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Rembrandt and the U.S. Navy

Your rich uncle dies and leaves you a painted masterpiece he's had hidden away for years. But, it's scratched, torn, and much of the paint has flaked away. You could take it to a painting restorationist, but this can take months and in any case, restoration is very subjective. What to do? You call a...
January 01, 2002

"Call Me Ishmael."

In the deep waters two miles south of Edgartown on Martha's Vineyard, not far from where, two centuries ago, the likes of Captain Ahab and a thousand others kept their watch for the great white and his kin, we are now searching to understand another potential beast in those parts: the ocean and the...
January 01, 2002

Innovative Chip Design Has Potential as Artificial Retina

A new type of analog processor that is compact while offering extremely fast computations for image processing could possibly lead to the creation of an artificial eye that has the potential to replace damaged human retinas, offering sight to the blind if the chip works as planned. The cellular...
January 01, 2002

Leaner, Meaner Aircraft Carriers

Building an Aircraft Carreir Hull is No Small Matter In shipbuilding, some things never change...When its first steel-hulled ships were being built in the late 19th century, the Navy was a tough customer. Not only was the shipbuilder required to conform to the 'tests of steel' prescribed by the...
January 01, 2002

Microchip Gives Blind Chance of Sight

A computer chip implanted near the eye's retina is well on its way to offering some restored vision to people blinded by eye diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa and age-related degeneration of the eye. The implant works for eye diseases where healthy retinal neurons remain intact after they lose...
January 01, 2002

Naval Medics Are Going Digital

Figuring there had to be a better way of keeping track of available beds, medical equipment and blood supplies in the field, rather than depending on information relayed by phone and then scribbled on a white board with a grease pencil, the Office of Naval Research has come up with an answer -...
January 01, 2002

Navy Answers Olympian Call

With the expected 70,000 daily visitors to the Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City this month, reliable communications are essential. Even the best laid plan needs a backup, and that's why the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Washington, D.C., has its mobile communications center ready in Salt...
January 01, 2002

Navy's New Gunk-O'Lyzer?

Scientist John Reintjes is what you might call a 'build a better mousetrap' type-of-guy. About ten years ago, he watched as Navy ships took regular oil samples from their lubricating systems and sent them ashore to be analyzed. Fine debris and particulate matter suspended in a ship's oil reservoirs...
January 01, 2002

Thermo-Chemistry on a Chip

Dreaming of the potential of thermocouple devices? Well, perhaps not… but maybe you should. The October 11th issue of the respected British science journal Nature says there has been a major breakthrough recently in the world of thermoelectric materials.
November 01, 2001

Boneless, Brainy, and Ancient

How to make a robotic arm that is able to flex in an infinite number of ways and order it to do so without disorder and confusion? Get yourself an octopus and study it. That is exactly what researchers funded by the Office of Naval Research are doing. Octopuses are boneless, brainy, and ancient...
November 01, 2001