Researchers have demonstrated a prototype device that can rid hands, feet, or even underarms of bacteria, including the hospital superbug MRSA.
The device works by creating something called a plasma, which produces a cocktail of chemicals in air that kill bacteria but are harmless to skin.
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Friday, November 27, 2009
Nanowires key to future transistors, electronics
Researchers are closer to using tiny devices called semiconducting nanowires to create a new generation of ultrasmall transistors and more powerful computer chips. The researchers have grown the nanowires with sharply defined layers of silicon and germanium, offering better transistor performance.
Robotic surgeon
The robot in question is the da Vinci Surgical System.
A mass of mechanical joints wrapped in transparent sheeting, the da Vinci is a spider-like unit the size of a double fridge, with four overhanging limbs.
CROSSHAIRS to protect vehicles against bullets, RPGs
DARPA has ordered a new system that could make taking a shot at the U.S. military's 38-ton sitting ducks just a little more problematic.
CROSSHAIRS (Counter Rocket-Propelled Grenade and Shooter System with Highly Accurate Immediate Responses) is a modular, vehicle-mounted, threat detection and countermeasure system that locates and engages enemy shooters.
CROSSHAIRS (Counter Rocket-Propelled Grenade and Shooter System with Highly Accurate Immediate Responses) is a modular, vehicle-mounted, threat detection and countermeasure system that locates and engages enemy shooters.
Turning Seaweed into the Fuel of the Future
Seaweed holds promise as more than an ingredient in a purifying face mask or a maki roll.
So say researchers at E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., which alongside Seattle-based Bio Architecture Lab (BAL) has secured $9 million from the Department of Energy to explore seaweed's potential as a feedstock for biobutanol, an advanced biofuel.
So say researchers at E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., which alongside Seattle-based Bio Architecture Lab (BAL) has secured $9 million from the Department of Energy to explore seaweed's potential as a feedstock for biobutanol, an advanced biofuel.
High-Pressure Diamond Anvil Creates a New Solid from Xenon and Hydrogen
Science under pressure can produce marvelous results, such as an entirely new way to store hydrogen fuel. Researchers combined the noble gas xenon with molecular hydrogen (H2) to make a never-before-seen solid that opens the doors to an entire new family of materials for hydrogen storage.
Planetary Society to launch three separate solar sails
The Planetary Society (Washington, DC) has announced LightSail--a plan to sail a spacecraft on sunlight alone by the end of 2010. The new solar-sail project, boosted by a $1 million anonymous donation, was unveiled at an event on Capitol Hill on the 75th anniversary of the birth of Planetary Society co-founder Carl Sagan.
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Tata and Berkeley Frigid to MDI's Air Cars
Indian carmaker Tata Motors is voicing concerns about the range and durability of the compressed-air powered minicar technology.
Magnetic heat shield test could use Russian launcher
As a capsule re-enters the atmosphere the air heats up around it due to friction and usually a high-temperature-resistant material is needed to absorb that. A magnetic field is able to deflect the hot atmospheric air away from the vehicle's surface, reducing or eliminating the need for a heat-absorbing material.
Jamming Skin Enabled Locomotion
During military operations it can be important to gain covert access to denied or hostile space. Unmanned platforms such as mechanical robots are of limited effectiveness if the only available points of entry are small openings. Under the Chemical Robots (ChemBots) Program, DARPA is creating a new class of soft, flexible, mesoscale mobile objects that can identify and maneuver through openings smaller than their dimensions and perform various tasks.
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Russia to deploy more S-400 air-defense battalions in 2010
Russia is to deploy another five air-defense battalions equipped with advanced S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile systems next year, the Air Force commander said on Thursday.
International Space Station Under Threat of Space Junk Collision
At issue is an old rocket that could force the five astronauts on the orbiting station to change their orbit to avoid getting whacked by the debris. It's a Delta 2 rocket that launched a comet-sampling probe called Stardust from the Kennedy Space Center back on Feb. 7, 1999. The rocket is still up there, and ten years later, it has come back to haunt the International Space Station.
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