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Issue no. 31, 2007
Published: Sep 28, 2007

EU approves technology institute in bid to bolster growth
Quantum communication: atoms talk long distance
Mixing the oceans proposed to reduce global warming
Researchers switch on super-bright quantum dots
DIY lab scanner made from standard CD drive
Researchers double mobile phone memory
Germany to build maglev railway
EU approves technology institute in bid to bolster growth
The European Parliament approved on Wednesday the creation of a technology institute in a bid to bolster economic growth, which has trailed the US rate for most of the past decade. The assembly said the European Institute of Innovation and Technology should unite research groups, universities and companies to help lift research spending in Europe to 3% of gross domestic product from 1.8%.

But the plans approved for the research body are watered down, a far cry from the EUR 2.3bn campus envisioned by José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, and funding was left unresolved. Faced with scepticism of several EU states, the EIT will have a more modest start as a link to a network of universities and private research bodies.

EU governments must still approve the plan. After that, they and the Parliament will have a second vote and would have to settle any lingering differences in a special conciliation committee. The Parliament diluted the measure by rejecting the commission's proposal for the EIT to award its own degrees and insisted that the institute start with a pilot phase.
International Herald Tribune    Sep 27, 2007 back to top

Quantum communication: atoms talk long distance
Physicists have coaxed tiny artificial atoms into communicating in an advance that may lead to super-fast quantum computers.

Quantum computers hold the promise of being enormously powerful. So far, physicists have worked mostly on developing the most basic of elements that can store information known as quantum bits, or qubits. But a series of papers in the journal Nature suggest researchers have found a way to get these qubits to communicate over a distance, for instance, across a computer chip. In the past, the best qubits could do was talk to neighbouring qubits, much like the childhood game of telephone.

But researchers from Yale University have found a way to move information stored in a stationary quantum bit via a microwave photon to another stationary quantum bit on the same chip. Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology described a similar feat in a separate paper in Nature. They repeatedly transferred quantum information between two qubits on a tiny cable. This technique also gave the qubits more staying power. Normally, qubits maintain the same state for only half a microsecond.
Reuters    Sep 27, 2007 back to top

Mixing the oceans proposed to reduce global warming
Could mighty pumps be installed in the ocean to mix up the waters and cool the planet? James Lovelock and Chris Rapley suggest that this deus ex machina could be an 'emergency treatment for the pathology of global warming'.

Large vertical pipes could, they say, be used to mix nutrient-rich waters from hundreds of metres down with the more barren waters at the surface. This could cause algal blooms at the surface, which would consume carbon dioxide (CO2) through photosynthesis. When the algae die, some of this carbon could sink into deep waters. The algae may also produce chemicals that spur cloud formation, further cooling the planet.

The idea may seem far-fetched. But a wave-driven 'ocean upwelling system' to absorb CO2, very similar to what Lovelock and Rapley are proposing, is currently being developed by a company called Atmocean, based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Atmocean estimates that a pump-driven up-welling system, if deployed across 80% of the world's oceans, could help bring down to the ocean floor an additional 2bn metric tonnes of carbon per year, potentially doubling the ocean's annual rate of CO2 sequestration. The company has developed floating tubes, 3 metres in diameter and 300 metres long, that it claims can do just this.
Nature    Sep 26, 2007 back to top

Researchers switch on super-bright quantum dots
Researchers have set a record for the brightness of quantum dots that could be used in applications including LEDs, optical switches and personalised high-sensitivity biosensors.

A quantum dot is a tiny piece of semiconductor material 2nm to 10nm in diameter. When illuminated with invisible ultraviolet light, a quantum dot will fluoresce with visible light.

The University of Illinois team placed quantum dots on a specially designed photonic crystal, and demonstrated that it could enhance fluorescence intensity by a factor of up to 108. To enhance the fluorescence, the team began by creating plastic sheets of photonic crystal using a technique called replica moulding. They then fastened commercially available quantum dots to the surface of the plastic.
VNUnet UK    Sep 26, 2007 back to top

DIY lab scanner made from standard CD drive
Fixing two additional light sensors to a normal CD or DVD drive can transform it into a highly accurate scanner for chemical or medical tests, Spanish researchers have shown. The team has developed a modified CD drive that detected tiny quantities of pesticide in samples placed on top of an ordinary compact disk.

Biologists and chemists often detect and measure compounds of interest, such as disease pathogens in blood or pollutants in water, by triggering interactions between these compounds and known proteins and antibodies. These immunoassay tests produce further compounds that can then be measured accurately, typically using light. However, the machines used for light detection are expensive, normally costing between EUR 30,000 and 60,000.

The researchers found that an off-the-shelf CD drive can be modified to do the same job. While a laboratory machine has to precisely scan samples with light and record the results, a CD player uses similar precision to read the tiny pits that encode music or data on a disk. Although the hacked device lags behind the performance of specialised machines, it is accurate enough for many lab tasks, the team says.
New Scientist    Sep 25, 2007 back to top

Researchers double mobile phone memory
US engineers have developed compression technology that effectively doubles the usable memory on embedded systems such as mobile phones and cameras without any changes to hardware or applications. The team from Northwestern University and NEC Laboratories said that the memory boost can be made by modifying the operating system software alone.

The team's approach was to divide the memory in the system into two different regions, one regular and one where the data is greatly compressed. A very simple example of data compression is converting a list of 50 individual 'A's into the phrase '50 As', which takes up less space but communicates the same information. This can then be converted back to an identical copy of the original text.

When an application needs data from the compressed region the hardware pauses the software, the operating system accesses the data, uncompresses it and puts the data into the regular region where the application can access it. The application continues running without ever knowing that the data it needed has been compressed.
VNUnet UK    Sep 27, 2007 back to top

Germany to build maglev railway
Germany has come up with the funds to launch its first magnetic levitation - or maglev - rail service. The state of Bavaria is to build the high-speed railway line from Munich city centre to its airport, making it Europe's first commercial track.

Maglev trains use electric-powered magnets that enable them to float above their tracks, allowing for much faster speeds than traditional rail services. The EUR 1.85bn project had faced financing problems. However, the Bavarian state government said it had signed an agreement with rail operator Deutsche Bahn and industrial consortium Transrapid that includes the developers of the train - Siemens and ThyssenKrupp.

The maglev, which has a top speed of more than 500km/h, is regarded as a symbol of German technological prowess. However, the maglev project suffered a set back in September 2006 when a train collided with a parked maintenance vehicle on a test run in northern Germany, killing 23 people. No date was given for the launch of the Munich service.
BBC News    Sep 25, 2007 back to top
 
         
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