https://phys.org/technology-news/engineering en-us Phys.org provides the latest news on engineering technology, engineering science, computer engineering , civil engineering, chemical engineering, aerospace engineering and environmental engineering. A danger that you can't see or hear—electric shock in water—can easily go undetected. Electricity is deadly and often discovered only after it is too late. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-minimizing-electric-pools-lakes.html Engineering Fri, 26 May 2017 08:19:54 EDT news415005582 A new technique being developed at Purdue University could provide patients who require implantable catheters in the treatment of neurological and other disorders with a reliable and self-clearing catheter that could eliminate the need for additional surgery to replace failing devices. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-technique-success-life-span-implantable.html Engineering Fri, 26 May 2017 06:43:08 EDT news414999776 In 1905, an Ohio farmer survived a railroad accident that cost him both of his legs. Two years later, he founded the Ohio Willow Wood company, using the namesake timber to hand-carve prosthetic limbs. The company grew, surviving the Great Depression and a fire that destroyed the plant, and still thrives today in rural Ohio. Few who work there now might remember the curious footnote in the company's history that occurred during World War II, when the rebuilt factory was diversified to build parts for PT boats and B-17 bombers. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-military-funded-prosthetic-technologies-benefit-veterans.html Engineering Thu, 25 May 2017 08:50:01 EDT news414917915 America's bridges received a grade of C+ on the 2017 Infrastructure Report Card, put out by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Aging is a factor in this score—almost four in 10 of the 614,387 bridges in the U.S. are 50 years or older, and the average age keeps climbing. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-technology-aging-bridge.html Engineering Wed, 24 May 2017 16:57:44 EDT news414863389 Research data on the durability of running shoes challenges a common assumption. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-how-far-can-your-shoes.html Engineering Tue, 23 May 2017 08:20:01 EDT news414743119 Researchers at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) have developed a mobile biofeedback device for footstrike pattern modification for injury prevention and rehabilitation in runners. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-insole-footstrike-pattern-runners.html Engineering Tue, 23 May 2017 07:10:01 EDT news414741528 ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano last weekend helped to explore the caverns under Sicily using a drone that deliberately bumped into its surroundings in order to build a map. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-exploring-underground-colliding-drone.html Engineering Tue, 23 May 2017 06:38:44 EDT news414740314 China's biggest online retailer, JD.com Inc., announced plans Monday to develop drone aircraft capable of carrying a ton or more for long-distance deliveries. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-chinese-online-retailer-one-ton-delivery.html Engineering Tue, 23 May 2017 04:04:11 EDT news414731002 When the Space Shuttle hit the Earth's atmosphere on its return trip from the cosmos, it was traveling at 17,000 miles per hour—25 times the speed of sound. Were it not for the protection of the ceramic tiles that acted as heat shields, the entire spacecraft would have burned to nothing. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-d.html Engineering Mon, 22 May 2017 14:31:08 EDT news414682255 As represented by conventional radiograph, radiological images provide only black and white figures in 2D space. The situation is basically the same for Single photon emission tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET), which are the two most common molecular imaging techniques used in nuclear medicine. PET is used especially for early cancer and Alzheimer's disease detection, but radioactive tracers suitable for each detector are limited in terms of energy. For example, PET can only image monochromatic gamma rays thus provide black and white 2D images. Moreover, production of PET tracers, usually made by a cyclotron facility in medical centers, is inevitably costly. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-world-multicolor-d-vivo-imaging.html Engineering Mon, 22 May 2017 09:59:25 EDT news414665953 An appeals court on Friday struck down a Federal Aviation Administration rule that required owners of drones used for recreation to register their craft. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-court-drone-registry.html Engineering Fri, 19 May 2017 16:09:48 EDT news414428982 A team of MIT researchers has designed a breathable workout suit with ventilating flaps that open and close in response to an athlete's body heat and sweat. These flaps, which range from thumbnail- to finger-sized, are lined with live microbial cells that shrink and expand in response to changes in humidity. The cells act as tiny sensors and actuators, driving the flaps to open when an athlete works up a sweat, and pulling them closed when the body has cooled off. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-self-ventilating-workout-athletes-cool.html Engineering Fri, 19 May 2017 14:00:06 EDT news414408357 Magnetic levitation (Maglev) is well known for its use in high-speed rail networks, but could also be applied at smaller scales in medicine and electronics. To do so, researchers must be able to precisely control electromagnetic fields so that they can move and rotate objects without touching them. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-precisely-movement-levitating-applications.html Engineering Fri, 19 May 2017 07:19:47 EDT news414397176 Like conventional pacemakers, tiny new leadless pacemakers are designed to work for about 12 years. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-tech-non-working-pacemakers-heart.html Engineering Fri, 19 May 2017 05:44:50 EDT news414391481 Road salt, used in copious helpings each winter to protect them from ice and preserve safe driving conditions, is slowly degrading the concrete they're made of. Engineers have known for some time that calcium chloride salt, commonly used as deicer, reacts with the calcium hydroxide in concrete to form a chemical byproduct that causes roadways to crumble. A civil engineer from Drexel University is working on a new recipe for concrete, using cast-off products from furnaces, that can hold its own against the forces of chemical erosion. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-recipe-concrete-road-salt-deterioration.html Engineering Thu, 18 May 2017 10:48:49 EDT news414323320 Researchers at Université Laval's Faculty of Science and Engineering and its Center for Optics, Photonics, and Lasers have created a smart T-shirt that monitors the wearer's respiratory rate in real time. This innovation, the details of which are published in the latest edition of Sensors, paves the way for manufacturing clothing that could be used to diagnose respiratory illnesses or monitor people suffering from asthma, sleep apnea, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-t-shirt-wearer-real.html Engineering Thu, 18 May 2017 10:46:48 EDT news414323194 Computer scientists from Saarland University and Google are giving wrinkles, knuckles and birthmarks a whole new meaning. Similarly to temporary tattoos for children, the researchers are placing ultra-thin, electronic tattoos on distinctive body locations. The user can touch, squeeze or pull them, and thereby intuitively control mobile devices such as a music player, or easily make indicators light up. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-electronic-tattoos-distinctive-body-mobile.html Engineering Wed, 17 May 2017 10:33:53 EDT news414236022 The internet of things, artificial intelligence, networked production, smart homes - these are the magic words of digital transformation. While the big technology companies are already equipping their products and production with artificial intelligence - all parts of the chain of values added are to supply data in the future -, German medium-sized companies are not succumbing to its spell. Not yet! Scientists of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) help companies implement Industry 4.0. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-guidelines-industry.html Engineering Wed, 17 May 2017 10:06:59 EDT news414234409 How do you help someone thousands of miles away in an Indian slum fix their roof, or someone in the African urban jungle access cervical cancer screening? You might think of sending some money, or perhaps supporting some charitable agencies. But in recent years a new solution has emerged—one that empowers as it helps people solve their own problems. The latest kind of engineering being explored at UC Berkeley helps those in the lowest resource areas of the world by finding ways to solve big problems without needing big resources. This rapidly evolving field is called development engineering, the core concept of which is helping others help themselves. While traditional aid imports finite resources that require an agency to distribute and maintain, development engineering finds new ways for a community to use their resources, knowledge, and people-power in solving their problems. After all, who is more motivated to solve a problem than those affected by it? https://phys.org/news/2017-05-sustainability-self-sufficiency.html Engineering Wed, 17 May 2017 08:24:04 EDT news414228233 Their demanding missions often require soldiers to carry heavy equipment packs long distances over rough terrain, or up and down stairs and underground infrastructure in urban environments. Exhaustion and injury are frequently a consequence of these challenging operational scenarios. A new exoskeleton from Lockheed Martin offers a solution. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-exoskeleton-soldiers-heavy-gear.html Engineering Wed, 17 May 2017 08:11:35 EDT news414227487 Smart homes need smart batteries. Current systems overuse power, which can shorten the life of batteries and the devices they power. Future batteries may get an intelligence boost to mitigate the problem. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-scientists-battery-smart-home.html Engineering Wed, 17 May 2017 05:36:25 EDT news414218175 A British prison will install anti-drone technology to stop contraband being smuggled through the skies, the jail's governor told AFP on Tuesday. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-uk-prison-drone-deliveries-contraband.html Engineering Tue, 16 May 2017 15:02:20 EDT news414165733 Weighing oneself has become one of the most common morning rituals. However, your weight is not the only message that can be delivered by your bathroom scales: the team of researchers at Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) Institute of Biomedical Engineering are developing the multifunctional scales, which can monitor your health and inform about potentially dangerous life conditions, such as arteriosclerosis or cardiac arrhythmia. "Hospitals are fully equipped with advanced technologies for diagnosing illnesses and critical conditions, but it is too expensive to use this equipment for everyday health monitoring. On the other hand, people do not have many devices for personal health monitoring at home, and these devices could be very practical", says Vaidotas Marozas, the Director of the KTU Institute of Biomedical Engineering. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-bathroom-scales-life-threatening-conditions.html Engineering Tue, 16 May 2017 10:04:05 EDT news414147832 Imec announced today its success in fabricating a prototype implantable chip that aims to give patients more intuitive control over their arm prosthetics. The thin-silicon chip is a world's first for electrode density and was developed in collaboration with researchers at the University of Florida, as part of the IMPRESS project funded by the DARPA's HAPTIX program to create a closed-loop system for future-generation haptic prosthetics technology. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-world-thin-silicon-implantable-chip-high-precision.html Engineering Tue, 16 May 2017 08:10:16 EDT news414140892 The future of transport appears full of fun and flashy possibilities. From super-fast hyperloop transport systems, to self-driving cars and hovering taxis, new technology promises to move us further and faster than ever before. Yet for cities facing everyday problems such as congestion, air pollution and under capacity, the most effective solution could be the humble bus – coupled with the power of data. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-harvesting-big-revolution.html Engineering Fri, 12 May 2017 08:30:03 EDT news413794838 Scientists unveiled a lightweight, robotic, outer "skeleton" Thursday that can detect when someone loses their balance, correct their gait, and prevent their fall. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-robotic-exoskeleton-elderly-falls.html Engineering Thu, 11 May 2017 12:17:37 EDT news413723849 The Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF has developed the world's first half-bridge circuit for the important 600 volt class in which all the electronic components are monolithically integrated on one chip. Monolithically integrated half bridges are key building blocks of compact voltage converters and significantly increase the efficiency of power electronics devices. This is thanks to the use of the novel semiconductor material gallium nitride (GaN). https://phys.org/news/2017-05-efficient-compact-voltage-e-mobility-sector.html Engineering Thu, 11 May 2017 07:50:01 EDT news413706318 UCLA researchers have developed a cost-effective mobile device to measure air quality. It works by detecting pollutants and determining their concentration and size using a mobile microscope connected to a smartphone and a machine-learning algorithm that automatically analyzes the images of the pollutants. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-mobile-device-accurately-inexpensively-air.html Engineering Thu, 11 May 2017 06:48:45 EDT news413704113 Engineering researchers at the University of Minnesota have developed a revolutionary process for 3D printing stretchable electronic sensory devices that could give robots the ability to feel their environment. The discovery is also a major step forward in printing electronics on real human skin. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-d-printed-bionic-skin-robots.html Engineering Thu, 11 May 2017 02:42:29 EDT news413689331 For the millions of people every year who have or need medical devices implanted, a new advancement in 3D printing technology developed at the University of Florida promises significantly quicker implantation of devices that are stronger, less expensive, more flexible and more comfortable than anything currently available. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-d-method-vastly-superior-medical.html Engineering Wed, 10 May 2017 17:03:01 EDT news413654569