Next Big Future November 28, 2018 There have been complaints about the seeming lack of acceleration or slower than expected development of societal technology. According to researcher in the UK there is a need to understand the s-curve concepts in innovation and barriers to exploration of technology. There is a need to review history when technology was held back and how breakthroughs did occur. There can be barriers or innovations needed to enable successful development of technologies…read more.
Top 10 Science and Technology Inventions for the Week of November 30, 2018
01. Revealing hidden information in sound waves 02. VitalTag to give vital information in mass casualty incidents 03. World’s first single-panel antenna to simultaneously support multiple 5G communications 04. Environment turns molecule into a switch 05. New device widens light beams by 400 times, broadening possibilities in science and technology 06. New technique to make objects invisible proposed 07. An important step towards completely secure quantum communication network 08. First study of terahertz radiation in liquids 09. Shedding a new light on optical trapping and tweezing 10. Changing color of light using a spatiotemporal boundary And others… Could an anti-global […]
World’s first single-panel antenna to simultaneously support multiple 5G communications
Phys.org November 29, 2018 Researchers in Japan have developed technology which delivers high-speed communications in excess of 10 Gbps, as required by 5G mobile communication formats. By controlling the phase of signals separately emitted from 128 antenna elements with high accuracy they have suppressed the interference between signals. This enables simultaneous communications in four directions using only one antenna panel. Signals can be varied in both horizontal and vertical directions expanding the communications area. With these developments, components can now be fit on a single 13 cm2 printed circuit board enabling the deployment of compact base stations and high-speed 5G […]
VitalTag to give vital information in mass casualty incidents
Phys.org November 27, 2018 VitalTag, developed by researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is a low-cost suite of sensors that detects, monitors and wirelessly transmits vital signs, including blood pressure, heart rate, respiration rate and other metrics such as blood oxygen levels, shock index and data from a single-lead electrocardiogram. It adheres to a patient’s sternum and connects seamlessly via Wi-Fi to securely transmit patient data to a mobile device or laptop in real time. This comprehensive view could enable emergency medical technicians and paramedics to tend to more patients faster, armed with more detail than ever before. The VitalTag […]
Using a virus to make a better type of memory
Nanowerk November 27, 2018 An international team of researchers (USA – MIT, Singapore) controlled the morphology, composition, and functionality of Segregating-binary-alloy-type germanium–tin oxide systems using template-driven nucleation that leverages the electrostatic-binding specificity of the M13 bacteriophage surface. A wire like phase-change materials (PCM) was achieved, with controllable and reliable phase-changing signatures, capable of tens of nanoseconds switching times. This approach addresses some of the critical material compositional and structural constraints that currently diminish the utility of PCMs in universal memory systems…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Study reveals mechanisms that promote icing responsible for power disruptions
Eurekalert November 26, 2018 Researchers in China monitored the icing process (at 10 meters and 1.5 meters) of agglomerate fog, an event where massive amounts of fog come together during a cold surge which lasted for 102 hours. They found that agglomerate fogs, snow and rain, contributed to the icing process. They observed significant differences in the thickness and density of the accumulated ice, as well as the mechanism that contributed to icing growth and the duration of the icing at the two different heights. The sticking efficiency of snow particles has a significant impact on icing growth rate…read more. […]
Shedding a new light on optical trapping and tweezing
Eurekalert November 27, 2018 While holographic optical trapping and tweezing is not new, an international team of researchers (South Africa, USA – MIT) found a way to optimally use the full force of light – including vector light to control and manipulate minute objects such as single cells in a human body, tiny particles in small volume chemistry, or working on future on-chip devices. They showed how to create and control any pattern of light holographically, and then used this to form a new optical trapping and tweezing device…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Revealing hidden information in sound waves
Phys.org November 29, 2018 Sonar arrays are typically designed to record sounds in specific frequency ranges. Sounds with frequencies higher than an array’s intended range may confuse the system. Researchers at the University of Michigan have developed a technique that will allow just about any signal to be shifted to a frequency range where sonar arrays are no longer confused. It mathematically combines any two frequencies within the signal’s recorded frequency range, to reveal information outside that range at a new, third frequency which is the sum or difference of the two input frequencies. The additional information could boost performance […]
New technique to make objects invisible proposed
Eurekalert November 26, 2018 Most of the techniques for cloaking harness the extraordinary properties of certain materials to make light circumvent the object to be made invisible. An international team of researchers (Spain, Italy) has developed a technique using the electromagnetic properties of specific materials which can make certain objects invisible when they are introduced as fillers. This plasmonic cloaking makes the object and the filler jointly invisible. The method makes it possible to achieve invisibility from the interior of an object without using any external device and allows the object to interact with its environment without being hampered by […]
New device widens light beams by 400 times, broadening possibilities in science and technology
Phys.org November 28, 2018 A team of researchers in the US (NIST, University of Maryland, Texas Tech University) developed an extreme mode converter, which is a compact planar photonic structure that efficiently couples a 300 nm × 250 nm silicon nitride high-index single-mode waveguide to a well-collimated near surface-normal Gaussian beam. They separated the two-dimensional mode expansion into two sequential separately optimized stages, which create a fully expanded and well-collimated Gaussian slab mode before out-coupling it into free space. The design can be adapted for visible, telecommunication, or other wavelengths. The technique can be expanded to more arbitrary phase and intensity control of both […]