Process Engineering

Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory and Northern Illinois University have shown that very thin materials can still retain an electric polarization, opening the potential for a wide range of tiny devices.

The researchers found that the ferroelectric phase – the ability to hold a switchable electric polarization – is stable for thicknesses as small as 1.2 nanometers, one-billionth of a meter, or a size several hundred thousand times smaller than t

Two major British landmarks now count among the world’s smallest objects

Scientists & engineers based at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne specialising in miniaturisation technology have recreated North East England’s Tyne Bridge and Antony Gormley’s Angel of the North sculpture so they are smaller than a pinhead and invisible to the naked eye.

The team used a combination of chemistry, physics and mechanical engineering techniques to create the tiny struct

Eric Drexler, known as the father of nanotechnology, today (Wednesday, 9th June 2004) publishes a paper that admits that self-replicating machines are not vital for large-scale molecular manufacture, and that nanotechnology-based fabrication can be thoroughly non-biological and inherently safe.

Talk of runaway self-replicating machines, or “grey goo”, which he first cautioned against in his book Engines of Creation in 1986, has spurred fears that have long hampered rational public debate ab

An innovative yarn tension measuring instrument which could help cut textile makers’ costs, has been unveiled at the University of Leeds.

Yarn tension directly affects the quality of cloth, so the device is important for textile manufacturers, in particular for British firms, many of which are specialising in the increasingly important technical textiles market.

The novelty of the instrument is that it is does not need to touch the yarn, so machines do not need to be stopped and mea

With Euro 2004 fast approaching, all eyes will be fixed on David Beckham’s right foot, with the fervent hope that he will kick the perfect free kick. Now researchers at Loughborough University have invented the world’s first device to capture this magic formula – in an instant.

To kick the perfect free kick, the ball must travel with sufficient speed and elevation to clear any defensive wall, whilst spinning fast enough to swerve away from the goalkeeper and into the goal. Until now it has n

In a remarkable collaboration between engineers, physicists and biologists, Princeton scientists have invented a device that rapidly sorts microscopic particles into extremely fine gradations of sizes, opening a range of potential uses.

The researchers have used the device to sort particles ranging in size from bacterial cells to large segments of DNA and reported their results in the May 14 issue of Science. The technology could greatly accelerate the work of sequencing genomes and could f