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Climate Change Belief Research - great cause for concern
By Mike Hanlon
03:54 March 25, 2009 PDT
It just goes to show you what a bad state the education system is in when just 51% of the population believe that climate change is caused by human activities. Opinion Research Corporation surveyed 1,000 people in late January and found that 29% believe climate change is occurring naturally, 15% believe climate change needs to be proven scientifically either way and 3% believe climate change doesn’t exist. Oh, and for the record, of those who got it right, 55% were male, which means ... we're no longer sure whether to be more concerned about global warming or global ignorance. Read More
Remote observatory aims to solve Earth's magnetic mystery
By Kyle Sherer
14:58 December 1, 2008 PST
Until November, Tristan da Cunha was home only to 271 people, a small flightless bird, and a piece of land named Inaccessible Island. Now the world's most remote inhabited archipelago is host to a Danish Observatory designed to help improve our understanding the Earth’s weakening magnetic field and the way this affects satellites. Read More
New material promises fuel-cell design breakthrough
By Darren Quick
20:25 October 12, 2008 PDT
A team of scientists from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) has designed a new "super-lattice" material with incredibly high ion conductivity properties that could lead to the development of more efficient fuel cells capable of operating at room temperature. Read More
DonateBandwidth uses Torrent model to increase internet speeds in developing countries
By Kyle Sherer
09:57 August 28, 2008 PDT
DonateBandwidth, a project in the alpha phase of testing, will allow users to download data for each other in a fashion similar to BitTorrent. The project aims to establish a communal cache in order to streamline Internet browsing in countries where ISPs are not yet up to the task. Read More
Electrical rubber could be used as synthetic skin for robots
By Kyle Sherer
09:07 August 20, 2008 PDT
Scientists at the University of Tokyo have created a material with the texture and flexibility of rubber, but possessing more than 570 times the electrical conductivity. Made by grinding carbon nanotubes with an ionic liquid and adding it to rubber, the material could be used to make intelligent steering wheels and mattresses, stretchable television displays, or sensitive e-skin for robots. Read More
Flow measurement gives Olympic swimmers the edge
By Kyle Sherer
07:27 August 12, 2008 PDT
One of the secret weapons of the US assault on the pool in Beijing is a high-tech flow measurement technique developed at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute which aims to help athletes gain that critical few extra milliseconds by providing state-of-the-art analysis of how much energy the swimmers exert and how their body affects the water. Read More
World's smallest camera carrying Micro Aerial Vehicle takes flight
By Darren Quick
04:35 July 28, 2008 PDT
July 28, 2008 How often have you thought, “I’d like to be a fly on the wall in that room”. Well, a team at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands is hard at work trying to make that desire a reality by developing a Micro Air Vehicle (MAV), which they claim is the smallest flying, camera carrying ornithopter in the world. The DelFly Micro weighs just 3 grams and measures 10 cm from wing tip to wing tip. It has a range of 50 meters and is powered by a 30 mAh lithium polymer battery, which provides enough power for three minutes of fight time. To keep the weight of the unit down the wings are made from Mylar foil, while the body and frame is made up from carbon and balsawood. Read More
Light powered motor utilizes shape-shifting plastic
By Darren Quick
04:34 July 28, 2008 PDT
A research team at the Tokyo Institute of Technology has developed a plastic motor that is powered solely and directly by light. Unlike solar-powered motors, which use photovoltaic cells to convert light to electric power and therefore require wires and batteries to deliver and store the power, the light activated motor converts light directly into mechanical energy. The first of its kind motor achieves this by using a belt made from a special elastomer whose molecular structure expands or contracts when illuminated, depending on the wavelength of light. An 0.08-millimeter thick belt coated with the shape-shifting plastic is able to turn a pair of wheels measuring 10 millimeters and 3 millimeters in diameter at 1 rpm, and although the device is still quite inefficient in terms of converting light into energy at this stage, the idea throws up an amazing number potential applications. Read More
Self-powered knee sensor for surgery
By Emily Clark
20:52 July 2, 2008 PDT
A researcher at the University of Southampton in the UK has developed a new self-powered sensor that would allow surgeons to monitor progress during knee operations. The Serial In-vivo Transducer (SIT) uses thick film technology and could measure tendon force during Anterior Cruciate Ligament reconstruction; a common procedure among athletes. Read More
European Synchrotron Radiation Facility succesfully analyzes zeolites
By Kyle Sherer
22:16 June 26, 2008 PDT
June 27, 2008 In a world first, scientists at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility have determined the distribution of aluminum in zeolites, an important step towards understanding the versatile volcanic material used in water purification, nuclear waste removal, and the spin cycle of your washing machine. Read More
Online dog cloning auction
By Emily Clark
23:27 June 9, 2008 PDT
If the thought of parting with your four-legged friend is too much to bear then perhaps BioArts International could save you some heartache with its “Best Friends Again” dog cloning program. The US-based biotech company says it will offer five dog cloning service slots to the general public via a worldwide, online auction on 18 June. Read More
OSPA: high-fidelity hearing aid design from think/thing
By Jude Garvey
23:14 June 4, 2008 PDT
The OSPA hearing aid is highly proficient at improving sound quality and uses as much of the functioning ear as possible. It is not designed to be hidden from sight, in fact with its streamlined, elegant, magnesium frame it looks more like a fashion accessory than a hearing aid. However there is function within that frame, OSPA uses lasers and optics to read mechanical vibrations and has the potential to provide well-balanced, natural and high resolution sound. Unlike other hearing aids which use a microphone and speaker to amplify sound, OSPA uses the external and middle parts of the ear to enhance the signal sent to the inner ear. Read More
Snow-going robots to assist in climate change research
01:16 May 28, 2008 PDT
May 28, 2008 Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Pennsylvania State University are developing a hardy breed of autonomous robots designed to collect critical on-site data that will aid in the understanding of how climate change is effecting the world's ice sheets and therefore enable the creation of better climate models. Read More
"Avalanche effect" research promises greater solar cell efficiency
By Emily Clark
23:43 May 27, 2008 PDT
Research continues to improve efficiency in solar cells, whilst simultaneously finding ways to lower the costs of module production. The latest research from TU Delft and the FOM Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter surrounds the use of semiconducting nanocrystals (crystals with dimensions in the nanometer size range) to demonstrate a phenomenon called the “avalanche effect” which has the potential to significantly boost solar cell efficiency. Read More
First living computer used for flipping pancakes
By Darren Quick
02:24 May 21, 2008 PDT
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
World’s thinnest material used to create world's smallest transistor
By Darren Quick
19:51 April 20, 2008 PDT
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
Hybrid device combines hearing aid and cochlear implant
By Emily Clark
00:07 April 18, 2008 PDT
April 18, 2008 To date the the options have been limited for hearing-impaired patients who do not stand to benefit from hearing aids, but for whom cochlear implants are unsuitable because they retain some natural hearing. Now a hybrid hearing device being tested in trials across the US offers a solution to this category of patients by combining the advantages of both hearing aids and implants. Read More
The world's most powerful laser
00:44 April 17, 2008 PDT
April 17, 2008 A team of researchers from the University of Texas at Austin has demonstrated the highest powered laser in the world. With greater than one quadrillion watts of laser power, the level of output achieved on March 31 by the Texas Petawatt laser is equivalent to more than 2,000 times the output of all power plants in the United States and brighter than the Sun's surface, according team leader and physicist at The University of Texas at Austin, Dr.Todd Ditmire. Read More
"Put that gum back in your mouth Johnny"
17:53 April 9, 2008 PDT
April 10, 2008 A recent study on the effects of a new chewable mint that mimics the cavity fighting properties of saliva has found a 62 percent decrease in cavities in children using the product. Read More
Solar cells created with inkjet technology
By Emily Clark
17:24 April 2, 2008 PDT
April 3, 2008 Using FUJIFILM’s cartridge-based Dimatix Materials Printer (DMP), Konarka Technologies has demonstrated the world's-first fabrication of highly efficient solar cells using of inkjet printing technology. Read More
Could paint be the next solar breakthrough?
By Emily Clark
21:18 March 30, 2008 PDT
March 31, 2008 Researchers at Swansea University are developing a new way to integrate solar energy into building construction by applying a type of flexible solar-cell paint onto steel cladding. Read More
3-D virtual reality dental simulator
By Emily Clark
22:41 March 26, 2008 PDT
March 27, 2008 Evidence of dentistry has been found dating back as far as 5500 BC however common knowledge tends to only go back as far as the Middle Ages when dental procedures were performed by barbers or general practitioners (with the aid of pliers and a bottle of whisky). These days patient care is of the utmost importance, which is why dentistry researchers at the University of Illinois (UIC) are developing a haptic training simulator called PerioSim, which uses 3-D virtual reality technology to allow dental students to improve their skills before being allowed near real live patients. Read More
Alzheimer's detection using near-infrared light
By Emily Clark
20:23 March 25, 2008 PDT
It is estimated that around 4.5 million people in the US are currently living with Alzheimer's and the disease is one of the leading causes of death, accounting for tens of thousands each year. There has been no definitive way of diagnosing the disease on living patients so doctors have had to rely on medical histories, administering physical exams, and neuropsychological assessments. Now, a team of researchers in Massachusetts has developed a way of examining brain tissue with near-infrared light to detect signs of Alzheimer's disease. Read More
Go fetch! El-E the laser pointer-controlled home helper robot
By Emily Clark
23:42 March 24, 2008 PDT
March 25, 2008 The nuances and imprecise nature of human language pose big challenges for developers looking to advance voice control technology of helper robots, but researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have found an effective way to circumvent verbal communication by instructing a robot to fetch items under direction of a laser pointer. The El-E (pronounced like the name Ellie) robot could provide help to users with mobility impairments by moving or retrieving items via its sophisticated combination of in-built omni-directional cameras, height and pressure sensors, laser range finders and face detection technology. Read More
Report points to large-scale potential of solar thermal power
By Emily Clark
17:37 March 10, 2008 PDT
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
Terotech
- November 21, 2009 @ 19:38 UTC
