First proposed in 1973 by Michael Dyakonov and my thesis advisor Michael Shur, plasma-waves are expected to allow silicon FETs to operate as high as 10 terahertz! In our lab, we’ve demonstrated detection from 0.2 to 1.6 terahertz with these devices, and terahertz detectors based on silicon FETs will be easy to integrate with complex image processing circuits.
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Friday, June 12, 2009
China 'Green Dam' Censorware Called Security Risk
China's plan to require Web filtering software on all PCs sold in the country after July 1 continues to draw fire from individuals and organizations inside and outside the country.
Three computer scientists with the University of Michigan on Thursday published an analysis of the "Green Dam Youth Escort" software required by the Chinese government and found that "it contains serious security vulnerabilities due to programming errors."
The researchers state that the software contains systemic flaws in its code as a result of unsafe programming techniques and that the software's problems are compounded by a design that exposes it to a large variety of potential attacks.
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Three computer scientists with the University of Michigan on Thursday published an analysis of the "Green Dam Youth Escort" software required by the Chinese government and found that "it contains serious security vulnerabilities due to programming errors."
The researchers state that the software contains systemic flaws in its code as a result of unsafe programming techniques and that the software's problems are compounded by a design that exposes it to a large variety of potential attacks.
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Aluminium hydride: a reversible material for hydrogen storage
Hydrogen storage is one of the challenges to be overcome for implementing the ever sought hydrogen economy. Here we report a novel cycle to reversibly form high density hydrogen storage materials such as aluminium hydride. Aluminium hydride (AlH3, alane) has a hydrogen storage capacity of 10.1 wt% H2, 149 kg H2/m3 volumetric density and can be discharged at low temperatures.
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Impulse flight
The first solar aircraft aiming to fly night and day without fuel will be unveiled in Switzerland on 26 June.
The prototype aircraft, called the HB-SIA, has been developed through Solar Impulse, a project run by Swiss aviators Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg.
The aircraft, which has been under construction since 2007, combines a lightweight 1,500kg structure with a 61m wingspan and a length resembling that of an Airbus 340. The difference is these wings are covered in a thin sheet of solar cells that convert the sun’s rays into electricity that drives the machine’s engines.
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The prototype aircraft, called the HB-SIA, has been developed through Solar Impulse, a project run by Swiss aviators Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg.
The aircraft, which has been under construction since 2007, combines a lightweight 1,500kg structure with a 61m wingspan and a length resembling that of an Airbus 340. The difference is these wings are covered in a thin sheet of solar cells that convert the sun’s rays into electricity that drives the machine’s engines.
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Turbine-powered car
Capstone Turbine, a Los Angeles-based manufacturer of microturbine energy systems, has announced that its C30 liquid-fuelled microturbine has been integrated into a Ford S-Max people carrier in the UK.
Langford Performance Engineering, which is based in Wellingborough, designed and modified the Ford S-Max seven-seat crossover vehicle into a series hybrid plug-in vehicles with a C30 under the hood as an electric range extender.
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Langford Performance Engineering, which is based in Wellingborough, designed and modified the Ford S-Max seven-seat crossover vehicle into a series hybrid plug-in vehicles with a C30 under the hood as an electric range extender.
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The Navy's New 100 KiloWatt Laser Weapons
The Office of Naval Research has awarded Raytheon a year-long contract to develop the preliminary design of a 100 kilowatt experimental Free Electron Laser (FEL) for naval warships. A FEL uses superconducting electron accelerators to produce high-power laser beams that could target cruise missiles, airplanes or boats.
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A Giant Solar Plane That Will Stay in the Air for Five Years Straight
Odysseus, an autonomous surveillance-plane concept,
will fly for years on end, powered by nothing but the sun
Nine days: That's the longest any airplane has stayed in the air. Burt and Dick Rutan's Voyager set the record in 1986 by flying 24,986 miles around the world without refueling. But nine days of uninterrupted flight won't cut it for Darpa, the Pentagon's advanced-research organization. It's challenged the aviation industry to come up with an unmanned surveillance and communications plane that can circle targets for half a decade — and do so on nothing but solar power.
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Nine days: That's the longest any airplane has stayed in the air. Burt and Dick Rutan's Voyager set the record in 1986 by flying 24,986 miles around the world without refueling. But nine days of uninterrupted flight won't cut it for Darpa, the Pentagon's advanced-research organization. It's challenged the aviation industry to come up with an unmanned surveillance and communications plane that can circle targets for half a decade — and do so on nothing but solar power.
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The plan for smaller, faster, deadlier UAVs
Besides wanting to shrink its UAVs, the Air Force wants them to fly faster — much faster.
The X-51A Scramjet Engine, designed to fly six times the speed of sound, will launch into space — its first test — this fall. Air Force officials, though, think it could serve as a UAV as easily as it could a space launch vehicle.
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The X-51A Scramjet Engine, designed to fly six times the speed of sound, will launch into space — its first test — this fall. Air Force officials, though, think it could serve as a UAV as easily as it could a space launch vehicle.
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New RFID Automated Self Serve Library Management Solution from SkyRFID Inc.
SkyRFID Inc. recently announced the availability of their new Automated Self Serve Library Management Solution. This new Microsoft SQL database solution allows patrons to access the facility with their RFID patron cards and select their item choices from the easy to use touch screens that are conveniently located throughout the facility. Multiple search functions allow looking for items by titles, descriptions, categories, sub categories and more, making it very easy to find what they are looking for.
Facility defined locations provide unlimited location control and the screens display the Aisle and Shelf Location of each item. If a selection is not in stock the patron can effortlessly reserve it and be automatically notified when their selection is subsequently available. For those patrons who like to select multiple items that may be located in disparate locations, they can simply touch the screen to receive a printout of their choices complete with location information.
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Facility defined locations provide unlimited location control and the screens display the Aisle and Shelf Location of each item. If a selection is not in stock the patron can effortlessly reserve it and be automatically notified when their selection is subsequently available. For those patrons who like to select multiple items that may be located in disparate locations, they can simply touch the screen to receive a printout of their choices complete with location information.
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NEC builds WiMAX router for sharing sweet broadband goodies with your friends over WiFi
NEC is showing off a vaguely defined Mobile WiMAX Router at Interop Tokyo 2009, which can run on battery and shares its connection over WiFi.
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'Black box' could hold answer to plane crash mystery
The "black box" is actually an orange cylinder -- about 13 pounds of metal wrapped around a stack of memory chips and designed to withstand the force of being slammed high-speed into a brick wall.
One such device -- possibly sitting more than two miles below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean -- is the object of a massive international search and could hold the answer to why Air France Flight 447 mysteriously plunged into the sea off the coast of Brazil last week with 228 people on board.
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One such device -- possibly sitting more than two miles below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean -- is the object of a massive international search and could hold the answer to why Air France Flight 447 mysteriously plunged into the sea off the coast of Brazil last week with 228 people on board.
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Smaller Aircraft Tests With ABL Eyed
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) wants to explore putting Airborne Laser (ABL) technology on a smaller aircraft than its current jumbo jet platform, MDA's director said June 11.
The high-powered laser, designed to destroy an attacking missile shortly after launch during the boost phase, currently flies on a modified Boeing 747-400 freighter. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has vetoed the idea of acquiring another 747, saying the existing equipment should first be used as a research and development platform to prove the capabilities of the large laser technology.
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The high-powered laser, designed to destroy an attacking missile shortly after launch during the boost phase, currently flies on a modified Boeing 747-400 freighter. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has vetoed the idea of acquiring another 747, saying the existing equipment should first be used as a research and development platform to prove the capabilities of the large laser technology.
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Real Lessons of a Great Engine War
The whole reason for the Great Engine War was a strained relationship between the Air Force & Pratt and Whitney at that time. In fact, Pratt & Whitney officials will be the first to say that that relationship was not handled in the best possible fashion, and that they learned many lessons from the experience, the most important lesson being the critical importance of listening to and working to meet your customer’s needs. As the F100 matured in the F-15, it experienced some performance challenges. The USAF was pushing the state of the art in jet engine technology on a very accelerated schedule and decided the military shouldn’t rely on just one engine at the time.
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Boeing Moving FAST on Satellite Power and Propulsion System
Boeing Satellite Systems in El Segundo, CA won a $13.8 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for Phase 2 of the Fast Access Spacecraft Testbed (FAST) satellite power generation and propulsion program. The objective of the FAST program is the development and demonstration of a high power generation and propulsion system for mobile satellites.
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$6.3M to Northrop Grumman for Navy Network Management System
Northrop Grumman Information Technology in McLean, VA received a $6.3 million hybrid firm-fixed-price/cost/cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order (NS09) under a previously awarded contract for a Navy network enterprise management system. Under this order, Northrop Grumman will provide tactical switching increment II spiral B1 equipment, including program management; configuration management; logistics; hardware and software updates; configuration management support; testing support; and on-site technical support at 2 Regional Network Operations and Security Centers (RNOSCs).
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