Engineers at Northwestern University have given microchips a new ability – the power of flight. Inspired by wind-dispersed seeds, these “microfliers” are shaped like tiny propellers to catch the wind, ...

Sometimes, in the pursuit of efficiency, we can make big gains by taking cues from nature. Wing design is one place where nature excels, and we've been cribbing its notes for everything from wind ...

A team of engineers boasts of beating nature by creating the smallest human-made flying structure, a winged microchip that behaves just like the seeds from trees and plants but has better flying ...

A 3D microflier sits next to a common ant to show scale. (CN) — Engineers on Wednesday unveiled perhaps one of the next great breakthroughs in human innovation — the smallest ever flying microchip, no ...

It’s neither a bird nor a plane, but a winged microchip as small as a grain of sand that can be carried by the wind as it monitors such things as pollution levels or the spread of airborne diseases.

Freelance writer Amanda C. Kooser covers gadgets and tech news with a twist for CNET. When not wallowing in weird gear and iPad apps for cats, she can be found tinkering with her 1956 DeSoto. It's ...

Sept. 22 (UPI) --Engineers at Northwestern University have shrunk a microchip to roughly the size of a grain of sand and given it the power of flight. The new "microflier" -- detailed Wednesday in the ...

High above the clouds, but far below the satellites, there exists a slice of Earth’s atmosphere that has remained frustratingly hard to explore. Known as the mesosphere, this region sits between 30 to ...

Sometimes, in the pursuit of efficiency, we can make big gains by taking cues from nature. Wing design is one place where nature excels, and we've been cribbing its notes for everything from wind ...

It's neither a bird nor a plane, but a winged microchip as small as a grain of sand that can be carried by the wind as it monitors such things as pollution levels or the spread of airborne diseases.