1. Researchers have shown that cells can grow and function on a carpet of small upright needles made of semiconductors – so-called nanowires. “We have developed a new method that makes it possible for us to see how the cells function when they are impaled on carpets of nanowires. We think that the technique has …
All predictions came true today. The Technological singularity, Mayan end of the world and judgement day all arrived. A technological singularity is a hypothetical event occurring when technological progress becomes so rapid that it makes the future after the singularity qualitatively different and harder to predict. The Terminator judgement day preceded the Mayan doomsday. Mayan’s …
Pinnacle engines is anther venture funded company with an opposed-piston engine that they claim will achieve 30-50% greater efficiency over existing engines Pinnacle Engines today unveiled plans to commercialize a breakthrough ultra-efficient engine by 2013. The new engine design enables significant reductions in fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions without increasing vehicle cost. Pinnacle also …
The worst traffic jam in human history” happened on the Beijing-Tibet Highway in August 2010. It trapped some drivers for more than 20 days and stretched more than 60 miles (97 kilometers). The cause of the auto standstill was thousands of trucks transporting coal from Inner Mongolia’s coal fields to power plants in Beijing’s suburbs …
Update – April 4, 2011 Nextbigfuture edged up in Technorati authority Temporarily at least Nextbigfuture is in the top 200 of overall blogs in terms of Technorati authority. So we are behind topless robots and icanhazcheesburgers (funny cat pictures). Also, ahead of craftzine, climate progress and lots of other sites. At least for today. We …
Photo: Up to 14 quantum bits were entangled in an ion trap. Innsbruck physicists have set another world record: They have achieved controlled entanglement of 14 quantum bits (qubits) and, thus, realized the largest quantum register that has ever been produced. With this experiment the scientists have not only come closer to the realization of …
As an atomic force microscope’s tip degrades, the change in tip size and shape affects its resonant frequency and that can be used to accurately measure, in real time, the change in the tip’s shape, thereby resulting in more accurate measurements and images at nanometer size scales. Credit: Jason Killgore, NIST Scientists at the National …