news from the lab

Physics/Material Science - Mechanical Engineering/Mechanics - 9.04
A step toward optical transistors?
As demand for computing and communication capacity surges, the global communication infrastructure struggles to keep pace, since the light signals transmitted through fiber-optic lines must still be processed electronically, creating a bottleneck in tele networks.

Life Sciences - Mechanical Engineering/Mechanics - 27.02
Songbirds’ brains coordinate singing with intricate timing, study shows
As a bird sings, some neurons in its brain prepare to make the next sounds while others are synchronized with the current notes—a coordination of physical actions and brain activity that is needed to produce complex movements, new research at the University of Chicago shows.

Mechanical Engineering/Mechanics - Microtechnics/Electroengineering - 22.02
Researchers develop new method of powering tiny devices
FINDINGS: - Electromagnetic devices, from power drills to smart-phones, require an electric current to create the magnetic fields that allow them to function. But with smaller devices, efficiently delivering a current to create magnetic fields becomes more difficult.

Environmental Sciences - Mechanical Engineering/Mechanics - 4.02
Engineering Study Explains Mechanics of Cloud Formation and Its Impact on Climate
Using the GEOS-CHEM (top) and NASA-GMI (bottom) global climate models, the researchers showed that predictions of cloud droplet numbers could increase up to 20 percent due to organic gas adsorption.

Microtechnics/Electroengineering - Mechanical Engineering/Mechanics - 16.01
Mating swarm study offers new way to view flocks, schools, crowds
The adulthood of a midge fly is decidedly brief - about three days. But a new study of its mating swarm may yield lasting benefits for analyses of bird flocks, fish schools, human crowds and other forms of collective animal motion.

Physics/Material Science - Mechanical Engineering/Mechanics - 14.12.2012
Synchronized nanoscale oscillators may spur new devices
Synchronization phenomena are everywhere in the physical world - from circadian rhythms to side-by-side pendulum clocks coupled mechanically through vibrations in the wall. Researchers have now demonstrated synchronization at the nanoscale, using only light, not mechanics.

Physics/Material Science - Mechanical Engineering/Mechanics - 10.12.2012
Space-Age Ceramics Get Their Toughest Test
Advanced ceramic composites can withstand the ultrahigh operational temperatures projected for hypersonic jet and next generation gas turbine engines, but real-time analysis of the mechanical properties of these space-age materials at ultrahigh temperatures has been a challenge - until now.

Mechanical Engineering/Mechanics - Life Sciences - 8.10.2012
Engineers examine UV radiation’s effects on skin mechanics
Researchers in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering are using models derived in mechanical labs to look at how ultraviolet radiation changes the protective functions of human skin. - Reinhold Dauskardt , professor of materials science and engineering at Stanford, has been studying skin for years.

Chemistry - Mechanical Engineering/Mechanics - 1.08.2012
Wrinkled surfaces could have widespread applications
MIT team discovers way of making perfectly ordered and repeatable surfaces with patterns of microscale wrinkles. - - The wrinkles on a raisin result from a simple effect: As the pulp inside dries, the skin grows stiff and buckles to accommodate its shrinking size.

Mechanical Engineering/Mechanics - 23.07.2012
’Spoofed’ GPS signals can be countered, researchers show
From cars to commercial airplanes to military drones, global positioning system (GPS) technology is everywhere - and Cornell researchers have known for years that it can be hacked, or as they call it, "spoofed." The best defense, they say, is to create countermeasures that unscrupulous GPS spoofers can't deceive.

Life Sciences - Mechanical Engineering/Mechanics - 6.06.2012
Neural rhythms drive physical movement
Neuroscientists had once believed that the neurons that control movement send specific external information such as distance, direction and velocity to the muscles of the body. In a surprising new finding, however, researchers at Stanford University have proposed a new model that says motor neurons instead send basic rhythmic patterns down the spine to drive movement.

Physics/Material Science - Mechanical Engineering/Mechanics - 25.04.2012
Three Earthlike planets identified
It's not little green men, but it could be a step in that direction: astronomers, using data from the NASA Kepler Mission, have identified three Earthlike planets orbiting their own suns, all of which could be hospitable to life.

Medicine/Pharmacology - Mechanical Engineering/Mechanics - 25.01.2012
Researchers Suggest a Proximate Cause of Cancer
AUSTIN, TX — Researchers from The University of Texas at Austin's Department of Chemical Engineering are the first to show that mechanical property changes in cells may be responsible for cancer progression - a discovery that could pave the way for new approaches to predict, treat and prevent cancer.

Mechanical Engineering/Mechanics - 20.09.2011
Effectiveness of ’don’t ask, don’t tell,’ similar policies
Could working with an openly gay individual undermine a co-worker's on–the-job performance? Not likely, according to a recent UCLA Anderson School of Management study. In fact, concealing one's sexual orientation may actually have an adverse effect on workplace function.

Physics/Material Science - Mechanical Engineering/Mechanics - 30.06.2011
Engineers show dynamic experimental evidence for phenomenon of spreading drops
FINDINGS: - The spreading of a liquid drop on a solid surface is a simple, everyday phenomenon. And while it is known that when a drop of oil is placed on a solid surface, its radius increases as its thickness decreases, the mechanisms underlying the process are still not well understood on a microscopic level, particularly at the moving edge between the liquid and solid, which is known as the "contact line" region.