AFM microscopes can resolve 77 picometer features from 2004 Wavelength Meter Has Picometer Resolution. Measuring distances using fiber optic bending to picometer accuracy Low temperature AFM, SPM and other systems for high accuracy 50 picometer resolution scanner. Not sure how well that translates to the resolution of the whole systems Brian WangBrian Wang is a …
The Spaceward Foundation has announced $4 million in prizes for space technology over the next 5 years. This is 10 times the purse to this point. The 2006 prize purse will remain $200,000 per each of their two competitions, increasing to $300,000 in 2007, and so on, until they reach $600,000 in 2010. Any unwon …
This from the spacebombardment blog Payload Fraction Advanced Interplanetary Orion 10,000 tons one) 61% 6100 tons to orbit two) 57% 5700 tons to Lunar landing three) 53% 5300 tons to lunar surface and back four) 53% 5300 tons to mars orbit and back five) 45% 4500 tons to Venus orbit then Mars orbit then Earth …
Semiconductor material with three energy bands could be used to make solar cells with efficiencies of around 45 percent, compared with 25 percent for conventional cells that use a single semiconductor and 39 percent for cells with layers of mixed semiconductors. The researchers found that introducing a few atoms of oxygen into a zinc-manganese-tellurium (ZnMnTe) …
The objective of the (First page of the minimag pdf) minimag orion proposal was to eliminate the pusher plate from the original Orion concept and replace it with a very large superconducting coil perhaps a kilometer away from the blast center. Here is a powerpoint presentation on the orion project, mag orion (1999) and minimag …
Canada’s National Post newspaper examines life extension A growing anti-ageing movement believes the Baby-Boom generation will live longer than any generation before it. Ronald Klatz, co-founder of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, predicts fifty percent of Baby Boomers can live up to 100 and beyond. He predicts genetic research on stem cells and cloning …
From Soft machines, discussion about a paper on DNA structures. Rapid Chiral Assembly of Rigid DNA Building Blocks for Molecular Nanofabrication Practical components for three-dimensional molecular nanofabrication must be simple to produce, stereopure, rigid, and adaptable. We report a family of DNA tetrahedra, less than 10 nanometers on a side, that can self-assemble in seconds …
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) has successfully demonstrated the ultra-large capacity optical transmission of 14 Tera bits per second (Tera is one trillion) over a single 160 km long optical fiber. The value of 14 Tbps (111 Gbps x 140 ch) exceeds the current record of about 10 Tbps and so claims the record …