Much faster technology allows AFM to capture nano movies, create material properties images

While a microphone is useful for many things, you probably wouldn’t guess that it could help make movies of molecules or measure physical and chemical properties of a material at the nanoscale with just one poke.

Georgia Tech researchers have created a highly sensitive atomic force microscopy (AFM) technology capable of high-speed imaging 100 times faster than current AFM. This t

The Integrated Circuit Design group (DCI), part of the Computer Architecture and Technology Department at the Informatics Faculty of the University of the Basque Country (Donostia- San Sebastian campus) have recently been awarded first prize at the II (2004-2005) Innovation and Knowledge Event organised by Festo-PNeumatic S.A., the multinational company working in the fields of pneumatics, hydraulics and industrial control.

The presented work, ‘Monitoring system for self-propelled sweepin

CTS, a leading provider of network planning, optimisation and spectrum management solutions including associated services, has successfully completed its contract with Celtel for its Ellipse Microwave Planning Tool Suite and for Planet EV, which CTS sells under a reseller agreement with Marconi Wireless.

Celtel International, headquartered in Hoofddorp, in the Netherlands, is a pan-African mobile communications group operating in 14 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and serving more than

Customs-related administrative burdens cost hundred of billions of euros worldwide every year. The European Commission is making a 5.8 million euro grant available for a large-scale international research project, the aim of which is to make international trade safer while reducing the administrative burden. VU Amsterdam is acting as the coordinating partner and will receive 2.1 million euros – the remainder will be divided between European universities, businesses and customs organizations co

Teaching a machine to sense its environment is one of the most intractable problems of computer science, but one European project is looking to nature for help in cracking the conundrum. It combined streams of sensory data to produce an adaptive, composite impression of surroundings in near real-time.

The team brought together electronic engineers, computer scientists, neuroscientists, physicists, and biologists. It looked at basic neural models for perception and then sought to r

The need for security in electronic communications is crucial in today’s world. The foundation for providing this security rests on mathematics. In particular, a certain kind of mathematical function called a “hash function” is central in the design of cryptographic systems that protect electronic communications. But recently the most secure hash function in use today was shown to be vulnerable to attack. An article in the upcoming issue of the Notices of the AMS describes these attacks and

A newly published report by the National Research Council (NRC) urging educators to teach K-12 students to think spatially and to use geographic information systems (GIS) to do so underscores the importance of educational research underway at Northwestern University.

Because geographic information systems are designed for use by scientists and are too complex for classroom use, the NRC report calls for the development of GIS software specifically designed to meet the needs of eleme

Miracles happen over and over again. Even in the sport which the Germans love the most – soccer. But when the ball flies in a curve and hits the goal it has nothing to do with magic powers. Here it is rather a question of physical powers taking effect. And these powers can be calculated. That is what Metin Tolan, professor for experimental physics at the Universität Dortmund, is convinced about. With that he clearly disagrees with Rudi Assauer who once said: “Soccer is unpredictable”.

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New technology allows for more versatile portable spectrometers

Being the delicate optical instruments that they are, spectrometers are pretty picky about light.

But Georgia Tech researchers have developed a technology to help spectrometers — instruments that can be used as the main parts of sensors that can detect substances present in even ultra-small concentrations — analyze substances using fewer parts in a wider variety of environments, regardless of lighting. The te

Until E! 2668 AUDIOCLAS, there was no method to automatically classify audio and musical sound effects. This EUREKA project has resulted in an objective sound-effect classification system that should provide a major boost to European film, video and audio production. The software system makes it possible to speed access to major sound-effect libraries and simplify synthesis of new or combined sound effects from the stored data. Audio DNA is used to identify sounds similar in nature, such as door s

VLT Study Reveals Troubled Past of Globular Cluster Messier 12

Based on observations with ESO’s Very Large Telescope, a team of Italian astronomers reports [1] that the stellar cluster Messier 12 must have lost to our Milky Way galaxy close to one million low-mass stars.

“In the solar neighbourhood and in most stellar clusters, the least massive stars are the most common, and by far”, said Guido De Marchi (ESA), lead author of the study. “Our observations with ESO’s

In December 2005, ESA’s highly successful XMM-Newton was given a four-year extension. The longer life necessitated a first-ever “in-flight” upgrade to the spacecraft’s mission control software.

Last year, ESA’s Science Programme Committee decided to extend operations of ESA’s hugely valuable X-ray observation mission, XMM-Newton, for four years, until 31 March 2010.

The decision was an easy choice given the incredible science results that XMM has provided since laun

The transistor laser invented by scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has now been found to possess fundamental non-linear characteristics that are new to a transistor and permit its use as a dual-input, dual-output, high-frequency signal processor.

“We have hit upon something surprisingly fundamental and rich in possibilities,” said Nick Holonyak Jr., a John Bardeen Chair Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Physics at Illinois. “We have

New UW study says amount of covert and sometimes malicious programs is ’extensive’ Spyware is alive and well on the Internet.

That’s the overall message of a new study by University of Washington computer scientists who sampled more than 20 million Internet addresses, looking for the programs that covertly enter the computers of unwitting Web surfers to perform tasks ranging from advertising products to gathering personal information, redirecting Web browsers, or even using a

Chandra observations of the massive spiral galaxy NGC 5746 revealed a large halo of hot gas (blue) surrounding the optical disk of the galaxy (white). The halo extends more than 60,000 light years on either side of the disk of the galaxy, which is viewed edge-on.

The galaxy shows no signs of unusual star formation, or energetic activity from its nuclear region, making it unlikely that the hot halo is produced by gas flowing out of the galaxy. Computer simulations and Chandra dat

The European Integrated Project ProeTEX (Protection e-Textiles: MicroNanoStructured fibre systems for Emergency-Disaster Wear) just started its activities. The project aims to develop an integrated set of functionalized garments for emergency disaster personnel, capable of monitoring physiological and environmental parameters, improving their safety, coordination and efficiency.

The project, launched today, February 3, in Luzern (CH), with a funding of 12 million euros, involves 23 European