Tech | Page 1358 | Science Codex

Light might prompt graphene devices on demand

HOUSTON – (Oct. 10, 2012) – Rice University researchers are doping graphene with light in a way that could lead to the more efficient design and manufacture of electronics, as well as novel security and cryptography devices.

Manufacturers chemically dope silicon to adjust its semiconducting properties. But the breakthrough reported in the American Chemical Society journal ACS Nano details a novel concept: plasmon-induced doping of graphene, the ultrastrong, highly conductive, single-atom-thick form of carbon.

Improving nanometer-scale manufacturing with infrared spectroscopy

One of the key achievements of the nanotechnology era is the development of manufacturing technologies that can fabricate nanostructures formed from multiple materials. Such nanometer-scale integration of composite materials has enabled innovations in electronic devices, solar cells, and medical diagnostics.

Grape consumption associated with healthier dietary patterns

Sacramento, CA (October 9, 2012) – In a new observational study presented today at the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Food and Nutrition Conference and Exposition (FNCE) in Philadelphia, PA, researchers looked at the association of grape consumption, in the non-alcoholic forms most commonly consumed – fresh grapes, raisins and 100% grape juice – with the diet quality of a recent, nationally representative sample of U.S. children and adults.

From lectures to explosives detection: Laser pointer identifies dangerous chemicals in real-time

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9, 2012—By using an ordinary green laser pointer, the kind commonly found in offices and college lecture halls, an Israeli research team has developed a new and highly portable Raman spectrometer that can detect extremely minute traces of hazardous chemicals in real time. The new sensor's compact design makes it an excellent candidate for rapid field deployment to disaster zones and areas with security concerns.

Looking out for #1 can make you happy, if you have no choice

We are, at our core, social creatures and we spend considerable time and effort on building and maintaining our relationships with others. As young children, we're taught that "sharing means caring" and, as we mature, we learn to take others' point of view. If we make a decision that favors self-interest, we often feel guilt for prioritizing ourselves over others.

MIT team builds most complex synthetic biology circuit yet

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Using genes as interchangeable parts, synthetic biologists design cellular circuits that can perform new functions, such as sensing environmental conditions. However, the complexity that can be achieved in such circuits has been limited by a critical bottleneck: the difficulty in assembling genetic components that don't interfere with each other.

App protects Facebook users from hackers

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (www.ucr.edu) — Cyber-crime is expanding to the fertile grounds of social networks and University of California, Riverside engineers are fighting it.

A recent four-month experiment conducted by several UC Riverside engineering professors and graduate students found that the application they created to detect spam and malware posts on Facebook users' walls was highly accurate, fast and efficient.

Solar cells made from black silicon

The Sun blazes down from a deep blue sky – and rooftop solar cells convert this solar energy into electricity. Not all of it, however: Around a quarter of the Sun's spectrum is made up of infrared radiation which cannot be converted by standard solar cells – so this heat radiation is lost. One way to overcome this is to use black silicon, a material that absorbs nearly all of the sunlight that hits it, including infrared radiation, and converts it into electricity. But how is this material produced?

Wireless data at top speed

Whether it's a wedding, birthday party or other celebration, these days the chances are you'll have your camcorder with you to record the great occasion. But we often forget to bring the data cable along with us, so despite promising the hosts to transfer the images to their computer the morning after, we hardly ever do. "No problem," we say, "I'll burn you a CD when I get home." It would be so much easier, though, to transfer the data wirelessly.

An operating system in the cloud

A new-cloud based operating system for all kinds of computer is being developed by researchers in China. Details of the TransOS system are reported in a forthcoming special issue of the International Journal of Cloud Computing.

New methods might drastically reduce the costs of investigating polluted sites

Ferrara/Leipzig. New methods might allow polluted sites to be investigated and monitored long term at significantly reduced costs. Authorities and those who have to remediate polluted sites in Europe might therefore be able to save costs and use these to treat other areas. This is the conclusion of the EU research project ModelPROBE, which was coordinated by the UFZ. The results, with which the scientists aimed to lower the workload of authorities and consultants, include a handbook detailing the methods for characterising contaminated sites and a freely-accessible e-learning course.

Worldwide patent for a Spanish stroke rehabilitation robot

Daily tasks

The second robot developed by the Biomedical Neuroengineering Group is Robotherapist 3D, whose worldwide patent has been granted to Instead Technologies. This new machine helps patients to perform movements in all positions and directions. In addition, it has a virtual reality system so that people can start to carry out everyday tasks again, such as lifting a glass of water to their mouth.

Researchers develop new way to determine amount of charge remaining in battery

Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a new technique that allows users to better determine the amount of charge remaining in a battery in real time. That's good news for electric vehicle drivers, since it gives them a better idea of when their car may run out of juice.

Cause of annoyance, concern, anxiety, and even anger:

To understand the effects of continuous computerized surveillance on individuals, a Finnish research group instrumented ten Finnish households with video cameras, microphones, and logging software for personal computers, wireless networks, smartphones, TVs, and DVDs. The twelve participants filled monthly questionnaires to report on stress levels and were interviewed at six and twelve months. The study was carried out by Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT, a joint research institute of Aalto University and the University of Helsinki, Finland.

Digital tabletop system with views on demand

A tabletop system where users can come together and view shared content will be unveiled today [Tuesday 9 October]. A team of scientists, led by the University of Bristol, have developed the system aimed at supporting mixed-focus collaborative tasks.

Researchers from the University's Department of Computer Science will present PiVOT (personalised view-overlays for tabletops) at the 25th ACM UIST 2012, a symposium for innovations in the software and technology of human-computer interfaces.