Nikkei Electronics is reporting that Qimonda will be revealing research success with carbon based memory that could scale to 3-4 nanometer dimensions. Qimonda developed a technology to switch those allotropes by applying an electric current. Specifically, the technology can switch among CNT, conductive carbon such as graphite and insulating carbon like diamond. At this point, …
1. BAM, a “ceramic alloy”, is created by combining a metal alloy of boron, aluminium and magnesium (AlMgB14) with titanium boride (TiB2). It is the hardest material after diamond and cubic boron nitride. -BAM is much slipperier than Teflon, with a coefficient of friction of .02 compared to .05. Lubricated steel has a friction coefficient …
The Economist estimates China’s past and current growth. They also examine China $600 billion stimulus effort. Any analysis of China’s growth prospects is clouded by the widely held belief that the government smoothes its GDP numbers and always overstates growth during economic downturns. The chart plots China’s official growth rate against an alternative estimate calculated …
A transgenic animal is one that carries a foreign gene that has been deliberately inserted into its genome. (Usually from another animal.) Two methods of producing transgenic mice are widely used: – transforming embryonic stem cells (ES cells) growing in tissue culture with the desired DNA;– injecting the desired gene into the pronucleus of a …
Ener1 Inc’s battery division Enerdel believes that they can reduce the cost of lithium ion batteries to half of their current cost when produced in high volume. This will mean a payback of two years instead of eight years for making a car a hybrid and having the fuel savings pay for the extra costs. …
The Wall Street Journal and other sources have been discussing the threat of an Electromagnetic Pulse attack on the USA. The counter to these claims are that only 1% of the lights in Hawaii were effected by the Starfish Prime test (1.4 megaton thermonuclear weapon detonated 250 miles above Johnston Island in the Pacific in …
Thermoelectrics using nanostructures offers the potential of getting very close to the carnot limit of efficiency using very light weight systems for convert heat to electricity. Early versions of thermoelectrics have been sold for many years but are being rapidly improved. About 90 percent of the world’s power (approximately 10 TW) is generated by heat …
Intel’s Pat Gelsinger (NSDQ:INTC) sees a “clear way” to manufacturing chips under 10 nanometers and when the semiconductor industry transitions to 450mm silicon wafers around 2012, the number of companies that run their own fabs will drop into the single digits. Intel debuted its 45nm process late last year and has been ramping its Penryn …
There were two other larger HTR plants. One in the USA and one in Germany but both are now shut down. China actually has serious plans to follow up with a lot more plants. Perhaps a thousand of these reactors or more Until 2020-2025, these small mass produced reactors will be secondary to a massive …
A new kind of paper is stronger than cast iron and could be used to reinforce conventional paper, produce extra-strong sticky tape or help create tough synthetic replacements for biological tissues, says Lars Berglund from the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. Despite its great strength, Berglund’s “nanopaper” is produced from a biological …
Contour Crafting is an effort to scale up rapid prototyping/manufacturing (a billion dollar industry to make 3 dimensional parts) and inkjet printing techniques to the scale of building multi-story buildings and vehicles. The process could accelerate the trillion dollar (US only) construction industry by 200 times. Projections indicate costs will be around one fifth as …