CORVALLIS, Ore. – The sight of a cockroach scurrying for cover may be nauseating, but the insect is also a biological and engineering marvel, and is providing researchers at Oregon State University with what they call “bioinspiration” in a quest to build the world’s first legged robot that is capable of running effortlessly over rough terrain.

University of Toronto quantum optics researchers Sajeev John and Xun Ma have discovered new behaviors of light within photonic crystals that could lead to faster optical information processing and compact computers that don’t overheat.

Ethanol, often promoted as a clean-burning, renewable fuel that could help wean the nation from oil, would likely worsen health problems caused by ozone, compared with gasoline, especially in winter, according to a new study led by Stanford researchers.

The world of IT pursues its race for performance. CMOSAIC could boost the computing performance of central processors by a factor 10 while consuming less energy. The IBM Research Laboratory has joined EPFL and ETH Zurich – the two Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology – in this project of national scope supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) via its Nano-Tera programme.

If you’ve been waiting for the day to arrive when computers actually start performing surgery, that moment might soon be upon us. A French team has developed a computerized 3D model that allows surgeons to use robotics to operate on a beating heart, according to a report in The International Journal of Robotics Research, published by SAGE.

CHESTNUT HILL, MA (12/11/2009) – Boston College researchers have observed the “hot electron” effect in a solar cell for the first time and successfully harvested the elusive charges using ultra-thin solar cells, opening a potential avenue to improved solar power efficiency, the authors report in the current online edition of Applied Physics Letters.

It is currently estimated that natural gas resources will be exhausted in 130 years; however, those reserves where extraction is cost-effective will only flow for another 60 years or so. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research and at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces might be helping to make it worthwhile to tap into previously unused resources. They have developed a catalyst that converts methane to methanol in a simple and efficient process. Methanol can be transported from locations where it is not economical to build a pipeline. (Angewandte Chemie Int. Ed., September 1, 2009)

AMES, Iowa – James Oliver picked up an Xbox game controller, looked up to a video screen and used the device’s buttons and joystick to fly through a patient’s chest cavity for an up-close look at the bottom of the heart.

The intimate and spirited quarters of a stadium offer perhaps the most ideal venues to experience an athletic event.

DURHAM, N.C. — By taking advantage of the vagaries of the natural world, Duke University engineers have developed a novel approach that they believe can more efficiently harvest electricity from the motions of everyday life.