Integrated onto the backs of chips
A new technique for fabricating liquid cooling channels onto the backs of high-performance integrated circuits could allow denser packaging of chips while providing better temperature control and improved reliability.
Developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the wafer-level fabrication technique includes polymer pipes that will allow electronic and cooling interconnections to be made simultaneously using automated manufacturing
Commercial products such as laptop computer monitors and solar-powered calculators are constructed from a light-sensitive material with a peculiar problem: When exposed to intense light, it forms defects, reducing the efficiency of the solar cells by 10 to 15 percent.
Scientists have been pondering this flaw since the 1970s, because the material – hydrogenated amorphous silicon, or a-Si:H – has important applications for solar energy generation. A new study reported in the Jun
Dutch energy policy is directed at 17 percent of electricity demand being covered by renewable energy sources by 2020. Martin Junginger has demonstrated that this can be achieved at considerably lower costs than is the case now. He also found that it might be more financially advantageous to realise part of the objective outside of the Netherlands because, for example, more space is available there for wind turbines or because more biomass is available there.
Renewable electricity can
By pairing a sleek new air sampler designed at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) with a diode laser from SpectraSensors, Inc., researchers have hit on a technology that can capture highly accurate atmospheric water vapor data during routine commercial flights. The data will benefit researchers and forecasters, who need more frequent, accurate measurements at various altitudes worldwide to improve weather forecasts and monitor climate change.
Currently wate
Recycled plastic bottles could one day be used to lubricate your car’s engine, according to researchers at Chevron and the University of Kentucky, who in laboratory experiments converted waste plastic into lubricating oil. These polyethylene-derived oils, they say, could help improve fuel economy and reduce the frequency of oil changes.
The pilot study appears in the July 20 issue of the American Chemical Society’s peer-reviewed journal Energy & Fuels. ACS is the worl
Demonstrating breakneck signal speed of 10 gigahertz, method uses nanotubes instead of conventional copper wires
UC Irvine scientists in The Henry Samueli School of Engineering have demonstrated for the first time that carbon nanotubes can route electrical signals on a chip faster than traditional copper or aluminum wires, at speeds of up to 10 GHz. The breakthrough could lead to faster and more efficient computers, and improved wireless network and cellular phone systems, addi
Goddard Technologist Proposes Sensitive Skin Covering for Robots
A ballerina gracefully dances on a small stage. She is followed not by a male partner, but by a robotic arm manipulator that seems to sense her every move. For NASA Goddard technologist Vladimir Lumelsky, the performance shows the future of robotics.
It also demonstrates an advanced technology that Lumelsky hopes to develop as part of the push from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. t
Sustainable energy source could solve Bermuda Triangle riddle
Experts at Cardiff University, UK, have designed world-first technology to investigate sustainable energy sources from the ocean bed by isolating ancient high-pressure bacteria from deep sediments.
Scientists and engineers at Cardiff University are investigating bacteria from deep sediments which despite high pressures (greater than 1,000 atmospheres), gradually increasing temperatures (from an icy 2°C to over
Microbiologists seeking ways to eliminate pollution from waterways with microbes instead discovered that some pollution-eating bacteria commonly found in freshwater ponds can generate electricity. They present their findings today at the 105th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.
“The bacteria are capable of continuously generating electricity at levels that could be used to operate small electronic devices. As long as the bacteria are fed fuel they are abl
A scientist at the University of Liverpool has helped to create the world’s smallest transistor – by proving that a single molecule can power electric circuits
A scientist at the University of Liverpool has helped to create the world’s smallest transistor – by proving that a single molecule can power electric circuits.
Dr Werner Hofer, from the University’s Surface Science Research Centre, is one of an international team of scientists who have created a pr
University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Engineering researchers have discovered a new way to make a diesel-like liquid fuel from carbohydrates commonly found in plants.
Reporting in the June 3 issue of the Journal Science, Steenbock Professor James Dumesic and colleagues detail a four-phase catalytic reactor in which corn and other biomass-derived carbohydrates can be converted to sulfur-free liquid alkanes resulting in an ideal additive for diesel transportation fuel. Co-re
In the time it takes to read this sentence, your fingernail will have grown one nanometer. That’s one-billionth of a meter and it represents the scale at which electronics must be built if the march toward miniaturization is to continue.
Reporting in the June 3 issue of the Journal Science, an international team of researchers shows how control over materials on this tiny scale can be extended to create complex patterns important in the production of nano-electronics.
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Researchers at the Alberta Research Council Inc. (ARC) have completed a pilot study identifying a more efficient technology to insulate homes, reducing space heating costs for homeowners. Researchers proved by combining direct solar collection and heat storage technology with existing structural insulated panel system (SIPS), energy consumption for space heating could be reduced by 48 per cent.
The study focused on measuring energy consumption during a peak energy load perio
Rensselaer Researchers Detail Potential for Smart Lighting in Science
“Smart” solid-state light sources now being developed not only have the potential to provide significant energy savings, but also offer new opportunities for applications that go well beyond the lighting provided by conventional incandescent and fluorescent sources, according to E. Fred Schubert and Jong Kyu Kim of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
In an article published May 27, 2005 in the journal S
Ocean-going acoustic sensor array to aid in national security, ocean research efforts
Jason Holmes, a mechanical engineering graduate student at Boston University and guest researcher at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, has devised a low-cost, highly sensitive array of underwater ears that is perking up interest in both homeland security and ocean research circles. Holmes’ device — an underwater hydrophone array designed to be towed by a small, autonomous submarine — c
A robot’s sensitivity to touch could be vastly improved by an array of polymer-based tactile sensors that has been combined with a robust signal-processing algorithm to classify surface textures. The work, performed by a team of researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is an essential step in the development of robots that can identify and manipulate objects in unstructured environments.
“We are developing artificial tactile sensors that will imitate the
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