A new method for correcting common timing errors in high-speed oscilloscopes has been developed by researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The method improves the accuracy and clarity of measurements performed in the development and troubleshooting of components for wireless and optical communications, military radar and other technologies.
Oscilloscopes display graphical representations of electrical and optical signals as waves, showing how the
Much of our electronics could soon be replaced by photonics, in which beams of light flitting through microscopic channels on a silicon chip replace electrons in wires. Photonic chips would carry more data, use less power and work smoothly with fiber-optic communications systems. The trick is to get electronics and photonics to talk to each other.Now Cornell University researchers have taken a major step forward in bridging this communication gap by developing a silicon device that allows an el
A team of University of California scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed the first completely inorganic, multi-color light-emitting diodes (LEDs) based on colloidal quantum dots encapsulated in a gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductor. The work represents a new “hybrid” approach to the development of solid-state lighting. Solid-state lighting offers the advantages of reduced operating expenses, lower energy consumption and more reliable performance.
In res
Wind farms are nothing new to some parts of the United States, where tall, white wind turbines with their giant propellers tower over the landscape, generating electricity with every sweep of their blades.
Now these windmills may be coming to an ocean near you — but not without significant public debate and navigation of a “hodgepodge” of regulations, according to recent University of Delaware research.
Willett Kempton and Jeremy Firestone, in the Marine Policy Program a
One of the dreams of both science fiction writers and practical robot builders has been realized, at least on a simple level: Cornell University researchers have created a machine that can build copies of itself.
Admittedly the machine is just a proof of concept — it performs no useful function except to self-replicate — but the basic principle could be extended to create robots that could replicate or at least repair themselves while working in space or in hazardous environ
If you nudge this robot, it steps forward and catches its balance—much like a human
The machine called RABBIT, which resembles a high-tech Tin Man from “The Wizard of Oz,” minus the arms, was developed by University of Michigan and French scientists over six years. It’s the first known robot to walk and balance like a human, and late last year, researchers succeeded in making RABBIT run for six steps. It has been able to walk gracefully for the past 18 months.
U-
Technique could revolutionize nanoelectronics manufacturing
Carnegie Mellon University scientists have harnessed an experimental technology to produce polymer films with long-range-ordered nanostructure and easily convert them into highly ordered “nanocarbon arrays.” Called zone casting, this technology could revolutionize the way industrial nanoelectronic components are made. The research findings are in press with the Journal of the American Chemical Society. “We’ve found t
New devices may provide power for decades
Using some of the same manufacturing techniques that produce microchips, researchers have created a porous-silicon diode that may lead to improved betavoltaics. Such devices convert low levels of radiation into electricity and can have useful lives spanning several decades.
While producing as little as one-thousandth of the power of conventional chemical batteries, the new “BetaBattery” concept is more efficient and potentia
Penn State and Philips researchers have merged the best features of their respective approaches to produce a new mathematical model that describes the behavior of the MOS transistor in a wide class of integrated circuits found in the majority of electronic devices from computers to digital watches to communications systems.
Certain circuits can only be simulated accurately using the new approach, known as the PSP model, including passive mixers used in mobile phones to increase bat
In collaboration with KEMA, two postgraduate students from Eindhoven University of Technology have developed a device that continuously monitors cables to localize weak points in distribution networks. Data on weak point development and location enables an electricity company to pre-empt problems by timely intervention. This in turn enhances network reliability and reduces costs. With their invention, Jeroen Veen and Peter van der Wielen received in April their doctorate degree at the Eindhoven
Team members are former senior energy or security advisors in Democratic and Republican administrations from Carter to Clinton
MIT faculty members and colleagues, all former senior energy or security advisors in Democratic and Republican administrations from Carter to Clinton, have proposed a pragmatic plan that would allow the world to develop nuclear power without increased risk of weapons proliferation.
Under their plan, which appears in the winter 2004-2005 issu
Relatively few good examples exist of buildings that have excellent energy performance. Often “green buildings” are developed and publicized, but then actual energy functioning is not reported, sometimes because performance is less than anticipated. Having inhabited its new green headquarters for the first year, The Woods Hole Research Center is addressing those issues by tracking, and making publicly available, information on the performance of its building.
Because the Researc
May provide opportunity to convert finite oil resource to long-term production of natural gas
Luca Technologies LLC today announced that its researchers have confirmed the presence of a resident, methane-generating community of microorganisms (“microbial consortium”) in substrate samples taken from the 110,000 acre Monument Butte oilfield located in North Eastern Utah. This site represents the latest in a series of active “GeobioreactorsTM” that Luca Technologies has identified
Low-temperature fabrication and high-quality results could reduce electronics’ reliance on silicon
Chemists and engineers at Harvard University have made robust circuits from minuscule nanowires that align themselves on a chip of glass during low-temperature fabrication, creating rudimentary electronic devices that offer solid performance without high-temperature production or high-priced silicon.
The researchers, led by chemist Charles M. Lieber and engineer Donhee
In 2002, nuclear engineers Rusi P. Taleyarkhan of Purdue University and Richard T. Lahey Jr. of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute announced that they had produced thermonuclear fusion by imploding tiny deuterium-rich gas bubbles with sound waves and neutrons. The news about their fusion method–dubbed sonofusion–made headlines worldwide. Yet many skeptics greeted it with scoffing. Now, after repeating the experiments with an improved apparatus, Taleyarkhan and Lahey have more convincing evidence
Traditional silicon chips in computers and other electronic devices control the flow of electrical current by modifying the positive or negative charge of different parts of each tiny circuit. However it is also possible to use of the mysterious magnetic properties of electrons – know as “spin” – to control the movement of currents. Many large companies have spent millions of dollars trying to solve some of the problems faced by this technology, but progress has remained slow. Discoveries ma
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