We agree to give up some degree of privacy anytime we search Google to find a nearby restaurant or use other location-based apps on our mobile devices. The occasional search may be fine, but an Iowa State University researcher says repeatedly pinpointing our location reveals information about our identity, which may be sold or shared with others. […]
Engineers Use Game Theory to Quantify Threats of Cyberattacks on Power Grid
Threat levels for cyberattacks on the power grid are usually labeled high, medium or low. Well, that’s not good enough for a team of Iowa State University engineers. That’s too qualitative and too subjective, said Manimaran Govindarasu, Iowa State’s Ross Martin Mehl and Marylyne Munas Mehl Computer Engineering Professor. And, as he and his research […]
Chemists Use Abundant, Low-Cost And Non-Toxic Elements To Synthesize Semiconductors
One of the problems for Javier Vela and the chemists in his Iowa State University research group was that a toxic material worked so well in solar cells. And so any substitute for the lead-containing perovskites used in some solar cells would have to really perform. But what could they find to replace the perovskite […]
Engineers Develop Smart Material That Changes Stiffness When Twisted Or Bent
A new smart and responsive material can stiffen up like a worked-out muscle, say the Iowa State University engineers who developed it. Stress a muscle and it gets stronger. Mechanically stress the rubbery material – say with a twist or a bend – and the material automatically stiffens by up to 300 percent, the engineers […]
Engineers Develop Flexible, Water-Repellent Graphene Circuits For Washable Electronics
Engineers Develop Flexible, Water-Repellent Graphene Circuits For Washable Electronics
New graphene printing technology can produce electronic circuits that are low-cost, flexible, highly conductive and water repellent. The nanotechnology “would lend enormous value to self-cleaning wearable/washable electronics that are resistant to stains, or ice and biofilm formation,” according to a recent paper describing the discovery. “We’re taking low-cost, inkjet-printed graphene and tuning it with a […]
Engineers Make Wearable Sensors for Plants, Enabling Measurements of Water Use in Crops
Iowa State University plant scientist Patrick Schnable quickly described how he measured the time it takes for two kinds of corn plants to move water from their roots, to their lower leaves and then to their upper leaves. This was no technical, precise, poster talk. This was a researcher interested in working with new, low-cost, […]
Engineers Make Wearable Sensors For Plants, Enabling Measurements Of Water Use In Crops
Iowa State University plant scientist Patrick Schnable quickly described how he measured the time it takes for two kinds of corn plants to move water from their roots, to their lower leaves and then to their upper leaves. This was no technical, precise, poster talk. This was a researcher interested in working with new, low-cost, […]
Iowa State Engineers Help Black Sea Countries Fight Cybersecurity Threats
Iowa State University faculty members and graduate students recently powered up their cybersecurity test bed and dissected the December 2015 cyberattack that hijacked and took down dozens of power substations across western Ukraine. That cyberattack left some 230,000 Ukrainians without power for up to six hours. Eight electric utility regulators from Ukraine and three other […]
Team PrISUm Steps Up To World Stage, Prepares To Race Across Australian Outback
Iowa State’s mechanical engineering faculty, taking a break from a pre-semester retreat, surrounded Penumbra, Team PrISUm’s latest solar car. They peeked through the four doors. They took a look under the hatchback. They worked their way around what the team likes to call a “Solar Utility Vehicle.” They asked good, smart, engineer questions. And, the […]