Research Watch
European researchers achieve solar efficiency record
Scientists from the EU funded FULLSPECTRUM project have developed solar cells which are able to convert 39.7 percent of the energy of sunlight into electricity. The result represents the highest percentage ever reached in Europe and is more than double the efficiency of most conventional silicon-based PVs in production today. Read More
Global spam levels drop significantly after rogue ISP taken offline
Ars Technica reports that there has been a marked (albeit temporary) drop in global spam levels following the shutdown of two rogue ISPs and an international spam operation. The three takedowns have all occurred within the last six weeks and are the result of work by security researchers and network professionals. Read More
Solar Power Satellites could broadcast energy to Earth
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Dusting off an old renewable energy proposal, president of the National Space Society Ben Bova recently published an article in The Washington Post calling for the next president of the United States to commission a US$1 billion solar power satellite from NASA before the end of their second term. The satellite would harness energy directly from the sun and broadcast it back to a receiver on Earth using microwave frequencies. Read More
Specific brainwave patterns occur prior to a “Eureka Moment”
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September 9, 2008 “Eureka” (Greek for "I have found it") is an exclamation used as an interjection to proclaim an epiphanic discovery. Famously pronounced in the bathtub by Archimedes when he suddenly understood that the volume of irregular objects could be calculated with precision through the displacement of water, a previously intractable problem. Real-world problems come in two broad types: those requiring sequential reasoning and those requiring transformative reasoning: a break from past thinking followed by an insight. It is this moment, where a problem solver makes a quantum leap of understanding with no conscious forewarning, that we term the “Eureka moment.” A new university study in which brainwaves of humans were measured as they attempted to solve puzzles that call for intuitive strategies and novel insight has found an array of specific brainwave patterns occur several (up to 8) seconds before the participant is consciously aware of an insight. Read More
Why some men cheat – genetic link to relationship difficulties
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September 4, 2008 Comedian Robin Williams once defined the key issue of fidelity as being that men had a brain and a penis and only enough blood to run one at a time. We all know some guys are faithful, and some are not, but until now, it all appeared random behaviour. Now new research suggests that men who carry a certain gene behave differently in relationship. The incidence of the gene has been statistically linked to the incidence of a marital or relational crisis in the past year ,how strongly the man felt he had bonded with his partner, and what their respective partners thought about their relationship. One wonders if perhaps one day we’ll see genetic screening for prospective partners? Read More
The weather really does have weekly cycles
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August 31, 2008 Impirical evidence gathered by countless millions of people chained to a desk indoors during weekdays would suggest that the weather on the weekends is different to that during the week. As much as it might seem like a nonsense that the weather could possibly fall into a cycle based on an arbitrary human measurement of time, Spanish researchers have found evidence that in some parts of Europe the weather really does follow a weekly cycle. Evidence has been mounting over the years that the weather in certain parts of the world, including the US, Japan and China, can be driven by the weekly cycle of human activity. This is because we tend to produce more air pollution during the week and less at the weekend. Evidence that such an effect occurs in Europe is controversial and has been harder to come by. Read More
ESF initiative to re-energise mathematics teaching
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August 30, 2008 Mathematics is the only truly universal language. It describes the world and facilitates the vast majority of our advances in understanding. Mathematics underpins education: the only surefire cure to the world’s ills. Mathematics teaching is as vital as ever both in support of key fields such as life sciences, alternative energy development, or information technology, and also through its unique ability to develop problem solving skills. It should be highly relevant not just for the elite few but for all people in education. Recent research has shown that school students’ mathematical achievement is directly influenced by the students’ beliefs about mathematics and its teaching, teachers’ beliefs about mathematics and its teaching, and the ways in which teachers initiate and sustain learning opportunities. An attempt to re-energise mathematics teaching in Europe is being made in a new European Science Foundation (ESF) project examining a range of factors thought to influence achievement. Read More
Our naked planet - the OneGeology project
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August 28, 2008 For a science that measures time in millions of years, Geology has seen some significant developments in the last year. Over the last twelve months, Earth and computer scientists from 79 nations have been working together on a global project called OneGeology to produce the first digital geological map of the world. This project is doing the same for the rocks beneath our feet that Google has done for maps of the Earth’s surface, quite appropriately given that 2008 is the UN International Year of Planet Earth. Read More
Invisibility metamaterials research breakthrough
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Development in metamaterials - the so called “left handed” composite materials that negatively refract light waves and promise the sci-fi scenario of rendering objects invisible - is accelerating with news this week of two breakthroughs from scientists at the University of California, Berkeley. Read More
Electronic wine-tasting tongue tests grape variety and vintage
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Could this new electronic wine-tasting tongue challenge the finest wine tasters in the world? Invented by European scientists, this handheld device has a multi-sensor chip which senses distinctive characteristics of wine varieties. By analyzing the sugar content, acidity and alcohol, the machine can also determine the year and grape variety of the sample and instead of waiting days for laboratories to analyze wine samples, wine industry specialists will be able to get a sample result at the touch of a button. Read More
Light powered motor utilizes shape-shifting plastic
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A research team at the Tokyo Institute of Technology has developed a plastic motor that is powered solely and directly by light. Unlike solar-powered motors, which use photovoltaic cells to convert light to electric power and therefore require wires and batteries to deliver and store the power, the light activated motor converts light directly into mechanical energy. The first of its kind motor achieves this by using a belt made from a special elastomer whose molecular structure expands or contracts when illuminated, depending on the wavelength of light. An 0.08-millimeter thick belt coated with the shape-shifting plastic is able to turn a pair of wheels measuring 10 millimeters and 3 millimeters in diameter at 1 rpm, and although the device is still quite inefficient in terms of converting light into energy at this stage, the idea throws up an amazing number potential applications. Read More
Mobile revolution drives US$700 Billion Global CE sales
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July 22, 2008 The mobile revolution sweeping the world and changing the way it does business is unfolding rapidly despite the economic uncertainties surrounding the American dollar. Worldwide revenue for consumer electronics (CE) will grow US$42 billion (around ten percent), hitting the US$700 billion mark in 2009. The compelling benefits of unwired access to information and person-to-person communication are driving the biggest societal transformation in history – global unit sales of mobile products will top a staggering 1.5 billion units in 2008 – roughly one mobile device for every four people on the planet THIS YEAR, be it a portable navigation devices (worldwide revenue growth of nearly 20 percent in 2008), laptop computer (up 15 percent) or smartphone (up 14 percent). Read More
Multitasking and why it's not good for you
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With mobile computing offering 24/7 access to the internet and email, many of us have become perpetual multitaskers, paying continuous partial attention to many things, constantly scanning for opportunities and staying on top of contacts, events, and activities in an effort to miss nothing. Never in history has the human brain been asked to track so many data points. New research suggests that multitasking is not good for you and unquestionably supports limiting the amount of multitasking we do. Read More
Hydrogen storage breakthrough
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Hydrogen offers many benefits as a renewable and sustainable fuel of the future as its combustion emits only water. The main problem to now is that it must be stored as a gas, which is potentially dangerous for everyday use, and it can only be stored as a liquid under cryogenic conditions. Now there may be another alternative. Chemists in the US have developed a simple reaction to make ammonia borane (AB) – a powder more hydrogen-dense than even liquid hydrogen. AB is a stable white powder which releases hydrogen gas upon heating. Its use as a hydrogen storage material has been hampered by difficulties in making the powder in reasonable yield, but the new research further increases its promise. Read More
Seven practices to develop a coaching managerial style
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Jun 18, 2008 Traditional order and control management is being replaced by a coaching management style, asserts new research from the BI Norwegian School of Management. Good economic results alone are no longer adequate. In addition to generating results, organizations have become a values workshop, helping employees develop a meaningful life. The school has developed seven practical tools to assist managers develop a coaching style. Read More
Understanding thought: new computational modeling sheds light on how the brain works
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Scientists at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a computational model that can predict the unique brain activation patterns associated with concrete nouns with a mean accuracy of 77 percent. Read More
First living computer used for flipping pancakes
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May 20, 2008 US researchers have genetically engineered the bacterium E. coli to coax its DNA into computing a classic mathematical puzzle. Molecules of DNA have the natural ability to store and process information, in fact DNA represents the highest storage density of anything on Earth - French cytogeneticist Jerome LeJeune showed that the amount of information in one strand of human DNA is the same as that in 1,000 books of small print, each around 500 pages thick. Scientists have been performing computations with bare DNA molecules in lab dishes since the mid-1990s, but the new research, reported online in the Journal of Biological Engineering, is the first to do DNA computation in living cells. Read More
Experimental Xerox Paper erases itself for re-use
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May 7, 2008 The promised age of the paperless office has largely failed to eventuate, thanks in part to improvements in printers and photocopiers that have made it easier than ever to produce hard copies of documents, but primarily because many of us remain addicted to the tangibility, portability and sheer convenience of paper. Now Xerox Corporation scientists have invented a way to make prints that last only a day before disappearing, meaning paper can be used again and again. The "erasable paper" technology, which is still in a preliminary state, blurs the line between paper documents and digital displays and could ultimately lead to a significant reduction in paper use. Read More
Raydiance announces ultrashort laser breakthrough
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Raydiance has demonstrated ultrashort laser (USL) technology that has potential applications in genomics, homeland security, advanced manufacturing and medical applications, including cancer cell removal, tattoo removal, eye surgery, and cosmetic treatments. Read More
HP Labs “memristor” discovery could lead to computers that never need to be booted up
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May 1, 2008 Researchers from HP Labs have proven the existence of what had previously been only theorized as the fourth fundamental circuit element in electrical engineering. The “memristor” (short for memory resistor), could make it possible to develop computer systems that have memories that do not forget, do not need to be booted up, consume far less power and associate information in a manner similar to that of the human brain. Read More
World’s thinnest material used to create world's smallest transistor
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April 21, 2008 In recent decades, manufacturers have crammed more and more components onto integrated circuits, roughly keeping pace with Moore’s Law. But for this to continue the semiconductor industry must overcome the poor stability of materials if shaped in elements smaller than 10 nanometres in size. At this spatial scale, all semiconductors, including silicon, oxidize, decompose and uncontrollably migrate along surfaces like water droplets on a hot plate. Now researchers at the University of Manchester, reporting their peer-reviewed findings in the latest issue of Science, have shown that it is possible to carve out nanometre-scale transistors from a single graphene crystal. Unlike all other known materials, graphene remains highly stable and conductive even when it is cut into devices one nanometre wide. Read More
Electric solar sail moves closer to reality
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April 16, 2008 It's a striking image made popular in sci-fi classics like the recent Star Wars films - a spacecraft hurtles through the galaxy propelled by gigantic reflective sails that use of solar radiation in place of on-board fuel . Space organizations around the world including NASA are pursuing this technology, but a rapidly evolving project from the Finnish Meteorological Institute has taken a radically different approach by using long metallic tethers and a solar-powered electron gun to create an "electric sail" that looks very different from the depictions of pressure sails with which we have become familiar. Read More
The smallest black hole ever
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April 7, 2008 Using measurements taken by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer satellite, NASA scientists have identified the smallest known black hole in the universe. At 3.8 times the mass of our Sun and estimated at only 15 miles in diameter, the black hole known as XTE J1650 is also close to the smallest size thought to be theoretically possible for such an object. Read More
You're a lucky cow Wilhelmina!
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It helps to have friends in high places, even when you’ve got four legs, as a Kansas dairy cow named Wilhelmina recently found out. The 8-year-old Jersey cow ruptured the cruciate ligament in her right knee in a breeding injury but thanks to her owner, she was about to receive a knee reconstruction. Dr. Anderson, professor and head of agricultural practices at Kansas State College of Veterinary Medicine replaced the cow’s cruciate ligament using synthetic material called monofilament nylon and dubbed the "Wildcat Power Cord". Read More
Padova University scientists declare quantum leap in quantum communications
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Physicists at Padova University, Italy, are one step closer to constructing a quantum channel between space and Earth – the first step in establishing a truly secure quantum communications system. The Institute of Physics’ New Journal of Physics published the results of an experiment in which individual photons were reflected off a space satellite in orbit almost 1500 kilometers above the Earth, and identified back on the ground. Read More
Bumpy whale fins set to spark a revolution in aerodynamics
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March 21, 2008 It seems despite man's endless ingenuity and the incredible modeling power available to inventors through CAD systems, we keep looking to nature to find ever more effective ways of doing things. Millions of years of evolution's trial and error approach have resulted in some incredibly effective designs that are ready to be incorporated into human constructions if we can only identify, understand and replicate them. The random-looking bumps on the humpback whale's flippers have just inspired a breakthrough in aerodynamic design that seems likely to dramatically increase the efficiency and performance of wind turbines, fans, flippers and even wings and airfoils. WhalePower's tubercle technology seems like nothing less than a revolution in fluid dynamics. Read More
CERN opens its doors to the world
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March 20, 2008 Next week (April 6, 2008), one of the most famous research institutions in history CERN will open its doors to the public, offering a unique chance to visit. The European Organization for Nuclear Research (commonly known as CERN) is situated in Geneva and will display its newest and largest particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), before it goes into operation later this year. This scientific instrument, the largest and most complex in the world, is installed in a 27km tunnel, 100 metres underground.
New research promises boost to biofuel production
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A new process developed by two professors at the University of Maryland could mean the ability to convert large volumes of all kinds of plant products, from leftover brewer's mash to paper trash, into ethanol and other biofuel alternatives to gasoline. When fully operational, the process could potentially lead to the production of 75 billion gallons of carbon-neutral ethanol each year.
Report points to large-scale potential of solar thermal power
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March 11, 2008 A new study published by solar technology developer Ausra argues that over 90 percent of the electric grid and car fleet in the US could be powered by solar thermal power, reducing overall US global warming pollution by 40 percent in the process. Read More
World’s first commercial source of individual photons
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March 3, 2008 An Australian project has developed the world’s first commercial source of individual photons using diamond based quantum technology. The device will greatly benefit the emerging quantum technology industry, including quantum computing, quantum cryptography and quantum imaging. Read More
Sight unseen: metamaterials could be used to create invisible ships
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March 2, 2008 Like a lot of emerging science, the study of metamaterials is both amazingly cool and nearly impossible to understand without an advanced degree in physics or a long night on Wikipedia. It’s made Gizmag headlines before, with researchers claiming its unique structure, which has a negative refractive index, could be used to render objects invisible to the naked eye. Now scientists at Britannia Royal Navy College are working on a plan to use it to create the ultimate stealth vessel, according to a report in this month's edition of Physics World. Read More
Hair follicles to foil felons
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February 27, 2008 DNA contained in hair is currently used in crime fighting to determine the identity of those who commit illicit acts. Thanks to new research, hair may now also help police track past movements of criminal suspects or unidentified murder victims by revealing the general location where a person drank water.
"Strikingly similar" planetary system discovered
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February 20, 2008 With upwards of 100 billion stars in our own Milky Way and at least that number of galaxies in the observable universe, the odds have long pointed to the likely existence of planets beyond our own solar system. The first discovery of such an extra-solar planet to receive subsequent confirmation took place in 1988 and two decades later, as detection techniques and equipment continue to improve, that number is now approaching 300. Now news that Astronomers from the University of St Andrews have found a new planetary system some 5,000 light years away that bears "striking similarities" to our Solar system. Read More
Lockheed Martin receives contract to develop FBI's Next Generation Identification System
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February 19, 2008 Lockheed Martin has received a ten-year, $1 billion contract from the FBI to develop and maintain the Next Generation Identification system, which will expand fingerprint capacity to double the size of its current database, and incorporate palm print, iris, and facial recognition capabilities. The system is also designed to incorporate other biometric modalities that may become important in the future.
The Tipping Point: one in two humans now carries a mobile phone
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The world is currently getting unwired at an alarming rate – each year roughly a billion mobile phones get sold. Originally it was America and Europe, but as these countries are now saturated, the new connections are coming from India and China and Pakistan – and the world is just about to pass the half way point. Between January 2001, and December 2010 (a decade), our global society will have transformed from one where 13% of carried a mobile phone, to one where 70% carry one according to Mobile Intelligence data – that’s one hell of a leap with some massive implications. The 50% mark will be reached sometime later this year when one in two humans will be carrying a mobile phone. It’s a significant day – we just don’t know which day it is. Read More
