Tech

This press release is available in Spanish.

Montserrat Fernández-Vallejo, a telecommunications engineer and graduate of the UPNA-Public University of Navarre, has experimentally developed various fibre-optic sensor networks for the remote monitoring of large infrastructures. Specifically, she has managed to develop the largest network so far in existence —measuring 250 km—, which is equipped with a multiplexing capability, (which enables two or more information channels to be combined within a single transmission medium).

Feature sensitive re-sampling of point set surfaces is an important and challenging task in many computer graphics and geometric modeling applications. Professor MIAO Yongwei and his group at the College of Computer Science and Technology, Zhejiang University of Technology, set out to tackle this problem. Based on regular sampling of a Gaussian sphere and the mapping of surface normals onto the Gaussian sphere, they have presented an adaptive re-sampling framework for point set surfaces.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — University of Illinois researchers have a new low-cost method to carve delicate features onto semiconductor wafers using light – and watch as it happens.

"You can use light to image the topography and you can use light to sculpture the topography," said electrical and computer engineering professor Gabriel Popescu. "It could change the future of semiconductor etching."

Quantum dots are nanostructures of semiconducting materials that behave a lot like single atoms and are very easy to produce. Given their special properties, researchers see huge potential for quantum dots in technological applications. Before this can happen, however, we need a better understanding of how the electrons "trapped" inside them behave. Dresden physicists have recently observed how electrons in individual quantum dots absorb energy and emit it again as light. Their results were recently published in the journal "Nano Letters".

RICHLAND, Wash. -- Anyone who owns an electronic device knows that lithium ion batteries could work better and last longer. Now, scientists examining battery materials on the nano-scale reveal how nickel forms a physical barrier that impedes the shuttling of lithium ions in the electrode, reducing how fast the materials charge and discharge. Published last week in Nano Letters, the research also suggests a way to improve the materials.

An interdisciplinary team of researchers from Northwestern University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Tufts University are the first to demonstrate "transient electronics" -- which are electronics that gradually disappear on a specified schedule, whether it be a few days or six months.

These kinds of electronics could have applications in medicine, pharmaceuticals, environmental monitors and the military, among other uses.

"The different applications that we are considering require different operating time frames," Rogers said. "A medical implant that is designed to deal with potential infections from surgical site incisions is only needed for a couple of weeks. But for a consumer electronic device, you'd want it to stick around at least for a year or two. The ability to use materials science to engineer those time frames becomes a critical aspect in design."

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass.(Sept. 27, 2012) --Tiny, fully biocompatible electronic devices that are able to dissolve harmlessly into their surroundings after functioning for a precise amount of time have been created by a research team led by biomedical engineers at Tufts University in collaboration with researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Uncovering the sources of fresh food contamination could become faster and easier thanks to analysis done at Sandia National Laboratories' National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center (NISAC).

In the medium term, an investment of only $2500 in photovoltaic cells would suffice to provide more than enough electricity for the consumption of a four people household. This promising scenario has been made possible by the innovations accomplished by EPFL's Institute of Microengineering in Neuchatel. The team of prof. Christophe Ballif, director of the Photovoltaics Laboratory (PVlab), presented their work at the European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition that just took place in Frankfurt.

Because this single fiber-optic cable is so small and flexible, the researchers could easily integrate it into the front of a tool used for eye surgery. By continually sending and receiving the near infrared laser beams, the high-speed fiber-optic sensor precisely measures the motion of the probe. This information then feeds to a computer that sends signals to small piezoelectric motors integrated into the surgical device to control the position of the tool tip. This creates a series of "station keeping" maneuvers that compensate for the surgeon's hand tremors.

Biocomposites challenge chipboard as furniture material. Researchers at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland have developed a kitchen furniture framework material from plastic polymers reinforced with natural fibre. The new material reduces raw materials consumption by 25 per cent and the carbon footprint of production by 35 per cent.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- A small African mammal with an unusual ability to regrow damaged tissues could inspire new research in regenerative medicine, a University of Florida study finds.

MOSS LANDING, CA — About 100 years ago, marine biologists hauled the first vampire squid up from the depths of the sea. Since that time, perhaps a dozen scientific papers have been published on this mysterious animal, but no one has been able to figure out exactly what it eats.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26, 2012 — The latest episode in the American Chemical Society's (ACS') award-winning Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions podcast series concludes that the larger the wind turbine, the greener the electricity it produces. The study could solidify the trend toward construction of gigantic windmills.