ExplainerGeiger Counter Arduino Radiation Detector: What a GM Tube Counts and Its Limits
A plain-English guide to what a Geiger–Müller tube counts, how pulse electronics fit around it, and why dead time, calibration and radiation type matter.
Frontiers
Emerging Technology & Science Guides
Evidence-led guides to emerging technology science across energy, space, climate, biotechnology, quantum systems, materials, risk, and responsible innovation.
23Stories in this field
Explainer
ExplainerSatellite GNSS Receivers: How Spacecraft Determine Their Orbits
An onboard GNSS receiver listens to navigation satellites to estimate a spacecraft's position, velocity and time. Here is what it measures, how orbit determination works, and why the receiver is not an Earth-imaging payload.
ExplainerSynthetic Aperture Radar Satellites: How SAR Images Earth at Night and Through Cloud
Synthetic aperture radar satellites send microwave pulses to Earth and read the returning signal, enabling useful imaging day or night and in many cloudy conditions.
ExplainerSpaceborne Laser Altimeter (Lidar): How ICESat-2 Measures Height
A plain-English guide to how an active spaceborne laser altimeter measures ice, land and sea-ice elevation, using NASA’s ICESat-2 as the example.
ExplainerDual-frequency Precipitation Radar: How GPM Measures Rain and Snow
A plain-English guide to the GPM Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar, its Ku- and Ka-band measurements, what its 3D rain and snow data reveal, and where the satellite view has limits.
ExplainerGPM Microwave Imager: How Passive Microwaves Help Map Precipitation
The GPM Microwave Imager reads natural microwave signals across 13 channels to support precipitation estimates, while DPR adds active radar measurements of storm structure.
ExplainerSatellite Radar Altimeters: Measuring Sea-Surface Height and Waves
A beginner-friendly explanation of how a satellite radar altimeter measures ocean height, wave conditions and related Earth-surface signals along its track.
ExplainerRadar Scatterometer: How Satellites Derive Ocean Wind Vectors
A plain-English guide to how an active microwave radar scatterometer reads sea-surface roughness and turns several backscatter views into a near-surface ocean wind vector.
ExplainerAMSU-A Microwave Sounder: Measuring Atmospheric Temperature Through Clouds
AMSU-A is a passive 15-channel microwave instrument that estimates atmospheric temperature structure from the surface to about 40 km, including observations designed to remain useful when clouds complicate infrared sensing.
ExplainerGNSS Radio Occultation: How LEO Receivers Profile the Atmosphere
GNSS radio occultation uses a dedicated LEO receiver to turn small changes in navigation-satellite signals into profiles of the atmosphere and ionosphere.
ExplainerRocket GPS Navigation Receiver: What It Measures and What an IMU Does Instead
A plain-English explanation of what a GNSS/GPS navigation receiver contributes to a rocket’s navigation data, and how that differs from an IMU.
ExplainerFiber-Optic Sensors on Launch Vehicles: One Fiber, Many Strain and Temperature Measurements
How NASA research uses FBG and OFDR fibre-optic sensing to study launch-vehicle strain and temperature, and why the sensor is best understood as part of a larger measurement system.
ExplainerRocket Propellant Level Sensor: Magnetic Float Gauge
See how a magnetic float switch can mark propellant tank-volume intervals during rocket ground testing, and why it is not the same as a continuous flight mass gauge.
ExplainerRocket Valve Position Sensors Explained: Measuring Where an Actuator Is
A plain-English guide to valve-actuator position transducers: what they measure, how test teams record the signal and why position is not the same as valve control.
ExplainerPM2.5 Sensor for Indoor Air Quality: What Building Monitors Measure
A clear guide to what optical PM2.5 and PM10 sensors estimate indoors, how a building monitor turns particles into readings, and where those readings stop being enough.
ExplainerQuantum error correction: why logical qubits matter more than raw qubit counts
A usable quantum computer must preserve and operate on encoded information, not simply add more vulnerable physical qubits.
AnalysisFusion energy gain is not the same as power-plant readiness
A strong fusion experiment can answer a scientific question while leaving heat, materials, fuel, and reliability challenges for a future plant.
AnalysisCRISPR therapies depend on delivery, specificity, and durable follow-up
Editing a sequence is only one part of a therapy; the right cells, unintended changes, manufacturing quality, and long-term safety all matter.
ExplainerHow gravitational-wave detectors measure changes smaller than an atomic nucleus
Laser interferometers turn a passing ripple in spacetime into a tiny, carefully checked shift in light.
AnalysisCarbon mineralisation needs measurable storage, energy accounting, and verification
Turning carbon dioxide into solid carbonate can support durable storage, but a credible climate claim must trace carbon, inputs, and uncertainty across the full process.
AnalysisPerovskite solar cells must prove durability and scalable manufacturing
High small-cell efficiency is encouraging, but modules for everyday power need stable materials, reproducible production, and independent performance validation.
NewsISRO says it will remain India’s lead space R&D institution as industry takes on mature work
ISRO’s 6 September clarification says private participation is meant to scale mature capabilities while the agency remains focused on advanced research, national missions and frontier work; it is not a new privatisation approval.
ExplainerSolid-State Batteries: What a Lab Breakthrough Must Prove
Energy density is only one part of the story. Manufacturing yield, cycle life, charging behaviour, safety, and material availability determine commercial viability.