What's New? Archives

Scientists develop a less invasive brain-computer interface

October 9, 2023 | What's New?

Serving multiple useful purposes, brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) usually incorporate scalp-applied or even brain-implanted electrodes. A new less-invasive BCI, however, can simply be placed in the patient's ear canal.

Smart jacket from Nike has automatic air vents

September 25, 2023 | What's New?

NIKE has introduced a jacket equipped with automatic air venting technology that closes and opens to keep runners warm and cool as they jog. The company’s “Aerogami” has air vents that appear as creases and folds across the smart jacket where tiny, winged vents open when sweat builds agains…

Reusable gloves “cook” viruses

September 25, 2023 | What's New?

Single-use nitrile gloves continue to be used widely in healthcare settings. A Rice University team, led by mechanical engineering graduate student Marquise Bell, has recently developed an alternative: reusable gloves that cook viruses.

Fibers with sensors help study the brain-gut connection

September 11, 2023 | What's New?

The brain and the digestive tract are in constant communication, relaying signals that help to control feeding and other behaviors. This extensive communication network also influences our mental state and has been implicated in many neurological disorders.

Spun-fiber device designed for children with heart valve disease

August 28, 2023 | What's New?

Strep throat is a common and treatable childhood disease in the U.S., but in less wealthy countries, children afflicted with strep can develop rheumatic fever, in which runaway inflammation attacks the body’s tissues. Rheumatic fever often damages the valves of the heart, causing rheumatic heart d…

Ink can change color on demand

August 14, 2023 | What's New?

Inspired by cephalopods, scientists have created a new light-activated ink that can change color on demand. It’s made up of microbeads of different colors that rise or sink in response to different wavelengths of light, so that its surface appears as a specific color. This could be useful for new …

Running shoe start-up adds graphene to its material mix

July 31, 2023 | What's New?

Quebec-based running shoe brand Norda has incorporated graphene-enhanced material from Directa Plus into its shoes. Directa Plus founder, Giulio Cesareo, said he had tried on a prototype pair of Norda shoes made with the graphene material and that the footwear fitted perfectly.

Nike’s ISPA pushes footwear innovation

July 17, 2023 | What's New?

Nike’s ISPAnificio, an exhibition during Milan Design Week 2023, showcased the company’s ISPA shoe-making lab, taking giant steps in circularity. ISPA is a set of design principles—improvise, scavenge, protect, adapt—that breaks the mold of footwear design. The team designs shoes that can be…

Thread-like pumps can be woven into clothes

June 26, 2023 | What's New?

Many fluid-based wearable assistive technologies today require a large and noisy pump that is impractical, if not impossible, to integrate into clothing, so wearable devices are routinely tethered to unwearable pumps. But researchers at the Soft Transducers Laboratory (LMTS) in the School of Enginee…

Electronic skin offers tactile feedback