Ultrasound

The new “stingraybot” from a team at ETH Zurich (the Federal Institute of Technology of Switzerland) offers enormous promise for surgery, medical care, wildlife biology, robotics, and more, thanks to muscular membranes of microbubbles.

Imagine being able to listen to music or other audio that no one else can hear, without having to wear headphones. Doing so is now possible via so-called "audible enclaves," which already exist in functional prototype form.

Using ultrasonic waves and a salt bath, a research team has altered the surface of glass. The brand-new method may lead to glass made without the use of harsh chemicals for self-cleaning windshields, germ-busting surfaces, or maybe even better beer.

Electricity is chaotic, and we normally need to constrain it to wires and circuits to make use of it. Scientists in Europe and Canada have now managed to guide sparks through thin air and even around obstacles using ultrasound waves.

Last year, xMEMS Labs embarked on a mission to replace legacy coil-based speakers in wireless ANC buds with silicon-based solid-state micro-speakers. Now the company has a new full-range flavor for open-fit earphones.

A fresh cup of coffee in the morning can be vital for facing the day ahead, but what if you had to wait a day to get your caffeine hit? That's on the menu if you like your Joe brewed cold, but researchers have used ultrasound to cold brew in minutes.

In order to keep surgeries minimally invasive, it would be great if implants could be injected into the body in liquid form, then solidified once in place. Well, a new ultrasound-based 3D printing process may one day make that very thing possible.

Earlier this year, we introduced solid-state micro-speaker technology from California's xMEMS Labs that's designed to replace coil-based drivers in wearable audio products. Now the company is aiming for satisfying low end with the Cypress speaker.

Smartwatches that can monitor a wearer's heart rate use light pulses to detect changes in blood volume. But research from Google proposes using ultrasound from an earphone's speaker driver to look for tiny deviations in the surface of the ear canal.

For some time now, industrial ultrasonic knives have been utilized for precision cutting tasks in places like laboratories and factories. The 369Sonic, however, is claimed to be the first such device designed specifically for use in home kitchens.

As climate change, market demand and other variables impact vino supply and quality, winemakers have turned to using ultrasound on grapes to get a better drop. Now, for the first time, scientists have studied its effects on the increasingly popular rosé.

Dust and grime gathering in the grooves is a common problem faced by folks who consume music by spinning vinyl records. Startup VinylSonic is looking to clean up with an ultrasonic machine and a matching minimalist turntable.