Engineers have figured out how to make antennas for wireless communication 100 times smaller than their current size, an advance that could lead to tiny brain implants, micro–medical devices, or phones you can wear on your finger. The brain implants in particular are “like science fiction,” says study author Nian Sun, an electrical engineer and …
Researchers have achieved a leap forward in graphene production, from a technique that synthesizes a few square centimeters of single-crystal graphene in a couple of hours, to an optimized method that allows the creation of an almost-perfect (over 99.9 percent aligned) 5 × 50 cm2 single-crystal graphene in just 20 minutes. The low production costs, …
There were problems with the calibration of a sensor on the first of several satellites launched to measure the height of the sea surface using radar. Adjusting the data to remove that error suggests that sea levels are indeed rising at faster rates each year. Nerem’s team calculated that the rate of sea-level rise increased …
The US will likely have lighter bullets, titanium machine guns, tactical augmented reality, better ground and air drones and better armor as upgrades for large hundreds of thousands of soldiers over the next ten years. There will be some exoskeletons but the advanced TALOS strength boosting hard exoskeleton will likely only be deployed for a …
Eight years ago, Ted Adelson’s research group at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) unveiled a new sensor technology, called GelSight, that uses physical contact with an object to provide a remarkably detailed 3-D map of its surface. Now, by mounting GelSight sensors on the grippers of robotic arms, two MIT teams have …
EU Graphene Flagship researchers from ICFO (The Institute of Photonic Sciences in Barcelona) have shown that it is possible to integrate graphene into a CMOS integrated circuit. In their paper published in the journal Nature Photonics they combine this graphene-CMOS device with quantum dots to create an array of photodetectors, producing a high resolution image …
DARPA’s Near Zero Power RF and Sensor Operations (N-ZERO) program has been working to overcome the power limitations of persistent sensing by developing wireless, event-driven sensing capabilities that would allow physical, electromagnetic and other sensors to remain dormant—effectively asleep yet aware—until an event of interest awakens them. To achieve these goals, the program intends to …
Global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions were flat for a third straight year in 2016 even as the global economy grew, according to the International Energy Agency, signaling a continuing decoupling of emissions and economic activity. This was the result of growing renewable power generation, switches from coal to natural gas, improvements in energy efficiency, as …
Alec Peters discusses how they intend to tell the most story for the two 15 minute segments that are permitted in the lawsuit settlement. He thinks it will be two 15 minute episodes in the documentary format. The second one focusing on the battle itself and perhaps the end of the first one. There will …
Michael Shellenberger explains how less nuclear energy has meant higher costs and less clean energy overall. * USA has shutdown nuclear plants prematurely because of lower natural gas costs * this has increased emissions of CO2 and air pollution * Overall energy costs have increased in the USA which correlate with lower nuclear energy mix …
China Daily describes the case for how high speed rail is boosting economic growth in China. Faster trains with efficient services can expand and improve the Chinese tourism industry, which saw a year-on-year growth of 15.9 percent, totaling 423.3 billion yuan ($61.78 billion) during the recently ended Spring Festival holiday week. Plus, the high-speed railway …