Posts Tagged: "U.S. Naval Research Laboratory"

Frances Ligler’s Portable Optical Biosensors Improve Environmental Detection of Toxins, Pollutants

Dr. Frances Ligler is a pioneer in biosensor activity and a member of the 2017 class of inductees into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. This New Years’ Eve 2017 marked the 26th anniversary of the issue of a foundational patent in the field of portable optical biosensors, devices which are more adept at providing biological analysis in the field and outside of clinical lab settings.

Steve Brachmann

January 13, 2018

Transparent aluminum: the latest Star Trek fictional tech to become reality

U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), scientists may have discovered the secret to creating a material much like transparent aluminum 30 years after the chemical formula was fictionally bestowed upon Plexicorp. Ten years of research at the NRL has led to the development of spinel, a material with the transparency of a pane of glass but with improved characteristics of strength and durability. The material, called spinel, is transparent to both optical light and infrared light, making it useful for infrared imaging systems as well. Spinel is also known as magnesium aluminate, which is why it has been likened to transparent aluminum.

Steve Brachmann

February 19, 2016