Warming Up to Climate Control Tech

by Michael Kanellos ZDNet News, 29 Apr 2005 Would you give up control of your thermostat in exchange for cash? A couple of companies focused on "clean technology" are finding out that for some people, the answer is yes. During peak periods, when electricity costs the most and can be harder to come by, these providers reduce energy consumption via a command, sent to a computer on your power meter, that slightly throttles air conditioners or other select appliances. Read the article

NASA Funds 'Miracle Polymer'

by Amit Asaravala Wired News, 27 Apr 2005 NASA will pay Rice University $11 million over the next four years to develop an experimental power cable made from carbon nanotubes, the agency announced Tuesday. The cable, also known as a quantum wire, would theoretically conduct electricity up to 10 times better than traditional copper wire and weigh one-sixth as much. Read the article

Rolling Camera Eyeballs Danger

by Abby Christopher Wired News, 29 Apr 2005 Imagine being on a SWAT team charged with disarming violent crooks in a meth lab, and knowing that every year, more than 50,000 law enforcement officers are assaulted. It might be comforting to begin your raid by sending in an Eye Ball R1, a remote-controlled, spherical camera about the size of a baseball that can give its users a 360-degree look at the device's surroundings. Read the article

The WiMax Difference

by Stu Hutson TechnologyReview.com, 25 Apr 2005 WiMAX, or the 802.16 standard, is meant to do for to the Internet what cell phones did for making telephone calls. Soon, Internet access will span for miles with the help of a series of towers delivering connectivity. Unfortunately, the idea has been sloshing around in the murky depths of standards development for years. Read the article

Crash Test Dummies No More

by John Gartner TechnologyReview.com, 28 Apr 2005 Automakers are developing next-generation electronic sensing systems that look for impending accidents and react to potential hazards, making the roads much safer for both drivers and pedestrians. Read the article

China's Great Wall Holds the Key to Quantum Future

by Paul Marks New Scientist, 30 Apr 2005 The Great Wall of China is poised to play its part in pushing back the boundaries of quantum cryptography. Later this year a Chinese team, which has just broken the record for transmitting entangled particles, will test the feasibility of satellite-based quantum communication using the wall. Read the article

Huge Radio Telescope Boasts Supercomputer Brain

by Stephen Battersby NewScientist.com, 28 Apr 2005 One of the world’s most powerful supercomputers is to be the brain of a revolutionary new radio telescope called LOFAR. The telescope will look back to the time of the very first stars, map our galaxy's magnetic field and perhaps discover the mysterious sources of high-energy cosmic rays. Read the article

Cooling of Bulk Material by Electron-Tunneling Refrigerators

by A. M. Clark et al. Applied Physics Letters, 25 Apr 2005 Improved refrigeration techniques have lead to scientific discoveries such as superconductivity and Bose-Einstein condensation. Improved refrigeration techniques also enhance our quality of life. Semiconductor processing equipment and magnetic-resonance imaging machines incorporate mechanical coolers operating below 10 K. There is a pressing need for refrigeration techniques to reach even lower temperatures because many next-generation analytical and astronomical instruments will rely on sensors cooled to temperatures near 100 mK. Here we demonstrate a solid-state, on-chip refrigerator capable of reaching 100 mK based on the quantum-mechanical tunneling of electrons through normal metal-insulator-superconductor junctions. The cooling power and temperature reduction of our refrigerator are sufficient for practical applications and we have used it to cool bulk material that has no electrical connection to the refrigerating elements. Read the article

Europe's First Interactive System Bringing GRID Technology to the Final User

PhysOrg, 29 Apr 2005 GRID technology, one of the latest systems that has been developed for linking computing resources, connects hundreds of large computers so they can share not only data itself, but also data processing capability and large storage capacity. This technology has now taken an important step forward: the hardware and tools required to make the interface interactive have become available. The UAB has participated in the project, taking charge of creating software to coordinate access between the different computers in the new system. Read the article

Carnegie Mellon Robot Will Run Time Trials to Enter $2 Million Desert Race

PhysOrg, 29 Apr 2005 Carnegie Mellon University's H1ghlander robot will demonstrate that it has the skills to compete in the 2005 Grand Challenge, a driverless rumble through 175 miles of hostile desert terrain, including mountains, gullies and dry lakebeds, for a $2-million prize. The DARPA-sponsored, winner-take-all race will take place on Oct. 8, 2005, but the contestants must prove their worthiness long before that date. Read the article

Students Build Smaller, Smarter Heart Pump

PhysOrg, 29 Apr 2005 A miniaturized heart pump designed by a team of University of Florida engineering students could become a life-saving alternative for patients waiting in long lines for scarce donor hearts. The UF team is creating a device with a novel pumping technology that makes it smaller and smarter than currently available ventricular assist devices, which are too large to be implanted in many patients. The pump’s small size means also it would be the first such device in the U.S. that could be used in children. Read the article

Nanoengineered Liquid Mirrors Shaped by Thermal Fields

by Long Truong et al. Applied Optics, 20 Mar 2005 We discuss a new type of deformable mirror made from nanoengineered reflective layers deposited onto liquids. The surfaces are shaped by heating with a laser. The response times of the deformed surfaces are slow (>1 s). Simplicity and low cost appear to be the main advantages of thermally deformable liquid mirrors. Read the article

VR Headset Spots Concussion in Minutes

by Lakshmi Sandhana New Scientist, 27 Apr 2005 You've had a blow to the head, but how do you know whether you are concussed or not? The answer could be a matter of life or death, yet it takes hours of testing by professionals to know for sure. Now a virtual-reality headset is being developed that can diagnose the extent of a head injury within minutes. Read the article

Tiny Refrigerators Close In on Absolute Zero

New Scientist, 30 Apr 2005 Tiny refrigerators have been made that reach temperatures as low as 0.1 kelvin. Joel Ullom at the National Institutes of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado, and his colleagues at NIST and the University of Notre Dame in Indiana built the coolers from a sandwich of a metal, an insulator and a semiconductor. As a result of the quantum tunnelling effect, applying a voltage to the sandwich forces energetic electrons to move out of the metal across the insulating layer and into the semiconductor. That cools the metal to extremely low temperatures. The team has managed to mount four coolers on a silicon chip coated in silicon nitride.

Video Conferencing Gets Quantum Security

by Mark Peplow news@nature.com, 28 Apr 2005 Quantum cryptography has been sped up to the point that it can be used to secure video conferencing. Scientists from Toshiba's Cambridge Research Laboratory unveiled their invention to business leaders and government officials at Britain's Department of Trade and Industry in London on 27 April. Read the article

Reactivation of a Commercial Diesel Oxidation Catalyst by Acid Washing

by Francisco Cabello Galisteo et al. Environmental Science and Technology, 14 Apr 2005 (web release) The catalytic activity of samples taken from an oxidation catalyst mounted on diesel-driven automobiles and aged under road conditions was recovered to a significant extent by washing with a dilute solution of citric acid. The characterization of samples arising from a fresh, a vehicle-aged, and a regenerated catalyst was carried out by scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Relatively high levels of S and P, in the form of aluminum sulfate and phosphate, respectively, together with contaminant Si were detected in the used catalyst. Washing of the vehicle-aged catalytic oxidation converter revealed high efficiency in the extraction of the main contaminants detected (S and P) by this nondestructive methodology. The results of the experiments reported here should encourage the development of a technology based on this reactivation procedure for the rejuvenation of the catalytic device mounted on diesel exhaust pipes. Read the article

Modeling the Phase Diagram of Carbon

by Luca M. Ghiringhelli et al. Physical Review Letters, 15 Apr 2005 We determined the phase diagram involving diamond, graphite, and liquid carbon using a recently developed semiempirical potential. Using accurate free-energy calculations, we computed the solid-solid and solid-liquid phase boundaries for pressures and temperatures up to 400 GPa and 12 000 K, respectively. The graphite-diamond transition line that we computed is in good agreement with experimental data, confirming the accuracy of the employed empirical potential. On the basis of the computed slope of the graphite melting line, we rule out the hotly debated liquid-liquid phase transition of carbon. Our simulations allow us to give accurate estimates of the location of the diamond melting curve and of the graphite-diamond-liquid triple point. Read the article

Laterally Aligned, Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Growth Using Magnetospirillium Magnetotacticum

by Nitin Kumar, Wayne Curtis, & Jong-in Hahm Applied Physics Letters, 25 Apr 2005 In this Letter, we report a straightforward method to produce multiwalled carbon nanotubes using magnetic nanoparticles of Magnetospirillium magnetotacticum as catalysts. Carbon nanotube growth on these nanoparticles resulted in multiwalled carbon nanotubes of an average diameter of 13 nm showing a narrow distribution in diameter. The magnetic character of the iron-containing catalysts was exploited to generate biased growth orientations of the multiwalled carbon nanotubes during their synthesis. This magnetic bacteria-based synthetic approach represents a step forward towards synthesis-directed assembly of carbon nanotubes which is needed for easy integration of these materials into nanoelectronic devices. Read the article

High-Speed Integrated Nanowire Circuits

by Robin S. Friedman et al. Nature, 28 Apr 2005 Macroelectronic circuits made on substrates of glass or plastic could one day make computing devices ubiquitous owing to their light weight, flexibility and low cost. But these substrates deform at high temperatures so, until now, only semiconductors such as organics and amorphous silicon could be used, leading to poor performance. Here we present the use of low-temperature processes to integrate high-performance multi-nanowire transistors into logical inverters and fast ring oscillators on glass substrates. As well as potentially enabling powerful electronics to permeate all aspects of modern life, this advance could find application in devices such as low-cost radio-frequency tags and fully integrated high-refresh-rate displays. Read the article

Unmanned Machines to Redefine Warfare

by Katrina C. Arabe Industrial Market Trends, 26 Apr 2005 Autonomous vehicles are already earning their stripes in combat. Now, they're being fine-tuned as part of the military's goal to save lives by removing humans from the battlefield. Read the article

Quantum Encryption Enters Product Phase

by R. Colin Johnson EE Times, 28 Apr 2005 Network security systems that rely on the laws of quantum mechanics to create hack-proof networks are arriving in the form of practical products that are easily integrated into optical networks. Read the article

Small Box 'To End Digital Divide'

by Jo Twist BBC News, 29 Apr 2005 Not-for-profit developer Ndiyo said it could open up the potential of computing to two billion more people. The sub-£100 box, called Nivo, runs on open-source software and is known as a "thin client." Thin clients are not new, but advances have made them more user-friendly. Read the article

Net-Powered Computer Goes on Show

BBC News, 29 Apr 2005 Soon you could be using one fewer cable to keep your computer running. UK firm DSP Design has made a PC that gets electric power via a network cable rather than through a wall socket. Read the article

Toward Bridging the Terahertz Gap with Silicon-Based Lasers

by Alexander Borak Science, 29 Apr 2005 A laser emitting at terahertz wavelengths (30 to 300 mum or 1 to 10 THz) would be highly useful in medical and security applications, but current terahertz lasers are complex and expensive. In his Perspective, Borak discusses recent advances toward building a more practical, silicon-based terahertz laser, which would be compatible with the ubiquitous silicon technology. Currently, so-called quantum cascade lasers look like most promising, but a working silicon quantum cascade laser is still some way off. Read the article

All-Optical Switching in Rubidium Vapor

by Andrew M. C. Dawes et al. Science, 29 Apr 2005 We report on an all-optical switch that operates at low light levels. It consists of laser beams counterpropagating through a warm rubidium vapor that induce an off-axis optical pattern. A switching laser beam causes this pattern to rotate even when the power in the switching beam is much lower than the power in the pattern. The observed switching energy density is very low, suggesting that the switch might operate at the single-photon level with system optimization. This approach opens the possibility of realizing a single-photon switch for quantum information networks and for improving transparent optical telecommunication networks. Read the article

Grid Computing Meets Data Flow Challenge

The Register, 27 Apr 2005 Scientists at CERN announced yesterday that eight major computing centres have managed to sustain an average continuous data flow of 600 megabytes per second for 10 days. It is a significant milestone for scientific grid computing. Read the article

Faster Handoff between Wi-Fi Networks Promises Near-Seamless 802.11 Roaming

University of California - San Diego Press Release, 13 Apr 2005 Road warriors may no longer have to stay put in an airport lounge or Starbucks to access the high-speed Internet via an 802.11 Wi-Fi network. Thanks to software developed by two computer scientists at the University of California, San Diego, the time it takes to hand off from one Wi-Fi wireless network to the next can be dramatically shortened -- overcoming a major obstacle in Wi-Fi roaming. Jacobs School of Engineering professor Stefan Savage and graduate student Ishwar Ramani have a patent pending on the basic invention behind SyncScan, a process to achieve practical, fast handoff for 802.11 infrastructure networks. Read press release

Voice Over the Future

by William L. Miller Military Information Technology, 24 Apr 2005 With voice communications over closed IP-based networks already being transmitted under battle conditions, Voice over Internet Protocol technology is poised to transform military telephony. Read the article

College Freshmen Less Interested in Tech

by Ed Frauenheim CNET News.com, 22 Apr 2005 Incoming college students seem to have developed an allergy to computer science during the past four years -- with women particularly being uninterested in the field. That's the gist of a new report from Computing Research Association, a group made up of academic departments, research centers and professional societies. Read the article

The Duel for Dual Core

by Joel Santo Domingo PC Magazine (online), 21 Apr 2005 The duel is on: AMD and Intel have entered yet another processor race. This time it centers on the next technology to power workstations, servers, desktops and notebooks for the next decade. Dual core gives the user a leg up when processing concurrent tasks, or using applications that have been written to take advantage of multiple-threaded processes. We discuss AMD's initial implementation on the Opteron platform and our test results. Read the article

Hybrid Could Fill Humvee's Boots

by John Gartner Wired News, 21 Apr 2005 For a transport vehicle to be all it can be, the Army says it needs to run far on a tank of gas and provide portable power. To meet this goal, the military is developing a hybrid Humvee alternative that could boost the market for combination combustion-electric vehicles. Read the article

Gadgets No Help for the Blind

by Associated Press Wired News, 24 Apr 2005 As technology has evolved, it has become lighter, smaller and more portable. For most people, that makes it more convenient. For millions of blind and vision-impaired people, it's anything but. Read the article

Car Computers Track Traffic

by Associated Press Wired News, 24 Apr 2005 Picking up doughnuts on the way to work recently, George List slid back into the driver's seat and heard a voice from the cup holder suggest an alternate route. The car wasn't talking, exactly. The voice came from a handheld computer nestled in the holder that links his car to 200 other vehicles in the area. Data from all the vehicles -- where they are, how quickly they move -- is being used to create snapshots of area traffic patterns. Read the article

AMD to Launch Its 1st Dual-Core Processors

by Matthew Fordahl USATODAY.com, 22 Apr 2005 Just days after Intel Corp. began shipping microprocessors with two computing engines instead of one, rival Advanced Micro Devices said it started shipping its own version of the technology. Read the article

Microsoft Ignites 64-Bit Computing

by Staff and wire reports USATODAY.com, 25 Apr 2005 Microsoft on Monday made its biggest push yet to popularize 64-bit computing on everyday computers. After years of delays, the software giant started selling new flavors of the Windows operating system that can address vastly more memory than previous versions yet can still run software designed for older computers. Windows XP Professional x64 Edition and Windows Server 2003 x64 Editions operate on systems running 64-bit microprocessors from Advanced Micro Devices and Intel. Read the article

LHC Computing Centres Join Forces for Global Grid Challenge

PhysOrg, 25 Apr 2005 Today, in a significant milestone for scientific grid computing, eight major computing centres successfully completed a challenge to sustain a continuous data flow of 600 megabytes per second on average for 10 days from CERN in Geneva, Switzerland to seven sites in Europe and the US. The total amount of data transmitted during this challenge -- 500 terabytes -- would take about 250 years to download using a typical 512 kilobit per second household broadband connection. Read the article

'There's a Hole in My Bucket . . .'

PhysOrg, 25 Apr 2005 Cracks, splits and holes are by definition one of the biggest problems in sealing technology. A new addition has recently been made to the thermoplastic elastomer family: Swellable variants of these plastics react to leaking water and thus stop the leaks. Read the article

Mind-Reading Machine Knows What You See

NewScientist.com, 25 Apr 2005 It is possible to read someone’s mind by remotely measuring their brain activity, researchers have shown. The technique can even extract information from subjects that they are not aware of themselves. So far, it has only been used to identify visual patterns a subject can see or has chosen to focus on. But the researchers speculate the approach might be extended to probe a person’s awareness, focus of attention, memory and movement intention. In the meantime, it could help doctors work out if patients apparently in a coma are actually conscious. Read the article

Quantum Chips May Work above Absolute Zero

New Scientist, 23 Apr 2005 One of the obstacles to quantum computing turns out to be not quite as daunting as was thought. Quantum computers require particles such as electrons to be entangled, a special state in which what happens to one particle of a pair affects the other. But if the electrons being used in a computation become entangled with other electrons nearby, information can leak out in a process known as decoherence. Decoherence can be triggered by stray magnetic fields produced by the movement of electrons within atoms of the material being used, and it had been thought that the best way to minimise these fields was to cool the sample down to nearly absolute zero. But when Henrik Ronnow of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and colleagues measured decoherence in lithium holmium fluoride crystals, they found it to be least when the crystal is cooled to one degree above absolute zero. This may not seem like much, but getting down to 1 kelvin is relatively easy, while getting much closer to absolute zero, requires prohibitively greater and greater amounts of energy.

Robotic Leader Makes for Good Teamwork

by Philip Ball news@nature.com, 25 Apr 2005 Robots are terribly polite these days. When two vehicles developed by a Canadian robotics firm arrive at a narrow door at the same time, they have a friendly way to decide who should pass through first. Read the article

Good Vibrations

by Joerg Heber Nature Materials Update, 21 Apr 2005 Optical superlattices such as photonic crystals are a convenient way to engineer the band structure of materials, resulting in the formation of mini-bandgaps and allowing control over the propagation of light. Unfortunately, photonic structures are rather static, which means that their optical properties cannot be changed once they have been produced. Maurício Moraes de Lima and colleagues now demonstrate the formation of a dynamic optical superlattice induced by acoustic phonons in a photonic microcavity. Read the article

No More Rough Diamonds

by Philip Ball Nature Materials Update, 21 Apr 2005 Microelectromechanical devices need moving parts that can slide smoothly against one another when dry. A form of diamond made from a mosaic of nanocrystals might have what it takes. Read the article

Controlled Multiple Quantum Coherences of Nuclear Spins in a Nanometre-Scale Device

by Go Yusa et al. Nature, 21 Apr 2005 The analytical technique of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is based on coherent quantum mechanical superposition of nuclear spin states. Recently, NMR has received considerable renewed interest in the context of quantum computation and information processing, which require controlled coherent qubit operations. However, standard NMR is not suitable for the implementation of realistic scalable devices, which would require all-electrical control and the means to detect microscopic quantities of coherent nuclear spins. Here we present a self-contained NMR semiconductor device that can control nuclear spins in a nanometre-scale region. Our approach enables the direct detection of (otherwise invisible) multiple quantum coherences between levels separated by more than one quantum of spin angular momentum. This microscopic high sensitivity NMR technique is especially suitable for probing materials whose nuclei contain multiple spin levels, and may form the basis of a versatile multiple qubit device. Read the article

NMR on a Chip

by Robert Tycko Nature, 21 Apr 2005 If a nanoscale gallium arsenide structure is excited with an oscillating magnetic field, superpositions of nuclear spin states can be created and detected electrically. Quantum computing could be the beneficiary. Read the article

Biorelevant Calcification and Non-Cytotoxic Behavior in Silicon Nanowires

by D. K. Nagesha, M. A. Whitehead, & J. L. Coffer Advanced Materials, 4 Apr 2005 Interest in one-dimensional nanostructures, most notably in the form of nanowires, has experienced phenominal growth due to their unique physical and chemical properties. Semiconductor nanowires in general, and Si nanowires in particular, have been the focus of intensive research due to their potential applications in the fields of biological and chemical sensors and electronic-device circuitry. One underutilized area of merit for this class of nanostructures lies in the realm of biomaterials. Read the article

Mobile Dual-Core CPUs In Works At Intel, AMD

by Alexander Wolfe, InformationWeek, 22 Apr 2005 The dual-core duel between Intel and AMD is only the beginning of a technology race, which will grow more intense as the battleground shifts toward the end of this year from desktop and server processors to the previously unexploited territory of the mobile space. Read the article

Sensor Ups Sensitivity to TNT

by Chappell Brown EE Times, 25 Apr 2005 A research group at MIT has found a way to effect a thirtyfold increase in the sensitivity of explosives sensors based on organic polymers. Creating laser action in the polymer films made them highly sensitive to TNT molecules, the team found. Read the article

Nanoscience Makes This Chemist See Green

by R. Colin Johnson EE Times, 25 Apr 2005 A pioneer in green nanotechnology, University of Oregon professor James Hutchison proposes creating safety-approved nanoscale building blocks -- nanoparticle lines and arrays -- that would integrate smoothly with existing silicon chip-processing steps. Read the article

Inventor Creates Soundless Sound System

by Typh Tucker USATODAY.com, 22 Apr 2005 Elwood Norris pointed a metal frequency emitter at one of perhaps 30 people who had come to see his invention. The emitter -- an aluminum square -- was hooked up by a wire to a CD player. Norris switched on the CD player. "There's no speaker, but when I point this pad at you, you will hear the waterfall," said the 63-year-old Californian. And one by one, each person in the audience did, and smiled widely. Read the article

Digital Library Network for Engineering and Technology

The Digital Library Network for Engineering and Technology (DLNET) is a project funded by the National Science Digital Library initiative of the National Science Foundation. DLNET is envisaged as a repository to archive "Learning Objects" (LOs) as well as a platform for information discovery, interaction, content-building and distribution that will support pedagogy and learning in Engineering and Technology. It is a collaborative effort of four institutions, namely, the American Society for Engineering Education, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., Iowa State University, and Virginia Tech. Visit the website

Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy

Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy, a new peer-reviewed, open access journal, has launched publication. The e-journal provides a platform for the dissemination of new practices and for dialogue emerging out of the field of sustainability. It includes peer-reviewed full-text articles, guest editorials, and community essays. Each issue presents a symposium exploring the sustainability issues relating to the topic. Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy will be published twice a year and will be available at no charge. Articles for issues in progress will be posted after completing the peer-review and editorial process. Visit the website

3-D Simulations

Three-dimensional (3-D) rendering and animation technology is not only used for entertainment, but also for research and educational purposes. The technology can be used for purposes of scientific simulation in fields such as physics, biology, or chemistry. For example, Stanford University's Folding@home project uses 3-D simulations and distributed computing to study protein folding, misfolding, aggregation, and related diseases. Three-D simulations can also be used to observe phenomena that would normally be impossible to scrutinize in detail, as is demonstrated on this website on Nanorobotics. This next website describes work by the Robotics Research Group in using 3-D simulations to enhance undergraduate and graduate engineering education. The EdCenter makes available several compressed files of 3-D simulations that model earthquake data, Mars, a San Diego Fly Through, and more. On this website, Martin Baker provides "all you need to know about 3D theory" and this website provides access to a free open-source software package which "makes it easy to build 3-D simulations of decentralized systems and artificial life." This last article from Cyberbotics, Ltd. discusses how mobile robotics simulation programs can be used to design robots. [from The NSDL Scout Report for Math, Engineering, and Technology, 22 Apr 2005 - Copyright Susan Calcari and the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, 1994-2005]

CAD Resources Library

This section of Virtual Library, started by Tim Berners-Lee, provides educational resources on CAD. CAD software, used for drafting architectural and engineering drawings and for making technical illustrations in general, is widely used by engineering professionals and students. The website provides links to "important CAD resources associated with the CAD industry." The resources are organized into the following sections: Organizations Associated with CAD; CAD Research and Artificial Intelligence Links; CAD Directories, Gateways and News Centers; Important CAD Review Resources; CAD Magazines, Journals and Newsletters; and CAD Software Programs. Visitors are invited to make recommendations for additions to the library. [from The NSDL Scout Report for Math, Engineering, and Technology, 22 Apr 2005 - Copyright Susan Calcari and the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, 1994-2005] Visit the website

ROADNet

The ROADNet project at the University of California at San Diego aims to bring "the information superhighway to the dirt road and the high seas." In other words, ROADNet researchers are working to build wireless networks to stream remote field data and then develop an integrated information management system to deliver the data in real-time to multiple users. The website describes some of ROADNet's field research studies, which provide a heterogeneous test bed for developing the proposed integrated information network. Field studies in California include ecological and hydroclimate studies as well as projects on coastal and ocean monitoring. Information on the project's data management tools and technical advice for those working to develop sensors is posted here. Visitors to the website can also view video footage of real-time data from the project's field projects and get updates on which projects in the network are online. Publications, presentations and photos provide additional background information on the project and its research. [from The NSDL Scout Report for Math, Engineering, and Technology, 22 Apr 2005 - Copyright Susan Calcari and the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, 1994-2005] Visit the website

Advanced Topics in Aerodynamics

This web site, authored by Antonio Filippone, a researcher affiliated with The University of Manchester's Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, Civil Engineering, is a well-organized resource on aerodynamics, aeronautics and propulsion systems. The information provided here may appeal to those with a general interest in aerodynamics, as well as those with a relatively advanced understanding of aerodynamics and fluid dynamics. Each topic area begins with graphics, figures, tables, and summary overviews before continuing on to a more in-depth discussion of the topic. Additional references and reviews of those texts are also provided for those interested in further reading on the subject. The Data Base section includes tables with wing aspect ratios, drag coefficients and levels, rotor performance data, and engine data, as well as links to sections of the website that provide other aerodynamics-related data. A site map and search function makes this an easy website to navigate. [from The NSDL Scout Report for Math, Engineering, and Technology, 22 Apr 2005 - Copyright Susan Calcari and the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, 1994-2005] Visit the website

Inventions and Innovations

The US Department of Energy's (DOE's) Inventions and Innovation (I&I) website is a resource for inventors interested in energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. The Inventions and Innovation (I&I) offers "financial and technical support to inventors and businesses for promising energy-saving concepts and technologies." Grant application information is available from this website along with several other resources, such as handbooks, directories and factsheets. Some examples of topics covered in the factsheets, which are free to download, include solar energy, wind, hydropower, hydrogen fuel cells, and vehicle technologies. The EnergyTech database, available from this website, provides online resources that pertain to every stage of energy technology development and commercialization. The News and Events sections are updated regularly with information on upcoming conferences and recent developments by I&I grantees. [from The NSDL Scout Report for Math, Engineering, and Technology, 22 Apr 2005 - Copyright Susan Calcari and the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, 1994-2005] Visit the website

Toward a Universal Memory

by Johan Åkerman Science, 22 Apr 2005 Today's electronic gadgets, such as digital cameras and mp3 players, often contain three different types of memory, because none of these memory types-static random access memory, dynamic random access memory, and Flash-can fulfill all memory requirements of these devices. In his Perspective, Åkerman discusses magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), a promising candidate for a "universal memory" that combines all the strengths and none of the weaknesses of the existing memory types. Several companies have succeeded in creating multi-megabyte MRAM prototypes, suggesting that large-scale introduction of MRAM devices to the market is not far off. Read the article

How to Build a Superlens

by David R. Smith Science, 22 Apr 2005 Conventional lenses are subject to the diffraction limit, which means that they cannot resolve objects placed closer together than one-half of the wavelength of the illuminating light. As Smith explains in his Perspective, this limit occurs because conventional optical components leave behind the electromagnetic "near-fields" -- those components that contain the subwavelength spatial information about an object. In 2000, John Pendry proposed a new type of imaging device, based on a material with a negative index of refraction, which could recover the near-fields. Using a thin silver film as a superlens, Fang et al. now demonstrate that negative refraction can indeed produce a high-resolution optical image, opening the door to a new breed of optical devices and applications. Read the article

Sub-Diffraction-Limited Optical Imaging with a Silver Superlens

by Nicholas Fang et al. Science, 22 Apr 2005 Recent theory has predicted a superlens that is capable of producing sub-diffraction-limited images. This superlens would allow the recovery of evanescent waves in an image via the excitation of surface plasmons. Using silver as a natural optical superlens, we demonstrated sub-diffraction-limited imaging with 60-nanometer half-pitch resolution, or one-sixth of the illumination wavelength. By proper design of the working wavelength and the thickness of silver that allows access to a broad spectrum of subwavelength features, we also showed that arbitrary nanostructures can be imaged with good fidelity. The optical superlens promises exciting avenues to nanoscale optical imaging and ultrasmall optoelectronic devices. Read the article

POSIX: Reveling in Its Popularity

by Ben Ames Military & Aerospace Electronics, 20 Apr 2005 Military embedded-system designers are turning toward POSIX for their real-time operating systems needs. Meanwhile RTOS vendors continue to meet the many security standards required for mission-critical applications. Read the article

Japanese Enable Human Area Network

by Lester Haines Channel Register, 23 Mar 2005 RedTacton PC card prototypeJapanese company Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation claims to have developed the first viable Human Area Network device, enabling fast data transfer between devices using the human body as a conduit. Read the article

New Material Could Make for Terahertz-Speed Optical Switching

by Alexander Hellemans IEEE Spectrum Online, 23 Mar 2005 Light may move fast, but it generally takes its time to change a material's electrical properties. But now a Franco-Japanese team has turned an insulator into a conductor in just 2 picoseconds, a 50-fold speedup that should catapult optical switching from the gigahertz to the terahertz range. Read the article

Superconductors Set Course for Wireless

by Chappell Brown CommsDesign, 28 Mar 2005 Is software-defined radio the killer application for superconducting electronics? That question is on the minds of executives at Hypres Inc. (Elmsford, N.Y.) as they scout markets for the specialized technology. Read the article

MEMS Makers’ Efforts Bear Fruit as Apple Embraces Sensor

by David Forman Small Times, 28 Mar 2005 If there is any one company whose use of a new technology signals that innovation’s arrival in the mainstream, it is Apple Computer. Apple’s use of the computer mouse and the graphical user interface 20 years ago catapulted those technologies into homes and offices as other computer makers adopted them in a rush to compete. Read the article

Sensitivity Gains in Chemosensing by Lasing Action in Organic Polymers

by Aimee Rose et al. Nature, 14 Apr 2005 Societal needs for greater security require dramatic improvements in the sensitivity of chemical and biological sensors. To meet this challenge, increasing emphasis in analytical science has been directed towards materials and devices having highly nonlinear characteristics; semiconducting organic polymers (SOPs), with their facile excited state (exciton) transport, are prime examples of amplifying materials. SOPs have also been recognized as promising lasing materials, although the susceptibility of these materials to optical damage has thus far limited applications. Here we report that attenuated lasing in optically pumped SOP thin films displays a sensitivity to vapours of explosives more than 30 times higher than is observed from spontaneous emission. Critical to this achievement was the development of a transducing polymer with high thin-film quantum yield, a high optical damage threshold in ambient atmosphere and a record low lasing threshold. Trace vapours of the explosives 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and 2,4-dinitrotoluene (DNT) introduce non-radiative deactivation pathways that compete with stimulated emission. We demonstrate that the induced cessation of the lasing action, and associated sensitivity enhancement, is most pronounced when films are pumped at intensities near their lasing threshold. The combined gains from amplifying materials and lasing promise to deliver sensors that can detect explosives with unparalleled sensitivity. Read the article

New Wave of Electrical Wires Inches Closer to Market

by Robert F. Service Science, 15 Apr 2005 The performance of wires made from yttrium, barium, copper, and oxygen is getting tantalizingly close to what is needed to compete with conventional conductors. Read the article

Comment on "Grain Boundary-Mediated Plasticity in Nanocrystalline Nickel"

by Mingwei Chen & Xiaoqin Yan Science, 15 Apr 2005 Nanograin rotation via grain boundary sliding has been predicted as an important deformation mode in nanocrystalline materials as grain sizes approach less than 10 nm. However, definite experimental evidence beyond molecular dynamics simulations has been long sought. Recently, Shan et al. reported in situ straining dark-field transmission electron microscope observations of grain rotation in nanocrystalline Ni and claimed that the plastic deformation of nano-Ni is mediated by this grain boundary behavior. Although the experimental results reported by Shan et al. are interesting, their assessment and analysis of the TEM images are problematic. Using the images presented we have quantitatively measured the relative displacements and grain sizes. Both results suggest that the grain rotation and associated contrast change reported by Shan et al. more likely come from low-temperature nanograin growth, caused by electron-beam irradiation and applied stresses, than from plastic deformation. Read the article

Fragmentation and Flow Regulation of the World's Large River Systems

by Christer Nilsson et al. Science, 15 Apr 2005 A global overview of dam-based impacts on large river systems shows that over half (172 out of 292) are affected by dams, including the eight most biogeographically diverse. Dam-impacted catchments experience higher irrigation pressure and about 25 times more economic activity per unit of water than do unaffected catchments. In view of projected changes in climate and water resource use, these findings can be used to identify ecological risks associated with further impacts on large river systems. Read the article

SEMATECH Identifies Top Technical Challenges for 2006; Adds Transistor Scaling

PhysOrg, 20 Apr 2005 SEMATECH today announced its Top Technical Challenges for 2006, continuing to underscore advanced gate stack, 193 nm immersion and EUV lithography, mask infrastructure, and low-k dielectrics with process compatibility. Consortium leaders also placed planar bulk transistor scaling on the list for the first time. Read the article

'Nano-Bumps' Could Help Repair Clogged Blood Vessels

PhysOrg, 20 Apr 2005 Biomedical engineers at Purdue University have shown that "vascular stents" used to repair arteries might perform better if their surfaces contained "nano-bumps" that mimic tiny features found in living tissues. The researchers already have shown in a series of experiments that bone and cartilage cells in petri dishes attach better to materials that possess smaller surface bumps than are found on conventional materials used to make artificial joints. The smaller features also stimulate the growth of more new bone tissue, which is critical for the proper attachment of artificial joints once they are implanted. Read the article

VoIP Meets WiFi: A New Alphabet Soup Spells Industry Upheaval

by The Associated Press Networking Pipeline, 20 Apr 2005 What do you get when you combine Voice over Internet telephony, Wi-Fi wireless access and cell phones? Aside from an acronym-induced headache, you get yet another new telephone technology with the potential to concuss an industry already whipsawed by tectonic change. Read the article

Internet2, HP To Test Model for High-Performance Networks

Networking Pipeline, 20 Apr 2005 Hewlett-Packard ProLiant DL360 G4 servers will be deployed in several U.S. cities to test a Hybrid Optical and Packet Infrastructure developed by Internet2. Read the article

Light-Induced Shape-Memory Polymers

by Andreas Lendlein et al. Nature, 14 Apr 2005 Materials are said to show a shape-memory effect if they can be deformed and fixed into a temporary shape, and recover their original, permanent shape only on exposure to an external stimulus. Shape-memory polymers have received increasing attention because of their scientific and technological significance. In principle, a thermally induced shape-memory effect can be activated by an increase in temperature (also obtained by heating on exposure to an electrical current or light illumination). Several papers have described light-induced changes in the shape of polymers and gels, such as contraction, bending or volume changes. Here we report that polymers containing cinnamic groups can be deformed and fixed into pre-determined shapes -- such as (but not exclusively) elongated films and tubes, arches or spirals -- by ultraviolet light illumination. These new shapes are stable for long time periods, even when heated to 50 °C, and they can recover their original shape at ambient temperatures when exposed to ultraviolet light of a different wavelength. The ability of polymers to form different pre-determined temporary shapes and subsequently recover their original shape at ambient temperatures by remote light activation could lead to a variety of potential medical and other applications. Read the article

Wimax to Plug Rural Broadband Gap

by Jane Wakefield BBC News, 20 Apr 2005 The technology may not be familiar to many, but Intel wants to put it firmly on the global broadband map. For developing nations, with poor fixed communication infrastructure, Wimax could offer a vital link to the digital world. Read the article

Negative Index of Refraction in Optical Metamaterials

by Vladimir M. Shalaev et al. arXiv.org e-Print Archive, 13 Apr 2005 An array of pairs of parallel gold nanorods is shown to have a negative refractive index in the optical range, close to a wavelength of 1 micron. Such behavior results from the plasmon resonance in the pairs of nanorods for both the electric and magnetic components of light. The metal rods act as inductive elements whereas the dielectric gaps perform as capacitive elements, forming an optical LC-circuit. Our experiments and simulations demonstrate the resonant behavior for an index of refraction. Above the resonance, the refractive index becomes negative. Paired metal nanorods open new opportunities for developing negative-refraction materials in optics. Read the article

Tetrabots Tumble into Action

by Will Knight New Scientist, 9 Apr 2005 Tiny tetrahedrons could one day help humans colonise other worlds, scout out suitable landing spots, build communication masts and erect solar shelters. A team of NASA scientists has begun manufacturing the first tetrahedral robots, which crawl across the laboratory floor by shape-shifting. These simple structures promise to be able to deal with uneven and unpredictable terrain more easily than wheeled or legged robots, because they can morph to get past obstacles. Read the article

Fuel Cell Squeezes More from Petrol

by David L. Chandler New Scientist, 9 Apr 2005 Twice as far on a single tank of fuel? That's the implication of a breakthrough in fuel-cell technology announced last week that promises to deliver almost twice the efficiency of today's most efficient cars. But while its makers hope the cell will help the world to use its oil more efficiently, others say it is a distraction from the real goal of weaning us off the black stuff entirely. Read the article

New Alloy Vastly Improves Radiation Shielding

New Scientist, 16 Apr 2005 Transporting spent nuclear fuel could be made safer by a new metal alloy that absorbs radiation 60 times as effectively as the boron-steel alloy that now lines nuclear waste containers. The new alloy is made by adding the rare-earth metal gadolinium to a nickel-based alloy. Gadolinium is already used in nuclear reactor control rods. A big plus is that it can be shaped using conventional techniques. It was invented at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, with the Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico and Idaho National Laboratory.

Future Spacecraft to Carry 'Black Boxes'

by Maggie McKee NewScientist.com, 15 Apr 2005 Small, heat-resistant "black boxes" will transmit data back to Earth when future space probes break up during re-entry to the Earth’s atmosphere, according to a development plan signed recently by NASA. The boxes will be used to improve spacecraft design for both human and robotic missions. Read the article

'Robotic' Dental Drill to be Tested on Humans

by Will Knight NewScientist.com, 20 Apr 2005 A “robotic” dentist's drill is to be tested on humans in Europe and the US, and could represent the first step towards more automated dental procedures. The drill, developed by Tactile Technologies, based in Rehovot, Israel, is designed to take the complexity out of dental implant work. It could make operations cheaper, quicker and less painful for patients, its developers claim. Read the article

Will Machines Ever Understand Us?

by Justin Mullins New Scientist, 9 Apr 2005 If you have ever called a directory enquiries or flight information service, the chances are that you have spent a few happy minutes speaking to a computer. And according to some business analysts, talking to a computer in this way will soon become an everyday experience, one that changes the way we live and work. This future relies on one enabling technology: voice-recognition software. Yet experts in the field can't decide quite how well things are progressing. Read the article

Whatever Happened to Machines That Think?

by Justin Mullins New Scientist, 23 Apr 2005 Clever computers are everywhere. From robotic lawnmowers to intelligent lighting, washing machines and even car engines that self-diagnose faults, there's a silicon brain in just about every modern device you can think of. But can you honestly call any machine intelligent in a meaningful sense of the word? Read the article

Randomly-Generated 'Scientific Paper' Accepted

NewScientist.com, 23 Apr 2005 Cutting-edge artificial intelligence it was not, but a student prank still managed to get the better of some human intelligences last week, when a computer-generated piece of gibberish was accepted as a genuine scientific paper. Read the article

Direct Observation of the Electron Spin Relaxation Induced by Nuclei in Quantum Dots

by P.-F. Braun et al. Physical Review Letters, 25 Mar 2005 We have studied the electron spin relaxation in semiconductor InAs/GaAs quantum dots by time-resolved optical spectroscopy. The average spin polarization of the electrons in an ensemble of p-doped quantum dots decays down to 1/3 of its initial value with a characteristic time TDelta[approximate]500 ps, which is attributed to the hyperfine interaction with randomly oriented nuclear spins. We show that this efficient electron spin relaxation mechanism can be suppressed by an external magnetic field as small as 100 mT. Read the article

Discotic Liquid Crystals with an Inverted Structure

by Sigurd Hoger et al Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 30 Mar 2005 (online) Discotic liquid crystals, first described by Chandrasekhar and co-workers 25 years ago, can be used for a variety of optical and electronic applications. Read the article

Organic Photodiodes on Newspaper

by B. Lamprecht et al. physica status solidi (a), 8 Mar 2005 (online) We report on the fabrication and characterization of organic photodiodes deposited on ordinary newspaper sheets. Parylene acts as water and chemical barrier layer, an ORMOCER layer serves as an excellent smoothing and base layer for the diodes, which correspond to classical Tang-type bilayer cells. The photodiodes show excellent diode behaviour in current-voltage measurements of the devices under dark and illumination conditions. The spectral response covers the UV and visible spectral range. Read the article

Overly Smart Buildings

by Ted Smalley Bowen Technology Research News, 20-17 Apr 2005 The notion of buildings as "machines for living in," as pioneering modernist architect Le Corbusier put it in the 1920s, morphs to fit the technologies and issues of the day. In the '70s, it was energy efficiency. In the '80s, computer technology spawned "smart" buildings sporting automated controls and pre-configured information systems. The latest crop of technologies include microelectromechanical systems that combine sensors and actuators, wireless sensor networks, and fuzzy logic control schemes, and has the makings of a sophisticated nervous system. Read the article

Microoptical Telescope Compound Eye

by Jacques W. Duparré et al. Optics Express, 7 Feb 2005 A new optical concept for compact digital image acquisition devices with large field of view is developed and proofed experimentally. Archetypes for the imaging system are compound eyes of small insects and the Gabor-Superlens. A paraxial 3x3 matrix formalism is used to describe the telescope arrangement of three microlens arrays with different pitch to find first order parameters of the imaging system. A 2mm thin imaging system with 21x3 channels, 70ºx10º field of view and 4.5mm x 0.5mm image size is optimized and analyzed using sequential and non-sequential raytracing and fabricated by microoptics technology. Anamorphic lenses, where the parameters are a function of the considered optical channel, are used to achieve a homogeneous optical performance over the whole field of view. Captured images are presented and compared to simulation results. Read the article

Exact Solution of a Jamming Transition: Closed Equations for a Bootstrap Percolation Problem

by Paolo De Gregorio et al. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 19 Apr 2005 Jamming, or dynamical arrest, is a transition at which many particles stop moving in a collective manner. In nature it is brought about by, for example, increasing the packing density, changing the interactions between particles, or otherwise restricting the local motion of the elements of the system. The onset of collectivity occurs because, when one particle is blocked, it may lead to the blocking of a neighbor. That particle may then block one of its neighbors, these effects propagating across some typical domain of size named the dynamical correlation length. When this length diverges, the system becomes immobile. Even where it is finite but large the dynamics is dramatically slowed. Such phenomena lead to glasses, gels, and other very long-lived nonequilibrium solids. The bootstrap percolation models are the simplest examples describing these spatio-temporal correlations. We have been able to solve one such model in two dimensions exactly, exhibiting the precise evolution of the jamming correlations on approach to arrest. We believe that the nature of these correlations and the method we devise to solve the problem are quite general. Both should be of considerable help in further developing this field. Read the article

Electrical Addressing of Confined Quantum Systems for Quasiclassical Computation and Finite State Logic Machines

by F. Remacle, J. R. Heath, & R. D. Levine Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 19 Apr 2005 Conduction spectroscopy measures the current I through a nanosystem as a function of the voltage V between two electrodes. The differential conductance, dI/dV, has peaks that can be assigned to resonance conditions with different electronic levels of the system. Between these increments, the current has roughly constant plateaus. We discuss how measurements of the current vs. voltage can be used to perform Boolean operations and hence construct finite state logic machines and combinational circuits. The inputs to the device are the source-drain voltage, including its sign, and a gate voltage applied in a manner analogous to optical Stark spectroscopy. As simple examples, we describe a two-state set-reset machine (a machine whose output depends on the input and also on its present state) and a full adder circuit (a circuit that requires three inputs and provides two outputs). Read the article

Body-Centered-Cubic Ni and Its Magnetic Properties

by C. S. Tian et al. Physical Review Letters, 8 Apr 2005 The body-centered-cubic (bcc) phase of Ni, which does not exist in nature, has been achieved as a thin film on GaAs(001) at 170 K via molecular beam epitaxy. The bcc Ni is ferromagnetic with a Curie temperature of 456 K and possesses a magnetic moment of 0.52±0.08µB/atom. The cubic magnetocrystalline anisotropy of bcc Ni is determined to be +4.0×105 ergs·cm-3, as opposed to -5.7×104 ergs·cm-3 for the naturally occurring face-centered-cubic (fcc) Ni. This sharp contrast in the magnetic anisotropy is attributed to the different electronic band structures between bcc Ni and fcc Ni, which are determined using angle-resolved photoemission with synchrotron radiation. Read the article

Future Looks Bright for OLED Displays

by Paul Kallender & Dan Nystedt PCWorld.com, 19 Apr 2005 The growing number of electronics devices using organic light emitting diode displays shows that, after years of promise, the technology is finding a home in more and more products. But while OLED displays might challenge LCDs as the screens of choice for smaller gadgets, don't expect the technology to become mainstream for notebook PCs or TVs within this decade. Read the article

Three-Dimensional Display with a Long Viewing Distance by Use of Integral Photography

by Hongen Liao et al. Optics Letters, 15 Mar 2005 We developed a technique of three-dimensional (3-D) display for distant viewing of a 3-D image without the need for special glasses. The photobased integral photography (IP) method allows precise 3-D images to be displayed at long viewing distances without any influence from deviated or distorted lenses in a lens array. We calculate elemental images from a referential viewing area for each lens and project the corresponding result images to photographic film through each lens. We succeed in creating an image display that appears to have three dimensionality even when viewed from a distance, with an image depth of 5.7 m or more in front of the display and 3.5 m or more behind the display. To the best of our knowledge, the long-distance IP display presented here is technically unique because it is the first report of generation of an image with such a long viewing distance. Read the article

Patent Highlights, 14 Apr 2005

The pick of this week's patents including laser apparatus for spotting submarines. • Method and apparatus for detecting submarines • Method and apparatus for labeling using diffraction grating-based encoded optical identification elements • LED disinfecting lamp Read the article

Cooling to 208 K by Optical Refrigeration

by J. Thiede et al. Applied Physics Letters, 11 Apr 2005 We report cooling to record low temperatures by optical refrigeration with ytterbium-doped zirconium-barium-lanthanum-aluminum-sodium-fluoride glass. The glass cooling element was mounted in vacuum in a low-thermal-emissivity chamber and pumped with the light from a diode-pumped solid state Yb:YAG (ytterbium-doped yttrium-aluminum-garnet) laser. Starting from room temperature, the glass cooling element reached a minimum temperature of ~208 K when pumped with ~10 W of 1026-nm light. The heat load at minimum temperature was ~29 mW. Read the article

It's Moore's Law, but Another Had the Idea First

by John Markoff New York Times, 18 Apr 2005 Forty years ago, Electronics magazine published Gordon E. Moore's celebrated article predicting that the number of transistors that could be placed on a silicon chip would continue to double at regular intervals for the foreseeable future. Named Moore's Law several years later by the physicist Carver Mead, that simple observation has proven to be the bulwark of the world's most remarkable industry. Yet Mr. Moore was not the only one -- or even the first -- to observe the so-called scaling effect that has led to the exponential acceleration of computing power that is now expected to continue at least for the next decade. Read the article

Using Advanced Physics to Find Concealed Weapons

by Matthew L. Wald New York Times, 14 Apr 2005 Three companies are racing to market a new form of technology for detecting concealed weapons, using physics borrowed from radio astronomy and manufacturing techniques from cellular phone makers. Read the article

Integration of Cell Membranes and Nanotube Transistors

by Keith Bradley et al. Nano Letters, 31 Mar 2005 (web release) We report the integration of a complex biological system and a nanoelectronic device, demonstrating that both components retain their functionality while interacting with each other. As the biological system, we use the cell membrane of Halobacterium salinarum. As the nanoelectronic device, we use a nanotube network transistor, which incorporates many individual nanotubes in such a way that entire patches of cell membrane are contacted by nanotubes. We demonstrate that the biophysical properties of the membrane are preserved, that the nanoelectronic devices still function as transistors, and that the two systems interact. Further, we use the interaction to study the charge distribution in the biological system, finding that the electric dipole of the membrane protein bacteriorhodopsin is located 2/3 of the way from the extracellular to the cytoplasmic side. Read the article

Pollution-Free Trams on the Fast Track

by Katrina C. Arabe Industrial Market Trends, 12 Apr 2005 Minitrams are ultra-light people movers that can travel autonomously on the road or along dedicated lines. Hop on the transportation system of the future. Read the article

Sprucing Up Engineering's Status

by Katrina C. Arabe Industrial Market Trends, 12 Apr 2005 U.S. students are losing interest in studying engineering and science -- a trend we can no longer afford to ignore, warns the CEO of Cisco Systems. Here's what we need to do to mend the trend. Read the article

Innovation: Pick of the Latest Patent Applications

fibers.org News, 12 Apr 2005 Joe McEntee reveals his pick of the latest patent applications in the field of optical networking. Read the article

Supercomputing Power Made Real

by Jo Twist BBC News, 17 Apr 2005 For computer users and gadget lovers, Moore's Law has been a welcome standard because it has meant technology keeps doing more for the same money or less. For the last four decades, Gordon Moore's prediction that integrated circuits would grow more complex has been the industry's benchmark, driving chip performance. It has meant that every couple of years, chip performance has doubled. But for supercomputers which rely on thousands of processors operating at once, a faster individual chip has not necessarily been a priority. Read the article

Intel Reveals Wimax Wireless Chip

BBC News, 18 Apr 2005 Tech giant Intel has unveiled a chip that gives access to wide-reaching wireless networks. The new chip uses Wimax, which enables broadband connections over several miles, unlike the short range of wi-fi used in specific locations. Read the article

Project to Open Internet to Blind

BBC News, 19 Apr 2005 A three-year project to improve blind access to the internet has started at Queen's University in Belfast. Researchers at the university are working to devise ways to guide the blind and visually impaired through the web, as part of the Enabled initiative. Read the article

Liquid-Filled Chips Cool Like Mini-Fridges

by Michael Kanellos ZDNet News, 18 Apr 2005 Purdue University can put a refrigerator in the palm of your hand. Researchers at the West Lafayette, Ind., university's mechanical engineering department are testing out "microchannel heatsinks" that could cool components inside lasers, weapons or future computers with a series of channels filled with chilled, circulating fluids. Read the article

NSF Program Solicitation - ADVANCE: Increasing the Participation and Advancement of Women in Academic Science and Engineering Careers

The goal of the ADVANCE program is to increase the representation and advancement of women in academic science and engineering careers, thereby contributing to the development of a more diverse science and engineering workforce. Creative strategies to realize this goal are sought from men and women. Members of underrepresented minority groups and individuals with disabilities are especially encouraged to apply. Proposals that address the participation and advancement of women from underrepresented minority groups are encouraged. Visit the website

Quantum Phase Transition of a Magnet in a Spin Bath

by H. M. Rønnow et al. Science, 15 Apr 2005 The excitation spectrum of a model magnetic system, LiHoF4, was studied with the use of neutron spectroscopy as the system was tuned to its quantum critical point by an applied magnetic field. The electronic mode softening expected for a quantum phase transition was forestalled by hyperfine coupling to the nuclear spins. We found that interactions with the nuclear spin bath controlled the length scale over which the excitations could be entangled. This generic result places a limit on our ability to observe intrinsic electronic quantum criticality. Read the article

Nanotube Hi-Rises Serve Up Solar Power for Military, Space Missions

AZoNano Nanotechnology News Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) scientists have grown towers composed of carbon nanotubes atop silicon wafers. The nanometer-scale towers, coated with special p-type and n-type semiconductor (p/n) junction materials used to generate current, increase the surface area available to produce electricity. Because photons are reflected from one tier of the structure to another, the towers enable each square centimeter of photovoltaic cell to extract more energy from sunlight, a critical requirement for weight-sensitive equipment carried by troops or launched into space. The cells could provide an alternate power source for the growing number of electronic devices soldiers use in the field, and for spacecraft, reducing their dependence upon heavy batteries. Read the article

Water Turbine Touted as the Wave of the Future

by Jill Davis OnEarth Magazine, Spring 2005 What do Korea's Uldolmok Strait, New York's East River and the ocean off the coast of Devon have in common? All three locations are in the process of implementing a new helical turbine to generate electricity. Invented by Alexander Gorlov, an engineer working at Northeastern University's Hydro-Pneumatic Power Laboratory in Boston, the turbine has been designed to collect energy from free-flowing water, regardless of the water's speed. The unique cross-flow design allows for the blades to turn regardless of the direction of the flow of the current and the turbine can be placed in the water in a variety of positions for maximum efficiency. Gorlov is still seeking support from environmental experts in the hopes that the commercial future of his project can be realized. Read the article

Ethernet's High-Wire Act

by Steven Cherry IEEE Spectrum Online, April 2005 The April issue of IEEE Spectrum discusses the need for a new standard to ensure quality of service for time-critical applications across the television. The article examines how the IEEE 802.1ah study group is working to fill this need and develop a standard that could ensure the high quality of service needed to transmit streaming multimedia over a wide-area Ethernet network that covers an entire city. Read the article

Hydrogen Fuel Cells Power TV News Crews

by Michael Kanellos ZDNet News, 12 Apr 2005 Jadoo Power Systems, based in Folsom, Calif., has developed hydrogen fuel cells for portable, professional video cameras that it claims are cheaper and last longer than conventional batteries. Camera operators also can swap fuel cell cartridges without powering down the camera, something that is not possible in all cameras with regular batteries. Read the article

NYC Subway Gets Computer Facelift

Associated Press Wired News, 10 Apr 2005 It's no surprise that transit snafu-weary New Yorkers are greeting with ambivalence this month's launch of fully computer-automated trains on a 22-mile line that intersects Manhattan and Brooklyn. L-line trains will run without conductors, except in emergencies, coasting along at preordained speeds and stopping automatically at stations, a lone train operator in the front car watching the controls. Read the article

Terrorist-Proof Buildings from New High-Tech Sensors

PhysOrg, 11 Apr 2005 Scientists have developed a new breed of sensors which can survive incredible levels of pressure and heat and that are helping researchers work out how to make buildings that could survive massive explosions. Read the article

Gigabit Networks Should Be National Priority

The United States should deploy widespread wired and wireless gigabit networks as a national priority, according to a white paper from the IEEE-USA Committee on Communications and Information Policy. Read the document

Control of Carbon Capping for Regrowth of Aligned Carbon Nanotubes

by Joseph F. AuBuchon, Li-Han Chen, & Sungho Jin Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 7 Apr 2005 The regrowth of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in a second growth stage after a first growth stage has been completely stopped has been found to be strongly related to the carbon capping present on their catalyst particles. It is shown that the undesirable carbon capping can be prevented from forming or removed and the nanotube growth can be rejuvenated by either control of plasma processing conditions during chemical vapor deposition or by inserting a room-temperature sputter etching process. The ability to cause sequential growth stages to take place in different directions makes it possible for us to clearly compare the occurrence and extent of CNT regrowth. Such a CNT regrowth process and understanding of controlling parameters can enable the creation of new nanowire configurations that could potentially be used for applications such as sharply bending nanointerconnections, nanosprings, bent AFM nanoprobes, or nanobarcodes. Read the article

Breakthrough Technology Accelerates Solid-State Lighting

PhysOrg, 11 Apr 2005 Scientists at the Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a method known as "SPE" to get significantly more light from white LEDs (light-emitting diodes) without requiring more energy. Read the article

Wireless USB Devices May Appear This Year

by Paul Kallender PCWorld.com, 11 Apr 2005 Version 1.0 of the Wireless USB (Universal Serial Bus) specification, which is being promoted as the successor to the USB data transfer method between electronics devices, should be approved by mid-May, according to an Intel representative. Read the article

Robotic Camel Riders Are Ready to Race

by Will Knight NewScientist.com, 11 Apr 2005 Camel racing is to be transformed as a spectator sport in the United Arab Emirates with robot riders taking the place of child jockeys. The remotely operated riders were developed following a ban on the use of jockeys under 16 years of age, imposed by the UAE Camel Racing Association in March 2004. Read the article

Experimental Demonstration of Pseudomorphic Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors with Cutoff Frequencies above 600 GHz

by Walid Hafez & Milton Feng Applied Physics Letters, 11 Apr 2005 Pseudomorphic InP/InGaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (PHBTs) using a compositionally graded collector (10% indium grading) and graded base (6% indium grading) to reduce the transit time of the device are reported. A 0.4×6 µm² HBT achieves excellent _T values of 604 GHz (associated _MAX=246 GHz) at a collector current density of 16.8 mA/µm², with a dc gain of 65 and a breakdown voltage of BV_CEO=1.7 V. Read the article

FBI Teaches Lesson In How To Break Into Wi-Fi Networks

by Humphrey Cheung Networking Pipeline, 7 Apr 2005 Millions of wireless access points are spread across the US and the world. About 70% percent of these access points are unprotected -- wide open to access by anyone who happens to drive by. The other 30% are protected by Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) and a small handful are protected by the new Wi-Fi Protected Access standard. At a recent Information Systems Security Association meeting in Los Angeles, a team of FBI agents demonstrated current WEP-cracking techniques and broke a 128 bit WEP key in about three minutes. Read the article

Lab Tests Wireless/Ethernet 'Triple Play' Services

by Loring Wirbel Networking Pipeline, 11 Apr 2005 The University of New Hampshire's interoperability lab, a fixture in local-area-networking worlds, made its initial foray into "triple-play" network testing. The LAN tests involved networks with wireless connections and an an analysis of packet traffic that included a mixture of data, voice and video. Read the article

Extreme Sensors Promise Better Protection for Buildings

by Roxanne Khamsi news@nature.com, 11 Apr 2005 A trio of newly developed sensors could help make buildings and transport infrastructure safer from fire or structural failure, say their creators. The fibre-optic sensors can survive situations of extreme heat and pressure, where ordinary electronic ones might fail. Read the article

Magnetic Directed Assembly of Molecular Junctions

by David P. Long et al. Applied Physics Letters, 11 Apr 2005 We present a technique for fabricating molecular junctions for molecular electronic devices. Silica microspheres are rendered magnetically susceptible and electrically conductive by the sequential deposition of nickel and gold films. The metallized microspheres undergo directed assembly into lithographically defined magnetic arrays functionalized with self-assembled monolayers of prototypical molecular wire candidates. We characterize the resulting junctions by scanning electron microscopy and measure their current-voltage characteristics. Magnetic directed assembly provides a wafer-level route for the fabrication of molecular junctions and opens up the potential for hybrid complementary metal-oxide semiconductor/molecular electronic applications. Read the article

SIP Wins for End-to-End VoIP

by Loring Wirbel EE Times, 11 Apr 2005 From a carrier's perspective, the turn to packetized voice has been touted as providing voice calls "too cheap to meter," irrespective of the distance between caller and call recipient. The advent of Session Initiation Protocol as a client software model has provided a similar promise for the hardware on which client platforms are based: derivatives of a single reference platform can provide ultracheap voice-over-Internet Protocol implementations for a telephony terminal adapter, a cable-TV adapter and even wireless links. Read the article

Asynch Pioneer Looks to Explore the Brain

by Ron Wilson EE Times, 11 Apr 2005 Steve Furber was a designer of the BBC Micro, the PC that introduced a generation of Britain's students to computing. He was the hardware architect of the first ARM processor and went on to direct the University of Manchester's Amulet program, which produced the first asynchronous implementation of a commercial microprocessor. Today Furber continues to explore asynchronous design at Manchester, where he is investigating how the human brain might be analyzed as a large asynchronous system. Read the article

VoIP Support Goes Deeper Than the Silicon

by Shaul Weissman EE Times, 11 Apr 2005 One of the few growth engines of communication products in the coming years is voice-over-Internet Protocol. What started five years ago as an immature technology is rapidly gaining momentum in both enterprise and carrier applications. Read the article

IBM, Sanyo Team on Fuel Cells for Notebooks

by Yoshiko Hara EE Times, 11 Apr 2005 Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. and IBM Japan will collaborate to develop a micro direct methanol fuel cell system for IBM's ThinkPad notebooks. Read the article

Engineers Should Be Leaders, Not Followers, of Green Construction

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10 Apr 2005 Starting today through Tuesday, Pittsburgh will host an unusual scientific meeting that will focus on the next generation technologies that will drive green construction and sustainable water use, as well as programs to create sustainable economies, two big and important subjects to everyone in the world. What makes "Engineering Sustainability 2005" unusual, however, is not the ideas that will be introduced, although they will be remarkable and inventive, but the fact that the meeting will be driven by engineers. Read the article

A Generalized Approach to the Modification of Solid Surfaces

by Du Yeol Ryu et al. Science, 8 Apr 2005 Interfacial interactions underpin phenomena ranging from adhesion to surface wetting. Here, we describe a simple, rapid, and robust approach to modifying solid surfaces, based on an ultrathin cross-linkable film of a random copolymer, which does not rely on specific surface chemistries. Specifically, thin films of benzocyclobutene-functionalized random copolymers of styrene and methyl methacrylate were spin coated or transferred, then thermally cross-linked on a wide variety of metal, metal oxide, semiconductor, and polymeric surfaces, producing a coating with a controlled thickness and well-defined surface energy. The process described can be easily implemented and adapted to other systems. Read the article

Forensic Engineering

The National Academy of Forensic Engineers provides a short definition of forensic engineering as: "the application of the art and science of engineering in matters which are in, or may possibly relate to the jurisprudence system, inclusive of alternative dispute resolution." Specialty areas in forensic engineering include fire investigation, industrial accidents, product liability, traffic accidents, civil engineering and transportation disasters, and environmental systems failures. For example, forensic engineers investigate structural collapses, such as the 2004 Paris Airport collapse described in this article from the Institution of Structural Engineers. This website from Materials Evaluation and Engineering, Inc. points out that materials engineering is useful in product failure analysis because many products fail due to materials problems. Given the role forensic engineers play in legal disputes, research in forensic engineering is also a topic on this engineering ethics website. Forensic-Evidence.com offers The Forensic Center Newsletter, which aims "to stimulate interdisciplinary efforts and research that unite, explore, and advance knowledge in the broad areas of law, medicine, and forensic sciences." This website from the Engineering Forensics Research Institute provides some examples of current research in forensic engineering. Finally, Glendale High School offers this Civil Structures Module as a resource for teaching about topics related to forensic engineering, using the 1981 Kansas City Hyatt Regency walkway collapse as an example for analysis. [from The NSDL Scout Report for Math, Engineering, and Technology, 8 Apr 2005 - Copyright Susan Calcari and the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, 1994-2005]

International Human Powered Vehicle Association

The International Human Powered Vehicle Association is an association of national associations and organizations who are "dedicated to promoting improvement, innovation and creativity in the use of human power, especially in the design and development of human-powered vehicles." The website provides updates on the world of human-powered vehicles, such as upcoming world championships and innovations in bicycle technology. The Source Guide includes links to directories with details on human-powered vehicle providers and companies selling materials needed for bicycle builders. The Library provides information on video, software, books and periodicals, while the Builder's Corner section offers how-to articles and guides. Information on human-powered vehicle races and schools with Human Powered Vehicle programs is also provided. [from The NSDL Scout Report for Math, Engineering, and Technology, 8 Apr 2005 - Copyright Susan Calcari and the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, 1994-2005] Visit the website

University of Toronto: Department of Civil Engineering

This website highlights civil engineering research projects from the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Toronto. Its research projects are intentionally chosen for their potential to "make significant contributions, ensuring that the interests of society, the economy and the environment are well-served." Some examples of topics addressed by the various research projects include: Sustainable Infrastructure, Building Science, Concrete Materials, Engineering GeoScience, Structural Engineering, and Transportation Engineering and Planning. Included here are descriptions of specific projects, which in many cases are accompanied by photographs. For example, the Building Science section includes a "walking tour" of photos of various problems in buildings (i.e., rotting wood or moisture in masonry) along with a discussion of problem causes and solutions. [from The NSDL Scout Report for Math, Engineering, and Technology, 8 Apr 2005 - Copyright Susan Calcari and the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, 1994-2005] Visit the website

Wi-Fi Switch Makers Search for Standard

by Marguerite Reardon ZDNet News, 8 Apr 2005 As large companies install Wi-Fi in their offices, equipment suppliers are challenged to come up with a new standard that will allow gear from different companies to work together. Read the article

Gordon Moore: His Law Turns 40

by Michael Kanellos ZDNet News, 7 Apr 2005 Gordon Moore is one of the founding fathers of Silicon Valley and one of the few still alive. His famous dictum turns 40 on April 19. He spoke to reporters recently about the electronics industry's progress, artificial intelligence, the emergence of China and the early days of the industry. Read the article

Philadelphia Reveals Wi-Fi Plan

by Jim Hu & Marguerite Reardon ZDNet News, 7 Apr 2005 The city of Philadelphia on Thursday unveiled a controversial plan to transform its streets and neighborhoods into a gigantic wireless Internet hotspot. If approved, the project will offer low-cost wireless broadband access throughout the city's 135-square-mile area. Read the article

AMD's Dual-Core Opteron Due This Month

by Stephen Shankland ZDNet News, 7 Apr 2005 Advanced Micro Devices is expected to launch new Opteron chips later this month that combine dual processing engines on a single slice of silicon. Read the article

MIT, Quanta Cook Up Devices of Tomorrow

by Matt Hines ZDNet News, 8 Apr 2005 Forget about laptops and handhelds. Twenty years from now all you'll need to communicate, compute and gain access to your information is an authentication device that links up with your home-based back-end systems. Read the article

Windmills in the Sky

by David Cohn Wired News, 6 Apr 2005 Australian engineer Bryan Roberts wants to build a power station in the sky -- a cluster of flying windmills soaring 15,000 feet in the air -- but is having trouble raising enough money to get the project off the ground. Read the article

Underwater Bot Roams the Seas

by Stephen Leahy Wired News, 6 Apr 2005 Oceangoing underwater robots are the new fish in the sea scientists are using to explore Earth's final frontier. The water bots are gathering data that could provide valuable insights into climate change and other environmental concerns. Read the article

Necklacelike Solitons in Optically Induced Photonic Lattices

by J. Yang et al. Physical Review Letters, 25 Mar 2005 We report the first observation of stationary necklacelike solitons. Such necklace structures were realized when a high-order vortex beam was launched appropriately into a two-dimensional optically induced photonic lattice. Our theoretical results obtained with continuous and discrete models show that the necklace solitons resulting from a charge-4 vortex have a pi phase difference between adjacent "pearls" and are formed in an octagon shape. Their stability region is identified. Read the article

Water-Driven Programmable Polyurethane Shape Memory Polymer: Demonstration and Mechanism

by W. M. Huang & B. Yang Applied Physics Letters, 14 March 2005 We demonstrate the new features of a polyurethane shape memory polymer: water-driven actuation and recovery in sequence (i.e., programmable). Hydrogen bonding is identified as the reason behind these features. In addition, the absorbed water is quantitatively separated into two parts, namely, the free water and bound water. Their individual contribution on the glass transition temperature is identified. Read the article

Tough Material Gets Functional

Technology Research News, 6-13 Apr 2005 A University of California at San Diego researcher has made several useful versions of a metallic material that is as stiff as steel but only half as dense. Read the article

Direct Observation of Bloch Harmonics and Negative Phase Velocity in Photonic Crystal Waveguides

by H. Gersen et al. Physical Review Letters, 1 Apr 2005 The eigenfield distribution and the band structure of a photonic crystal waveguide have been measured with a phase-sensitive near-field scanning optical microscope. Bloch modes, which consist of more than one spatial frequency, are visualized in the waveguide. In the band structure, multiple Brillouin zones due to zone folding are observed, in which positive and negative dispersion is seen. The negative slopes are shown to correspond to a negative phase velocity but a positive group velocity. The lateral mode profile for modes separated by one reciprocal lattice vector is found to be different. Read the article

NASA to Begin Test of 20-Meter Solar Sail

PhysOrg, 7 Apr 2005 NASA engineers and their industry partners are preparing to test two 20-meter (66-feet) long solar sail propulsion system designs -- a critical milestone in development of a unique propulsion technology using the Sun's energy that could lead to future deep space missions. Read the article

Nanobridges Show Way to Nano Mass Production

PhysOrg, 7 Apr 2005 They look like an elegant row of columns, tiny enough for atomic-scale hide-and-seek, but these colonnades represent a new way to bring nanotechnology into mass production. Read the article

Prototyping a Secure Multipurpose, Mobile Chip

PhysOrg, 8 Apr 2005 A powerful, high-capacity chip currently under development has the potential to revolutionise daily life, doing away with many of the identity documents, credit cards and passwords people have to use each day. Read the article

The Car Wants a Word with You

PhysOrg, 8 Apr 2005 Cars are now able to speak by means of sensors attached to wheel rims and seats. With the new technology a car tells you if the tyre pressures are too low or the driver is falling asleep. Intelligent tyres and seats increase driving comfort. The Technical Research Centre of Finland, Nokian Tyres, and Emfit Oy are merging information technology solutions, some of which are already known while others are still being developed, and turning them into something that is an everyday feature of traffic safety. Read the article

Does Security Run in Your Veins?

Does Security Run in Your Veins? by Paul Kallender PCWorld.com, 7 Apr 2005 Fujitsu and its research arm, Fujitsu Laboratories, have developed a smaller version of their palm vein pattern authentication system that Fujitsu plans to put on sale in Japan before the end of March, the company said this week. Read the article

Artificial Vision Gets Resolution Boost

by Oliver Graydon optics.org News, 7 Apr 2005 An artificial vision system with a performance that is allegedly good enough to recognize faces, read large fonts and watch TV has been designed by a team of scientists at Stanford University in the US. Read the article

Bionic Suit Offers Wearers Super-Strength

by John Boyd New Scientist, 9 Apr 2005 A robot suit has been developed that could help older people or those with disabilities to walk or lift heavy objects. Dubbed HAL, or hybrid assistive limb, the latest versions of the suit will be unveiled this June at the 2005 World Expo in Aichi, Japan, which opened last month. Read the article

Autonomous Spacecraft Finally Ready for Launch

by Maggie McKee NewScientist.com, 4 Apr 2004 A NASA mission designed to test "auto-pilot" techniques in space is gearing up for launch on 15 April, after six months of delays that cost $15 million. The Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology spacecraft was originally scheduled to blast off in October 2004. But an extraordinary series of unfortunate events forced repeated postponements of the launch. Read the article

Fireproofing Key to Twin Towers' Collapse

by Will Knight NewScientist.com, 6 Apr 2005 Ineffective fireproofing and a shortage of staircases are highlighted in a preliminary federal safety report into the attacks on the World Trade Center, issued by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on Tuesday. The study is likely to have a significant effect on the future design of skyscrapers and on building regulations in the US. Read the article

Sony Patent Takes First Step towards Real-Life Matrix

by Jenny Hogan & Barry Fox New Scientist, 9 Apr 2005 Imagine movies and computer games in which you get to smell, taste and perhaps even feel things. That's the tantalising prospect raised by a patent on a device for transmitting sensory data directly into the human brain -- granted to none other than the entertainment giant Sony. Read the article

Non-Acoustic Sensors Detect Speech without Sound

by David Hambling New Scientist, 9 Apr 2005 Just think how eerie it would be, yet also how peaceful -- people all around having conversations on their mobile phones, but without uttering a sound. Thanks to some military research, this social nirvana just might come true. Read the article

WLANs Mired in Standards Struggle

by Dave Molta Network Computing, 14 Apr 2005 Although "wireless switching" has become the favored architecture for enterprise wireless LANs, no standards for the interaction between access points and wireless controllers exist. Read the article

Materials Library Has the Right Stuff

by Roxanne Khamsi Nature Materials Update, 30 Mar 2005 Tucked away in the basement of the engineering department in King's College London, a unique collection of substances is growing. Its curator, Mark Miodownik, hopes that his 'materials library' will help artists looking for inspiration, and scientists seeking substances with particular properties. Read the article

Is the Lotus Leaf Superhydrophobic?

by Yang-Tse Cheng Applied Physics Letters, 4 April 2005 Superhydrophobic surfaces have important technical applications ranging from self-cleaning window glasses, paints, and fabrics to low-friction surfaces. The archetype superhydrophobic surface is that of the lotus leaf. When rain falls on lotus leaves, water beads up with a contact angle in the superhydrophobic range of about 160°. The water drops promptly roll off the leaves collecting dirt along the way. This lotus effect has, in recent years, stimulated much research effort worldwide in the fabrication of surfaces with superhydrophobicity. But, is the lotus surface truly superhydrophobic? This work shows that the lotus leaves can be either hydrophobic or hydrophilic, depending on how the water gets on to their surfaces. This finding has significant ramifications on how to make and use superhydrophobic surfaces. Read the article

Helical Nanobelts Roll Up for Devices

nanotechweb.org News, 7 Apr 2005 Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute and the University of Basel, both in Switzerland, have worked out how to control the formation of helical nanobelts from strips of semiconductor. The scientists found they could tailor the design of the spirals by altering parameters such as the width of the belt, its crystal direction and the shape of its tip. Read the article

Firefighters Seek Study Of Cell Health Effects

InformationWeek, 7 Apr 2005 The International Association of Fire Fighters said April 7 it is seeking funding for a study on whether cell towers and related wireless equipment pose a threat to its members. Read the article

Stanford Law Professor Raps Patents As Barrier To Innovation

by Charles Babcock InformationWeek, 7 Apr 2005 Lawrence Lessig, Stanford University law professor, author, and member of the board of the Free Software Foundation, urged open-source developers Wednesday to actively oppose the use of patents to tie up software functionality. Read the article

Intel, HP Fund Effort To Boost Itanium Compiler Performance

by Alexander Wolfe InformationWeek, 6 Apr 2005 In an effort to boost the prospects for Intel's high-end Itanium processor, Intel and Hewlett-Packard are funding a program to develop improved compilers capable of generating faster-running code for the chip. Read the article

The Twists of Carbon Nanotubes

by Paul Glatkowski, Phillip Wallis, & Michael Trottier oemagazine, April 2005 Transparent conductors are an essential component in many optoelectronic devices, including reflective and transmissive displays. Transparent conducting oxides such as indium tin oxide (ITO) have been the preferred choice for four decades. ITO has some rather significant limitations, however. Carbon nanotubes applied in very thin layers (less than 100 nm) form highly transparent conductive films, making them an economically viable alternative to ITO. Read the article

Photonics in Defense

by Winn Hardin oemagazine, April 2005 Defense and security continue to be high-activity sectors for photonics technology. In particular, photonic technology can provide remote intelligence data, whether the targets are on land or at sea. We take a look at some photonic solutions to detection problems, and see how far the technology has come. Read the article

Sandia Researchers Set Sights on Battlefield Robots

by Ben Ames Military & Aerospace Electronics, March 2005 Industrial robots can operate with great precision in controlled environments, such as building cars in a factory. They face a greater challenge, however, when they confront the outside environment where vibration shakes their tools, and weather blocks their sensors. Now researchers at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M., are building systems that combine the strengths of humans and robots. Read the article