ScienceDaily: Engineering and Construction News

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• Cutting the cord on soft robots: Machine walks through snow, flames and can be run over by cars
• Ceramics don't have to be brittle: Incredibly light, strong materials recover original shape after being smashed
• New species of electrons can lead to better computing
• How salt causes buildings to crumble
• Excitonic dark states shed light on TMDC atomic layers: New promise for nanoelectronic and photonic applications
• World's largest DNA origami created
• Graphene paints a corrosion-free future: Keep food fresh longer?
• Ozone nano-bubble water: Potential treatment for severe gum infections
• More efficient fuel cells for vehicles: Angling chromium to let oxygen through
• New 3-D imaging techniques may improve understanding of biofuel plant material: Never-before-seen details

Cutting the cord on soft robots: Machine walks through snow, flames and can be run over by cars Posted: 11 Sep 2014 03:07 PM PDT Engineers have developed the world's first untethered soft robot -- and demonstrated that the quadruped, which can literally stand up and walk away from its designers, can walk through snow, fire and even be run over by a car. The hope is that such robots might one day serve as a search and rescue tool following disasters.

Ceramics don't have to be brittle: Incredibly light, strong materials recover original shape after being smashed Posted: 11 Sep 2014 10:54 AM PDT Materials scientists have developed a method for creating new structural materials by taking advantage of the unusual properties that solids can have at the nanometer scale. They have used the method to produce a ceramic (e.g., a piece of chalk or a brick) that contains about 99.9 percent air yet is incredibly strong and can recover its original shape after being smashed by more than 50 percent.

New species of electrons can lead to better computing Posted: 11 Sep 2014 10:54 AM PDT Electrons that break the rules and move perpendicular to the applied electric field could be the key to delivering next generation, low-energy computers.

How salt causes buildings to crumble Posted: 11 Sep 2014 09:59 AM PDT Salt crystals are often responsible when buildings start to show signs of aging. Researchers have studied salt damage in greater depth and can now predict weathering processes more accurately.

Excitonic dark states shed light on TMDC atomic layers: New promise for nanoelectronic and photonic applications Posted: 11 Sep 2014 06:47 AM PDT Researchers believe they have uncovered the secret behind the unusual optoelectronic properties of single atomic layers of TMDC materials, the two-dimensional semiconductors that hold great promise for nanoelectronic and photonic applications.

World's largest DNA origami created Posted: 11 Sep 2014 06:47 AM PDT Researchers have created the world's largest DNA origami, which are nanoscale constructions with applications ranging from biomedical research to nanoelectronics. DNA origami are self-assembling biochemical structures that are made up of two types of DNA.

Graphene paints a corrosion-free future: Keep food fresh longer? Posted: 11 Sep 2014 06:47 AM PDT A thin layer of graphene paint can make impermeable and chemically resistant coatings which could be used for packaging to keep food fresh for longer and protect metal structures against corrosion, new findings show.

Ozone nano-bubble water: Potential treatment for severe gum infections Posted: 10 Sep 2014 06:37 PM PDT A powerful new antiseptic agent, called ozone nano-bubble water, holds promise for the treatment of periodontitis, or severe gum infections, according to new research.

More efficient fuel cells for vehicles: Angling chromium to let oxygen through Posted: 10 Sep 2014 03:59 PM PDT More efficient fuel cells might gain wider use in vehicles or as quiet, pollution-free, neighborhood electricity generating stations. A serendipitous finding has resulted in a semiconducting material that could enable fuel cells to operate at temperatures two-thirds lower than current technology, scientists report.

New 3-D imaging techniques may improve understanding of biofuel plant material: Never-before-seen details Posted: 10 Sep 2014 12:25 PM PDT A comparison of 3-D transmission electron microscopy imaging techniques reveals never-seen-before details of plant cell walls.

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