Issue no. 24, 2002
Published: Jun 14, 2002 |
|
 Scientists develop transistor the size of an atom |
| 'Punch card' could store one terabit of data |
| Light's information-carrying capacity doubles |
| JPEG worm breaks new ground |
| Tech alliance seeks universal wireless standard |
| New programming language for graphics released |
| Cellphones help locate traffic jams |
| Web design 'causes confusion' |
| Teaching computers common sense |
| Wireless switches rely on finger power |
| London police hunting cellphone-stealing chimp |
|
| Scientists develop transistor the size of an atom |
Scientists at Cornell University in New York have shrunk transistors to
their smallest possible limit - the size of a single atom.
Transistors, traditionally made from silicon, are components that
regulate the passage of electric current through them. The researchers
implanted a 'designer' molecule between two gold electrodes to create a
circuit. At its heart was a cobalt atom surrounded by carbon and
hydrogen atoms and held in place by 'handles' made of the chemical
pyridine. When voltage was applied to the transistor, electrons passed
from one side to the other by 'hopping on and off' the cobalt atom.
Simultaneously a team at Harvard University, Massachusetts, reported a
similar result using two atoms. In both cases the scientists were able
to start and stop the flow of current by adjusting the voltage near the
bridging molecule. |
| Ananova
Jun 13, 2002 |
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| 'Punch card' could store one terabit of data |
IBM researchers have developed a data storage method using nano-
technology that allows a trillion bits of information to be packed into
a square inch. The Millipede chip stores single bits of data in the form
of tiny indentations. The indentations are made in the chip's surface
using tiny 'spikes' or tips on the end of pivoting arms.
The chip's surface consists of a layer of plexiglass on top of silicon.
'Writing' data involves heating a tip to 400°C, which enables it to make
an indentation in the surface. To erase data, the tips apply heat to the
edges of the indentations, smoothing the surface. To read the chip, the
tip's temperature is reduced to 300°C. As the tip runs over an indentation
it cools further - and that change in temperature is measured.
So far, the researchers have created a prototype chip with 1024 arms,
creating indentations 40 nanometres across, giving a storage capacity of
200 gigabits per square inch. But by making the indentations smaller the
capacity could potentially be increased to one terabit. |
| New Scientist / Infoworld
Jun 11, 2002 |
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| Light's information-carrying capacity doubles |
Scientists can use light to encode information because photons exist in
one of two possible spin states. But photons also carry a property known
as orbital angular momentum (OAM), which can take on an infinite number
of values. A reliable method of measuring OAM might therefore lead to a
way of packing significantly more data into a beam of light.
Researchers at Glasgow University have succeeded in sorting individual
photons according to their OAM and encoding two bits of information on a
single photon. The team split a light beam into two and rotated each arm
to varying degrees. When the beams were recombined, the researchers
could sort the photons based on whether or not the beams remained
identical because the phase shift between two beams is governed by OAM.
By sending sorted beams through additional prisms, the team could
discriminate among four different values of OAM. By lowering the
intensity of the beam, only a single photon entered the equipment at any
one time, allowing them to separate individual photons according to OAM. |
| Scientific American
Jun 12, 2002 |
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|
| JPEG worm breaks new ground |
Antivirus companies warned on Thursday of a new virus that communicates
through digital images.
Dubbed the first 'JPEG infector' by security company Network Associates,
the W32/Perrun virus has two parts: infected JPEG images that contain
the virus's payload and a viral program that extracts the code from the
images and infects other JPEGs on the system as they are opened.
Because PCs have to be infected by the extractor virus before any code
hidden in image files can affect them, the program is more a computer-
science curiosity than a threat, according to Network Associates.
The extractor file only infects computers running Microsoft Windows and
does not include a mass-mailing component. However, the code has opened
up a debate among antivirus researchers as to whether viruses with
multiple parts could represent a new threat to PC users. |
| ZDNet
Jun 13, 2002 |
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| Tech alliance seeks universal wireless standard |
Nearly 200 technology companies, including Motorola, Nokia, Vodafone,
NTT DoCoMo and Microsoft, have signed on to the latest industry effort
to forge a universal wireless standard for all cell phones and handheld
computers.
The new Open Mobile Alliance will replace the WAP Forum, whose Wireless
Application Protocol is the most widely used platform for web browsers
on cell phones, but has fallen short of expectations.
The new group plans to define minimum specifications for any wireless
platform or application, thereby enabling compatibility and inter-
operability among different mobile devices regardless of the software
used. Its members hope that the resulting standards will accelerate the
development and adoption of new services and capabilities such as
multimedia messaging, game playing and entertainment. |
| Nando Times / AP
Jun 12, 2002 |
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| New programming language for graphics released |
A new programming language will help give game programmers the option of
trading some speed and smoothness to create more detailed images. The
language, called Cg, was developed by graphics chip leader Nvidia in
collaboration with Microsoft and is similar to Microsoft's series of C
languages for writing Windows code.
Cg, released Thursday, will give game developers tools to write code for
advanced graphics effects such as vertex shading and pixel shading -
techniques that let programmers tackle long-standing graphics challenges
such as rendering fur and grass. To date, such effects have had to be
written in low-level 'assembly language', making the process so complex
and lengthy that most use it for only a few graphical tricks.
The Cg Toolkit is available now for developers to download. Nvidia said
it will make the basic Cg code available for other makers of graphics
chips to write their own compilers. |
| ZDNet
Jun 13, 2002 |
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| Cellphones help locate traffic jams |
A system that spots when drivers with mobile phones are stuck in a
traffic jam could soon be used to help motorists dodge queues. Network
providers will be able to detect when traffic congestion is building up
on with the new program, which is being tested in the UK and Sweden.
When switched on, cellphones are in regular communication with the
nearest base station, giving a precise location for the phone. As the
user moves around, their phone sends signals to other base stations,
allowing the network's computer to log their route. By monitoring the
activity of hundreds of users, the system can build up a picture of
where delays are occurring. It also detects peaks in the number of calls
being made, as drivers reach for their phones to say they will be late.
UK-based Applied Generics says the program will provide more accurate
traffic information than that which is currently available. The company
hopes the system will be up and working in Europe in the next few months. |
| BBC News
Jun 12, 2002 |
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| Web design 'causes confusion' |
A gap between how web designers and ordinary surfers think is causing
frustration on the net. In a study at Kansas State University in the
US, surfers were asked to look through a website and then draw a diagram
of how the site was organised. Most of the drawings were inaccurate,
grouping together similar bits of information rather than reflecting the
site's real layout. Some even drew pages that did not exist.
The researchers argue that designers should organise information on
websites in categories that are obvious to users. Therefore they need to
focus on how users mentally organise the information that is displayed.
As people have a certain idea of how certain pieces of information are
organised, designers should present the information in a way that is
consistent with this idea, according to the researchers.
Other experts have questioned web design in the past. Net guru Jakob
Nielsen believes designers often take their work too seriously, with the
result that websites are less easy to use and ultimately less satisfying. |
| BBC News
Jun 13, 2002 |
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| Teaching computers common sense |
For the past 18 years, US company Cycorp's diverse team of programmers,
botanists, philosophers, and others have been working to give computers
a common-sense education. The $60m project has led to a database called
Cyc, which contains about 1.4m assertions about daily life, such as
'creatures that die stay dead'.
What makes Cyc valuable is its ability to apply reasoning to those
generalities, its creators say. So if Cyc knows that people usually
sleep in their homes at night and they do not like to be awakened unless
it is an important matter, it can also determine that a 3am phone
call should only be an urgent one.
Cyc is also programmed to answer questions based on different contexts,
allowing it to deal with contradictions. Lycos has used Cyc to improve
web searches, and the US Defence Department is using it for military-
intelligence projects. But anyone with Web access can test Cyc's common
sense - an open-source version is available at http://www.opencyc.org. |
| InformationWeek
Jun 12, 2002 |
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| Wireless switches rely on finger power |
Light switches that can be fitted anywhere in a building without wiring
or a power supply have been created by German company, EnOcean.
When the switch is pressed, piezoelectric crystals convert the
mechanical energy into electricity. A transmitter then sends a radio
signal to a receiver, which activates a corresponding light. An
identifying code embedded in each radio transmission matches a
particular switch to an individual light, allowing thousands of switches
to be used in the same building without any interference. Each signal
can be received up to 300 metres away.
The light switches will go on sale towards the end of 2002. EnOcean also
plans to market a battery-less car key in 2004 and self-powered sensors
for monitoring tyre pressure and temperature in 2005. The technology was
developed in cooperation with the German company Siemens. |
| New Scientist
Jun 10, 2002 |
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| London police hunting cellphone-stealing chimp |
Police in London are hunting a monkey that may have been trained to
steal mobile phones. Officers believe that two people may have been
victims of the monkey business over the weekend after two burglaries
were reported in as many hours.
One victim, Mustapha Riat, confirmed seeing a hairy black chimpanzee
climb through his ground floor flat window at about 8.30am on Sunday
morning. The chimp stole his mobile phone from the bedside table before
making a quick exit. Police think that the chimp may also be responsible
for another break-in at a house 20 doors down from Riat, at 6.30 the
same morning. The victim, Gina Davidson, said that a watch had been
taken and that the chimp had apparently attempted to take a DVD player.
A report in the Sun said that Scotland Yard had investigated a fair at
nearby Victoria Park, but confirmed that no monkeys were among the acts.
The police now believe that the monkey is a pet especially trained to
steal. Scotland Yard apparently has its 'greatest minds' on the case. |
| VNUnet UK
Jun 10, 2002 |
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