Many industrial plants depend on water vapor condensing on metal plates: In power plants, the resulting water is then returned to a boiler to be vaporized again; in desalination plants, it yields a supply of clean water. The efficiency of such plants depends crucially on how easily droplets of water can form on these metal …
Plasmonic gold nanoparticles make pinpoint heating on demand possible. Now Rice University researchers have found a way to selectively heat diverse nanoparticles that could advance their use in medicine and industry. “The key idea with gold nanoparticles and plasmonics in general is to convert energy,” Lapotko said. “There are two aspects to this: One is …
Honda Motor will launch the new Accord hybrid sedan in Japan in June offering fuel economy of 29 km/l (68 mpg US, 3.4 l/100km). The new Accord hybrid will feature Honda’s two-motor hybrid drive system which will also be applied in the 2014 Accord Plug-in Hybrid. Its mileage will far outpace the 23.4km per liter …
Researchers have developed a method that allows power conversion from DC magnetic fields to AC electric voltages using domain wall (DW) motion in ferromagnetic nanowires. The device concept relies on spinmotive force, voltage generation due to magnetization dynamics. Sinusoidal modulation of the nanowire width introduces a periodic potential for a DW, the gradient of which …
Instead of satellites, Locata uses ground-based equipment to project a radio signal over a localised area that is a million times stronger on arrival than GPS. It can work indoors as well as out, and the makers claim the receivers can be shrunk to fit inside a regular cellphone. Even the US military, which invented …
New research in the FASEB Journal by NIH scientists suggests that a small molecule called TFP5 rescues plaques and tangles by blocking an overactive brain signal, thereby restoring memory in mice with Alzheimer’s A new ray of hope has broken through the clouded outcomes associated with Alzheimer’s disease. A new research report published in January …
Leap Motion’s sensors and software will be packaged with some “high-end” laptops and PCs. The bundled products will appear in the first quarter of 2013, says Leap, around the same time the standalone Leap Motion device, priced at $70, is due to begin shipping. Nextbigfuture believes that the Leap Motion gesture control device will be …
Here is interview with Aubrey de Grey. Aubrey is the main driver behind SENS. They hope to make public soon a revolutionary advance to insert a gene [derived from bacteria] in our patients and prevent them from dying from cardiovascular disease – the No. 1 cause of death today. This would be a successful development …
IEEE Spectrum has an interview with the leader of the Google Glass project. The main points: * Developers will be the main ones usjng Google Glass in 2013 * They are looking to boost visual productivity and utility * One of the main things will be Google Now which will suggest useful information (pushing useful …
Nextbigfuture had written about the big common components of “visions of the future” as noted by Jamais Cascio. The list Jamais had was : Synthetic biology Molecular nanotechnology Life extension Artificial intelligence and robots galore 3D printers Augmented reality Ultra-high speed mobile networks Space colonies I have grouped together Synthetic Biology, Molecular nanotechnology and Life …
LG Electronics is taking pre-orders in South Korea for its 55 inch OLED TV. It will cost about US$10,000 and should be shipping in July, 2013 LG OLED TV 55EM960V * 3D OLED TV * Ultra Slim (4 millimeters) * Cinema 3D Smart TV The big product categories for the Consumer Electronics Show 2013 are …