The mantis shrimp, one of the ocean’s most ornery creatures, can take on attacks from its own species without getting injured. Its strategy could solve a big manufacturing problem: Creating lighter materials that absorb a lot of energy from a sharp impact within a limited amount of space. Think precious cargo. What if there were…

Electric cars rely on the same lithium-ion battery technology that’s in smartphones, laptops and virtually everything electronic. But the technology has been extremely slow to improve. While electric cars can more than handle the average American’s daily commute, the average gas-powered car can still go farther on a full tank of gas, charging stations are…

A fascination with movie technology that showed robots perform self-repair through a liquid formula inspired a Purdue University professor to make his own discoveries – which are now helping to lead the way for advancements in self-powering devices such as consumer electronics and defense innovations. The Purdue team, led by Wenzhuo Wu, the Ravi and…

Qubits, the units used to encode information in quantum computing, are not all created equal. Some researchers believe that topological qubits, which are tougher and less susceptible to environmental noise than other kinds, may be the best medium for pushing quantum computing forward. Quantum physics deals with how fundamental particles interact and sometimes come together…

The National Quantum Initiative Act was signed into law by Congress last year to advance coordinated research efforts in quantum information science—the study of the smallest particles and how they can be manipulated—to secure the nation’s preeminence in the tech economy and national security. Why? Quantum computing has the potential to be a game-changer in everyday…

Idling in a long highway line of slowed or stopped traffic on a busy highway can be more than an inconvenience for drivers and highway safety officers. It is one of the most vulnerable times for “secondary accidents,” which often can be worse than an original source of the slowdown, according to the U.S. Department…

New “classification models” sense how well humans trust intelligent machines they collaborate with, a step toward improving the quality of interactions and teamwork. The long-term goal of the overall field of research is to design intelligent machines capable of changing their behavior to enhance human trust in them. The new models were developed in research…

From iPhones on Earth to rovers on Mars, most electronics only function within a certain temperature range. By blending two organic materials together, researchers at Purdue University could create electronics that withstand extreme heat. This new plastic material could reliably conduct electricity in up to 220 degrees Celsius (428 F), according to a paper published…

Purdue University researchers have developed a technology aimed at making it easier to deliver cancer treatment to the right “address” in the body while also easing the painful side effects of chemotherapy on patients. One of the big issues with chemotherapy is that most treatment approaches focus on the tumor itself without paying significant attention…

Purdue University researchers have developed a new flexible and translucent base for silicon nanoneedle patches to deliver exact doses of biomolecules directly into cells and expand observational opportunities. “This means that eight or nine silicon nanoneedles can be injected into a single cell without significantly damaging a cell. So we can use these nanoneedles to…

Every two seconds, sensors measuring the United States’ electrical grid collect 3 petabytes of data – the equivalent of 3 million gigabytes. Data analysis on that scale is a challenge when crucial information is stored in an inaccessible database. But researchers at Purdue University are working on a solution, combining quantum algorithms with classical computing on small-scale…

The explosions of stars, known as supernovae, can be so bright they outshine their host galaxies. They take months or years to fade away, and sometimes, the gaseous remains of the explosion slam into hydrogen-rich gas and temporarily get bright again – but could they remain luminous without any outside interference? That’s what Dan Milisavljevic,…

Companies and governments have regularly invested in solar farms and lost money when weather degradation unexpectedly cut panel lifetime short. As electricity generated from solar energy increasingly matches fossil fuels in price, companies are pressured to keep panels living past their warranty and stretch the billions of dollars paid up front for their construction. Diagnosing…

Purdue University researchers have developed a unique approach that allows experienced surgeons and physicians around the world to help less-experienced doctors in war zones, natural disasters and in rural areas perform complicated procedures. “The most critical challenge is to provide surgical expertise into the battlefield when it is most required,” said Juan Wachs, Purdue’s James…

Researchers have shown how to shuttle lithium ions back and forth into the crystal structure of a quantum material, representing a new avenue for research and potential applications in batteries, “smart windows” and brain-inspired computers containing artificial synapses. The research centers on a material called samarium nickelate, which is a quantum material, meaning its performance…