Inflation in China is depreciating the Yuan

Over the most recently reported two months, the CPI-adjusted (inflation adjusted) real exchange rate of the yuan has been appreciating relative to the dollar at about a 13 percent annual rate. That would be enough to eliminate the estimated 20 to 40 percent undervaluation of the yuan in less than three. Analysis from Edwin G. …

Read more

Optical nanotube a step towards optical molecular electronics

Nature Nanotechnology – Electroluminescence from a single nanotube–molecule–nanotube junction The positioning of single molecules between nanoscale electrodes has allowed their use as functional units in electronic devices. Although the electrical transport in such devices has been widely explored, optical measurements have been restricted to the observation of electroluminescence from nanocrystals and nanoclusters and from molecules …

Read more

UBC Physicists Make Atoms and Dark Matter Add Up

UBC and TRIUMF physicists have proposed a unified explanation for dark matter and the so-called baryon asymmetry–the apparent imbalance of matter with positive baryon charge and antimatter with negative baryon charge in the Universe. The visible Universe appears to be made of atoms, and each of these atoms carries a positive baryon charge equal to …

Read more

A*STAR Institute Of Microelectronics and Stanford University to Co-Develop Nanoelectromechanical Relay Technology for Ultra-Low Power Applications

The Institute of Microelectronics (IME), a research institute of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), today announced a collaborative partnership with Stanford University in USA to develop nanoelectromechanical (NEM) relay technology to enable ultra-low power computation. NEMS-based integrated circuits are ideal for a wide range of emerging green electronics solutions as they eliminate …

Read more

Quantum rings could be billions of times more stable for quantum computers

Arxiv – Semiconductor quantum ring as a solid-state spin qubit could have relaxation times many seconds instead of nanoseconds. Nanowire rings smaller than 10nm are likely allow the production of Quantum Rings capable of durations exceeding seconds – up to 10 seconds theoretically. The implementation of a spin qubit in a quantum ring occupied by …

Read more

Early aging could be treated by boosting telomerase activity

Nature – Telomerase reverses ageing process Mice engineered to lack the enzyme, called telomerase, become prematurely decrepit. But they bounced back to health when the enzyme was replaced. The finding, published online today in Nature, hints that some disorders characterized by early ageing could be treated by boosting telomerase activity. It also offers the possibility …

Read more

Stuxnet is a game changing weaponized computer virus

Intelligence agencies, computer security companies and the nuclear industry have been trying to analyze the worm since it was discovered in June by a Belarus-based company that was doing business in Iran. And what they’ve all found, says Sean McGurk, the Homeland Security Department’s acting director of national cyber security and communications integration, is a …

Read more

Heterogeneous nanostructured electrode materials for electrochemical energy storage

Chemical Communications – Heterogeneous nanostructured electrode materials for electrochemical energy storage In order to fulfil the future requirements of electrochemical energy storage, such as high energy density at high power demands, heterogeneous nanostructured materials are currently studied as promising electrode materials due to their synergic properties, which arise from integrating multi-nanocomponents, each tailored to address …

Read more

Nuclear is the least-cost, low-carbon, baseload power source

After analysing a wealth of peer-reviewed studies on market needs, technology performance, life-cycle emissions and electricity costs, the researchers (Barry Brooks and Martin Nicholson, Tom Biegler) conclude that only five technologies currently qualify for low-emission baseload generation. Of these, nuclear power is the standout solution. Nuclear is the cheapest option at all carbon prices and …

Read more