Packing enough energy into a battery to power a car is putting a lot of pressure on the storage devices that, for the last century or so, have mainly been tasked with running small appliances and electronics.

Researchers from Drexel University College of Medicine and the University of Texas at Austin improved respiratory function in rodents with spinal cord injuries after successfully transplanting a special class of neural cells, called V2a interneurons. Their results, published in the Journal of Neurotrauma, indicate that these lab-grown cells have the potential to one day help paralysed patients breathe without a ventilator.

"Smart" eyewear—that can integrate AR with your own, feed you live information about your surroundings and even be used in the operating room—is no longer the stuff of science fiction. Wearable displays also have the potential to enhance cognitive ergonomics, or more simply, make it less mentally taxing to complete certain tasks. But before technologies like Google Glass become a part of daily life, engineers need a way to monito...

Designers of solar cells may soon be setting their sights higher, as a discovery by a team of researchers has revealed a class of materials that could be better at converting sunlight into energy than those currently being used in solar arrays. Their research shows how a material can be used to extract power from a small portion of the sunlight spectrum with a conversion efficiency that is above its theoretical maximum—a value called the Sh...

In their mission to design biomaterials that promote tissue regeneration, Drexel University researchers have identified how inflammation, when precisely controlled, is crucial to bone repair. Their findings, published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, show that a new type of ceramic scaffold causes inflammatory cells to behave in a way that is more regenerative than scaffolds that are currently used clinically.

Using a rotating magnetic field, Drexel University researchers, led by MinJun Kim, PhD, a professor in the College of Engineering, show how multiple chains of microscopic magnetic bead-based robots can link up to reach impressive speeds swimming through in a microfluidic environment. Their finding is the latest step toward using the so-called "microswimmers" to deliver medicine and perform surgery inside the body.

Drexel University researchers have developed a computer game and smartphone app to help people control unhealthy eating habits and ultimately lose weight. The game is designed to improve a person's "inhibitory control," the part of the brain that stops you from giving into unhealthy cravings—even when the smell of French fries is practically begging you to step inside a fast food restaurant.

Borides are among the hardest and most heat-resistant substances on the planet, but their Achilles' Heel, like so many materials', is that they oxidise at high temperatures. Oxidation is the chemical reaction commonly known as corrosion or rusting - it can signal the end for a material's structural integrity. But researchers from Drexel University, Linkoping University in Sweden and Imperial College London have produced an aluminum-layered boride...

  A team of researchers from Drexel University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) and Tsinghua University recently discovered a way to improve the making of energy storage materials so that they are bigger, better and soaking up energy. The secret? Just by adding salt. 

Nanoparticles are now being used to transport chemotherapy medicine through the bloodstream, to the doorstep of cancerous tumors. Drexel University researchers believe that the trick to gaining access to the pernicious cellular masses is to give the nanoparticles a new look - and that dressing to impress will be able to get them past the tumor's biological bouncers.

You might not be aware of it, but invisible carpets of polymers are keeping things from being sticky right now. The lenses of your glasses might be coated with them to stave off smudges. They're keeping the underbellies of ships from corroding, artificial joints from locking up and medical devices from gathering germs. The name "polymer nanobrush" doesn't seem fitting because these bristly materials aren't used to sweep away debris, they actually...