Optical microscope without lenses produces high-resolution 3-d images on a chip

Researchers have redesigned the concept of a microscope, by removing the lens, to create a system small enough to fit in the palm of a hand, but powerful enough to create 3-D tomographic, or sectional, images of miniscule samples. The advance represents the first demonstration of lens-free optical tomographic imaging on a chip, a technique capable of producing high resolution 3-D images of large volumes of microscopic objects.

'Time machine' made to visually explore space and time in videos: time-lapse gigapans provide new way to access big data

Researchers have leveraged the latest browser technology to create GigaPan Time Machine, a system that enables viewers to explore gigapixel-scale, high-resolution videos and image sequences by panning or zooming in and out of the images while simultaneously moving back and forth through time.

Introducing the world's first intubation robot

Researchers have introduced the first intubation robot operated by remote control. The robotic system may facilitate the intubation procedure and reduce some complications associated with airway management.

The 70 kilo single person plane

(PhysOrg.com) -- Aki Suokas, a Finnish aeronautical engineer, has just finished creating a unique single-seat aircraft this week. The project was completed at Aero Friedrichshafen, and it has been dubbed the FlyNano.

NASA's new ion engine ready for missions in space

(PhysOrg.com) -- A small robotic surveyor arrives to explore a near-Earth asteroid. Another robotic spacecraft is returning to Earth with a pristine comet surface sample. Meanwhile, a robotic explorer is approaching Uranus, carrying scientific instruments that will allow us to learn more about our solar system. What do all these mission concepts have in common?

Sim-drive corp announces new 'in-wheel' electric car

(PhysOrg.com) -- SIM-Drive Corporation, a Japanese consortium based in Kawasaki-shi and comprised of 34 companies and municipalities, has announced that it has developed a functioning electric car based on in-wheel electric motor technology.

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a robot bird [+video]

(PhysOrg.com) -- The great thing about robots is that they come in all shapes and sizes. Of course, that is also one of the creepiest things about robots too. You never know what is going to be a robot these days. There are people shaped robots, there are robots that are designed to explore the depths of space. That bird that you see on the building. It could be a robot too.

First practical nanogenerator produces electricity with pinch of the fingers

After six years of intensive effort, scientists are reporting development of the first commercially viable nanogenerator, a flexible chip that can use body movements — a finger pinch now en route to a pulse beat in the future — to generate electricity. Speaking here today at the 241st National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, they described boosting the device

The incredible shrinking circuit

(PhysOrg.com) -- Just when it seemed that microchips couldn

20 petaflops: new supercomputer for Oak Ridge facility to regain speed lead over the Chinese

(PhysOrg.com) -- The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) campus in Oak Ridge Tennessee will soon play host once again to the fastest computer in the world (barring any new sudden announcements by the Chinese). The computer, dubbed "Titan" has been commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy, and is expected to achieve 20,000 trillion calculations (20 petaflops) per second.

Intelligent microscopy: software runs experiments on its own

Scientists in Germany have created new software that rapidly learns what researchers are looking for and automatically performs complex microscopy experiments.

NASA develops light microscope for international space station

NASA has begun testing a new multi-capability microscope on the International Space Station. It will help scientists study the effects of the space environment on physics and biology aboard the orbiting laboratory. The microscope is isolated from vibrations on the station, allowing it to obtain clear, high-resolution images. Using high-resolution magnification, scientists can examine microorganisms and individual cells of plants and animals, including humans.

Medical microcamera the size of a grain of salt gives razor-sharp images, very inexpensively

There have been gloves and shavers for one-off use for a long time. In future, there will also be disposable endoscopes for minimally invasive operations on the human body. A new microcamera is what makes it possible. It is as large as a grain of salt, supplies razor-sharp pictures and can be manufactured very inexpensively.

3D, 360-degree fog display shown off [+video]

(PhysOrg.com) -- Any fan of Star Trek knows about the joys of the holodeck. The idea of a 3D, 360-degree immersive digital environment, projected on demand, is an enticing one that has thus far been confined to the silver screen, but technologies are emerging that just may make this possible. In 2008 Physorg reported on a 3D fog display on a room-sized scale, but it could not give a 360 degree experience. New developments in this area may make this possible at some point in the future.