Digital computation has rendered nearly all forms of analog computation obsolete since as far back as the 1950s. However, there is one major exception that rivals the computational power of the most advanced digital devices: the human brain. The human brain is a dense network of neurons. Each neuron is connected to tens of thousands […]
Fueling The Future
Numerous studies have raised critical concerns about the promise of corn ethanol’s ability to mitigate climate change and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Some of the studies have suggested that after a full life cycle assessment — meaning an analysis of environmental impact throughout all stages of a product’s life — biofuels like corn ethanol […]
International Engineering Team Develop Self-Powered Mobile Polymers
One of the impediments to developing miniaturized, “squishy” robots is the need for an internal power source that overcomes the power-to-weight ratio for efficient movement. An international group involving Inha University, University of Pittsburgh and the Air Force Research Laboratory has built upon their previous research and identified new materials that directly convert ultraviolet light […]
Researchers Developing Sponge-like Material To More Efficiently Store Natural Gas
Although compressed natural gas represents a cleaner and more efficient fuel for vehicles, its volatile nature requires a reinforced, heavy tank that stores the gas at high pressure and therefore limits vehicle design. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering are utilizing metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) to develop a new type of storage […]
New Discovery Could Pave the Way for Spin-Based Electronics
Electricity and magnetism rule our digital world. Semiconductors process electrical information, while magnetic materials enable long-term data storage. A University of Pittsburgh research team has discovered a way to fuse these two distinct properties in a single material, paving the way for new ultrahigh density storage and computing architectures. While phones and laptops rely on […]