science - The Gadgeteer

Bio-Orb turns on the lights with the power of bioluminescence

By Garry Kolb / November 1, 2021 November 1, 2021 / News / Lighting, science / 4 Comments

NEWS – Electricity is overrated. Way before electricity was harnessed, nature figured out how to light up via bioluminescence. Bioluminescence (illumination) results from a light-producing chemical reaction called chemiluminescence, a natural defense mechanism of many marine creatures. The folks at IFLScience recently published an offer from stacksocial for the Bio-Orb – a bioluminescence bulb filled …

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Check it out – “flying” microchips!

By Kathleen Chapman / September 28, 2021 September 28, 2021 / Articles / science / 3 Comments

ARTICLE – Do you remember my article on microswimmers? Well, now engineers have developed microfliers – electronic microchips with wings! I first discovered this fascinating news on Jalopnik and dove further into the details on Northwestern University’s website. According to the Northwestern Now article, engineers John A. Rogers, Yonggang Huang, and others from Northwestern University …

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Scientists print 15-micrometer starship Voyager to study the movements of synthetic microswimmers

By Kathleen Chapman / May 31, 2021 May 31, 2021 / Articles / science / 2 Comments

ARTICLE – Several months ago I noticed an article (PC Gamer) about scientists from Leiden University (Soft Matter) having printed a 15 micrometer-sized starship Voyager using a 3D microprinter (Photonic Professional GT, Nanoscribe GmbH). They did this to study how synthetic microswimmers move through a viscous substance. Synthetic microswimmers propel themselves through a substance by …

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Help entomologists track the range of Brood X cicadas using the Cicada Safari app

By Kathleen Chapman / April 27, 2021 April 27, 2021 / Articles / Nature, science / 2 Comments

ARTICLE – If you’ve been keeping up with the news lately, you know that this spring is all abuzz (ha!) with the emergence of Brood X (pronounced Brood “10”) cicadas. A brood is a mass emergence of cicadas which are the deafeningly loud insects (males trying to attract females) that you hear in the trees. …

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Bacteria killing stainless steel of the future

By Kathleen Chapman / January 31, 2018 January 31, 2018 / News / science / 2 Comments

I love technological advances of all kinds and I loathe illness-causing bacteria. So when Professor Dennis Hess, Associate Professor Julie Champion, Postdoctoral Fellow Yeongseon Jang, and Postdoctoral Fellow Won Tae Choi at Georgia Institute of Technology developed a new nanotextured surface for stainless steel that kills common bacteria I was thrilled. This isn’t a coating that …

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BioPops are the sea monkeys of the 21st century

By Julie Strietelmeier / July 25, 2017 July 25, 2017 / News / science / 3 Comments

Back in the 70’s when I was a young Gadgeteer in training, I remember seeing ads for Sea-Monkeys in the back of comic books that I used to read. I was fascinated by the pictures which showed them as a human-like underwater family that would live and play in a fishbowl. I saved my allowance …

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The 94 yr old physicist who invented the lithium-ion battery just invented something even better

By Julie Strietelmeier / March 13, 2017 March 13, 2017 / News / Batteries and Chargers, science / Leave a Comment

Most people may think that a 94 yr old can’t possibly have new ideas, especially when it comes to technology. But John Bannister Goodenough is poised to change the world – again. Goodenough who is a professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at the University of Texas at Austin invented the lithium-ion battery with …

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Get your kids interested in science AND pens at a young age

By Julie Strietelmeier / December 23, 2016 December 23, 2016 / News / Kid Gadgets, Pens, science / Leave a Comment

The Geosafari Adventure Pens from Educational Insights promote curiosity, exploration, a love of science, discovery and an early appreciation for unusual pens. There are three different pocket-sized pens that have been designed to let your little scientist go out into the world to collect and study specimens from Land, Light, and Water. The Land Adventure …

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Scientists and engineers strap electronic backpacks on beetles to control them remotely

By Kathleen Chapman / April 1, 2016 May 1, 2017 / News / science / 3 Comments

Hey, look! It’s a beetle with a backpack! An electronic backpack. Cool. But why does he have this backpack? Well, in an effort to better understand the musculature of insect locomotion, scientists and engineers from the University of California Berkeley and Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU) strapped on tiny computers and wireless radio controls to …

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Metallic microlattice: the unheavy metal

By Kathleen Chapman / October 14, 2015 May 1, 2017 / News / science / Leave a Comment

Boeing is considering using metallic microlattice in future airplanes and yes, it is balanced on top of the head of a dandelion. It’s “approximately one hundred times lighter than Styrofoam” (from HRL Laboratories) – that’s how lightweight this new material is. It is described as an “ordered network of interconnected hollow struts made from a …

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