Research Watch
Multitasking and why it's not good for you
With mobile computing offering 24/7 access to the internet and email, many of us have become perpetual multitaskers, paying continuous partial attention to many things, constantly scanning for opportunities and staying on top of contacts, events, and activities in an effort to miss nothing. Never in history has the human brain been asked to track so many data points. New research suggests that multitasking is not good for you and unquestionably supports limiting the amount of multitasking we do. (read more...)
Hydrogen storage breakthrough
Hydrogen offers many benefits as a renewable and sustainable fuel of the future as its combustion emits only water. The main problem to now is that it must be stored as a gas, which is potentially dangerous for everyday use, and it can only be stored as a liquid under cryogenic conditions. Now there may be another alternative. Chemists in the US have developed a simple reaction to make ammonia borane (AB) – a powder more hydrogen-dense than even liquid hydrogen. AB is a stable white powder which releases hydrogen gas upon heating. Its use as a hydrogen storage material has been hampered by difficulties in making the powder in reasonable yield, but the new research further increases its promise. (read more...)
Seven practices to develop a coaching managerial style
Jun 18, 2008 Traditional order and control management is being replaced by a coaching management style, asserts new research from the BI Norwegian School of Management. Good economic results alone are no longer adequate. In addition to generating results, organizations have become a values workshop, helping employees develop a meaningful life. The school has developed seven practical tools to assist managers develop a coaching style. (read more...)
Understanding thought: new computational modeling sheds light on how the brain works
Scientists at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a computational model that can predict the unique brain activation patterns associated with concrete nouns with a mean accuracy of 77 percent. (read more...)
First living computer used for flipping pancakes
May 20, 2008 US researchers have genetically engineered the bacterium E. coli to coax its DNA into computing a classic mathematical puzzle. Molecules of DNA have the natural ability to store and process information, in fact DNA represents the highest storage density of anything on Earth - French cytogeneticist Jerome LeJeune showed that the amount of information in one strand of human DNA is the same as that in 1,000 books of small print, each around 500 pages thick. Scientists have been performing computations with bare DNA molecules in lab dishes since the mid-1990s, but the new research, reported online in the Journal of Biological Engineering, is the first to do DNA computation in living cells. (read more...)
Experimental Xerox Paper erases itself for re-use
May 7, 2008 The promised age of the paperless office has largely failed to eventuate, thanks in part to improvements in printers and photocopiers that have made it easier than ever to produce hard copies of documents, but primarily because many of us remain addicted to the tangibility, portability and sheer convenience of paper. Now Xerox Corporation scientists have invented a way to make prints that last only a day before disappearing, meaning paper can be used again and again. The "erasable paper" technology, which is still in a preliminary state, blurs the line between paper documents and digital displays and could ultimately lead to a significant reduction in paper use. (read more...)
Raydiance announces ultrashort laser breakthrough
Raydiance has demonstrated ultrashort laser (USL) technology that has potential applications in genomics, homeland security, advanced manufacturing and medical applications, including cancer cell removal, tattoo removal, eye surgery, and cosmetic treatments. (read more...)
HP Labs “memristor” discovery could lead to computers that never need to be booted up
May 1, 2008 Researchers from HP Labs have proven the existence of what had previously been only theorized as the fourth fundamental circuit element in electrical engineering. The “memristor” (short for memory resistor), could make it possible to develop computer systems that have memories that do not forget, do not need to be booted up, consume far less power and associate information in a manner similar to that of the human brain. (read more...)
World’s thinnest material used to create world's smallest transistor
April 21, 2008 In recent decades, manufacturers have crammed more and more components onto integrated circuits, roughly keeping pace with Moore’s Law. But for this to continue the semiconductor industry must overcome the poor stability of materials if shaped in elements smaller than 10 nanometres in size. At this spatial scale, all semiconductors, including silicon, oxidize, decompose and uncontrollably migrate along surfaces like water droplets on a hot plate. Now researchers at the University of Manchester, reporting their peer-reviewed findings in the latest issue of Science, have shown that it is possible to carve out nanometre-scale transistors from a single graphene crystal. Unlike all other known materials, graphene remains highly stable and conductive even when it is cut into devices one nanometre wide. (read more...)
Electric solar sail moves closer to reality
April 16, 2008 It's a striking image made popular in sci-fi classics like the recent Star Wars films - a spacecraft hurtles through the galaxy propelled by gigantic reflective sails that use of solar radiation in place of on-board fuel . Space organizations around the world including NASA are pursuing this technology, but a rapidly evolving project from the Finnish Meteorological Institute has taken a radically different approach by using long metallic tethers and a solar-powered electron gun to create an "electric sail" that looks very different from the depictions of pressure sails with which we have become familiar. (read more...)
The smallest black hole ever
April 7, 2008 Using measurements taken by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer satellite, NASA scientists have identified the smallest known black hole in the universe. At 3.8 times the mass of our Sun and estimated at only 15 miles in diameter, the black hole known as XTE J1650 is also close to the smallest size thought to be theoretically possible for such an object. (read more...)
You're a lucky cow Wilhelmina!
It helps to have friends in high places, even when you’ve got four legs, as a Kansas dairy cow named Wilhelmina recently found out. The 8-year-old Jersey cow ruptured the cruciate ligament in her right knee in a breeding injury but thanks to her owner, she was about to receive a knee reconstruction. Dr. Anderson, professor and head of agricultural practices at Kansas State College of Veterinary Medicine replaced the cow’s cruciate ligament using synthetic material called monofilament nylon and dubbed the "Wildcat Power Cord". (read more...)
Padova University scientists declare quantum leap in quantum communications
Physicists at Padova University, Italy, are one step closer to constructing a quantum channel between space and Earth – the first step in establishing a truly secure quantum communications system. The Institute of Physics’ New Journal of Physics published the results of an experiment in which individual photons were reflected off a space satellite in orbit almost 1500 kilometers above the Earth, and identified back on the ground. (read more...)
CERN opens its doors to the world
March 20, 2008 Next week (April 6, 2008), one of the most famous research institutions in history CERN will open its doors to the public, offering a unique chance to visit. The European Organization for Nuclear Research (commonly known as CERN) is situated in Geneva and will display its newest and largest particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), before it goes into operation later this year. This scientific instrument, the largest and most complex in the world, is installed in a 27km tunnel, 100 metres underground. (read more...)
Bumpy whale fins set to spark a revolution in aerodynamics
March 21, 2008 It seems despite man's endless ingenuity and the incredible modeling power available to inventors through CAD systems, we keep looking to nature to find ever more effective ways of doing things. Millions of years of evolution's trial and error approach have resulted in some incredibly effective designs that are ready to be incorporated into human constructions if we can only identify, understand and replicate them. The random-looking bumps on the humpback whale's flippers have just inspired a breakthrough in aerodynamic design that seems likely to dramatically increase the efficiency and performance of wind turbines, fans, flippers and even wings and airfoils. WhalePower's tubercle technology seems like nothing less than a revolution in fluid dynamics. (read more...)
New research promises boost to biofuel production
A new process developed by two professors at the University of Maryland could mean the ability to convert large volumes of all kinds of plant products, from leftover brewer's mash to paper trash, into ethanol and other biofuel alternatives to gasoline. When fully operational, the process could potentially lead to the production of 75 billion gallons of carbon-neutral ethanol each year. (read more...)
Report points to large-scale potential of solar thermal power
March 11, 2008 A new study published by solar technology developer Ausra argues that over 90 percent of the electric grid and car fleet in the US could be powered by solar thermal power, reducing overall US global warming pollution by 40 percent in the process. (read more...)
World’s first commercial source of individual photons
March 3, 2008 An Australian project has developed the world’s first commercial source of individual photons using diamond based quantum technology. The device will greatly benefit the emerging quantum technology industry, including quantum computing, quantum cryptography and quantum imaging. (read more...)
Sight unseen: metamaterials could be used to create invisible ships
March 2, 2008 Like a lot of emerging science, the study of metamaterials is both amazingly cool and nearly impossible to understand without an advanced degree in physics or a long night on Wikipedia. It’s made Gizmag headlines before, with researchers claiming its unique structure, which has a negative refractive index, could be used to render objects invisible to the naked eye. Now scientists at Britannia Royal Navy College are working on a plan to use it to create the ultimate stealth vessel, according to a report in this month's edition of Physics World. (read more...)
Hair follicles to foil felons
February 27, 2008 DNA contained in hair is currently used in crime fighting to determine the identity of those who commit illicit acts. Thanks to new research, hair may now also help police track past movements of criminal suspects or unidentified murder victims by revealing the general location where a person drank water. (read more...)
"Strikingly similar" planetary system discovered
February 20, 2008 With upwards of 100 billion stars in our own Milky Way and at least that number of galaxies in the observable universe, the odds have long pointed to the likely existence of planets beyond our own solar system. The first discovery of such an extra-solar planet to receive subsequent confirmation took place in 1988 and two decades later, as detection techniques and equipment continue to improve, that number is now approaching 300. Now news that Astronomers from the University of St Andrews have found a new planetary system some 5,000 light years away that bears "striking similarities" to our Solar system. (read more...)
Lockheed Martin receives contract to develop FBI's Next Generation Identification System
February 19, 2008 Lockheed Martin has received a ten-year, $1 billion contract from the FBI to develop and maintain the Next Generation Identification system, which will expand fingerprint capacity to double the size of its current database, and incorporate palm print, iris, and facial recognition capabilities. The system is also designed to incorporate other biometric modalities that may become important in the future. (read more...)
The Tipping Point: one in two humans now carries a mobile phone
The world is currently getting unwired at an alarming rate – each year roughly a billion mobile phones get sold. Originally it was America and Europe, but as these countries are now saturated, the new connections are coming from India and China and Pakistan – and the world is just about to pass the half way point. Between January 2001, and December 2010 (a decade), our global society will have transformed from one where 13% of carried a mobile phone, to one where 70% carry one according to Mobile Intelligence data – that’s one hell of a leap with some massive implications. The 50% mark will be reached sometime later this year when one in two humans will be carrying a mobile phone. It’s a significant day – we just don’t know which day it is. (read more...)
Energy efficiency breakthroughs at MIT and Berkeley
February 12, 2008 The huge potential for utilizing the heat from the human body and other sources to generate electrical power is beginning to be realized on several fronts. Recently we encountered plans to capture and use human body heat in building design and now news of research breakthroughs at MIT and Berkeley that promise to advance the widespread application of thermoelectric power generation in our daily lives. (read more...)
Toshiba develops high-performance physical random number generator
February 11, 2008 Toshiba Corporation has announced the development of a physical random-number generation circuit that generates random numbers at a data rate of 2.0 megabits a second. The newly developed random-number generator (RNG) has a circuit size of only 1,200 square micrometers but achieves the level of performance and reliability essential for integration into IC cards and mobile equipment. (read more...)
