A new nanotechnology tool that will dramatically cut the cost of leading-edge nano research at the sub-50nm scale has been developed by EU researchers. It could lead to Next Generation Lithography (NGL) technology.

The commercially available first generation tool is low cost compared to sub-50nm alternatives. For example, electron beam lithography costs €2m per machine, whereas the Soft Ultraviolet (UV) Imprint machine developed by SOUVENIR project costs in its basic version wel

As researchers at Pacifi c Northwest National Laboratory investigated the hydrogen storage capabilities of amine borane compounds, they knew that a rhodium catalyst readily releases hydrogen from the compound at room temperature. But they weren’t sure how it worked. Aside from the scientific quest for knowledge, understanding the mechanism at work with rhodium may help with the development of a more cost-effective catalyst to enable hydrogen storage.

PNNL scientists used

With an advanced imaging technique and a savvy strategy, researchers at Cornell University’s Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics (LAASP) have shown how adding charge-carrying atoms like oxygen to a superconductor can increase the material’s ability to conduct electricity overall and — paradoxically — to decrease it in localized spots.

The discovery, published in the Aug. 12 issue of Science, could lead to the eventual development of more effective supercondu

EXPWAY of France has designed and launched FastESG™, a unique end-to end Electronic Service Guide solution over mobile and broadcast networks (GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, DVB-H), from server to terminal. FastESG™ is an XML-based software solution, built on rich metadata language such as DVB-CBMS, which guarantees an enhanced end-user experience (particularly in the field of TV viewing and multimedia entertainment). The company will be showcasing its technology at the IFA trade show in Berlin from 2 t

Predicting the magnetic behavior of metallic compounds is a surprisingly difficult problem for theoretical physicists. While the properties of a common refrigerator magnet are not a great mystery, certain materials exhibit magnetic properties that do not fit within existing theories of magnetism. One such material inspired a recent theoretical breakthrough by physicists at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

In a paper scheduled for publication in the August 26 issue of the

The Da Vinci Code, the best selling novel and soon-to-be-blockbuster film, may also be linked some day to the solving of a scientific mystery as old as Leonardo Da Vinci himself — friction. A collaboration of scientists from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the Ames Laboratory at Iowa State University have used Da Vinci’s principles of friction and the geometric oddities known as quasicrystals to open a new pathway towards a better understanding of friction at the atomic

Bringing technology to the judiciary, European researchers are developing pilot applications that could speed up, clarify and provide secure access to legal procedures and a start-up company to promote the results.

With partners such as SAP, Thales and Unisys, the eJustice project aims to modernise the representation of legal procedures within countries, and between authorities of EU states.

Several pilot applications are being developed and evaluated.

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University of Arizona physicists have discovered what it takes to make metal ’nanowires’ that last a long time. This is particularly important to the electronics industry, which hopes to use tiny wires — that have diameters counted in tens of atoms — in Lilputian electronic devices in the next 10 to 15 years.

Researchers predict that such nanotechnology will be the next Big Thing to revolutionize the computing, medical, power and other industries in coming decades.

New look but same breadth of information

The new-look is the result of a critical evaluation of website functionality and a review of what registered users want from Nanoforum. The revamped website offers the same level of information and detail as before, but it is now easier to search for related information.

The homepage lists the latest news with quick links to events, organisations, calls and programs, and Nanoforum reports, with the number of entries in each li

A University of Leicester project which will have implications for the quality of magnetic recording has won a prestigious Innovation Fellowship, allowing researchers to develop its commercial potential.

Chris Binns, Professor of Nanoscience at the University’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, heads the project, which is a collaboration with Dr Robert Lamberton of Seagate and Dr Roer Bayston of the Queen’s Medical Centre at Nottingham. The project aims to develop a new facili

In a groundbreaking experiment, researchers from The City College of New York (CCNY) and Lehman College have measured the speed of magnetic avalanches and discovered that the process is analogous to the flame front of a flammable substance. The discovery of a “magnetic flame” could make it easier for engineers to study the dynamics of fire.

Magnetic avalanches occur when the polarity of a molecular nanomagnet is changed suddenly and sufficient energy is released to cause a chain reactio

The Webdesign International Festival 2006, held in Limoges, in central France, will host three days of international competitions, lectures, debates, demonstrations, exhibitions and meetings focusing on interactive, web-based design from 2 to 4 February 2006. The University of Limoges is also setting up a training course in web-design skills. The first 20 candidates for the diploma in ’Sensorial web design and online creation strategies’ will begin their studies this October.

Dur

MAKS 2005 – the biennial Russian International Aviation and Space Salon – is being held in Zhukovsky, close to Moscow, from 16 to 21 August. Space exploration has a prominent role at MAKS 2005 as for the first time the Russian Federal Space Agency, as well as ESA, are exhibitors.

All together 42 countries, 130 foreign aerospace companies and 500 Russian companies. are taking part in the air show. ESA’s presence is a sign of the growing cooperation between ESA and Russia marked

A team of researchers from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) has successfully demonstrated, for the first time, that it is possible to control the speed of light – both slowing it down and speeding it up – in an optical fiber, using off-the-shelf instrumentation in normal environmental conditions. Their results, to be published in the August 22 issue of Applied Physics Letters, could have implications that range from optical computing to the fiber-optic telecommunications industry

The Spallation Neutron Source at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has met a crucial milestone on its way to completion in June 2006 — operation of the superconducting section of its linear accelerator.

The SNS linac has two sections: a room-temperature, or warm, section, which completed its commissioning last January, and a superconducting, or cold, section, which operates at temperatures hundreds of degrees below zero. The cold linac provides the bulk of

Numerous electronic, optical and structural uses demonstrated; Advance reported in Aug. 19 issue of prestigious journal Science

University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) nanotechnologists and an Australian colleague have produced transparent carbon nanotube sheets that are stronger than the same-weight steel sheets and have demonstrated applicability for organic light-emitting displays, low-noise electronic sensors, artificial muscles, conducting appliqués and broad-band polarized light