New study confirms exotic electric properties of graphene

the hottest new material in physics and nanotechnology is graphene: a remarkably flat molecule made of carbon atoms arranged in hexagonal rings much like molecular chicken wire.
Not only is this the thinnest material possible, but it also is 10 times stronger than steel and it conducts electricity better than any other known material at room temperature.

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On the crest of wave energy

The ocean is a potentially vast source of electric power, yet as engineers test new technologies for capturing it, the devices are plagued by battering storms, limited efficiency, and the need to be tethered to the seafloor.

Now, a team of aerospace engineers is applying the principles that keep airplanes aloft to create a new wave-energy system that is durable, extremely efficient, and can be placed anywhere in the ocean, regardless of depth.

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Bomb-Proof Wallpaper Could Save You in a Natural Disaster

The X-Flex wallpaper is an adhesive with sticky backing that attaches to the inside of brick and cinder walls. According to its designers, covering an entire room takes less than an hour. The wallpaper is so effective that a single layer can keep a wrecking ball from smashing through a brick wall, and a double layer can stop blunt objects (i.e. a flying 2×4) from knocking down drywall.

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Microsoft denies it built 'backdoor' in Windows 7

Microsoft today denied that it has built a backdoor into Windows 7, a concern that surfaced yesterday after a senior National Security Agency (NSA) official testified before Congress that the agency had worked on the operating system.

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AMD upgraded as 'Fusion,' 16-core chip future looms

Fusion silicon--which combines the main CPU processor with the graphics chip or GPU--is due in 2011. "We believe Fusion (CPU+GPU) will deliver discrete-like performance on an integrated chip," Freedman said, referring to high-performance standalone "discrete" graphics processors.

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Army Developing Global Network

In the future, Soldiers should be able to access the Army's global network anywhere in the world using capabilities similar to a Blackberry or iPhone, said the Army's chief information officer.Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Sorenson, the Army's CIO/G-6, presented "Army Modernization and the Network" at the Association of the United States Army's Institute of Land Warfare breakfast series Nov. 12.

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Boeing Laser Systems Destroy UAVs in Tests

The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] in May demonstrated the ability of mobile laser weapon systems to perform a unique mission: track and destroy small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

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Cisco: New Wi-Fi Flip Camera Early Next Year

A spokesman from Cisco has confirmed that a new Flip will go on sale early in 2010, and that it will have Wi-Fi built in.

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Chip captures circulating tumour cells

An innovative device with nano-sized features developed by researchers at UCLA is able to grab cancer cells in the blood that have broken off from a tumour.

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Can Flywheels Help Balance Electricity Supply and Demand?

Beacon Power Corp. broke ground today on a 20-megawatt, energy-storage facility in southeastern New York.The Rensselaer County project, slated for completion in 2011, would be the first in the nation to use a "flywheel" frequency regulation system to balance electricity supply and demand.

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Optomechanical crystals

Here we describe the design, fabrication and characterization of a planar, silicon-chip-based optomechanical crystal capable of co-localizing and strongly coupling 200-terahertz photons and 2-gigahertz phonons. These planar optomechanical crystals bring the powerful techniques of optics and photonic crystals to bear on phononic crystals.

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V-22 Osprey, stealth jumpjet 'need refrigerated landing pads'

It's now official. The new generation of high-tech hovering aircraft - namely the famous V-22 "Osprey" tiltrotor and the upcoming F-35B supersonic stealth jump-jet - have an unforeseen flaw. Their exhaust downwash is so hot as to melt the flight decks of US warships, leading Pentagon to look into refrigerated landing pads.

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Hyperlens sharpens sights with sound

A versatile, new hyperlens developed by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley could soon give expecting parents high-definition baby pictures as well as provide ship captains incredibly accurate maps of the sea floor.

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IBM Models Cat's Brain With Supercomputer

Scientists Model Cat's Brain With Huge Supercomputer, a Step Toward a Better-Reasoning Machine.

The scientists had previously simulated 40 percent of a mouse's brain in 2006, a rat's full brain in 2007, and 1 percent of a human's cerebral cortex this year, using progressively bigger supercomputers.

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