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Voxtec International (Annapolis, MD) offers the SQUID™ SQ.200 wearable translation system that provides troops with tactical, one-way translation capabilities available in more than 40 languages. The voice-activated, hands-free, eyes-free device is pre-loaded with over 2,000 situational phrases, translated...

The first steps have been taken in a continuing project to study the suitability of dissipating heat from electronic and electric-actuator equipment aboard an aircraft by using a loop heat pipe, containing water as the working fluid, that delivers the heat to the exterior aircraft skin. The first...

A conference paper describes the use of the CADAC++ software system for simulating operations of uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs) in conjunction with moving ground targets while interacting with other UAVs and with satellites that assist in targeting. CADAC++ was developed by rewriting the prior...

Governing differential equations, and algorithms to solve the equations numerically, have been developed to enable computational simulation of weakly ionized aerodynamic flows in the presence of electromagnetic fields. The equations and algorithms are intended mainly for application to airflows...

A collection of reports presents a detailed description of a research program that focused on fundamental investigations of mixing and combustion in turbulent subsonic and supersonic flows like those encountered in high-speed air-breathing aircraft engines. The research included close...

A method of promoting healing of injured or diseased neurons from Ames Research Center involves pharmacological activation of the STAT3 alpha protein. Injured or diseased neurons heal incompletely or not at all because they are susceptible to apoptosis (cell death), or because they fail to engage in axogenesis - that is, they fail to...

It is known that prolonged exposure to the sun's harmful UV rays can lead to melanoma, but an unanswered question is why some people are more likely to develop melanoma than others. Researchers from the Translational Genomic Research Institute (TGen) in Phoenix, Arizona and the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) in...

Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have improved the power output of methanol fuel cells by more than 50 percent, which could broaden fuel cell applications to include portable electronics. The engineers achieved this by developing an alternative to Nafion, the material commonly used as the electrolyte between...

To improve wireless communications for emergency responders, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have confirmed that underground tunnels - generally a difficult setting for radios - can have a frequency "sweet spot" at which signals may travel several times farther than at other...

The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) has taken delivery of a new IBM supercomputer that will advance research into severe weather and the future of Earth's climate. The supercomputer, known as a Power 575 Hydro-Cluster, will be used by scientists at NCAR and across the country to accelerate research into...

Lasers that emit ultrashort pulses of light can be used for numerous applications including micromachining, microscopy, laser eye surgery, spectroscopy and controlling chemical reactions. However, the quality of the results is limited by distortions caused by lenses and other optical components that are part of...

Satellite imagery obtained from NASA will help archeologist Bill Middleton of the Rochester Institute of Technology peer into the ancient Mexican past. Multi- and hyperspectral data will help build the most accurate and most detailed landscape map of the southern state of Oaxaca, where the Zapotec people...

The Langley Research Center has developed an innovative method for acquiring fluid-level measurements. This method eliminates the need for the fluid-level sensor to have a physical connection to a power source or data acquisition equipment. The complete system consists of a lightweight, thin-film magnetic-field-response fluid-level...

I didn't go to Wakefield, Rhode Island looking for great music. I was there to see the new U.S. headquarters of Dewetron, a leading manufacturer of data acquisition equipment and long-time NASA Tech Briefs advertiser. The last stop on our tour was a closed door, behind which was a small room that Dewetron...

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have created complex molecules containing zinc for use in portable sensors that detect the presence of plastic explosives. Sensors containing the zinc complexes are the first devices that allow the user to identify which type of explosive is present, since each metal complex...