Discover 1-2

Fabric

84 DISCOVERMAGAZINE.COM

TOP: TIMOTHY O'CONNOR/UC SAN DIEGO JACOBS SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING (5). BOTTOM: MIT/EVELYN WANG LABORATORY

88

89

I Saw the Sign

❯ 

COMMUNICATING IN AMERICAN

SIGN LANGUAGE takes considerable

dexterity. Even the letters of the

alphabet, gesticulated with one hand, require

precise coordination of all five fingers. Already

looking for ways to develop low-cost electronic

gloves to interact with computers, University

of California, San Diego, nanoengineer

Darren Lipomi saw ASL letters as the perfect

proof of concept for a smart glove. He and

colleagues described the completed project in a

paper in July in PLOS ONE.

Lipomi’s glove — made entirely from off-

the-shelf components at a cost of under $100

— calculates joint position based on electrical

fluctuations in stretch-sensitive polymers.

With an accelerometer reading hand

movement and a microprocessor, the glove

can translate ASL letters into characters on

a computer screen.

For Lipomi, understanding sign language

is only the first step for a glove that will soon

also include tactile feedback — simulated

touching. “We want the user to be able to

interact with virtual objects,” he explains,

“to feel a cold Coke can or the biological

milieu inside a virtual patient during surgical

training.”  JONATHON KEATS

Pulling Water From Thin Air

❯ 

A NEW MATERIAL can suck

drinking water out of thin

air, no power required.

The mesh, called a metal-organic

framework, contains tiny spaces

perfect for grabbing and holding

onto water molecules.

Just a couple of pounds of the

stuff can draw nearly a gallon of

water from the air each day — even

in conditions drier than most deserts.

Better yet, the sun’s heat is all that’s

needed to retrieve the water for

drinking. This makes it an attractive

option for developing countries with

little infrastructure. Researchers have

proposed similar water collectors

before, but most need electricity or

high humidity to function.

By further fine-tuning the tiny

spaces, the project’s engineers hope

one day to harvest even more water.

The work, led by researchers at MIT

and the University of California,

Berkeley, appeared in Science in

April.  NATHANIEL SCHARPING

Researchers have built a water harvester

that can pull quarts of the liquid from the

air using only sunlight.