Mechanical and Aerospace

Greenhouse gases aren't the only factors that contribute to climate change. New research on brown carbons--nanoscale particles released by combustion engines--may help predict the effects of climate change more accurately. --by Joe Kullman

So you want to build a better baseball player. How do you proceed? Maybe you'd combine the hitting eye of Alex Rodriguez with the fielding range of Derek Jeter. ASU robotics expert Tom Sugar is building a better ballplayer with a four-wheel drive transmission and a camera with a zoom lens. --by Skip Derra

Major league baseball players like Derek Jeter make actions like catching a fly ball look effortless. But if you want to understand the complexity underlying these moves, try teaching them to a robot. By combining expertise in engineering and psychology, ASU researchers have created Catchbot, a baseball-playing robot. In the process, they have learned a lot about how people perceive and respond to a moving target. --by Skip Derra

An ASU researcher has designed a special backpack that can produce an electrical charge through the force of the motion of its wearer. This "energy harvesting" can generate the power to charge batteries or run small electronic devices such as cell phones, iPods or flashlights. --by Joe Kullman

Predicting how the smallest details of a golf ball's design will make it act in flight is a painstakingly complex task. --by Joe Kullman

Golfers are always looking for an "edge" to improve their game. So are jet aircraft designers. Thanks to work by ASU engineers, the ardent pursuit of better golfing appears poised to lead to technological innovations that reach far beyond the game. --by Joe Kullman