Researchers have begun to self-assemble quantum components on the nanometer scale. This is beginning of a multi-decade process to revolutionize the computing. An international team of physicists say they’ve used biological self-assembly techniques to make diamond-based prototypes of the quantum information storage devices of this type. That’s a development that has the potential to profoundly …
The Carnival of Nuclear Energy 172 is up at Yes Vermont Yankee James Conca at Forbes explains how Vermont could be paying 8 cents per kwh for clean electricity but instead will pay 20 cents per kwh “The current [upward] trajectory of electricity prices is likely to continue as Vermont mandates production from much more …
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) on July 14 test fired the core stage of the Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket that will be used to launch Canada’s Cassiope space weather satellite this September, a company spokeswoman confirmed. “The recently tested booster is the first stage for SpaceX’s upcoming next-generation Falcon 9 demonstration flight for MDA and …
SpaceX’s new engine, the Merlin 1D, has been qualified for spaceflight in advance of its first launch. The engine, a heavily modified version of the Merlin 1C that powers SpaceX’s standard Falcon 9, will be utilised on what SpaceX dubs the “Falcon 9 version 1.1”, scheduled for its first launch in June. The Merlin series …
EEStor reported the materials science context for their work and preliminary (pre-certification) results from energy storage layers built in its pilot production facility during early final tuning. The preliminary results show EEStor’s patented and unique composition modified barium titanate (CMBT) powder delivers the benefits of solid-state energy storage when used as a fundamental constituent in …
IEEE Spectrum – Flash memory wears out after being programmed and erased about 10 000 times. That’s fine for a USB dongle that you’ll probably lose in a year, but not ideal for the solid-state drives of server farms. And the same problem keeps manufacturers from using flash to replace other types of computer memories. …
Spectrum IEEE – Bioengineers looking to turn microbes into manufacturers have longed for a kit of components as regular and predictable as those used by electrical engineers. But biology is a lot messier. Now a group of engineers at Stanford University say they’ve managed to make one such component—the genetic equivalent of a reliable memory …