TechBlog

Researchers at Northwestern University and Princeton University have created a new kind of polymer that, because of its extraordinary thermal and mechanical properties, could be used in everything from airplanes to solar cells.

The polymer, a nanocomposite that incorporates functionalized, exfoliated graphene sheets, even conducts electricity, and researchers hope to use that property to eventually create thermally stable, optically transparent conducting polymers.

Continue reading ‘By Adding Graphene, Researchers Create Superior Polymer’ »

Brent Christner, LSU professor of biological sciences, in partnership with colleagues in Montana and France, recently found evidence that rain-making bacteria are widely distributed in the atmosphere. These biological particles could factor heavily into the precipitation cycle, affecting climate, agricultural productivity and even global warming. Christner and his colleagues published their results on Feb 29 in the journal Science.

Brent Christner, LSU assistant professor of biolo-

gical sciences, collecting precipitation samples in Antarctica. (Credit: Brent Christner Continue reading ‘Evidence Of ‘Rain-making’ Bacteria Discovered In Atmosphere And Snow’ »

Applied scientists at Harvard University in collaboration with researchers from the German universities of Jena, Gottingen, and Bremen, have developed a new technique for fabricating nanowire photonic and electronic integrated circuits that may one day be suitable for high-volume commercial production.

Fabrication technique could yield low-cost, scalable nanowire photonic and electronic circuits

Spearheaded by graduate student Mariano Zimmler and Federico Capasso, Robert L. Wallace Professor of Applied Physics and Vinton Hayes Senior Research Fellow in Electrical Engineering, both of Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), and Prof. Carsten Ronning of the University of Jena, the findings will be published in Nano Letters. The researchers have filed for U.S. patents covering their invention.

Continue reading ‘Scientists Demonstrate Method for Integrating Nanowire Devices Directly onto Silicon’ »

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world’s largest provider of thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels announced today that it has developed the world’s first “Blue Phase” LCD panel – which will offer more natural moving images with an unprecedented image-driving speed of 240 Hertz. Samsung is planning to unveil a 15” model of its Blue Phase LCD panel at the SID (Society for Information Display) 2008 international Symposium, Seminar and Exhibition, which will be held in Los Angeles from May 18 to 23.

Executive Vice President Souk Jun-hyung, the head of LCD Business’ Display R&D Center, said that “Our Blue Phase mode is a major evolutionary development beyond conventional liquid crystal modes. Samsung’s development of the technology provides a tremendous opportunity to move image quality of LCD screens much closer to that of a real moving image.”

Continue reading ‘Samsung Develops World’s First “Blue Phase” Technology to Achieve 240 Hz Driving Speed for High-Speed Video’ »

Fly-by-Wireless

Every ounce of weight brought to the lunar surface costs 40 to 60 times that in fuel needed at liftoff from the Earth. Part of that weight penalty is due to wires, but the cost of wires is much more than weight. Wired connectivity drives up the price of design from the beginning: it drives the cost of the many systems and structures; it drives inspection, troubleshooting, maintenance, and upgrade costs; as well as the cost of making system changes. Future vehicles that can reduce the effects and limitations of wires will not be without risk or a lot of work, but the effort has begun.

Continue reading ‘Fly-by-Wireless: A Less-Wire and Wireless Revolution for Aerospace Vehicle Architectures’ »

Human-implantable RFID microchips face an uncertain future in the wake of developments that the technology’s developer, VeriChip, announced last week. The Delray Beach, Florida-based company announced it sold most of its assets to tool manufacturer Stanley Works for $45 million and that the rest of the company is for sale (see VeriChip Sells an RFID Business, More Change May Come). The remaining company essentially consists of the VeriMed Health Link business line, a patient identification service based on VeriChip’s controversial, FDA-approved line of implantable RFID tags for lifetime human identification.

“That business is not self-sustainable,” VeriChip vice president of corporate development Jay McKeage candidly told RFID Update. “It cannot stand on its own because of the cash burn involved in marketing to consumers.”

VeriMed Health Link is a service in which patients have an RFID tag injected under their skin in the arm to provide lifetime identification. The tag is encoded with a 16-digit unique ID number, which medical professionals with VeriChip-issued readers can use to access the patient’s complete medical history from a secure database. VeriChip markets the system on patient-safety benefits — emergency room doctors or other medical staff can access a patient’s medical history without relying on a patient response or an ID card. The idea is that even if a patient arrives unconscious or otherwise uncommunicative, his or her complete medical history is still accessible. The FDA approved VeriChip’s human-implantable passive RFID microchips in 2004, but adoption has been limited.

Continue reading ‘Implantable RFID Business ‘Not Self-Sustainable’’ »

Gnat-sized robots, microscopic gyroscopes, television beamed directly onto your retina. This may sound like a grocery list for a crazed sci-fi visionary. But all these projects are in the works today, thanks to an emerging chip technology known as microelectromechanical systems. While magical microbots may still be a few years away, MEMS are already a multibillion-dollar business in the car, printer, and display-projection industries.

Traditional chips are flat, static structures. MEMS, by contrast, are silicon wafers packed with kinetic, three-dimensional gizmos: laboratories, laser-guided mirrors, canals flowing with chemicals. An offshoot of the semiconductor industry, MEMS benefit from the well-known peculiarities of the silicon universe - every year chips get tinier, cheaper, and faster.

Continue reading ‘As the MEMS Revolution Takes Off, Small Is Getting Bigger Every Day’ »

Future nanomanufacturing processes will rely on two basic principles: a combination of chemical synthesis and self-assembly on one hand and robotic nanofabrication on the other. While the former is a controlled ‘natural’ process relying on chemistry and self-organization principles of nature (read more: How falling spaghettis could lead to more complex nanotechnology self-assembly), the latter will be an industrial process similar in concept to today’s automated manufacturing assembly lines.

Micromanufacturing

Continue reading ‘A Gripping Tale for Nanomanufacturing’ »

Lab-on-a-Chip

Color coding: This prototype of a new paper diagnostic test from Harvard University analyzes the glucose (left well) and protein (right well) content of urine; the top well is a control for the glucose assay. The beige part of the test paper has been treated with a hydrophobic polymer that channels the liquid into the wells. In this test, the paper was dipped in an artificial urine solution that contained glucose and a protein extracted from cow blood.

By taking advantage of the natural movement of liquid through paper, researchers at Harvard’s Whitesides Research Group may have found a way to make microfluidics technology much cheaper. The result could be disposable diagnostic tests simple and abundant enough for use in the developing world.

The field of microfluidics deals with the precise manipulation of tiny quantities of liquid. One of its most promising applications is the so-called lab-on-a-chip, which can work with much smaller fluid samples than larger devices require, potentially allowing for more portable diagnostic tools. But existing microfluidic chips are generally made from comparatively expensive materials like silicon, glass, or plastic and have tiny pumps and valves that can be difficult to manufacture.

Continue reading ‘Lab-on-a-Chip Made of Paper’ »

SiC MEMS Pressure Sensors: Technology, Applications and Markets

Silicon Carbide: Material Platform for Harsh Environment Solutions Silicon carbide (SiC) has been used for many conventional applications that require mechanical and chemical stability at high temperatures. Mechanical stability is defined as the ability of a particular material to preserve its mechanical properties – elasticity, fracture toughness, hardness – at temperatures below and above room temperature.

Chemical stability is similarly defined as the ability of a particular material to preserve its composition at temperatures below and above room temperature. For high temperature applications, mechanical properties tend to deteriorate and chemical stability is compromised as corrosion processes occur.

Any material that can overcome these mechanical and chemical limitations becomes a candidate for what are called “harsh environment” applications. Harsh environment means a combination of media properties that can interact with the exposed material and alter its originally intended behavior. Harsh environments can be classified in three broad categories: 1) mechanically aggressive: high loads, vibration, shock; 2) thermally aggressive: high temperature; and 3) chemically aggressive: corrosive media.

Continue reading ‘SiC MEMS Pressure Sensors: Technology, Applications and Markets’ »