Surfaces

Engineers have developed a new system that can move objects without physical contact. The technique involves ultrasound waves acting on specialized surfaces to push or pull objects in set directions, which could help in manufacturing and robotics.

Scientists have developed a way to produce a web of quantum entangled photons using a far more simple setup than usual. The key is a precisely patterned surface 100 times thinner than paper, which could replace a roomful of optical equipment.

Researchers have developed a simple new way to make material surfaces with intricate nanoscale textures, all inspired by nature. Different patterns have a range of applications, like making antimicrobial surfaces or reducing ship hull friction.

Surfaces in contact with salty water usually end up with a corrosive layer of salt caked on. Now, engineers at MIT have made these minerals so easy to remove that they often just fall off on their own – by forming “crystal critters.”

Goggles, glasses and windshield can fog up if there’s a difference in temperature or humidity. Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a new anti-fog coating that warms up the surface without needing electricity.

Harvard scientists have led an international team to develop a new surface that can reconfigure its shape, stickiness or slipperiness on demand, through the application of a magnetic field.

Rubber and steel are at different ends of the spectrum of hardness, and wherever an object falls on that scale is typically where it will stay. But now, researchers have developed a metamaterial that can change the stiffness of its surface, from hard to soft and back.

researchers at Northwestern University have deduced the optimal texture roughness required make surfaces hydrophobic and keep them dry underwater for months at a time, which could prove invaluable for everything from pipes to boats and submarines.

When it comes to creating surfaces, it's a simple task to either make ones that are smooth or ones that are bumpy. But now researchers at MIT have created one that can be both, with the ability to dynamically change texture through the application of pressure.

Researchers at MIT have developed a smart curved surface that can morph at will to reduce drag, generating a series of small, evenly spaced dimples that make it resemble the outside of a golf ball.

Researchers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have created air-stable water droplet networks that could potentially be used to harvest water from fog or dew.

The close of 2013 gives us an excellent opportunity, though satiated with holiday feasts, to look back on a year that has been filled with scientific accomplishment.