Features
Japan's large-scale PV power exhibition
October 22, 2012 7:53 pm | by SEMICON | News | CommentsPVJapan 2012, the leading photovoltaic exhibition in Japan, will take place on December 5-7. PVJapan is the best event for industry stakeholders to gain knowledge of Japan’s renewable energy industry, including solar energy. Leading-edge technologies will be exhibited on the show floor...
SEMICON Japan 2012: Focus on Next-Generation Technology Challenges — with Keynotes from Toshiba, Intel, Xilinx and TSMC
October 22, 2012 12:53 pm | by SEMI | News | CommentsSEMICON Japan 2012, one of the largest exhibitions in the world for semiconductor manufacturing and related processing technology, will take place at Makuhari Messe in Chiba on December 5-7. Today, SEMI announced an exceptional lineup of keynotes speakers
The best solution for dealing with space junk
October 19, 2012 2:26 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsThere is a lot of junk in space. There’s American junk, Russian junk, Chinese junk, and corporate junk. There are satellite pieces and discarded rocket parts and metal bits. Basically, all the junk is just floating around clonking into other junk and causing general mayhem when they get a bit too close to the stuff that’s not junk.
Could this "shocking" technology save 12 billion dollars a year?
October 19, 2012 9:20 am | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | News | CommentsOne of the biggest challenges in immobile patients is bedsores. Because patients usually end up laying in a bed or sitting in a wheelchair, a lot of pressure is exerted on the skin and tissue over bony areas of the body like the heel, ankle, hips, or buttocks. That unrelenting pressure can often result in bedsores, a difficult- to- treat condition.
How to Double the Power of Solar Panels
October 18, 2012 12:49 pm | by Massachusetts Institute of Technology | News | CommentsIn an attempt to further drop the cost of solar power, Bandgap Engineering, a startup in Woburn, Mass., is developing a nanowire-based solar cell that could eventually generate twice as much power as conventional solar cells...
Could NASA help paraplegics walk?
October 18, 2012 9:37 am | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsNASA has been known to make pretty large contributions to society. But they might have outdone themselves on this one. The agency is currently in the research and development phase for a powered armor suit that could one day allow paraplegics to walk. The suit, called X1, is a robotic exoskeleton designed to be worn over the body to assist in leg movements.
Making Sudoku puzzles less puzzling
October 12, 2012 10:38 am | by EurekAlert! | News | CommentsResearchers feel that their analog algorithm of Sudoku puzzles can potentially be applied to a wide variety of problems in industry, computer science and computational biology. Toroczkai and Ercsey-Ravaz have proposed a universal analog algorithm which is completely deterministic, always arriving at the correct and quicker solution to a problem...
The 10-letter keyboard that will make your head hurt
October 11, 2012 4:50 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsThe ASETNIOP keyboard is one of those things that may be great for future generations but will have a tough time integrating itself into the current workforce. The keyboard works on the premise that the traditional setup for typing is structurally inefficient, and you really only need 10 buttons to type
Falling prices to dampen record PV inverter shipments
October 11, 2012 1:35 pm | News | CommentsFollowing a decline in the third quarter of 2012, global photovoltaic (PV) inverter shipments are forecast to reach a record of 8.6 gigawatts (GW), according to the latest report from IMS Research. An 18 percent year-on-year rise in global shipments will make the fourth quarter of 2012...
Researchers create ‘nanoflowers’ for energy storage, solar cells
October 11, 2012 12:05 pm | by EurekAlert! | News | CommentsResearchers from North Carolina State University have created flower-like structures out of germanium sulfide, a semiconductor material that has extremely thin petals with an enormous surface area. The GeS flower holds promise for next-generation energy storage devices and solar cells...
What to look for in relays for space applications
October 11, 2012 9:34 am | by Karl Kitts, Engineering Director, High Performance Relays, TE Connectivity | Articles | CommentsWhen NASA’s Curiosity rover made a perfect landing in Gale Crater of Mars, it was 150 million miles from the nearest repairman. Every component has to operate reliably to support the vehicle’s expected operation life of 98 weeks—or one Martian year. Specifying a relay for space obviously involves finding a compact, lightweight device that meets electrical needs.
What equipment do you need to skydive from 120,000 feet?
October 11, 2012 8:54 am | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsBy this point, you’ve probably heard that Felix Baumgartner is planning to skydive from 120,000 feet above the earth. For the record, that’s about 23 miles from solid ground. The jump was originally supposed to happen on October 9, but because of 14 mph wind speeds—they needed speeds of less than 2 mph to jump safely
LRDIMM answers the enterprise compute and communications systems call
October 10, 2012 4:39 pm | by Sameer Kuppahalli, Inphi Corporation | Articles | CommentsAmong the myriad technology sectors looking to boost performance efficiently, the enterprise segment poses a unique challenge to communications and other system makers. While servers can be deployed in any number of environments – and scaled to meet applications’ specific needs...
Solar cells made from black silicon
October 9, 2012 5:29 pm | by EurekAlert! | News | CommentsSolar cells convert three-quarters of the energy contained in the Sun‘s spectrum into electricity, yet the infrared spectrum is entirely lost in standard solar cells. In contrast, black silicon solar cells are specifically designed to absorb this part of the Sun‘s spectrum...
Prevent accidents by making your backseat disappear
October 9, 2012 11:16 am | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsCrunch. That’s the last sound you want to hear when you’re backing up your car. It is scary. It is alarming. It is NOT a good sound.It’s the reason dashboard cams were invented. Unfortunately, the embedded cameras only show a small portion of what’s behind the car, and accidents still happen.
What’s the worst that could happen? RF communication disasters
October 8, 2012 11:07 am | by Michael Clonts, Product Manager, RT Logic | Articles | CommentsThe morning of December 4, 2011 began normally for the team of Air Force technicians. As they settled into their shift flying unmanned aircraft over Afghanistan, perhaps they chatted casually and swapped stories from the weekend. Very soon, however, their conversations were interrupted by shrill alarm sirens blaring from their control monitors.
Energy harvesting kit includes solar cell and a thermo-generator
October 8, 2012 9:00 am | Product Releases | CommentsEnergy Micro, Linear Technology and Würth Elektronik present the development platform Energy Harvesting Solution To Go. The Energy Harvesting Solution To Go-Kit provides a very easy access to energy harvesting technologies which helps developers to apply them in future battery less products.
Low-voltage ICs in power-hungry data centers benefit from high-voltage DC supply path
October 5, 2012 10:10 am | by Stephen Oliver, VP VI Chip Product Line, Vicor Corp., www.vicorpower.com | Articles | CommentsThere's a "back to the future" aspect to power distribution for datacenters in the 21st century. At the beginning of the 20th century, Thomas Edison was a proponent of distributing power to homes and businesses using higher-voltage DC, while Nikola Tesla’s backer George Westinghouse supported distribution via AC.
Kits for Kids
October 4, 2012 3:46 pm | by Jon Titus, Technical Contributor | Articles | CommentsElectronics, computer, and science kits can help kindle technical interests in kids of all ages. Each year the holidays seem to arrive sooner than expected and parents of young people interested in science and technology search for gift ideas. This column provides some suggestions. Some projects require adult help or supervision.
Making moves and harvesting energy
October 3, 2012 2:49 pm | by Janine E. Mooney, Editor | News | CommentsEngineers are tossing the batteries and making advances to save wasted energy in more effective and realistic ways. Today’s technology offers the OEM more cultivated and feasible power options for wireless networks and devices. Also known as “power harvesting” or “energy scavenging”, energy harvesting is when energy originates elsewhere, from an external source.
Controller area network (CAN): Teaching an old dog new tricks
October 3, 2012 12:06 pm | by Scott Monroe, Texas Instruments | Articles | CommentsThere is a saying that you cannot teach an old dog new tricks. While CAN is 25 years old, it continues to grow and gain new capabilities. It has been adapted into widely varying applications starting with its roots in simple automotive multiplexing to the current automotive networks, transportation, and industrial applications.
Impact and mitigation of counterfeit ICs in the aerospace and defense market
October 3, 2012 11:45 am | by Brad Little, Texas Instruments | Articles | CommentsOver the years, the relative stability of the defense and aerospace industry has served as a stable and reliable revenue pool. This market has attracted a variety of manufacturers to help offset the cyclical changes in the commercial and industrial markets. Aerospace and defense (A&D) companies continuously search for the latest and best commercial technologies...
Brainstorm: Software tools
October 3, 2012 10:54 am | Articles | CommentsTraditional embedded development tools assist engineers as they implement their applications. Innovative tools assist engineers as they implement their ideas, without imposing a predetermined solution or outcome. Such solutions abstract the implementation and accelerate the “idea to product” process.
Why you should support improvements in electric car chargers
October 3, 2012 8:55 am | Articles | CommentsPeople simply don’t think of electric cars as long-distance vehicles. It’s a car to run down the street and grab some groceries, make the 15 miles commute to work or—like one of my friends—if you live in Hawaii and can’t really drive that far. It’s not an option most people think about for a regular car.
ASU researchers will explore feasibility of large-scale deployment of perennial biomass energy crops
October 2, 2012 12:19 pm | by EurekAlert! | News | CommentsArizona State University (ASU) researchers will embark on a novel renewable energy project with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through its Water Sustainability and Climate program (WSC). NSF is providing $1.5 million to ASU to identify suitable locations across the United States where perennial biomass energy crops (e.g., miscanthus and switchgrass) could be grown sustainably.
