Copper doped Computer memory should be selling in a few years

Arizona State University’s Center for Applied Nanoionics (CANi) has a new take on old memory, one that promises to boost the performance, capacity and battery life of consumer electronics from digital cameras to laptops. Best of all, it is cheap, made from common materials and compatible with just about anything currently on the market. This …

Read more

Thermoelectronics for cars, trucks, submarines, refridgerators and more

Michigan State University researchers believe, using thermoelectric generation technology, a 5% improvement in bsfc for and on highway truck is a reasonable 5 year goal 10% improvement possible with new Thermoelectric materials. They currently have a 40 watt thermoelectric generator for gathering waste heat from a truck exhaust. They can get an engine about 1-3.5% …

Read more

Quantum computing photon qubit communication advances

Two major steps toward putting quantum computers into real practice — sending a photon signal on demand from a qubit onto wires and transmitting the signal to a second, distant qubit — have been brought about by a team of scientists at Yale. They report that superconducting qubits, or artificial atoms, have been able to …

Read more

Land usage problem for renewable energy

The blog, we support lee, describes articles by the New Scientist and Science Daily which describe how renewable energy has a land usage problem when scaled up. Renewable does not mean green. That is the claim of Jesse Ausubel of the Rockefeller University in New York. Writing in Inderscience’s International Journal of Nuclear Governance, Economy …

Read more

Biological computers able to decode and mark cellular activity

From nanowerk, Harvard and Princeton researchers have developed steps toward biological computers These machines can convert cellular signals and activity into easily detectable markers. 1. The entire computer (device able to perform boolean logic) is “encoded” by genes made of engineered DNA molecules. 2.The genes enter the cell using special delivery techniques and interact with …

Read more

Scarcity will not be completely eliminated

This is an interesting lengthy article about the net economy and scarcity in general Brad deLong points to the last part of the first ariticle,that describes why scarcity will not be completely eliminated The scarcity could be greatly reduced using advanced technology such as molecular nanotechnology. This is expanding upon the cornucopian view Here is …

Read more

My take on Shaping the Future

Science Fiction author Charlie Stross talks about “Shaping the Future” He wrote Accelerando and Singularity Sky among other books. He notes how progress used to measured by top speed, but how that stopped between 1950-1970. I believe that speed will become a useful measure of progress again. I believe that we can and will burst …

Read more

China’s economy

A pdf discussing China’s statistics Here is a pdf from Carlsten Holz that examines different China economic growth projections The World Trade Organization data shows that China surpassed the USA in terms of trade in 2006. China’s global trade exceeded $1.758 trillion at the end of 2006.[12]. It first broke the 1 trillion mark ($1.15 …

Read more

Discovery of first gene that specifically links calorie restriction to longevity

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 …

Read more

U of Cincinnati Researchers Shatter World Records with 18mm Long Carbon Nanotube Arrays

UC researchers (in conjunction with First Nano, a division of CVD Equipment Corporation of Ronkonkoma, New York) have produced extremely long CNT arrays (18 mm) on their EasyTube System using a Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) process. “First, we were able to grow the arrays up to 18 mm,” he says, ticking off the achievements. “Second, …

Read more

Climate reengineering

The new age of climate re-engineering and the $25 million bounty from Richard Branson is discussed at open the future. It is noted that the re-engineering efforts would have the best chance of succeeding if we adjust technology and behavior to stop making the problems worse. Gregory Benford’s proposal for climate re-engineering is discussed at …

Read more