LED headlights hit the road

Headlights using LUXEON Altilon LEDs from Philips Lumileds (San Jose, CA) have until now been fitted only to the Audi R8, but the introduction of relevant EU regulations has cleared the way for other automotive manufacturers to adopt them.

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Alternative to "Black Boxes" Takes Flight

Air France crash renews interest in real-time flight-data reporting systems.

There are an estimated 10 000 planes in the air around the world at any given time and only so much spectrum available. And no one single band of spectrum would be ideal. While planes might make do with a VHF band over land, those flying over oceans rely on more expensive satellite communications.

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DARPA awards Duke $19.5 million to detect viral infection before symptoms appear

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the research arm of the U.S. Department of Defense, has awarded Duke University $19.5 million for an effort led by the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy (IGSP) to design a portable, easy-to-use diagnostic device that can reveal who is infected with an upper respiratory virus before the first cough or sneeze.

DARPA is interested in such a device because it could offer military commanders in the field valuable information about which soldiers are likely to become sick and potentially unfit for duty.

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A tiny, tunable well of light, and a string theorist's toolbox

Photonics, the science of using photons to carry information, promises to continue improving a wide variety of technologies, from computing to high-speed communication. Now an international team of researchers from the UK, Taiwan, and Spain have discovered a compact way to produce infrared light, by firing electrons through a miniscule tunnel in a stack of gold and silica layers.

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A New Language Could Improve Home Computer Security

Korean scientists have developed a security language for home networks that could make us more secure from cyber attack in our homes.

The specification also takes into account authentication, authorization, security policy deployment so that all users in the home are not only protected from malware but also can help ensure everyone can use the network when they need to.

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MIT's hybrid microchip to overcome silicon size barrier

Researchers have developed a 'hybrid microchip' that could advance electronics beyond the limits of Moore's Law.

According to Moore's Law, the number of transistors on an integrated circuit doubles every two years, leading to an exponential improvement in electronics.

However, as devices get smaller, it is increasingly difficult for manufacturers to continue the trend on conventional silicon microchips.

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Springs built from nanotubes could provide big power storage potential

New research by MIT scientists suggests that carbon nanotubes -- tube-shaped molecules of pure carbon -- could be formed into tiny springs capable of storing as much energy, pound for pound, as state-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries, and potentially more durably and reliably.

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Nanoresearchers challenge dogma in protein transportation in cells

New data on signaling proteins, called G proteins, may prove important in fighting diseases such as cardiovascular, neurodegenerative disorders, and cancer. For many decades scientists have puzzled on "How signaling proteins transport and organize in specific areas of the cell?" Researchers from Nano-Science Center and Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, provide yet unrecognized clues to solve this mystery.

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IBM Develops Denser, Faster Chip Memory

IBM has developed a prototype of what the company claims is the smallest, densest and fastest on-chip memory, which could lead to higher performing electronics from servers to consumer gear.

IBM built the technology for use in next-generation 32-nanometer processors. The embedded dynamic random access memory, or eDRAM, is integrated on the same die as a multi-core processor, instead of using external DRAM modules and transistor-based static random access memory, or SRAM, that's typically used for caches.

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Shipboard Protection System Achieves Milestone Decision

The SPS program is an Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection initiative to provide multiple classes of U.S. Navy ships with an enhanced ability to accomplish self-protection against asymmetric threats. SPS is a system of systems that coordinates command and control of sensors, ship's equipment, software, personnel and procedures.

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Submarine robot for shallow waters

A new type of swimming robot developed by researchers at Bath University could lead to improved submersible devices for applications such as the inspection of oil rigs.

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New diamond Raman laser is highly efficient

Physicists in Australia have demonstrated a highly efficient 532-nm-pumped external cavity diamond Raman laser generating output mostly at the 573 nm first Stokes. According to the researchers, crystalline Raman lasers are efficient converters of pump lasers to longer wavelengths and higher beam quality. Existing Raman lasers typically use crystals of silicon, barium nitrate or metal tungstate to amplify light created by a pump laser.

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RFID Makes Check-in Faster for Air France Passengers

France'sNice Côte d'Azur Airport is testing the use of Near Field Communication (NFC) RFID technology to eliminate the need for plastic customer-loyalty cards, and to speed up and simplify such processes as passenger identification, security checks and the awarding of airport loyalty points.

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Israel Unveils New Precision Weapon Systems for the Ground Forces

New Israeli hardware was unveiled today at the Latrun 3rd annual conference discussing maneuver in complex terrain. Many of the new systems were unveiled by the Ground Forces Command's (GFC) weapons development department, responsible for the maturization of new weapon systems, command for the armor, infantry, combat engineering and artillery corps.

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Transportable Communication Systems

Simple radio lines and cable connections are not enough to satisfy this growing thirst for a much wider coverage and Communication Systems Transportable. So what are these satellite telephones and how have they managed to take such big strides in the field of communication?

A satellite telephone is capable of transmitting and receiving signals from the orbiting satellites which provide good coverage for the whole world or just specific regions.

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China Defense Minister: We Can Compete with West

China's military capability has taken a "quantum leap" thanks to a modernization drive and its weaponry rivals that of Western countries, the nation's defense minister said in an interview Sept. 21.

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