Tech Briefs Magazine - April 2024 - 6

Products of
Tomorrow
uFreeze-Resistant
Hydration
System
Even when a water
conformal fluid
reservoir and drink
straw are zipped into a down suit, water freezes under
extreme conditions. This poses a health hazard, particularly
to high-altitude climbers who mouth-breathe,
as mouth-breathing causes substantial fluid loss (in
exhaled breaths). NASA's Johnson Space Center has
developed an innovative freeze-resistant hydration
system for licensing. The technology substantially improves
on existing hydration systems because it prevents
water from freezing in the tubing, container,
and mouthpiece, even in the harshest conditions on
Earth. This technology is designed to work to minus
40 °C and 15-mile-per-hour winds over a 12-hour summit
day, and likely well beyond. Field testing of the
technology was performed at Mt. Everest in May 2009.
The device was originally conceived and designed by
an astronaut-mountaineer who recognized the great
risk of dehydration in high mountains and the lack
of sufficient technology to meet this important need.
Contact: NASA's Licensing Concierge
Phone: 202-358-7432
E-mail: Agency-Patent-Licensing@mail.nasa.gov
Contact: Shadi Safaei Jazi
Phone: +35 850-322-9573
E-mail: shadi.safaeijazi@aalto.fi
uOptical
Metamaterial
Researchers at Aalto
University have developed
a new metamaterial
that takes
advantage of the nonreciprocal
magnetoelectric (NME) effect. The
NME effect implies a link between specific properties
of the material (its magnetization and polarization)
and the different field components of light or
other electromagnetic waves. The team designed an
optical NME metamaterial that can be created with
existing technology, using conventional materials
and nanofabrication techniques. The new material
opens up applications that would otherwise need a
strong external magnetic field to work - for example,
creating truly one-way glass. Glass that's currently
sold as 'one-way' is just semi-transparent, letting
light through in both directions. When the
brightness is different between the two sides (for
example, inside and outside a window), it acts like
one-way glass. But an NME-based one-way glass
wouldn't need a difference in brightness because
light could only go through it in one direction.
This column presents technologies that have
applications
in commercial areas, possibly
creating the products of tomorrow. To learn
more about each technology, see the contact
information provided for that innovation.
u3D-Printed Solenoids
While multiple hurdles must be overcome to develop electronic devices that are
entirely 3D printed, a team at MIT has taken an important step in this direction by
demonstrating fully 3D-printed, three-dimensional solenoids. Solenoids, electromagnets
formed by a coil of wire wrapped around a magnetic core, are a fundamental
building block of many electronics, from dialysis machines and respirators to washing
machines and dishwashers. The researchers modified a multimaterial 3D printer so it
could print compact, magnetic-cored solenoids in one step. This eliminates defects that might be introduced
during post-assembly processes. The printed solenoids could enable electronics that cost less and are easier to
manufacture. In addition to making electronics cheaper on Earth, this printing hardware could be particularly
useful in space exploration. For example, instead of shipping replacement electronic parts to space one could send
a signal containing files for the 3D printer.
Contact: Abby Abazorius
Phone: 617-253-2709
E-mail: abbya@mit.edu
6
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Tech Briefs, April 2024

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Tech Briefs Magazine - April 2024

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