Technology Can Detect Driver Phone Use
Acoustics can pinpoint whether a driver, or a passenger, is working with a smartphone inside a car in efforts to reduce distracted driving.
Technology & Engineering
Technology and Engineering bridge the gap between what the mind can imagine and what the laws of nature allow. While scientists seek to discover what is not yet known, engineers apply fundamental science to design and develop new devices and systems—technology—to solve societal problems. Technological and engineering innovations then return the favor by affecting human—as well as other animal species'—the ability to control and adapt to their natural environments.
Paddle Vs. Propeller: Which Olympic Swimming Stroke Is Superior?
Two swimming strokes—one that pulls through the water like a boat paddle and another that whirls to the side like a propeller—are commonly used by athletes training for the Olympic Games. But elite swimmers and their coaches have long argued over which arm motion is more likely to propel an aquatic star toward a gold medal. Watch this video to find out which stoke is the true winner.
Science Of Innovation: Biometrics
A method for capturing and analyzing the vein patterns in the white part of the eye to help identify people. Biometrics has potential applications for driver’s licenses, passports or computer identification control.
Science of Innovation: Fuel Cell Efficiency
To operate and function efficiently, machines of all shapes and sizes need a source of energy. A series of innovations is helping to make energy conversion within fuel cells as efficient as possible.
The Light Bulb Filament
Bill takes apart an incandescent light bulb to how the filament is made. He shows extreme close-ups of the filament, and he discusses the materials processing need to make the ductile tungsten used.
NSF Science Now Episode 12
NSF Science Now series spotlights NSF science and engineering research and discoveries
FlipperBot Reveals Principles For Moving On Sand
Based on a study of both hatchling sea turtles and "FlipperBot" -- a robot with flippers -- researchers have learned principles for how both robots and turtles move on granular surfaces such as sand.
Supercomputer!
Step inside the new NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center and learn how supercomputers (and the brilliant people who use them) are helping us understand the interconnections between the atmosphere, our oceans, climate, weather, vegetation, urban development and us.
Capturing Carbon
Burning coal, oil, and other fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide, or CO2, into the atmosphere, with potentially serious damaging effects. Ron Surdam, director of the Carbon Management Institute at the University of Wyoming, explains efforts to discover geological sites that could be used to keep some of the CO2 emitted by human activity out of the atmosphere. Mohammad Piri, UW professor of chemical and petroleum engineering, is working on ways to get the CO2 from industrial sources to such underground sites.
Science Of Innovation: Biofuels
A new approach to producing biofuels that uses a marine bacterium called Saccharophagus degradans that left otherwise alone, is mostly known for its damaging impact on the environment.
NCAR's Air Force
NCAR field project specialist Vidal Salazar explains how research aircraft benefit atmospheric research. NCAR manages two aircraft for the National Science Foundation: the C-130 gathers data at very low altitudes and slower speeds, while the Gulfstream V makes measurements at higher altitudes and over longer distances.
Our Built Environment: It Takes Energy
Can we rethink the way buildings use energy? John Ochsendorf, an associate professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Architecture at MIT, is working with his students to change the way buildings are made and how they consume energy.
Profiles Of Scientists And Engineers: Materials Engineer
Carlos Barrios tells us what it's really like to be a materials engineer
Our Built Environment: It Takes Energy
Can we rethink the way buildings use energy? John Ochsendorf, an Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Architecture at MIT, is working with his students to change the way buildings are made and how they consume energy.
Science Of Innovation: Synthetic Diamonds
A new method for creating “synthetic diamonds” that not only creates larger diamonds, but also manipulates their toughness, hardness and color. Potential uses include cutting tools, electronics or optical materials.
Science Behind The News: Quantum Computing
Imagine if engineers could build a computer to be millions of times faster than anything that exists today, yet so small it’s microscopic. John Preskill, a theoretical physicist at the California Institute of Technology, explains the science behind quantum computing, the next great frontier in computer science.
Engineering Fire
Fire is one of humankind’s first technologies. We have been staring into the proverbial campfire for thousands of years. Yet, surprisingly there seems to be much more to learn. And now it’s becoming even more important to our collective future that we know as much as we can about fire.
Science Of Innovation: 3-D Printing
A three-dimensional, digital representation of an object created with a computer and then sent to an inkjet printer that builds the prototype in three-dimensions. This innovative tool is giving scientists, engineers and backyard inventors a faster, easier and less expensive way to turn their ideas into a reality.
The Heart Of Yellowstone: Inside A Supercomputer
Get an up-close view inside one of the most complicated machines ever built by humanity. NCAR computer scientist Rich Loft is our guide to some of the vital parts within the new Yellowstone supercomputing system. Installed at the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center in Cheyenne, the IBM system includes a cluster of high-performance supercomputing processors, a massive data archiving facility, and a special system for visualizing scientific data. The system is made up of 100 racks—tall, black, refrigerator-sized cabinets. Each rack is filled with computing nodes, and each of those nodes holds computer chips made up of processors containing billions of transistors. Let Rich show you around this seldom-seen environment.
Science Behind the News: Predictive Policing
"The Los Angeles Police Department is using a new tactic in their fight against crime called “predictive policing.” It's a computer program that was originally developed by a team at UCLA, including mathematician Andrea Bertozzi and anthropologist Jeff Brantingham.