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Energy, cost-efficiency biggest concerns for LEDs, sensors
June 7, 2013 10:53 am | by Editors | Articles | CommentsLEDs are a hot topic in the world of electronic components. Ardent supporters claim LEDs are the future while other designers cite cost and environmental impact as negatives. We turned to our readers for the inside scoop on LEDs and the industry. When asked about the biggest trend impacting specifications for lighting components, readers were torn....
Engineering Update 12: A beer-pouring robot ... finally
June 7, 2013 10:22 am | Videos | CommentsIn this week's headlines: Computer scientists at Cornell are in the process of producing a robot with anticipatory cognitive abilities. They've programmed a PR-2 robot to accomplish typical robotic tasks, as well as the ability to pour you a drink ... and anticipate when you want another.
Is Big Data turning government into 'Big Brother?'
June 7, 2013 3:08 am | by MICHAEL LIEDTKE - AP Technology Writer - Associated Press | News | CommentsThe revelations that the National Security Agency is perusing millions of U.S. customer phone records at Verizon Communications and snooping on the digital communications stored by nine major Internet services illustrate how aggressively personal data is being collected and analyzed.
Promising material for lithium-ion batteries
June 6, 2013 3:26 pm | by Technische Universitaet Muenchen | News | CommentsSo far, the negative electrode typically consists of graphite, whose layers can store lithium atoms. Scientists at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) have now developed a material made of boron and silicon that could smooth the way to systems with higher capacities.
Study suggests second life for possible spintronic materials
June 6, 2013 3:16 pm | by EurekAlert! | News | CommentsTen years ago, scientists were convinced that a combination of manganese and gallium nitride could be a key material to create spintronics, the next generation of electronic devices that operate on properties found at the nanoscale. But researchers grew discouraged when experiments indicated that the two materials were as harmonious as oil and water.
Icahn and Southeastern push against Dell buyout
June 6, 2013 3:11 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsActivist investor Carl Icahn and Southeastern Asset Management Inc. are formally urging Dell shareholders to reject a buyout offer from the struggling PC maker's founder and investment firm Silver Lake Partners. Dell Inc. has agreed to sell itself to founder and CEO Michael Dell and Silver Lake...
Wi-Fi signals enable gesture recognition throughout entire home
June 6, 2013 3:03 pm | by University of Washington | News | CommentsForget to turn off the lights before leaving the apartment? No problem. Just raise your hand, finger-swipe the air, and your lights will power down. Want to change the song playing on your music system in the other room? Move your hand to the right and flip through the songs.
'Temporal cloaking' could bring more secure optical communications
June 6, 2013 2:39 pm | by Purdue University | News | CommentsResearchers have demonstrated a method for "temporal cloaking" of optical communications, representing a potential tool to thwart would-be eavesdroppers and improve security for telecommunications. "More work has to be done before this approach finds practical application, but it does use technology that could integrate smoothly..."
New all-solid sulfur-based battery outperforms lithium-ion technology
June 6, 2013 12:43 pm | by ORNL | News | CommentsScientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have designed and tested an all-solid lithium-sulfur battery with approximately four times the energy density of conventional lithium-ion technologies that power today's electronics. The ORNL battery design, which uses abundant low-cost elemental sulfur...
Firefighting robot paints 3D thermal imaging picture for rescuers
June 6, 2013 12:41 pm | by UCSD Jacobs | News | 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 | News | 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 | News | 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 | News | 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 | News | 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 | News | 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.
