3D printing can now manufacture customized sensors for robots, pacemakers, and more

Sep 28, 2022 (Nanowerk News) A newly-developed 3D printing technique could be used to cost-effectively produce customized electronic “machines” the size of insects which enable advanced applications in robotics, medical devices and others. The breakthrough is seen as a potential game-changer for manufacturing chip-based microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). These mini-machines are...

Engineers discover new process for synthetic material growth, enabling soft robots that grow like plants (w/video)

Sep 28, 2022 (Nanowerk News) An interdisciplinary team of University of Minnesota Twin Cities scientists and engineers has developed a first-of-its-kind, plant-inspired extrusion process that enables synthetic material growth. The new approach will allow researchers to build better soft robots that can navigate hard-to-reach places, complicated terrain, and potentially areas...

Biosensor detects brain tumors with less than a drop of blood

Sep 28, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Despite significant advances, mortality from brain tumors remains high with five-year survival rates of 36%, according to the National Cancer Institute. More accurate diagnoses might improve the situation, but tissue biopsies are invasive and can miss important information about a tumor’s make-up. Imaging-based methods, meanwhile,...

Optical logic gates in future computers

Sep 28, 2022 (Nanowerk News) A new publication from Opto-Electronic Science considers optical logic gates in future computers ("All-optical logic gate computing for high-speed parallel information processing"). If you are reading this on your smartphone, its CPU (central processing unit) is running at its full speed. It is a tiny...