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November 9, 2012 9:20 am | by M. Simon | CommentsMy very old Ungar 8800 soldering stand had a cracked ceramic iron holder from decades of use/misuse. So I went looking for Ungar on the www. They are no longer with us. But I found that they are now owned by Weller....
Cancer Cells in Blind Mole Rats ‘commit suicide’
November 6, 2012 6:19 pm | by Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog | CommentsCancer cells in blind mole rats ‘commit suicide’ Blind mole rats don’t get cancer, and geneticists have worked out why — their cells kill themselves with a poisonous protein when they multiply too much. Blind mole rats, which live in … Continue reading →
They are bringing back tubes
November 6, 2012 5:50 pm | by M. Simon | CommentsYes, tubes are coming back. No, not the thermionic space bottles of my youth. These are a different kind of tube. Made of small bits of graphene. Carbon nanotubes. IBM reports on their progress in the area. And it is amazing.
Eldercare robots
November 6, 2012 5:08 pm | by Frank Tobe, Editor and Publisher, The Robot Report | CommentsIn December, 2003, BusinessWeek Magazine interviewed Joseph Engelberger, the robotics pioneer. The article was entitled "How Robots Lost Their Way." Included in the article was a plea for money to build an eldercare robot which Engelberger thought could be built with then-current technologies...
Apple confronts challenge of low-cost tablets with launch of iPad Mini
November 5, 2012 10:48 am | by Adam Leach, practice leader, Devices and Platforms, Ovum | CommentsThe introduction of a smaller iPad was much expected by the wider tech community. Ovum sees this as a defensive move by Apple to stave off competition from cheaper and smaller tablets introduced by Amazon and Google. Apple faces a tough challenge with the iPad Mini.
Evolution Follows a Predictable Genetic Pattern
November 1, 2012 8:44 am | by Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog | CommentsFar from random, evolution follows a predictable genetic pattern The researchers carried out a survey of DNA sequences from 29 distantly related insect species, the largest sample of organisms yet examined for a single evolutionary trait. Fourteen of these species … Continue reading →
Let's get small, as in 0.3mm
October 31, 2012 5:03 pm | by Screaming Circuits | CommentsNot long ago, I wrote about a 0.3mm pitch wafer scale BGA we received and were asked to place. The gist of that article was that those parts are very small and we d0n't yet have a process that we feel will give the quality, reliability and consistency that we want to deliver. That means officially, we don't, at the moment, support that form-factor.
Can video games teach angry kids emotional control?
October 30, 2012 4:00 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | CommentsThough video games are often blamed for instilling violent instincts in children, the Boston Children's Hospital has developed a game that is designed to do just the opposite. In a recent study published in Adolescent Psychiatry, the children's hospital described a game that they believe will be able to teach children with severe anger issues how to maintain an acceptable level of calm...
Kickstarter, HP calculators, and PCB land patterns, oh my!
October 29, 2012 5:27 pm | by M. Simon | CommentsGabriel of Gabotronics asked me to promote his kickstarter project as time was running out and he had not yet met his goal. Due to some technical difficulties I was unable to get to the project promotion until today. Sorry Gabriel. But Gabriel is not sorry.
Would you like parts with those frys?
October 29, 2012 12:50 pm | by Screaming Circuits | CommentsIn days of yore (last month), the PCB design process would more or less start with the schematic. (I'm ignoring all of the work that has to take place before the schematic) The bill of materials would typically come together during the schematic phase and get refined during PCB layout.
Does Diet Soda Result in Weight Gain?
October 29, 2012 10:25 am | by Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog | CommentsMost of us want medical studies to provide clearer (more certain, more specific, more universal) indications than they actually provide. The conclusion of medical studies are often very clouded. Each person has a myriad of complex factors effecting how nutrition, … Continue reading →
Medical Studies Showing Largest Benefits Often Prove to be False
October 25, 2012 7:34 pm | by Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog | CommentsThere is another study showing the results of health studies often are proven false. Medical studies with striking results often prove false If a medical study seems too good to be true, it probably is, according to a new analysis. … Continue reading →
Company develops device that fools red-light cameras
October 24, 2012 12:27 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | CommentsRed-light cameras are a hot-button issue. One side calls them a necessary safety precaution, while the other questions their constitutionality. Not to mention, since the red-light camera are run by big business that occasionally gets paid by the ticket, it seems a little shady.
Declassified documents describe real-life flying saucer
October 23, 2012 11:32 am | by Jason Lomberg, Technical Editor | CommentsX-Files fans, conspiracy theorists, and the tinfoil hat crowd were right all along! Sorta… In the 1950s, the US government really was building a flying saucer. But it didn’t involve little green men, human-alien hybrids, or David Duchovny; this isn’t what you’d call a "smoking gun."
