Air Force Office of Scientific Research and National Science Foundation-funded professor, Dr. Xiang Zhang has demonstrated at the University of California, Berkeley the world's smallest semiconductor laser, which may have applications to the Air Force in communications, computing and bio-hazard detection.
The semiconductor, called a plasmon, can focus light the size of a single protein in a space that is smaller than half its wavelength while maintaining laser-like qualities that allow it to not dissipate over time.
Read More
Monday, December 7, 2009
IP routing takes one giant leap into space
A joint venture between the Defense Department, Cisco and Intelsat reached a major milestone with the launch of the Intelsat 14 (IS-14) satellite that contains an Internet router designed for the rigors of operation in space. The router onboard IS-14 is intended to demonstrate Internet Routing in Space (IRIS) capabilities to the military.
The Power of Aggregated Broadband
A growing small or medium-sized enterprise will likely need to scale up its facility's bandwidth. However, making the jump from T1 to T3, for example, may be more of a leap than it's ready to take. By aggregating bandwidth from multiple broadband connections, a business might be able to get more bang -- and more reliability -- for the buck.
Air Force extends plug-and-play spacecraft
Looking to build strategic satellites in day if need be, rather than months, the Air Force is pushing forward with what it calls plug-and-play spacecraft.
This week it awarded a $500,000 order to Northrop Grumman to begin designing the plug-and-play spacecraft "bus" which will offer standard interfaces for a variety of payload components, much like a laptop computer that immediately recognizes new hardware when it's plugged in.
Read More
This week it awarded a $500,000 order to Northrop Grumman to begin designing the plug-and-play spacecraft "bus" which will offer standard interfaces for a variety of payload components, much like a laptop computer that immediately recognizes new hardware when it's plugged in.
Read More
Swipe Your Credit Card on a Cell Phone
With a small card reader that attaches to a cell phone, a new company is making it easier for small businesses and even individuals to accept credit card payments. The San Francisco start-up, called Square, which opened just last week, is headed by Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey.
New platinum compound shows promise in tumor cells
MIT chemists have developed a new platinum compound that is as powerful as the commonly used anticancer drug cisplatin but better able to destroy tumor cells.
Lotus leaf solar cells soak up more power
SOLAR cells have an unfortunate habit of reflecting back much of the light that hits them, rather than converting it into electricity. A technique that peppers the cells' surface with nanoscale domes could curb this tendency and improve efficiency by as much as 25 per cent.
Read More
Read More
Microsoft To Kill Windows XP SP2 Support
Microsoft is reminding customers that the end date for support for Windows XP Service Pack 2, as well as some other versions of the Windows operating system, is already on the horizon.
The company will officially end support Windows XP SP2, Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Client on July 13, 2010, according to an official company blog post.
Read More
The company will officially end support Windows XP SP2, Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Client on July 13, 2010, according to an official company blog post.
Read More
DOE offers $100 million for far-out energy tech
The Department of Energy is making $100 million in government stimulus money available to researchers with ideas for radically different energy technologies.
The DOE on Monday announced the second portion of the ARPA-E program and said that "concept papers" for three research areas--fuels, capturing carbon dioxide from coal plants, and long-range electric vehicle batteries--are due by the middle of next January
Read More
The DOE on Monday announced the second portion of the ARPA-E program and said that "concept papers" for three research areas--fuels, capturing carbon dioxide from coal plants, and long-range electric vehicle batteries--are due by the middle of next January
Read More
Google offers search by sight
Google's first search engine let people search by typing text onto a Web page. Next came queries spoken over the phone. On Monday, Google announced the ability to perform an Internet search by submitting a photograph.
The experimental search-by-sight feature, called Google Goggles, has a database of billions of images that informs its analysis of what's been uploaded.
The experimental search-by-sight feature, called Google Goggles, has a database of billions of images that informs its analysis of what's been uploaded.
In the Brain, Seven Is A Magic Number
Countless psychological experiments have shown that, on average, the longest sequence a normal person can recall on the fly contains about seven items. This limit, which psychologists dubbed the "magical number seven" when they discovered it in the 1950s, is the typical capacity of what's called the brain's working memory.
Read More
Read More
AIM-9X goes slumming with air-to-surface mode
Raytheon's AIM-9X Sidewinder, the ultimate in high-tech dogfighting weapons, has been adapted to strike moving targets on the ground or water.
Iran builds navy to hold vital strait
As tensions with Iran rise again, the Islamic Republic is reported to be expanding its naval power in the oil-rich Gulf and the Arabian Sea to be able to command the chokepoint Strait of Hormuz, the only way in or out of the Gulf.
Read More
Read More
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)