. Credit: TU Delft A new way to build synthetic materials out of tiny glass particles – so-called colloids – has been found by researcher Laura Rossi and her group at TU Delft. Together with their colleagues from Queen’s University and the University of Amsterdam, they showed that they can … Read more
High school students in Portugal have programmed a small computer on the International Space Station to measure Earth’s magnetic field from orbit. The three students, with help from their faculty mentor, created an add-on component for a Raspberry Pi computer – a low cost, credit-card-sized computer that plugs into a computer or TV monitor – … Read more
Close-up of crab robot. Credit: Northwestern University. Engineers have developed the smallest-ever remote-controlled walking robot – and it comes in the form of a tiny, adorable peekytoe crab. Just a half-millimeter wide, the tiny crabs can bend, twist, crawl, walk, turn and even jump. The researchers also developed millimeter-sized robots resembling inchworms, crickets and beetles. … Read more
Is your tiny robot really all that small if it’s bigger than the width of a coin? A team of scientists has built what is now the smallest-ever remote-controlled walking robot, coming in at a mere half a millimeter (less than a fiftieth of an inch) wide. Exceedingly tiny robots have a whole host of … Read more
Artistic representation of a microdrone with two active light-driven nanomotors between red blood cells. Credit: Thorsten Feichtner A hand-held laser pointer produces no noticeable recoil forces when it is “fired” – even though it emits a directed stream of light particles. The reason for this is simply because of its relatively enormous mass compared to … Read more