http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Billions of dollars lost each year as waste heat from industrial processes can be converted into electricity with a technology being developed at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory. http://phys.org/news224782190.html Technology Mon, 16 May 2011 16:30:06 EST news224782190 At present, graphene probably is the most investigated new material system worldwide. Due to its astonishing mechanical, chemical and electronic properties, it promises manifold future applications - for example in microelectronics. The electrons in graphene are particularly movable and could, therefore, replace silicon which is used today as the basic material of fast computer chips. http://phys.org/news190893404.html Nanotechnology Mon, 19 Apr 2010 11:20:02 EST news190893404 (PhysOrg.com) -- Miniature motion sensors are everywhere these days, detecting the orientation of cell phones, deploying air bags in cars and measuring stresses in buildings and mechanical systems. But manufacturing the sensors' tiny moving parts requires the same high-tech, billion-dollar facilities that churn out computer chips. http://phys.org/news190643478.html Technology Fri, 16 Apr 2010 13:31:53 EST news190643478 Since 2007, every new U.S. passport has been outfitted with a computer chip. Embedded in the back cover of the passport, the "e-passport" contains biometric data, electronic fingerprints and pictures of the holder, and a wireless radio frequency identification (RFID) transmitter. http://phys.org/news190562377.html Technology Thu, 15 Apr 2010 15:00:04 EST news190562377 Who should explore space: robots or humans? Our ability to travel beyond Earth is hampered by the harsh conditions of space, but rather than let robots have all the fun, could cyborg technology allow humans to make greater strides into the final frontier? http://phys.org/news189753835.html Space & Earth Tue, 06 Apr 2010 07:50:02 EST news189753835 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a new approach to software development that will allow common computer programs to run up to 20 percent faster and possibly incorporate new security measures. http://phys.org/news189686040.html Technology Mon, 05 Apr 2010 11:34:27 EST news189686040 (PhysOrg.com) -- University of Maryland researchers have created a completely new way to produce high quality semiconductor materials critical for advanced microelectronics and nanotechnology. Published in the March 26 issue of Science, their research is a fundamental step forward in nanomaterials science that could lead to significant advances in computer chips, photovoltaic cells, biomarkers and other applications, according to the authors and other experts. http://phys.org/news188811325.html Nanotechnology Fri, 26 Mar 2010 08:36:06 EST news188811325 (PhysOrg.com) -- Almost since computing began, scientists and technologists have been fascinated with the idea of a computer that works similarly to the human brain. In 2008, the first "memristor" was built, a device that is designed to behave in a manner that mimics the junctions betweens the neurons in the brain. However, until recently, the memristor was just a device. Now a group at the University of Michigan, led by Wei Lu, has demonstrated that the memristor can actually be used in computing. Their findings were published in Nano Letters: "Nanoscale Memristor Device as Synapse in Neuromorphic Systems." http://phys.org/news188041906.html Nanotechnology Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:52:12 EST news188041906 (PhysOrg.com) -- Predicting the way different materials fuse together at an atomic level in objects including iPods, computer chips and even ships may be possible using a new computer model, described in the March issue of Nature Materials. http://phys.org/news187978680.html Physics Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:18:37 EST news187978680 (PhysOrg.com) -- As the features on computer chips become increasingly smaller, finding ways to fabricate the chips has become a big challenge. In a new study, researchers from MIT have demonstrated that certain molecules can be deposited on mostly empty chips, where they arrange themselves into patterns that form the outlines of tiny functioning circuits. Researchers Karl Berggren, the Emanuel E. Landsman Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering, and Caroline Ross, the Toyota Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, have published their new method in a recent issue of Nature Nanotechnology. http://phys.org/news187968679.html Nanotechnology Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:31:45 EST news187968679 (PhysOrg.com) -- IBM scientists today unveiled a significant step towards replacing electrical signals that communicate via copper wires between computer chips with tiny silicon circuits that communicate using pulses of light. As reported in the recent issue of the scientific journal Nature, this is an important advancement in changing the way computer chips talk to each other. http://phys.org/news186856712.html Physics Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:39:01 EST news186856712 Mini-thrusters or miniature, electric propulsion systems are being developed, which could make it easier for the Air Force's small satellites, including the latest CubeSats, to perform space maneuvers and undertake formidable tasks like searching for planets beyond our solar system. http://phys.org/news186852270.html Technology Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:25:11 EST news186852270 (PhysOrg.com) -- Powerful computers made up of physically separate modules, self-organising networks, and computing inspired by biological systems are three hot research topics coming together in one European project. http://phys.org/news186413363.html Technology Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:29:48 EST news186413363 (PhysOrg.com) -- Microelectromechanical devices -- tiny machines with moving parts -- are everywhere these days: they monitor air pressure in car tires, register the gestures of video game players, and reflect light onto screens in movie theaters. But they're manufactured the same way computer chips are, in facilities that can cost billions of dollars, and their rigidity makes them hard to wrap around curved surfaces. http://phys.org/news186403510.html Technology Fri, 26 Feb 2010 10:51:18 EST news186403510 (PhysOrg.com) -- As computer chips rapidly continue to evolve, new technologies must be developed to closely monitor the fabrication process and guard against faults at a sub-microscopic level. http://phys.org/news186070430.html Technology Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:20:01 EST news186070430 (PhysOrg.com) -- Two of The Florida State University’s most accomplished scientists recently joined forces on a collaborative research project that has yielded groundbreaking results involving an unusual family of crystalline minerals. Their findings could lay the groundwork for future researchers seeking to develop a new generation of computer chips and other information-storage devices that can hold vast amounts of data and be strongly encrypted for security purposes. http://phys.org/news185129053.html Chemistry Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:44:59 EST news185129053 US technology titans IBM and Intel have rolled out powerful new computer chips designed for businesses continually demanding more from networks and data centers. http://phys.org/news184914384.html Electronics Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:30:01 EST news184914384 Right now, 10 to 15 Rubik's Cube-sized satellites are orbiting high above Earth. Known as cube satellites, or "CubeSats," the devices help researchers conduct simple space observations and measure characteristics of Earth’s atmosphere. One advantage is that they are relatively cheap to deploy: While launching a rocket may cost between $50 million and $300 million, a CubeSat can “piggyback” onto a large rocket platform at an additional cost of as little as $40,000. But their small size also means they lack on-board propulsion systems, which is why they generally remain locked to a particular orbit. http://phys.org/news184420007.html Space & Earth Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:47:22 EST news184420007 (PhysOrg.com) -- A bizarre substance predicted to shrink electronics and give quantum physicists a new tabletop toy behaves pretty much as its designers expected. http://phys.org/news183837204.html Nanotechnology Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:54:17 EST news183837204 Carnegie Mellon University and Intel Corporation will unveil a new class of materials called solder magnetic nanocomposites that could help streamline the process of computer electronic packaging. The milestone research will be discussed at the 11th annual Magnetism and Magnetics Materials Conference Jan. 18-22 at the Marriott Washington Wardman Park in Washington, D.C. http://phys.org/news183131949.html Nanotechnology Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:59:44 EST news183131949 Intel Corp. rolled out new computer chips Thursday that highlight the company's lead over Advanced Micro Devices Inc. in its ability to shrink the circuitry inside its processors. http://phys.org/news182076315.html Electronics Fri, 08 Jan 2010 04:59:56 EST news182076315 (PhysOrg.com) -- Stanford engineers have built what they believe is a chip with the most advanced computing and storage elements made of carbon nanotubes to date by devising a way to root out the stubborn complication of nanotubes that cause short circuits. http://phys.org/news179596676.html Nanotechnology Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:58:58 EST news179596676 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new generation of ultrasmall transistors and more powerful computer chips using tiny structures called semiconducting nanowires are closer to reality after a key discovery by researchers at IBM, Purdue University and the University of California at Los Angeles. http://phys.org/news178459486.html Nanotechnology Thu, 26 Nov 2009 14:00:05 EST news178459486 (PhysOrg.com) -- Computer chips that transmit data with light instead of electricity consume much less power than conventional chips, but so far, they've remained laboratory curiosities. Professors Vladimir Stojanović and Rajeev Ram and their colleagues in MIT's Research Laboratory of Electronics and Microsystems Technology Laboratory hope to change that, by designing optical chips that can be built using ordinary chip-manufacturing processes. http://phys.org/news178298113.html Technology Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:15:49 EST news178298113 (PhysOrg.com) -- Purdue University researchers are making progress in developing a new type of transistor that uses a finlike structure instead of the conventional flat design, possibly enabling engineers to create faster and more compact circuits and computer chips. http://phys.org/news177088957.html Technology Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:24:39 EST news177088957 In the quest for smaller, faster computer chips, researchers are increasingly turning to quantum mechanics -- the exotic physics of the small. The problem: the manufacturing techniques required to make quantum devices have been equally exotic. That is, until now. http://phys.org/news174833014.html Physics Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:44:35 EST news174833014 (AP) -- ASML Holding NV, a key supplier to computer chip makers, reported Wednesday a net profit of euro20 million ($29.7 million) for the third quarter, ending a nine-month streak of losses, and said new orders had increased sharply. http://phys.org/news174719091.html Technology Wed, 14 Oct 2009 06:05:17 EST news174719091 Nancy Lan-Lan Ma, a student at Keio University in Japan, demonstrates her product, Cheeron++, at the UbiComp in Orlando, Fla. Sorry, Elmo, the dolls of the future are not just for tickles. http://phys.org/news174207604.html Technology Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:30:03 EST news174207604 (PhysOrg.com) -- IBM scientists have demonstrated a promising and practical method that effectively eliminates the mechanical wear in the nanometer-sharp tips used in scanning probe-based techniques. This discovery can potentially be used in the development of next generation, more advanced computer chips that have higher performance and smaller feature sizes. Scanning probe-based tools could be one approach to extend the capabilities, quality and precision beyond the projected limits of current production and characterization tools. http://phys.org/news171563990.html Nanotechnology Mon, 07 Sep 2009 17:40:35 EST news171563990 Global chip sales fell a little more than 18 percent in July from the year-earlier period, but in a sign of improving demand, semiconductor revenue rose on a month-to-month basis for the fifth time in a row, an industry group said Monday. http://phys.org/news170963688.html Technology Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:20:08 EST news170963688