Industries

A pair of researchers with Leibniz University of Hannover has demonstrated the means by which robots might be programmed to experience something akin to pain in animals. As part of their demonstration at last week's IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation held in Stockholm, Johannes Kuehn and Sami Haddaddin showed how pain might be used in robots, by interacting with a BioTac fingertip sensor on the end of a Kuka robotic arm that...

Mars will be the closest it has been to Earth since 2005, meaning academics and amateurs alike can get a rare, bright close-up of our dusty red neighbour in the night sky. On Monday, at 9.35pm, the alien world will be just 46,762,695 miles (75,279,709km) from us as it continues its 687-day elliptical orbit around the Sun.

Researchers from Cornell University have devised a peptidomimetic macrocyclic compound that is made from an acid-catalysed cascade reaction. Their macrocycles are tunable in their backbone, side-chain composition and sequence, and their overall structure. Using this structural versatility, Mintu Porel, Dana N. Thornlow, Ngoc N. Phan and Christopher A. Alabi designed a macrocycle that mimicked antimicrobial peptides and displayed antibacterial pro...

A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have found a way to make personalised medicine cheaper and easier. Imagine if you could combine the myriad of pills you need to take for your ailment in just one tablet; or if you need only to take the medication once a day and the drug will be slowly released throughout the day at different rates to treat your illness; or if doctors could easily make tablets on the spot that a...

Scientists from Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) have developed a prototype analyser for rapid testing of meldonium and other performance-enhancing drugs in competitive athletics. The device is based on an electrochemical method that allows displaying test results immediately. In contrast to similar devices on the market, the analyser is mobile, has a user-friendly interface, and is far cheaper. It is expected to cost up to USD $1500.

Carnegie Mellon University's College of Engineering conducted a survey on falls among the elderly, and discovered that Americans are very worried about their elderly parent falling—and that this worry leads to action. Every 13 seconds, an older adult is treated in the emergency room for a fall. Every 20 minutes, an older adult dies from a fall-related trauma.

A simple paper sheet made by scientists at Uppsala University can improve the quality of life for millions of people by removing resistant viruses from water. The sheet, made of cellulose nanofibers, is called the mille-feuille filter as it has a unique layered internal architecture resembling that of the French puff pastry mille-feuille (Eng. thousand leaves).

Expanding its portfolio of broadband GaN RF power transistors for electronic warfare and battlefield radio applications, NXP Semiconductors has announced six driver or final-stage amplifiers that have frequency coverage as broad as 1 to 3,000MHz.

Summer is around the corner—time for cookouts and sunbathing. But too much sun can result in sunburn, which is the main cause of skin cancer. Because the time it takes to get burned depends on many factors, it is not easy to tell when to seek shade. To help people stay safe, researchers report in ACS Sensors the development of a paper-based sensor for monitoring sun exposure given different skin tones and sunscreen levels.

The Innorobo event, taking place this week in Paris, aims to initiate dialogue on the role of robots in our society and to show the impact of new technologies in our professional and personal lives every day.