UNU-MERIT: I&T Weekly

	Search \| Sitemap \| Intranet \| PhD Intranet

Subscribe to I&T Weekly A free e-zine about Innovation & Technology developments

text html Please type the above code:
	RSS feed

Previous Issues I&T Weekly

>> back to archive

Previous issues of I&T Weekly:

2013: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20]

2012: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37]

2011: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] [44]

2010: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42]

2009: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42]

2008: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41]

2007: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40]

2006: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] [44]

2005: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40]

2004: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43]

2003: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] [47]

2002: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] [47]

2001: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]

Issue no. 23, 2007 Published: Jul 27, 2007
Intel claims breakthrough in high-speed computing
A box to make biofuel from car fumes
Womb-on-a-chip may boost IVF successes
Carbon makes super-tough paper
Gecko glue exploits mussel power
New high-tech artificial foot mimics real thing
Computer program can learn baby talk
First 'heat transistor' unveiled
The future of mobiles: powered by a heartbeat

Intel claims breakthrough in high-speed computing
Intel said it has achieved a breakthrough in data-carrying light that holds the promise of being able to transmit terabits of data per second on a single chip, making it possible to one day develop computers capable of downloading full-length films in seconds and quickly performing other data-intensive tasks. The latest achievement is in the area of silicon photonics, which is the use of lasers to increase the bandwidth of interconnects between components of a microprocessor. Intel researchers are working on the use of light to transmit data on silicon, which is the material used to make processors. They build a key component needed for a silicon-based photonic integrated circuit. That component is a silicon optical modulator that can encode data on an optical beam at 40 billion bits per second. While Intel scientists have built optical modulators before, it is the first time one has been developed that can encode data at speeds that match the fastest devices deployed today using other materials.
InformationWeek Jul 25, 2007	back to top

A box to make biofuel from car fumes
The world's richest corporations and finest minds spend billions trying to solve the problem of carbon emissions, but three fishing buddies in North Wales believe they have cracked it. They have developed a box which they say can be fixed underneath a car in place of the exhaust to trap greenhouse gases and emit mostly water vapour. The captured gases can be processed to create a biofuel using genetically modified algae. Dubbed 'Greenbox', the technology developed by the men could be used for cars, buses and eventually buildings and heavy industry, including power plants. The three, who stumbled across the idea while experimenting with CO2 to help boost algae growth for fish farming, have set up a company called Maes Anturio Ltd, which translates from Welsh as Field Adventure. Although the box the men currently use for demonstration is about the size of a bar stool, they say they can build one small enough to replace a car exhaust that will last for a full tank of petrol. The crucial aspect of the technology is that the carbon dioxide is captured and held in a secure state.
MSNBC / Reuters Jul 19, 2007	back to top

Womb-on-a-chip may boost IVF successes
Can conception, the most intimate of human experiences, be automated? Researchers at the University of Tokyo in Japan are building a microfluidic chip to nurture the first stages of pregnancy. They hope, eventually, to create a fully automated artificial uterus in which egg and sperm are fed in at one end and an early embryo comes out the other, ready for implanting in a real mother. They say using such a device could improve the success rate of IVF. The team has created a 'lab on a chip' that is 2mm across and 0.5mm high, in which up to 20 eggs can be fertilised and then grown until they are ready for implantation. Endometrial cells, which line real wombs, are also grown in the device, so that the chemicals they produce can reach the embryos and help them grow. Experiments in mice suggest that the chip is more successful than traditional IVF at producing embryos that will grow into healthy foetuses. For now the sperm and eggs are still prepared for fertilisation manually but the researchers are working towards automating those steps too. The chip could also be used for growing genetically modified animals, stem cells and cloned embryos.
New Scientist Jul 26, 2007	back to top

Carbon makes super-tough paper
Researchers at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, have used a recently discovered form of carbon to make sheets of super-stiff and super-strong paper that is only a few millionths of a metre thick. This paper could lead to the development of tough new materials or be used to store energy for fuel cell applications. Graphene, discovered in 2004, is tougher than diamond. It is composed of atom-thick sheets of carbon atoms arranged in a two-dimensional honeycomb structure. But unless they are anchored to some other material, these sheets spontaneously scrunch up into little balls and form a graphene 'soup'. The researchers have now found a way of making free-standing sheets of graphene 'paper'. The researchers took graphite oxide, a layered material, split it into microscopic individual plates, and then used a flow of water to stick these tiny plates together in a flat paper-like structure. Water acts as a glue between the layers of graphene, because hydrogen bonds form between the water molecules and the graphene strips. The result was a sheet of graphene oxide, consisting of overlapping particles a bit like the scales of a fish. These sheets were only a few micrometres thick.
Nature Jul 25, 2007	back to top

Gecko glue exploits mussel power
The remarkable adhesive abilities of geckos and mussels have been combined to create a super-sticky material. Unlike other adhesives inspired by the nimble reptiles, 'geckel' can attach to both wet and dry surfaces, the team from Northwestern University in Evanston that developed the material says. Its staying power comes from coating fibrous silicone, similar in structure to a gecko's foot, with a polymer that mimics the 'glue' used by mussels. The researchers say it could have medical applications. Adhesive tapes made out of geckel could be used to replace sutures for wound closure, and may also be useful as a water-resistant adhesive for bandages and drug-delivery patches. Tests showed that the material could be stuck and unstuck more than 1,000 times, even when used under water.
BBC News / Nature Jul 18, 2007	back to top

New high-tech artificial foot mimics real thing
US researchers this week unveiled a computerised prosthetic ankle and foot that could change the lives of a growing number of amputees returning from battle in Iraq and Afghanistan. The prosthesis has a built-in power source and multiple springs to mimic a real human ankle, giving amputees more propulsion when walking, while reducing the limping and back pain commonly associated with existing prosthetic devices. The apparatus produces a sensation like that of a moving airport walkway. The new device can generate its own momentum, meaning the user can put less effort into the act of walking. The prototype also has sensors and a microprocessor that measures walking speed, terrain and the body's position and adjusts the amount of power supplied accordingly.
MSNBC / Reuters Jul 24, 2007	back to top

Computer program can learn baby talk
A computer program that learns to decode sounds from different languages in the same way that a baby does helps to shed new light on how people learn to talk, according to a team of international researchers. The finding casts doubt on theories that babies are born knowing all the possible sounds in all of the world's languages. The computer program supports the theory that babies systematically sort through sounds until they understand the structure of a language. Expanding on some existing ideas, the researchers developed a computer model that resembles the brain processes a baby uses when learning about speech. They tested their model by exposing it to 'training sessions' that consisted of analysing recorded speech in both English and Japanese between mothers and babies in a lab. They found that the computer was able to learn basic vowel sounds right along with the baby.
Yahoo! / Reuters Jul 25, 2007	back to top

First 'heat transistor' unveiled
Physicists in Finland and Italy claim to have built the world's first 'heat transistor' in which the flow of heat between two electrodes is controlled by a voltage applied to a third lead. The flow can be increased, decreased or even switched off by changing the voltage - in much the same way as electrical current is controlled in a conventional transistor. Because the device allows for the precise study of the heat transported by single electrons, it could also help physicists to design better conventional electronic refrigerators, which also use electrons to transfer heat.
Physics Web / Phys. Rev. Lett. Jul 13, 2007	back to top

The future of mobiles: powered by a heartbeat
Mobile phones could in future be powered by their owner's beating heart after scientists at Southampton University developed a generator that can produce electricity from vibrations in the surrounding environment. Initially developed for use in industrial machinery, the scientists are now tweaking the design so it can be used to power pacemakers off a beating heart. It would allow patients to avoid surgery to replace batteries in their pacemaker. However, researchers also hope that they will eventually be able to use the highly-efficient generators to power other portable wireless devices, including mobiles and MP3 players. It would mean that mobile users could charge their phone by simply keeping it in their breast pocket near their heart. The miniature generator works on the same principles as a kinetic powered watch, which uses the movement of a coil between magnets to produce an electrical current. The researchers have found that they can tune the device to a particular frequency of movement so it will produce far more power than the devices found in watches.
Daily Telegraph Jul 22, 2007	back to top