Northwestern University

Batteries are typically the first thing that comes to mind as energy storage. Researchers have now demonstrated a strange yellow liquid energy storage system that “charges” by turning into a black goo and discharges to drive chemical reactions.

A new 3D camera inspired by jumping spiders' eyes may well be found in the next generation of battery-operated wearable tech, assistive devices, robots and drones. The technology utilizes “less energy than a nightlight.”

In a new MIT study – in partnership with Purdue, Northwestern, and Duke universities – chemists have discovered that inserting weaker bonds into polystyrene actually makes the material more resistant to damage.

People often talk about catching lightning in a bottle, but what comes next when you actually do it? Well, scientists have not only achieved this feat but are using it to create something just as remarkable: clean fuel.

It took nature millions of years to create intelligent, adaptive species. Researchers at Northwestern University are using AI to evolve robots in minutes. The result is a robot that is agile, highly adaptive, and technically indestructible.

Engineers at Northwestern University have developed a device that goes on your fingertip to feel the sensation of interacting with textured surfaces on a touchscreen. It could be a major step forward in how we interact with personal tech.

Wouldn't it be cool to 'feel' a textured object, or perceive the sensation of running your hand over rich fabric in VR? That's what researchers at Northwestern University are hoping to achieve with their new wearable.

This strange white paste might not look like much, but it could not only solve the sand shortage, but make the cement manufacturing process absorb carbon dioxide instead of emitting it. Scientists grew this stuff out of seawater, electricity and CO2.

In what they're calling the "highest density of mechanical bonds ever achieved," researchers created a super-strong flexible material that works very much like chainmail. The breakthrough has already demonstrated its ability to improve body armor.

Scientists have devised a clever new method of allowing people to feel sensations that are transmitted to their skin. Beyond its applications in fields such as gaming and telepresence, the technology could also be used to guide the blind.

Ice wreaks havoc on surfaces, but we might have a new way to prevent it building up. Scientists at Northwestern University have shown that textured surfaces with thin layers of graphene oxide can stay completely frost-free for long periods.

A Northwestern University team has demonstrated a remarkable new way to generate electricity, with a paperback-sized device that nestles in soil and harvests power created as microbes break down dirt – for as long as there's carbon in the soil.