IBM and Sun have announced petaflop supercomputers. They indicate that there are no barriers to more computer power but the most important issues going forward are to manage and reduce power usage and to improve software. “The hardware speed [of supercomputers] will not reach a plateau,” said Simon See, Sun Microsystems’ director for Advance Computing …
New research led by University of New Hampshire physicists has proved the existence of a new type of electron wave on metal surfaces: the acoustic surface plasmon, which will have implications for developments in nano-optics, high-temperature superconductors, and the fundamental understanding of chemical reactions on surfaces. “The existence of this wave means that the electrons …
Phase change memories (perfect RAM) are forecast to capture 5.5 percent of the NOR flash market by 2012. I have covered phase change ovonic memory before. It is 500 times faster than regular Flash memory Trapped charge memories increasing from less than 1 percent now to 30 percent of the NAND flash market in 2012. …
Using the mammalian visual system as a model, we showed that a designed self-assembling peptide nanofiber scaffold created a permissive environment not only for axons to regenerate through the site of an acute injury, but also to knit the brain tissue together, demonstrated by the return of lost vision. Bleeding can be stopped in less …
The new hybrid will offer better riding quality due to its larger size and engine displacement of 2 to 3 liters. The Prius uses a 1.5-liter engine. If launched in 2009, the new model will likely follow the introduction of a third-generation Prius, which is expected in later 2008 or early 2009. The Nikkei adds …
Tiny, isolated patches of superconductivity exist within these superconducting substances at higher temperatures than previously were known, according to a paper by Princeton scientists, who have developed new techniques to image superconducting behavior at the nanoscale. Caption: Using a customized microscope, Princeton scientists have mapped the strength of current-carrying electron pairs as they form in …
In 2004, it was estimated that China would be 58 to 60 percent urban 2020, and the urban population would hit 800 to 900 million. The urbanization rate was 37.7 percent in 2002. More recent figures suggest urbanization is at 42% in 2004, so urbanization is happening faster. A more recent university study indicates that …
Toyota plans to go 100% hybrid by 2020 Takimoto also made the bold claim that by 2020, hybrids will be the standard drivetrain and account for “100 percent” of Toyota’s cars as they would be no more expensive to produce than a conventional vehicle.Masatami Takimoto, who said cost cutting on the electric motor, battery and …
Loss of only one of the genes, a gene encoding the protein PHA-4, negated the lifespan-enhancing effect of calorie-restriction in worms. And, when researchers undertook the opposite experiment—by overexpressing pha-4 in worms—the longevity effect was enhanced. “PHA-4 acts completely independent of insulin/IGF-1 signaling and turns out to be essential for CR-mediated longevity,” says Panowski. “We …
Samsung Electronics announced today that it has become the first to begin mass producing 16 gigabit NAND flash, the highest capacity memory chip now available. The company said it will fabricate the devices in 51 nanometers, the finest process technology to be used in memory mass production to date. Samsung’s 51nm NAND flash chips can …
The world is building a lot of coal-fired power to go with all of the coal-fired power it already has. This is horrible because air pollution from coal kills more than one million people every year. We need to use all other means to reduce the increase in coal usage, this means more nuclear as …
