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"Everything should be as simple as it is, but not simpler", Albert Einstein
Browsing All Posts filed under »TECHNOLOGY«
A Boy And His Atom: The World’s Smallest Movie
You’re about to see the movie that holds the Guinness World Records™ record for the World’s Smallest Stop-Motion Film (see how it was made at http://youtu.be/xA4QWwaweWA). The ability to move single atoms — the smallest particles of any element in the universe — is crucial to IBM’s research in the field of atomic memory. But even […]
Twenty years of a free, open web
April 30, 2013
On 30 April 1993 CERN published a statement that made World Wide Web technology available on a royalty free basis, allowing the web to flourish On 30 April 1993 CERN published a statement that made World Wide Web (“W3″, or simply “the web”) technology available on a royalty-free basis. By making the software required to […]
Physicists demonstrate acceleration of electrons by laser in vacuum
February 28, 2013
Accelerating a free electron with a laser has been a longtime goal of solid-state physicists. David Cline, a distinguished professor in the UCLA Department of Physics and Astronomy, and Xiaoping Ding, an assistant researcher at UCLA, have conducted research at Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York and have established that an electron beam can be […]
Time reversal findings may open doors to the future
February 21, 2013
Imagine a cell phone charger that recharges your phone remotely without even knowing where it is; a device that targets and destroys tumors, wherever they are in the body; or a security field that can disable electronics, even a listening device hiding in a prosthetic toe, without knowing where it is…. Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-02-reversal-doors-future.html#jCp and http://prl.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v110/i6/e063902
Solving systems of linear equations on a quantum computer
February 7, 2013
Stefanie Barz, Ivan Kassal, Martin Ringbauer, Yannick Ole Lipp, Borivoje Dakic, Alán Aspuru-Guzik, Philip Walther Systems of linear equations are used to model a wide array of problems in all fields of science and engineering. Recently, it has been shown that quantum computers could solve linear systems exponentially faster than classical computers, making for one […]
Quantum motor and future
January 27, 2013
Evgeny G. Fateev In a popular language, the possibilities of the Casimir expulsion effect are presented, which can be the basis of quantum motors. Such motors can be in the form of a special multilayer thin film with periodic and complex nanosized structures. Quantum motors of the type of the Casimir platforms can be the […]
Tiny molecular machine apes cellular production line
January 12, 2013
developed a tiny molecular machine that mirrors the function of the ribosome, which builds the proteins in our body’s cells. Just a few millionths of a millimetre in size, the minute machine resembles a ring threaded on a rod. As this ring moves along the rod, it picks chemical units and assembles them into chains, […]
Nanogenerator’s output triples previous record
January 3, 2013
aking an important step forward for self-powered systems, researchers have built a nanogenerator with an ultrahigh output voltage of 209 V, which is 3.6 times higher than the previous record of 58 V. The nanogenerator, which has an area of less than 1 cm2, can instantly power a commercial LED and could have a wide […]
Nanocurrent oscillator indefinitely powered by a capacitor battery
December 1, 2012
Luigi Ragni Some electrolytic capacitors show dielectric behaviour that can not be entirely explained by the well known long lasting relaxation. Extra charges able to generate a useful conduction current can be detected for an indefinite time. A squarewave oscillator based on MOSFET CMOS technology and requiring less than 2 nW was powered for 80 […]
Quantum cryptography done on standard broadband fibre
November 20, 2012
By Jason Palmer The “uncrackable codes” made by exploiting the branch of physics called quantum mechanics have been sent down kilometres of standard broadband fibre. This “quantum key distribution” has until now needed a dedicated fibre separate from that used to carry data. The technique, reported in Physical Review X, shows how to unpick normal […]
Invisibility cloaking in ‘perfect’ demonstration
November 12, 2012
By Jason Palmer Scientists have succeeded in “cloaking” an object perfectly for the first time, rendering a centimetre-scale cylinder invisible to microwaves. Many “invisibility cloak” efforts have been demonstrated, but all have reflected some of the incident light, making the illusion incomplete. A Nature Materials study has now shown how to pull off the trick […]
Carbon nanotubes fit by the thousands onto a chip
October 29, 2012
Scientists have demonstrated methods that could see higher-performance computer chips made from tiny straws of carbon called nanotubes. Carbon nanotubes have long been known to have electronic properties superior to current silicon-based devices. But difficulties in manipulating them have hampered nanotube-based chips. The experiments, reported in Nature Nanotechnology, show a kind of two-part epoxy approach to […]
New Route to Large-Scale Quantum Computing
October 20, 2012
In a key step toward creating a working quantum computer, Princeton researchers have developed a method that may allow the quick and reliable transfer of quantum information throughout a computing device The finding, by a team led by Princeton physicist Jason Petta, could eventually allow engineers to build quantum computers consisting of millions of quantum […]
Landmark in quantum computing
September 22, 2012
Australians Create 1-Atom Silicon Quantum Computing Bit (quBit) World’s first ever single-atom silicon quantum bit opens the door to new quantum computers based on traditional materials Using a silicon circuit with a phosphorous donor atom, researchers at the University of New South Wales have achieved a critical step forward in the path to quantum computers. Past efforts have […]
Build a supercomputer on the moon
September 17, 2012
Hal Hodson NASA currently controls its deep space missions through a network of huge satellite dishes in California, Spain and Australia known as the Deep Space Network (DSN). Even the Voyager 1 probe relies on these channels to beam data back to Earth as it careers away into space. But traffic on the network is […]
Towards Computing With Water Droplets: Superhydrophobic Droplet Logic
September 7, 2012
Researchers in Aalto University have developed a new concept for computing, using water droplets as bits of digital information. This was enabled by the discovery that upon collision with each other on a highly water-repellent surface, two water droplets rebound like billiard balls. In the work, published in the journalAdvanced Materials, the researchers experimentally determined […]
Hans Camenzind, 555 timer inventor
August 29, 2012
SAN FRANCISCO – 8/15/2012 Hans Camenzind, the Swiss emigre analog guru who invented one of the most successful circuits in electronics history and introduced the concept of phase-locked loop to IC design, passed away in his sleep at the age of 78. Camenzind came to the United States in 1960 and worked for several years at […]
Physicists demonstrate that 15=3×5 about half of the time
August 19, 2012
Computing prime factors may sound like an elementary math problem, but try it with a large number, say one that contains more than 600 digits, and the task becomes enormously challenging and impossibly time-consuming. Now, a group of researchers at UC Santa Barbara has designed and fabricated a quantum processor capable of factoring a composite […]
One of the First Computer-Generated Films, from 1963
July 19, 2012
This film was a specific project to define how a particular type of satellite would move through space. Edward E. Zajac made, and narrated, the film, which is considered to be possibly the very first computer graphics film ever. Zajac programmed the calculations in FORTRAN, then used a program written by Zajac’s colleague, Frank Sinden, […]
Computer that could outlive the universe a step closer
July 19, 2012
The heat-death of the universe need not bring an end to the computing age. A strange device known as a time crystal can theoretically continue to work as a computer even after the universe cools. A new blueprint for such a time crystal brings its construction a step closer. Ordinary crystals are three-dimensional objects whose […]
The man who built the LHC
July 7, 2012
By Alice Lighton The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Geneva is the arguably most famous experiment on Earth. It’s also, by many measures, the largest; a particle collider 27km in circumference and 100m underground, it took 16 years to build and cost £6bn. The LHC was built to answer some of the burning questions facing particle physicists. […]
Scientists to ‘hack’ Hawking’s brain …
June 25, 2012
… in bid to help him communicate more easily By DANIEL BATES Scientists are working out a way to ‘hack’ into Stephen Hawking’s brain to enable him to communicate more easily. The world-famous physicist has been trying out the ‘iBrain’ which picks up his brain waves and sends them to a computer for analysis. Hawking […]
Return of the Vacuum Tube
May 24, 2012
by Jon Cartwright Peer inside an antique radio and you’ll find what look like small light bulbs. They’re actually vacuum tubes—the predecessors of the silicon transistor. Vacuum tubes went the way of the dinosaurs in the 1960s, but researchers have now brought them back to life, creating a nano-sized version that’s faster and hardier than […]
Telerobotics offers third way for space exploration
May 21, 2012
by Jeff Hecht SPACE exploration may have a new direction. In the 1960s, humans did the exploring but since the last moon landing in 1972, NASA’s only explorers beyond low Earth orbit have been semi-autonomous robots. Now the agency is pondering a third approach, sending astronauts who would remain in orbit around alien worlds and […]
Magnetic bacteria may be building future bio-computers
May 7, 2012
Magnet-making bacteria may be building biological computers of the future, researchers have said. Leeds and Japan’s Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology have used microbes that eat iron. As they ingest the iron, the microbes create tiny magnets inside themselves, similar to those in PC hard drives. The research may lead to the creation of […]
The first successful implant of ‘bionic’ eye microchips
May 4, 2012
Microchips restore sight to people suffering retinitis pigmentosa – an incurable condition that leads to blindness Condition affects one in every 3,000-4,000 people Clinical trial with two sufferers ‘exceeds expectations’ Sufferers able to detect outlines of objects ‘within days’ Vision expected to improve further as 3mm chip ‘beds in’ Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk -www.bbc.co.uk
Move over graphene, silicene is the new star material
April 30, 2012
AFTER only a few years basking in the limelight, wonder material graphene has a competitor in the shape of silicene. For the first time, silicon has been turned into a sheet just one atom thick. Silicene is thought to have similar electronic properties to graphene but ought to be more compatible with silicon-based electronic devices. […]
‘Welcome to the Anthropocene’ Earth Animation
April 26, 2012
This is the animation done by Globaïa for the short film ‘Welcome to the Anthropocene’ commissionned for the Planet Under Pressure conference. Watch the narrated version here: vimeo.com/anthropocene/shortfilm More on the project here: anthropocene.info http://vimeo.com/40940686 www.dailymail.co.uk
Round the world in just six hours (video)
April 20, 2012
Evacuated Tube Transport could take you around the world in just 6 hours http://youtu.be/McpWcn-1RZU
Made in IBM Labs: Holey Optochip …
March 9, 2012
… First to Transfer One Trillion Bits of Information per Second Using the Power of Light • Researchers invent novel technique by fabricating tiny holes in a single quarter-inch chip to boost data transfer rates • Until now, it was not possible to transport terabits of data for existing parallel optical communications technology • New […]
Optical Device is More Than 100% Efficient
March 8, 2012
LED converts heat into light A light-emitting diode (LED) that emits more light energy than it consumes in electrical energy has been unveiled by researchers in the US. The device – which has a conventional efficiency of greater than 200% – behaves as a kind of optical heat pump that converts lattice vibrations into infrared […]
Graphene Battery Turns Ambient Heat Into Electric Current
March 5, 2012
Physicists have built a graphene battery that harvests energy from the thermal movement of ions in solution Here’s an interesting idea for a battery. The thermal velocity of ions in aqueous solution is huge–hundreds of metres per second at room temperature. And yet few people have studied this process or its potential to generate current. […]
Discovery of Majorana Fermions?
March 2, 2012
Quest for quirky quantum particles may have struck gold Evidence for elusive Majorana fermions raises possibilities for quantum computers. Eugenie Samuel Reich Getting into nanoscience pioneer Leo Kouwenhoven’s talk at the American Physical Society’s March meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, today was like trying to board a subway train at rush hour. The buzz in the corridor was […]
Scientists image the charge distribution within a single molecule for the first time
February 27, 2012
IBM scientists were able to measure for the first time how charge is distributed within a single molecule. This achievement will enable fundamental scientific insights into single-molecule switching and bond formation between atoms and molecules. Furthermore, it introduces the possibility of imaging the charge distribution within functional molecular structures, which hold great promise for future […]
Single atom transistor gets precise position on chip
February 19, 2012
In a remarkable feat of micro-engineering, UNSW physicists have created a working transistor consisting of a single atom placed precisely in a silicon crystal. http://youtu.be/ue4z9lB5ZHg Read more here
Analyzing mechanics of butterflies in flight
February 2, 2012
An undergraduate engineering student at Johns Hopkins University, Tiras Lin, has used high-speed, high-resolution cameras to gain a new perspective on the mechanics of a painted lady butterfly’s flight patterns. Information gathered from his research may be used to construct better designs for micro-aerial vehicles that could be used by the United States military. http://youtu.be/azQeJLUWljc […]
Actuation at a distance
January 18, 2012
…of microelectromechanical systems using photoelectrowetting: proof-of-concept Microelectromechanical devices could soon be remotely controlled using light thanks to a proof-of-concept experiment demonstrating ‘photoelectrowetting’ Moving water is fairly straightforward on the human scale: a pump or a bucket will usually do the trick. But in the last couple of decades, various teams have begun to study ways of […]
Data storage on an atomic level
January 13, 2012
…….Using a scanning tunneling microscope, the researchers were able to encode a bit of data in just 12 iron atoms kept at a temperature just a few degrees above absolute zero. Smaller numbers of atoms were too unstable to act as bits – without neighbours to interact with and stabilise them, the atoms behaved like quantum […]
Video: How a time cloak could change the past
January 12, 2012
This video simulates the time cloaking device developed by Cornell University researchers. A ball is trying to pass through a green beam of laser light without being detected. Two short pulses of red laser light change the color of the green light, and since different colors travel at different speeds, a gap is opened in […]
Robotic space explorers powered by bacteria
January 9, 2012
Today’s robotic space missions take careful steps to avoid carrying tiny bacterial life from Earth that could contaminate the surface of Mars or other planets. That may all change if a NASA-funded effort can harness microbes as an almost endless power source for the next generation of robotic explorers. Such microbial fuel cells could power […]
Seeing Quantum Mechanics with the naked eye
January 8, 2012
New research lays groundwork for new generation of ultrasensitive gyroscopes to measure gravity, magnetic field, and create quantum circuits A Cambridge team have built a semiconductor chip that converts electrons into a quantum state that emits light but is large enough to see by eye. Because their quantum superfluid is simply set up by shining […]
Ohm’s Law Survives to the Atomic Scale
January 7, 2012
B. Weber, S. Mahapatra, H. Ryu, S. Lee, A. Fuhrer, T. C. G. Reusch, D. L. Thompson, W. C. T. Lee, G. Klimeck, L. C. L. Hollenberg, M. Y. Simmons ABSTRACT – sciencemag.org As silicon electronics approaches the atomic scale, interconnects and circuitry become comparable in size to the active device components. Maintaining low electrical […]
Video: Robot Avatar Brushes Cat Remotely in Virtual Reality
January 3, 2012
http://youtu.be/pxoL4bnLp0g Read more: Cat-brushing robot draws all signs of contentment
Stephen Hawking seeks help to make voice heard
December 30, 2011
Graduate Assistant to Stephen Hawking The above post is expected to become available shortly, with a starting date around 20th-27th February 2012. The salary is expected to be in the region of £25k; the exact value will be confirmed in the near future. Disclaimer: This is not an official job applications page, however similar it may look! The […]
Capturing video at the speed of light
December 18, 2011
…. One trillion frames per second MIT Media Lab researchers have created a new imaging system that can acquire visual data at a rate of one trillion frames per second. That’s fast enough to produce a slow-motion video of light traveling through objects. Video: Melanie Gonick. http://youtu.be/EtsXgODHMWk Read also: How to make the Slowest Slow-Motion Video […]
Top 10 breakthroughs for 2011
December 17, 2011
…. according to physicsworld.com 1st place: Shifting the morals of quantum measurement 2nd place: Measuring the wavefunction 3rd place: Cloaking in space and time 4th place: Measuring the universe using black holes 5th place: Turning darkness into light 6th place: Taking the temperature of the early universe 7th place: Catching the flavour of a neutrino […]
Amazing visualization of a solar magnetic storm
December 1, 2011
20 Hz: A Semiconductor work by Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt. Audio Data courtesy of CARISMA, operated by the University of Alberta, funded by the Canadian Space Agency. Special Thanks to Andy Kale. Made for the exhibition Invisible Fields at Arts Santa Monica in Barcelona Spain. lighthouse.org.uk/programme/invisible-fields 20 Hz observes a geo-magnetic storm occurring in the […]
May 1, 2013
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