Phys.org June 7, 2019 ESA safeguards Europe’s guaranteed access to space through its Future Launchers Preparatory Programme (FLPP) which weighs up the opportunities and risks of different launch vehicle concepts and associated technologies and defines the concepts and requirements for new space transportation systems and services. Its demonstrators and studies hone emerging technologies to give Europe’s rocket builders a valuable head-start as they begin the demanding work of turning the chosen design into reality. Technologies are selected on their potential to reduce cost, improve performance, improve reliability, or on their ability to fulfil the specific needs of an identified system, […]
US Has to Out Innovate China in Long Term Technology Competition
Next Big Future May 30, 2019 China is seeking technological self-sufficiency and even superiority in key industries. It has concentrated military spending on advanced technologies. Its Belt and Road Initiative proposes a trillion-dollar investment program to project China’s influence across the world. According to Asia Times the US should offer an alternative Belt and Road Initiative to support the industrial and technological transformation of developing countries, Engineer brain drain from China, where top scientists, technologist and entrepreneurs are enticed to move to the US focus on new military technology, require semiconductors to be made at US-based fabs, recreate powerful corporate […]
Top 10 Science and Technology Inventions for the Week of May 31, 2019
01. New organic flow battery brings decomposing molecules back to life 02. Scientists Have Found a Way to Preserve Vaccines Without Refrigeration For Months 03. Sound waves bypass visual limitations to recognize human activity 04. Scientists create new aluminum alloy with flexibility, strength, lightness 05. Beyond 1 and 0: Engineers boost potential for creating successor to shrinking transistors 06. ‘Metasurfaces’ that manipulate light at tiny scales could find uses in consumer technology 07. US Army Approves Plans for Microwave, Laser and Hypersonic Weapons 08. China Publishes Research on Competitive 3-Nanometer Chip 09. How You Walk and Hold Your Device Could […]
Beyond 1 and 0: Engineers boost potential for creating successor to shrinking transistors
Eurekalert May 29, 2019 Through theory, design and simulations an international team of researchers (South Korea, USA – UT Dallas) developed the fundamental physics of a multi-value logic transistor that uses a novel configuration of two forms of zinc oxide combined to form a composite nanolayer, which is then incorporated with layers of other materials in a superlattice. The device is capable of two electronically stable and reliable intermediate states between 0 and 1, boosting the number of logic values per transistor from two to three or four. The multi-value transistors exhibited excellent performance characteristics, stable and reliable operation with […]
China Publishes Research on Competitive 3-Nanometer Chip
Next Big Future May 29, 2019 Researchers in China have fabricated high-performance negative capacitance p-type FinFETs (p-FinFETs) with a 3-nm-thick ferroelectric (FE) hafnium zirconium oxides layer based on a conventional high-κ metal gate FinFETs fabrication flow. The devices show improved subthreshold swing values and slight hysteresis voltages with the integrated FE film and a strong driving current enhancement (up to 260%) is also obtained compared with that of conventional FinFETs. The inherent reasons for the improved characteristics contribute to the low-interface state density and perfect channel electrostatic integrity. Samsung, Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor will be commercially producing 3-nanometer chips in […]
DJI Promises to Add “AirSense” to Its New Drones
IEEE Spectrum May 22, 2019 DJI, a drone manufacturer in China, has announced that after January 1, 2020 all drones manufactured by the company that weigh more than 250 grams will include AirSense technology, which receives ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast) signals from nearby airplanes and helicopters and warns drone pilots if they appear to be on a collision course. Until now AirSense was available only on some professional-grade DJI drones. The move sets a new standard by putting professional-grade aviation safety technology in drones available to everyone…read more. Video
How You Walk and Hold Your Device Could Replace Passwords
Next Big Future May 22, 2019 DISA (Defense Information Systems Agency) has identified 46 factors that could be used to help it get rid of passwords on your mobile device, including gait, the way you swipe, and how you hold your phone or tablet. Continuous multi-factor authentication (CMFA) will run seamlessly in the background allowing access through biometric data distinct to each user. Two years into the program and after 18 months of research, the handsets are beginning to meet some user requirements and are garnering feedback for future iterations. There are two primary steps to the program for assured […]
Engineered bacteria could be missing link in energy storage
Science Daily May 23, 2019 At present, no existing technology provides large-scale storage and energy retrieval for sustainable energy at a low financial and environmental cost. According to a team of researchers in the US (Cornell University, industry) engineered electroactive microbes could address many of the limitations of current energy storage technologies by enabling rewired carbon fixation, a process that spatially separates reactions that are normally carried out together in a photosynthetic cell and replaces the least efficient with non-biological equivalents. If successful, this could allow storage of renewable electricity through electrochemical or enzymatic fixation of carbon dioxide and subsequent […]
The extraordinary powers of bacteria visualized in real time
Science Daily May 23, 2019 The global spread of antibiotic resistance is a major public health issue. The spread of antibiotic resistance is for the most part due to the capacity of bacteria to exchange genetic material through a process known as bacterial conjugation. The ability of the bacterium to expel the antibiotic before it can exert its destructive effect using “efflux pumps” found on its membrane. Experimenting with E. Coli researchers in France have revealed that in just 1 to 2 hours, the single-stranded DNA fragment of the efflux pump was transformed into double-stranded DNA and then translated into […]
Good fellows: 2019 Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellows announced
EurekAlert May 22, 2019 The VBFF is the Department of Defense’s most prestigious single-investigator award and supports basic research with the potential for transformative impact. Each Fellow receives up to $3 million over a five-year term to pursue their research. The fellowship is funded by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering–and administered by the Office of Naval Research. The VBFF is named for Dr. Vannevar Bush, director of the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development after World War II…read more.