| Engineers build computer using carbon nanotube technology Sep 25th 2013, 17:23 Silicon chips could soon hit physical limits preventing them from getting smaller and faster. Carbon nanotube technology has been seen as a potential successor. But so far no one's been able to put all the pieces together. Stanford's CNT computer is therefore an important proof of principle. And while this is a bare-bones device, the processes used to create the world's first CNT computer are designed to scale. |  | New multifunctional topological insulator material with combined superconductivity Sep 25th 2013, 13:21 Most materials show one function, for example, a material can be a metal, a semiconductor, or an insulator. Metals such as copper are used as conducting wires with only low resistance and energy loss. Superconductors are metals which can conduct current even without any resistance, although only far below room temperature. Semiconductors, the foundation of current computer technology, show only low conduction of current, while insulators show no conductivity at all. Physicists have recently been excited about a new exotic type of materials, so-called topological insulators. A topological insulator is insulating inside the bulk like a normal insulator, while on the surface it shows conductivity like a metal. When a topological insulator is interfaced with a superconductor, a mysterious particle called Majorana fermion emerges, which can be used to fabricate a quantum computer that can run much more quickly than any current computer. | | New multifunctional topological insulator material with combined superconductivity Sep 25th 2013, 13:21 Most materials show one function, for example, a material can be a metal, a semiconductor, or an insulator. Metals such as copper are used as conducting wires with only low resistance and energy loss. Superconductors are metals which can conduct current even without any resistance, although only far below room temperature. Semiconductors, the foundation of current computer technology, show only low conduction of current, while insulators show no conductivity at all. Physicists have recently been excited about a new exotic type of materials, so-called topological insulators. A topological insulator is insulating inside the bulk like a normal insulator, while on the surface it shows conductivity like a metal. When a topological insulator is interfaced with a superconductor, a mysterious particle called Majorana fermion emerges, which can be used to fabricate a quantum computer that can run much more quickly than any current computer. | | Enormous catalog of more than 300,000 nearby galaxies Sep 24th 2013, 00:03 More than 83,000 volunteer citizen scientists. Over 16 million galaxy classifications. Information on more than 300,000 galaxies. This is what you get when you ask the public for help in learning more about our universe. | | Brain may rely on computer-like mechanism to make sense of novel situations Sep 23rd 2013, 21:59 Our brains give us the remarkable ability to make sense of situations we've never encountered before -- a familiar person in an unfamiliar place, for example, or a coworker in a different job role -- but the mechanism our brains use to accomplish this has been a longstanding mystery of neuroscience. Now, researchers have demonstrated that our brains could process these new situations by relying on a method similar to the "pointer" system used by computers. "Pointers" are used to tell a computer where to look for information stored elsewhere in the system to replace a variable. | | New password in a heartbeat Sep 23rd 2013, 21:59 Researchers propose a system to prevent cyberattacks on pacemakers, defibrillators and other devices that use wireless communications. | | Stretchable, foldable transparent electronic display created Sep 23rd 2013, 18:37 Imagine an electronic display nearly as clear as a window, or a curtain that illuminates a room, or a smartphone screen that doubles in size, stretching like rubber. Now imagine all of these being made from the same material. Researchers have developed a transparent, elastic organic light-emitting device, or OLED, that could one day make all these possible. | | Headway towards quantum information transfer via nanomechanical coupling Sep 23rd 2013, 18:37 Fiber optics has made communication faster than ever, but the next step involves a quantum leap –– literally. In order to improve the security of the transfer of information, scientists are working on how to translate electrical quantum states to optical quantum states in a way that would enable ultrafast, quantum-encrypted communications. | | Magnetic nanowires: Domain walls as new information storage medium Sep 23rd 2013, 13:27 While searching for ever smaller devices that can be used as data storage systems and novel sensors, physicists have directly observed magnetization dynamics processes in magnetic nanowires and thus paved the way for further research in the field of nanomagnetism. Small magnetic domain wall structures in nanowires can be used to store information and, for example, can be used as angle sensors. Initial applications based on magnetic domain walls have been developed and are already in use in sensor technology. | | Plankton Portal uses crowd-sourcing to classify strange oceanic creatures Sep 17th 2013, 13:03 Today, an online citizen-science project "Plankton Portal" launches. Plankton Portal allows you to explore the open ocean from the comfort of your own home. Dive hundreds of feet deep, and observe the unperturbed ocean and the myriad animals that inhabit the earth's last frontier. | | Tracking criminal movement using math Sep 12th 2013, 17:21 A mathematical model has been developed that analyzes criminal movement in terms of a Lévy flight, a pattern in which criminals tend to move locally as well as in large leaps to other areas. | | Insignt into storing and organizing company data Sep 10th 2013, 13:49 Many companies still find it a challenge to search systematically for in-house data wherever they might be stored -- and to actually find them. Enterprise search solutions are designed to provide support in that process. Now, new research has brought out a new market study that provides an initial glimpse into the little researched market of company search engines. | |
