Now, colour sensors for better vision in ‘Car of the Future’

September 25th, 2009 SYDNEY - Researchers are developing a technique to provide unparalleled ability to explore environments as diverse as oceans and the human body. Using ion-selective electrode technology, Curtin University of Technology researchers are working on a hand-held or implantable device, using self-calibrating sensors that will be able to cheaply and easily monitor pollution in rivers and oceans, or heparin levels as a clotting factor in blood.

August 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Ever imagined why our blood, which is actually red in colour turns blue in veins? Well, it's because of the oxygen. According to experts, heart pumps blood to the lungs to pick up oxygen.

July 30th, 2009 LONDON - Have you ever wondered why your little kid paints trees blue or grass red? Well, a researcher from University of Wisconsin has got the answer for the query. It is so because kids can't "bind" together the colour and shape of an object, Vanessa Simmering claims.

July 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In an effort to extend the sensory range of 'electronic noses' (e-noses), scientists from CSIRO's Food Futures Flagship have developed a system that would help compare their performance against the much-superior nose of the common house fly. "Although e-noses already have many uses - such as detecting spoilage in the food industry and monitoring air quality - they are not as discriminating as biological noses," said CSIRO scientist, Dr Stephen Trowell.

July 28th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new research, s team of scientists has detected cones and their visual pigments in two flower-visiting species of bat, which has lead them to conclude that bats' eyes are adapted for both daylight and UV (Ultraviolet) vision. The research was conducted by scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt and the University of Oldenburg, in Germany.

July 9th, 2009 LONDON - Scientists have developed a film that exploits the colour-changing ability of nanoparticles, and can make it possible to create documents that wipe themselves clean after they've been read. Northwestern University researchers in Evanston, Illinois, have revealed that they made the film by coating gold nanoparticles with a layer of hair-like molecules called 4-(11-mercaptoundecanoxy)azobenzene (MUA).

July 8th, 2009 LONDON - Scientists have come up with a way to make limited-coloured screens for mobile phones, which can improve batter life. Johnson Chuang of Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada, has shown that OLEDs can be made frugal by carefully choosing the balance of colours used to make up an image.

June 30th, 2009 LONDON - Pedestrians and cyclists in urban areas of the UK are being transformed into mobile pollution sensors, as part of a Government-backed scheme to monitor air quality. According to a report by Sky News, researchers, led by a team at Imperial College London, will trial three new types of sensors on people, vehicles and traffic islands to measure traffic emissions and noise pollution.

June 20th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Making a startling discovery, a scientist has claimed in his new book that the evolution of vision has provided humans with four real superpowers: telepathy, X-ray vision, seeing the future, and speaking with the dead. And, as it turns out, these superpowers have been instrumental in shaping the way people interact with one another and see the world.

May 29th, 2009 SYDNEY - A researcher has developed the first robo-fish Wanda that moves like its natural counterparts and navigates underwater, conducting inspections within confined spaces. Researcher Scott McGovern of the University of Wollongong created Wanda (wireless aquatic navigator for detection and analysis) seeking out targeted objects.

May 14th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have built a test facility to evaluate and enhance sensors designed to detect buried land mines. The unique automated system measures the response of individual electromagnetic induction sensors or arrays of sensors against land mines buried at many possible angles.

May 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists are all set to harness the mechanism behind nocturnal geckos' unique ability to see colours at night, in making multifocal contact lenses and better cameras. Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have found that the key to the exceptional night vision of the nocturnal helmet gecko is a series of distinct concentric zones of different refractive powers.

April 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - For many years, scientists have held that short-term memories don't suddenly disappear, but grow gradually more imprecise over the course of several seconds. However, a new study has found just the opposite.

March 14th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Researchers have discovered a way to detect explosives based on the physical properties of their vapours and are readying the technology, which utilises micro-sensors, for field testing. 'Certain classes of explosives have unique thermal characteristics that help to identify explosive vapours in presence of other vapours,' said Thomas Thundat, Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL) and University of Tennessee researcher who conducted the study with colleagues at ORNL and the Technical University of Denmark.

February 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists are designing a new kind of optical sensor that uses unmanned aerial vehicles to track suspected terrorists on foot or in vehicles. 'The Air Force has clearly recognised the change in the threat that we have,' said John Kerekes, associate professor in Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Chester F.