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Tag Archives: electromagnetic radiation

Quake, quake, go away

By Stephen Ornes / March 1, 2013

An earthquake caused widespread damage to San Francisco in 1989. Scientists are designing a new type of seismic shield that may help protect buildings from tremors. Credit: J.K. Nakata/USGS

French engineers report success in the first test of an underground seismic shield

Posted in Technology & Engineering | Tagged cloaking, Duke University, earthquake, electromagnetic radiation, engineering, getinvolved, Grenoble, Imperial College London, Institut Fresnel, Invisibility, John Pendry, light, light waves, Marseille, metamaterials, microwaves, Sébastien Guenneau, seismic waves, shields, topstories

Feeling the invisible

By Sid Perkins / February 18, 2013

A rat with an infrared-detecting sensor wired into its brain soon learned that it could find water at a door marked with an invisible infrared light.
Credit: Thomson et al., Nature Communications (2013)

Sensor wired into a rat’s brain lets it detect light it can’t see

Posted in Animals, Light & Radiation, Tech & Math, Technology & Engineering | Tagged bioengineer, brain, Duke University, electromagnetic radiation, getinvolved, infrared light, Miguel Nicolelis, neuroscientist, plasticity, rat, San Diego, sight, spectrum, Todd Coleman, topstories, touch, University of California

A smarter scan

By Stephen Ornes / February 5, 2013

Tiny patterns cut into this narrow copper strip filter microwaves. This new, simple technology makes it possible to take digital pictures faster, with less computer time required. And it could be used to help make airport scanners smarter, faster and cheaper. Credit: J. Hunt/Duke

Scientists introduce a cheap and smart new device that gathers data in a flash

Posted in Physics | Tagged airports, cloaking, Duke University, electromagnetic radiation, getinvolved, Houston, imaging, Imperial College, John Pendry, Kevin Kelly, materials science, metamaterials, Rice University, scanning, screening, security, technology, topstories

Surprise ions

By Stephen Ornes / February 21, 2012

clusterinspace

A high-flying satellite reveals a crowd of charged particles in the magnetosphere

Posted in Space | Tagged electromagnetic radiation, electromagnetism, getinvolved, ions, magnet

Mercury’s magnetic twisters

By Stephen Ornes / April 14, 2010

The planet’s strange atmosphere may have a lot to do with the sun.

Posted in Space | Tagged electromagnetic radiation, electromagnetism, magnetic field, magnetism, mercury, physics, Tornado