Information technology is all around us — but how does it really change the way we do business? Erik Brynjolfsson, the Schussel Family Professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, explores this question in his new book, “Wired for Innovation,” written along with Adam Saunders, a lecturer at The Wharton School of the University of …
Taking nanomaterials to a new level of structural complexity, Harvard scientists have determined how to introduce kinks into arrow-straight nanowires, transforming them into zigzagging two- and three-dimensional structures with correspondingly advanced functions. Among possible applications, the authors say, the new technology could foster a new nanoscale approach to detecting electrical currents in cells and tissues. …
Left) Carbon dome structure on an iridium substrate, indicating the tightly bound atoms at the edge of the island (C), the weakly bound atoms at the center (B) and intermediate atoms (A). (Right) Photoelectron spectrum at 970 K showing the contributions from the edge (C), center (B), and intermediate (A) atoms in the dome structure. …
Multi-frac horizontals are a “game changer” for oil and gas drilling because of their potential to increase recoveries from established plays. The technology is unlocking tens of thousands of barrels of oil per day in Canada and hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil in the USA and hundreds of trillions of cubic feet of …
According to the Independent (UK) arab states have launched secret moves with China, Russia and France to stop using the US currency for oil trading. The current deadline for the currency transition is 2018. UPDATE:Gold hits a record high on rumor of the dollar replacement deal.END UPDATE The plans, confirmed to The Independent by both …
Satellites can enable 1.2 gigabit per second communication links the Japanese Kizuna satellite. The “KIZUNA” is a communications satellite that enables super high-speed data communications of up to 1.2 Gbps to develop a society without any information availability disparity. The KIZUNA (WINDS) does not require costly ground equipment. If you install a small antenna, you …
Carnival of Space 123 is up at Weird Warp This site provided an update on the Space elevator games. Finally they are almost ready to go and the University of Saskatchewan team is a favorite to win. Planetary society runs down all of the current robotic space mission activity. Centauri Dreams indicates how robotic space …
Biological parts: Ginkgo BioWorks, a synthetic-biology startup, is automating the process of building biological machines. Shown here is a liquid-handling robot that can prepare hundreds of reactions. Credit: Ginkgo BioWorks MIT Technology Review reports that startup Ginkgo BioWorks aims to push synthetic biology to the factory level. Ginkgo BioWorks, a new synthetic-biology startup that aims …
UPDATE: The Center right coalation of the Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Free Democrats (FDP) have won (Yellow and Black being the colors of those parties) and the nuclear reactors are saved. The FDP garnered around 14.6% of Sunday’s vote, its best showing yet, paving the way for a coalition with the CDU, which led …
This site has covered the EMdrive before. EMDrive presentation at Space 08 conference, Barbican, London View more presentations from A. Rocketeer. The EmDrive is highly controversial research in propulsion which would be reactionless and uses superconducting cavities. Rocketeer comments: Here’s my take on it. It “works” after a fashion (actually generates thrust), but not in …
Computer scientists at Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, Calif., have for the first time successfully demonstrated the ability to run more than a million Linux kernels as virtual machines. The Sandia work will be helped in future by being able to use bug free code for operating system kernels developed by the University of New …