News
Firefighting robot paints 3D thermal imaging picture for rescuers
June 6, 2013 12:41 pm | by UCSD Jacobs | CommentsEngineers in the Coordinated Robotics Lab at the University of California, San Diego, have developed new image processing techniques for rapid exploration and characterization of structural fires by small Segway-like robotic vehicles. A sophisticated on-board software system takes the thermal data recorded by the robot’s small infrared camera...
Resistivity switch is window to role of magnetism in iron-based superconductors
June 6, 2013 12:34 pm | by The Ames Lab | CommentsPhysicists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory have discovered surprising changes in electrical resistivity in iron-based superconductors. The findings, reported in Nature Communications, offer further evidence that magnetism and superconductivity are closely related in this class of novel superconductors.
Israel leads global drone exports as demand grows
June 6, 2013 11:46 am | by TIA GOLDENBERG, Associated Press | CommentsIn an expansive hangar in central Israel, workers toil on one of the world's most contentious aircraft, fitting dozens of drones with advanced sensors, cameras and lasers before they are shipped to militaries worldwide to perform highly sensitive tasks. Whereas drones are often criticized elsewhere for being morally and legally objectionable...
Long-awaited keyboard BlackBerrys hit US stores
June 6, 2013 11:38 am | by ROB GILLIES, Associated Press | CommentsModern BlackBerrys with physical keyboards are now available in the U.S., months after the touch-screen versions went on sale. T-Mobile USA began selling the BlackBerry Q10 on Wednesday. It has Research In Motion Ltd.'s new BlackBerry 10 operating system, which addresses shortcomings that allowed...
Microsoft to add Outlook to Windows RT tablets
June 6, 2013 11:38 am | by The Associated Press | CommentsMicrosoft will add its popular Outlook email program to more tablets running on a lightweight version of its Windows operating system as part of a free software update this year. The Outlook 2013 app will be given to owners of Microsoft's Surface tablet and similar devices running Windows RT.
DHS: A hunch is enough for searching your laptop
June 6, 2013 11:33 am | by ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press | CommentsU.S. border agents should continue to be allowed to search a traveler's laptop, cellphone or other electronic device and keep copies of any data on them based on no more than a hunch, according to an internal Homeland Security Department study.
Casinos ban gamblers from using Google Glass
June 6, 2013 11:32 am | by WAYNE PARRY, Associated Press | CommentsU.S. casinos are forbidding gamblers from wearing Google Glass, the tiny eyeglasses-mounted device capable of shooting photos, filming video and surfing the Internet. Regulators say the gadgets could be used to cheat at card games. The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement issued a directive on Monday...
France's Hollande visits Japan to push nuke ties
June 6, 2013 11:27 am | by ELAINE KURTENBACH, AP Business Writer | CommentsFrench President Francois Hollande arrived in Japan on Thursday for a visit expected to focus on closer cooperation in nuclear energy technologies and on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's economic strategies. Hollande and Abe will hold summit talks that local media say may yield an agreement on cooperating in nuclear fuel cycle technology...
Report: US collecting huge number of phone records
June 6, 2013 11:22 am | by JULIE PACE, AP White House Correspondent | CommentsThe government has been secretly collecting the telephone records of millions of U.S. customers of Verizon under a top secret court order, according to a document disclosed by a British newspaper. The Obama administration defended the National Security Agency's need to collect telephone records of U.S. citizens, but critics said it was a huge over-reach.
JR Tokai to start trial run of superconducting maglev train
June 6, 2013 10:51 am | by The Associated Press | CommentsCentral Japan Railway Co. will begin test runs in September to pave the way for launching a magnetically levitated train line between Tokyo and Nagoya in 2027, marking a milestone in its half-century of efforts to develop an ultrahigh-speed superconducting train system.
Lower Profile Monolithic Ceramic Capacitors 0603 Size Available with X5R Characteristics
June 6, 2013 4:53 am | by Murata Manufacturing | CommentsMurata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. has commercialized the new low profile monolithic ceramic capacitor, 0603 size (1.6×0.8mm) with maximum chip thickness of 0.50mm, having X5R characteristics, 10µF, 6.3V. It has achieved chip thickness of 0.50mm (max. ) (previous 0.9mm (max. ) ) and can be mounted to sets that require a low profile.
Materials Effect on Long-Term PV Quality— Addressed at SEMI PV Materials Expert Forum at Intersolar North America
June 5, 2013 6:24 pm | by SEMI | CommentsSAN JOSE, Calif. — June 5, 2013 — SEMI formally announced the conference program for the SEMI PV Materials Expert Forum to be held at Intersolar North America 2013 in San Francisco, California on July 9, 2013. The Forum focuses on explores how materials impact system performance/cost and how innovation roadmaps, new technologies and advances in efficiency and lifetime will help to mitigate risk and drive lower levelized cost of electricity (LCOE)...
Microsoft to add Outlook to Windows RT tablets
June 5, 2013 4:01 pm | by The Associated Press | CommentsMicrosoft will add its popular Outlook email program to more tablets running on a lightweight version of its Windows operating system as part of a free software update this year. The Outlook 2013 app will be given to owners of Microsoft's Surface tablet and similar devices running Windows RT....
Scratching the surface: why skin allergies make us itch
June 5, 2013 1:42 pm | by Yale UniversityYale University | CommentsA Yale-led team of researchers has identified the protein that controls inflammation and the urge to itch in people who suffer from contact dermatitis due to exposure to poison ivy and other allergens. The study appears in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology....
Los Alamos catalyst could jumpstart e-cars, green energy
June 5, 2013 11:42 am | by Los Alamos National Laboratory | CommentsLos Alamos National Laboratory scientists have designed a new type of nanostructured-carbon-based catalyst that could pave the way for reliable, economical next-generation batteries and alkaline fuel cells, providing for practical use of wind- and solar-powered electricity, as well as enhanced hybrid electric vehicles.
