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The Lead
Charge your phone in 20 seconds
May 20, 2013 4:19 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Managing Editor | Blogs | Comments
What’s the key to charging your phone (and other small electronics) in the blink of an eye? Invent a better supercapacitor, according to Eesha Khare, an 18-year-old, from California who was just awarded Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award and $50,000 at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her project...
Kickstarter of the Week: Turn your smartphone into a laptop
May 21, 2013 1:57 pm | Videos | Comments
Today on PD&D's Kickstarter of the Week, we use the Casetop from Livi Designs to turn our...
Building a better team -- on Mars
May 21, 2013 12:55 pm | by EurekAlert! | News | Comments
Sometime in the next quarter-century, NASA plans to send the first humans to Mars, a mission...
Designing for heat
May 21, 2013 9:53 am | by M. Simon, Technical Contributor | Articles | Comments
I want to start off with a look at the four methods of cooling: conduction, convection,...
SPI digital potentiometers operate at 10, 12, 18, 24, 36 volts
May 22, 2013 4:26 pm | Microchip Technology Inc. | Product Releases | CommentsMicrochip Technology Inc. announced two new volatile, SPI digital potentiometers (digipots)—the MCP41HV31 and MCP41HV51 (MCP41HVXX)—its first to operate at 10, 12, 18, 24 and particularly 36 volts, for systems requiring wide signal swing or high power-supply voltages.
Power MOSFET series offers on-resistance down to 30 mΩ
May 22, 2013 3:53 pm | Vishay Intertechnology | Product Releases | CommentsVishay Intertechnology added additional 650 V power MOSFETs to its E Series family of devices. These 22 new devices in eight different packages offer an extended on-resistance range from 30 mΩ to 600 mΩ at 10 V and broaden the series' maximum current ratings from 6 A to 105 A.
Epoxy mount socket operates at bandwidths up to 8 GHz
May 22, 2013 3:12 pm | Ironwood Electronics, Inc. | Product Releases | CommentsIronwood Electronics has recently introduced a new high-performance BGA socket for 0.8mm pitch BGA 78 pin DDR3 packages. The SG-BGA-6374 socket is designed for an 9x13 mm package size and operates at bandwidths up to 8 GHz with less than 1dB of insertion loss.
The future of food: NASA's printed pizza
May 22, 2013 1:50 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Managing Editor | Blogs | CommentsIn the great world of 3D printing, nothing is more fascinating to me than the idea of printed food. There has been some rumblings about printed meat, but it’s been mostly outliers in the industry. However, NASA just made it a little more legitimate with by offering a $125,000 grant to Systems and Materials Research Corp to develop a 3D printed version of an American (and worldwide) favorite: Pizza.
Rice unveils method for tailoring optical processors
May 22, 2013 12:10 pm | by EurekAlert! | News | CommentsRice University scientists have unveiled a robust new method for arranging metal nanoparticles in geometric patterns that can act as optical processors that transform incoming light signals into output of a different color. Rice's team used the method to create an optical device in which incoming light could be directly controlled...
Radiation-hardened DC-DC power converters for space systems
May 22, 2013 11:44 am | Product Releases | CommentsVPT Inc., a HEICO company, announced the availability of a new series of radiation hardened DC-DC power converters, point of load converters, and EMI filters to power space systems.
Powerful LED light built to maximize illumination with compact, rugged design
May 22, 2013 11:36 am | Larson Electronics Llc | Product Releases | CommentsLarson Electronics has announced the release of a powerful new LED light built to provide maximum illumination from a compact yet rugged design. Featuring over 29,000 lumens of light output and, inline transformer, and rugged waterproof construction, the LEDP5W-60-1227-20C High Intensity LED Light is an ideal alternative to hot running and fragile HID lighting systems
Power transistors present desirable on-state resistance for low-energy, space-efficient designs
May 22, 2013 11:35 am | Stmicroelectronics | Product Releases | CommentsSTMicroelectronics has introduced a generation of energy-efficient power devices that are positioned as reducing the environmental impact of equipment such as telecom or computing systems, solar inverters, industrial automation and automotive applications. STripFET VII DeepGATE MOSFETs are asserted to
LED power supplies feature dimming range from 10 to 100 percent
May 22, 2013 11:32 am | Product Releases | CommentsGreen Watt Power, a division of Calex Mfg. Co., Inc. in Concord, California, announces the introduction of the GLCD 50 Watt constant current dimmable LED power supplies. The dimming options for the GLCD 50 include 0-10V, PWM and external potentiometer.
Miniature, ultra-low on-resistance 6A dual load switch miniature, ultra-low on-resistance 6A dual load switch
May 22, 2013 11:27 am | Advanced Power Electronics Corp. | Product Releases | CommentsAdvanced Power Electronics Corp. (USA), a leading Taiwanese manufacturer of MOS power semiconductors for DC-DC power conversion applications, has announced a miniature, ultra-low on-resistance 6A dual load switch. Comprising two N-channel MOSFETs with associated control circuitry, the APE8990-3 has an RDS(ON) of 20mΩ and controlled turn on functionality.
Mouser Electronics’ President and CEO Glenn Smith celebrates 40 years of service
May 22, 2013 11:16 am | News | CommentsMouser Electronics announced the 40th company anniversary milestone of Glenn Smith, Mouser’s President and Chief Executive Officer. In 1973, Pong was cutting edge in the world of video games, music came on eight-track tapes, TV viewing was limited to three networks and Glenn Smith was a college kid....
New technique may open up an era of atomic-scale semiconductor devices
May 22, 2013 11:03 am | by NC State University | News | CommentsResearchers at North Carolina State University have developed a new technique for creating high-quality semiconductor thin films at the atomic scale – meaning the films are only one atom thick. The technique can be used to create these thin films on a large scale, sufficient to coat wafers that are two inches wide, or larger.
Internet cable from Cuba to Jamaica comes online
May 22, 2013 10:55 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsA new branch of the Venezuela-to-Cuba undersea fiber-optic cable has reportedly come online, linking the island to nearby Jamaica, increasing Cuba's potential international communications bandwidth and providing a backup for the main line.
With high-tech guns, users could disable remotely
May 22, 2013 10:51 am | by MARTHA MENDOZA, AP National Writer | News | CommentsA high-tech startup is wading into the gun control debate with a wireless controller that would allow gun owners to know when their weapon is being moved — and disable it remotely. The technology, but not an actual gun, was demonstrated Tuesday at a wireless technology conference in Las Vegas and was shown to The Associated Press in advance.
First Look: New Xbox elegant, but much unknown
May 22, 2013 10:47 am | by DERRIK J. LANG, AP Entertainment Writer | News | CommentsAfter four years of development, Microsoft unveiled the Xbox One entertainment console and touted it as an all-in-one solution for playing games, watching TV and doing everything in between. Microsoft wants the Xbox One to be central to your living room...
