An MIT student team has developed a way to integrate fiber optics — glass or plastic components that can transmit data using light waves — into computer chips, replacing copper wires that rely on electricity. Using light instead of electricity can drop energy usage by about 95 percent in chip-to-chip communications and increase bandwidth tenfold, …
In December, 2014 Russia created a new heavy weapons regiment based in Nizhniy Novgorod. Russia has three other three other new thermobaric units. They use russian thermobaric launchers which propel fuel-air rounds. The rounds disperse a flammable cloud, which then ignites. The main targets are bunkers, caves, and buildings — pretty much any enclosed space. …
1. Yes Vermont Yankee Blog: Atoms Not Dams: Surprising Facts for Earth Day. Noting Jim Conca’s post on the biggest power plants (by electricity produced, not by nameplate), I note that Vermont Yankee was a bigger power plant (produced more power per year) than Hoover Dam. Every Day is Earth Day when you support nuclear …
Graphene is used in the commercial smartphone called the Galapad Settler. Graphene makes its touchscreen more sensitive, colours appear brighter, and helps prolong battery life and standby time drastically. Chongqing-based graphene researcher and maker Moxi teamed up with Shenzhen-based tablet maker Galapad to release 30,000 of the Android handsets at the beginning of March, according …
Researchers from General Atomics and the US Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have made a major breakthrough in understanding how potentially damaging heat bursts inside a fusion reactor can be controlled. Scientists performed the experiments on the DIII-D National Fusion Facility, a tokamak operated by General Atomics in San Diego. The findings …
Key hardware for the next generation DOCSIS 3.1 cable broadband standard, which could eventually be used by Virgin Media (Liberty Global) to deliver top UK Internet download speeds of up to 10Gbps (Gigabits per second) and 1Gbps uploads via their predominantly urban network, has successfully passed its first interoperability tests. At present Virgin Media is …
HP is planning to have working prototype of The Machine [memristor memory and logic and onchip optical networking] should be ready by 2016. HP wants researchers and programmers to get familiar with how it will work well before then. They aim to complete an operating system designed for The Machine, called Linux++, in June 2015. …
Nextbigfuture has covered vacuum tube transportation (ET3) before and also covered low pressure tube transportation. Evacuated Tube Transport Technology is magnetically levitated capsules in vacuum tubes. Propulsion energy required is 100,000 times less than required by a car ET3 will achieve 50 times more transportation per kWh (or ton of CO2) than electric cars or …
Nanoletters – 3D Printed Quantum Dot Light-Emitting Diodes Developing the ability to 3D print various classes of materials possessing distinct properties could enable the freeform generation of active electronics in unique functional, interwoven architectures. Achieving seamless integration of diverse materials with 3D printing is a significant challenge that requires overcoming discrepancies in material properties in …
Elon Musk spoke at the MIT Aeronautics and Astronautics Department’s 2014 Centennial celebration. The October 22-24 Centennial Symposium featuring some of the most illustrious names in aerospace reflecting on past achievement, celebrating today’s innovative research and education, and offering their perspectives on what lies ahead. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said his company will make a …
China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) is talking about prospective national carbon market formation by 2016, with potential coverage upwards of 4 billion MTCO2. According to official NDRC estimates, a national carbon market in China could reach an aggregate value of $65 billion by 2020. In March 2016, China is expected to announce its …