Tech | Page 1825 | Science Codex

Flexi display technology is now

Rigid television screens, bulky laptops and still image posters are to be a thing of the past as new research, published today, Thursday, 2 October, in the New Journal of Physics, heralds the beginning of a technological revolution for screen displays.

Screen display technology is taking a significant step forward as researchers from Sony and the Max Planck Institute demonstrate the possibility of bendable optically assessed organic light emitting displays for the first time, based on red or IR-A light upconversion.

Zooming way in, technique offers close-ups of electrons, nuclei

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Providing a glimpse into the infinitesimal, physicists have found a novel way of spying on some of the universe's tiniest buildingblocks.

Their "camera," described this week in the journal Nature, consists of a special "flaw" in diamonds that can be manipulated into sensitively monitoring magnetic signals from individual electrons and atomic nuclei placed nearby.

Engineers aim to solve 'burning' computer problem

If you've balanced a laptop computer on your lap lately, you probably noticed a burning sensation. That's because ever-increasing processing speeds are creating more and more heat, which has to go somewhere — in this case, into your lap.

Two researchers at the University of Virginia's School of Engineering and Applied Science aim to lay the scientific groundwork that will solve the problem using nanoelectronics, considered the essential science for powering the next generation of computers.

New graphene-based material clarifies graphite oxide chemistry

AUSTIN, Texas – A new "graphene-based" material that helps solve the structure of graphite oxide and could lead to other potential discoveries of the one-atom thick substance called graphene, which has applications in nanoelectronics, energy storage and production, and transportation such as airplanes and cars has been created by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin.

US and Russian academies joint report on uranium enrichment and nonproliferation

Driven by high prices for fossil fuels and concern about climate change, many nations are planning to build their first nuclear power plants, and they will need enriched uranium for fuel. How can the international community help meet this need while limiting the spread of technologies that could also be used to produce uranium for weapons?

Zeroing in on Wi-Fi 'dead zones'

HOUSTON, Sept. 25, 2008 -- Rooting out Wi-Fi "dead zones" in large wireless networks that cover whole neighborhoods or cities is an expensive proposition. Pre-deployment testing is so costly that most WiFi providers simply build their networks first and fill in the gaps later. But even that isn't easy, due to the paucity of inexpensive techniques for mapping out precisely which areas lack coverage.

New research shows why metal alloys degrade

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Metal alloys can fail unexpectedly in a wide range of applications---from jet engines to satellites to cell phones---and new research from the University of Michigan helps to explain why.

Metal alloys are solids made from at least two different metallic elements. The elements are often mixed together as liquid, and when they "freeze," into solids, tiny grains of crystal form to create a polycrystalline material. A polycrystalline material is made of multiple crystals.

The hibernating stellar magnet

Astronomers have discovered a most bizarre celestial object that emitted 40 visible-light flashes before disappearing again. It is most likely to be a missing link in the family of neutron stars, the first case of an object with an amazingly powerful magnetic field that showed some brief, strong visible-light activity.

Cloud radar -- predicting the weather more accurately

The weather. It's the one topic of conversation that unites Britain – umbrella or sun cream? Now scientists at the Science and Technology Facilities Council have developed a system that measures the individual layers of cloud above us which will make answering the all-important weather questions much easier in future.

Researchers raise uncomfortable questions by showing how GPS navigation devices can be duped

Just like flat-screen televisions, cell phones and computers, global positioning system (GPS) technology is becoming something people can't imagine living without. So if such a ubiquitous system were to come under attack, would we be ready?

It's an uncomfortable question, but one that a group of Cornell researchers have considered with their research into "spoofing" GPS receivers.

MIT: Preventing forest fires with tree power

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--MIT researchers and colleagues are working to find out whether energy from trees can power a network of sensors to prevent spreading forest fires.

What they learn also could raise the possibility of using trees as silent sentinels along the nation's borders to detect potential threats such as smuggled radioactive materials.

University of Virginia lab micro-sizes genetics testing

Using new "lab on a chip" technology, James Landers hopes to create a hand-held device that may eventually allow physicians, crime scene investigators, pharmacists, even the general public to quickly and inexpensively conduct DNA tests from almost anywhere, without need for a complex and expensive central laboratory.

New carbon material shows promise of storing large quantities of renewable electrical energy

Engineers and scientists at The University of Texas at Austin have achieved a breakthrough in the use of a one-atom thick structure called "graphene" as a new carbon-based material for storing electrical charge in ultracapacitor devices, perhaps paving the way for the massive installation of renewable energies such as wind and solar power.

The researchers believe their breakthrough shows promise that graphene (a form of carbon) could eventually double the capacity of existing ultracapacitors, which are manufactured using an entirely different form of carbon.

First 3-D processor runs at 1.4 Ghz on new architecture

The next major advance in computer processors will likely be the move from today's two-dimensional chips to three-dimensional circuits, and the first three-dimensional synchronization circuitry is now running at 1.4 gigahertz at the University of Rochester.

Slicing solar power costs

SALT LAKE CITY – University of Utah engineers devised a new way to slice thin wafers of the chemical element germanium for use in the most efficient type of solar power cells. They say the new method should lower the cost of such cells by reducing the waste and breakage of the brittle semiconductor.