Electronic skin offers tactile feedback 

June 26, 2023  |  What's New?

A team of researchers at the City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has recently introduced a thin, wearable electronic “skin” that provides tactile feedback to users in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) environments. Called “WeTac,” the wireless electro-tactile system is made …
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Scientists devise a sensing sweater for industrial robots

June 12, 2023  |  What's New?

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have designed a smart sweater for a robot that can immediately stop moving if it accidentally makes contact with an adjacent human worker. To keep from accidentally hurting their human coworkers, many industrial robots have sensors that detect physical con…
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Super-charged smart textile can multi-task

June 12, 2023  |  What's New?

Scientists have developed a simple metallic coating treatment for clothing or wearable textiles which can repair itself, repel bacteria from the wearer and even monitor a person’s electrocardiogram (ECG) heart signals. 
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Textile researchers prepare stem cells to become organ tissue

May 22, 2023  |  What's New?

Nearly 3,000 people died waiting for an organ transplant in 2022, according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, and more than 100,000 people remain on the waitlist. Envisioning a future without the need for donor organs, a North Carolina State University (NC State) researcher is la…
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Smart fabric responds to both temperature and electricity

May 22, 2023  |  What's New?

Researchers at the University of Waterloo say that a smart fabric is the first to change both color and shape in response to two different stimuli. Inexpensively made with polymer nanocomposite fibers from recycled plastic, their new smart material is activated by both heat and electricity and is pr…
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New method to create engineered silk announced

May 8, 2023  |  What's New?

Scientists have long been intrigued by the remarkable properties of spider silk, which is stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. Now, Fuzhong Zhang, professor of energy, environmental and chemical engineering at Washington University, St. Louis, has made a significant breakthr…
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Magnetic biomedical devices can pop into shape as needed

April 24, 2023  |  What's New?

One of the challenges of minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery lies in getting surgical instruments into the patient's body via a narrow catheter. Scientists have set about addressing that problem with magnetic instruments that pop into and out of shape as needed. The experimental MaSoChain (magne…
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New polymers could enable better wearable devices

April 24, 2023  |  What's New?

Certain electronics that integrate with the human body—a smartwatch that samples your sweat, for instance—work by converting the ion-based signals of biological tissue into the electron-based signals used in transistors. But the materials in these devices are often designed to maximize ion uptak…
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Sensor to monitor muscle atrophy is fabricated

April 24, 2023  |  What's New?

Researchers at Ohio State University have fabricated a wearable sensor designed to detect and monitor muscle atrophy. A condition involving the loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength, muscle atrophy can happen for a variety of reasons, but is typically a side effect of degenerative disease, aging…
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Microscale knots double tensile strength of new material

April 10, 2023  |  What's New?

Knots are known for boosting the strength of materials, from the tiniest twists of DNA to (potentially) the very fabric of the universe. The California Institute of Technology in Pasadena (Caltech) reports that engineers there have now developed a new material consisting of microscale knots and s…
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