ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

A new luminescent sensor can detect terbium, a valuable rare earth element used in smart phone displays, from complex environmental samples like acid mine waste.

Mantis shrimp pack the strongest punch of any creature in the animal kingdom. How mantis shrimp produce these deadly, ultra-fast movements has long fascinated biologists. Now, an interdisciplinary team of roboticists, engineers and biologists have modeled the mechanics of the mantis shrimp's punch and built a robot that mimics the movement. The research sheds light on the biology of these pugnacious crustaceans and paves the way for small but mighty robotic devices.

Carbon dioxide from the atmosphere dissolves in waterways, forming bicarbonate ions and other compounds that change water chemistry, with possible harmful effects on aquatic organisms. In addition, bicarbonate can reenter the atmosphere as carbon dioxide later. Now, researchers have developed tiny 'nanojars' that split bicarbonate into carbonate and capture it, as well as certain toxic anions, so they can be removed from water.

A beam of light can only be seen when it hits matter particles and is scattered or reflected by them. In a vacuum, however, it is invisible. Physicists have now developed a method that allows laser beams to be visualized even under these conditions. The method makes it easier to perform the ultra-precise laser alignment required to manipulate individual atoms.

Randomized clinical trial shows that engaging in virtual reality can significantly reduce pain and anxiety in children undergoing intravenous catheter placement.

Facial recognition is now common in adults, but researchers have developed software that can reliably detect a premature baby's face in an incubator and remotely monitor its heart and breathing rates - rivaling ECG machines and even outperforming them. This is the first step in using non-contact monitoring in neonatal wards, avoiding skin tearing and potential infections from adhesive pads.

Researchers have achieved growth and characterization of large area, single-crystal graphene that has no wrinkles, folds, or adlayers. It can be said to be the most perfect graphene that has been grown and characterized, to date.

Researchers have made the first direct observation of how hydrogen atoms in water molecules tug and push neighboring water molecules when they are excited with laser light.

Researchers have introduced a new class of reporter proteins that can be directly read by a commercially available nanopore sensing device.

Sodium is one of the most abundant and affordable metals in the world. Now researchers present a concept that allows sodium-ion batteries to match the capacity of today's lithium-ion batteries. Using a novel type of graphene, they stacked specially designed graphene sheets with molecules in between. The new material allows the sodium ions to efficiently store energy.

When patients exhibit stroke symptoms, doctors must quickly make a life or death determination: Are their symptoms caused by a clot that can be treated with blood thinners or by bleeding in the brain, which may require surgery? A new study shows that a portable MRI device can help identify such intracranial hemorrhages, potentially life-saving information particularly in areas or scenarios where access to sophisticated brain imaging scans are not readily available.

An engineering researcher has modified a smartwatch to reduce stress. The new technology monitors sweat to infer brain stress and, when detected, sends a message through the smartwatch to calm down.

Engineers have developed the most efficient device to date for counting single photons, or the tiny packets of energy that make up light.