Thieves could exploit encryption vulnerabilities, computer scientists warn
A popular radio-frequency ID system that is used to deter car thefts and as a convenience device for the purchase of gasoline can be defeated with low-cost technology, computer scientists from The Johns Hopkins University and RSA Laboratories have determined.
Their findings, described in a new research paper, indicate that the encryption in RFID microchips in some newer car keys and wireless payment tag
NETL and Carnegie Mellon develop new computational modeling tool
The Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) and Carnegie Mellon University have developed a new computational modeling tool that could make the production of hydrogen cheaper as the United States seeks to expand its portfolio of alternative energy supplies.
The research, supported by the DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy and reported in the current issue of the prestigious journ
The storage of hydrogen in fuel cell powered cars can probably be greatly improved by increasing the working temperature of the fuel cell. With the use of magnesium powder, the storage of hydrogen can take place more efficiently and safely and at a higher temperature. This is the conclusion of Gijs Schimmel, who will defend his PhD thesis at TU Delft on 1 February.
One of the main problems in the transition to a hydrogen economy is the storage of hydrogen, for use in vehicles, for
The GAIKER Technological centre is designing a project, together with the Catalysis and Petrochemical Institute of the CSIC, The Bilbao School of Industrial Engineers and the University of Malaga, aimed at obtaining biofuels from a renewable source of energy. To this end, an attempt to develop a process of heterogeneous catalysis has been undertaken, with new catalysts that enable the obtaining of automotive biodiesel from recycled oils or from crops from energy crops.
The project for ob
Car battery failing? Hazardous material leaching? Oil level dropping?
There you are, tapping your fingers on the cold steering wheel as your windows cloud over from your breath. How could you have known your car battery was that low? Sending weak beams of light through inexpensive glass tubes that resemble soda straws, Sandia National Laboratories researcher Jonathan Weiss – dubbed by some the “light wizard” – can inexpensively solve problems ranging from the migration of waste th
Imagine a home with “smart” walls responsive to the environment in the room, a digital camera sensitive enough to work in the dark, or clothing with the capacity to turn the sun’s power into electrical energy. Researchers at the University of Toronto have invented an infrared-sensitive material that could shortly turn these possibilities into realities.
In a paper to be published on the Nature Materials website Jan. 9, senior author Professor Ted Sargent, Nortel Networks – Canad
CNSE spintronics lab research shows silicon can maintain a permanent magnetic field above room temperature, which could help to develop more effective magnetic semiconductors and future spintronic devices
Silicon is best known as the material used to make semiconductor computer chips with integrated circuits. Today, scientists at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) at the University at Albany published research that could lay the foundation for using silic
MIT and Columbia University students and researchers have begun operation of a novel experiment that confines high-temperature ionized gas, called plasma, using the strong magnetic fields from a half-ton superconducting ring inside a huge vessel reminiscent of a spaceship. The experiment, the first of its kind, will test whether natures way of confining high-temperature gas might lead to a new source of energy for the world.
First results from the Levitated Dipole Experiment
Researchers at Oregon State University and Hewlett Packard have reported their first example of an entirely new class of materials which could be used to make transparent transistors that are inexpensive, stable, and environmentally benign. This could lead to new industries and a broad range of new consumer products, scientists say.
The possibilities include electronic devices produced so cheaply they could almost be one-time “throw away” products, better large-area electronics
As the snow falls, many look forward to the thrill of a day spent snowmobiling, but this sport is not eagerly anticipated by all. Some find the noise and gas emission levels unbearable. McGill University researchers are at the forefront of looking for solutions to these concerns by making snowmobiles and other power-sport recreational vehicles clean and quiet.
“People associate snowmobiles with noise and gas pollution” said Simon Ouellette, project manager of the McGill University
Desalination is often touted as one solution to the worlds water woes, but current desalination plants tend to hog energy.
Now University of Florida researchers have developed a technology that can tap waste heat from electrical power plants as its main source of energy, an advance that could significantly reduce the cost of desalination in some parts of the world.
“In the future, we have to go to desalination, because the freshwater supply at the moment can just
The emerging field of molecular electronics — using nanoscale molecules as key components in computers and other electronic devices — is in excellent health and has a bright future, conclude UCLA, Caltech and University of California, Santa Barbara, chemists who assess the field in the Dec. 17 issue of the journal Science. “Molecular electronics is in its infancy, and its adolescence and adulthood will be very exciting as we push toward the promise of molecular electronics: smaller, more v
University of California scientists working with a researcher from Washington State University at Los Alamos National Laboratorys Superconductivity Technology Center have developed a novel method for creating high performance, inorganic metal-oxide films using polymer-assisted deposition, or PAD. The breakthrough could pave the way for a greater use of metal-oxide films into the electronics manufacturing industry.
“The successful creation of both simple and complex metal-oxide
Researchers use pentacene to develop next-generation solar power
As the price of energy continues to rise, businesses are looking to renewable energy for cheaper sources of power. Making electricity from the most plentiful of these sources – the sun -can be expensive due to the high price of producing traditional silicon-based solar cells. Enter organic solar cells. Made from cheaper materials, their flexibility and feather-weight construction promise to open up new markets for
New microchip is 10 times smaller and 100 times more energy efficient than currently used chips
University of Alberta researchers have designed a computer chip that uses about 100 times less energy than current state-of-the-art digital chips. The greatly reduced energy consumption of this novel technology offers promise for many small devices with relatively low power needs. This technology could one day eliminate the need to recharge cellphones, help introduce smaller, ultra-high
Time is money, especially to the semiconductor industry. Electronics manufacturers use extremely sophisticated equipment to churn out the latest microchips, but they have a timing problem. Its very difficult to get all the fabrication tools in a manufacturing line to agree on the time. Components within a single tool can disagree on the time by as much as two minutes, because of a lack of synchronization.
According to a new report by the National Institute of Standards and Tech