Photonic MEMS switches going commercial

One of the technical challenges the current data revolution faces is finding an efficient way to route the data. This task is usually performed by electronic switches, while the data itself is transferred using light confined ...

Satnav watching over rugby players

As France's top rugby players scrum, run and tackle they are being tracked by more than just TV cameras and the watching eyes of the crowd. Satnav-based tracking devices between their shoulder blades are keeping tabs on their ...

How microscopic machines can fail in the blink of an eye

How long can tiny gears and other microscopic moving parts last before they wear out? What are the warning signs that these components are about to fail, which can happen in just a few tenths of a second? Striving to provide ...

Engineers shrink microscope to dime-sized device

Researchers at The University of Texas at Dallas have created an atomic force microscope on a chip, dramatically shrinking the size—and, hopefully, the price tag—of a high-tech device commonly used to characterize material ...

Building a wireless micromachine

All around us, hiding just outside our range of vision, are miniscule machines. Tiny accelerometers in our cars sense a collision and tell the airbags to inflate. A Nintendo Wii controller's tiny gyroscopes translate your ...

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