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Apr. 19th, 2008
Tech news stories
Apr. 19th, 2008 08:32 amNew killer virus discovered - A new virus, named Chapare, has been discovered in a remote village in South America. The disease is believed isolated to a small region in Bolivia, and is considered to be fatal in 30% of cases. The CDC in the US is currently investigating to determine the source of the disease and its virulence. Found on Warren Ellis's blog.
The moon and the magntotail - Twice a month the moon passes through the earth's magnetic tail (yes, that it what it is called), with consequences such as moon dust gathering sufficient charge (resulting in potentials of -200 to -1000 volts) to become dust storms that move from night side to the day side. This dust can present special challenges to astronauts and their equipment who may one day be working there.
World's smallest transistor built, and it's not from silicon - Scientists have long known that silicon is unstable as a result of oxidation and decomposition if used to make devices smaller than 10 nanometres, thus representing a physical limit on how small silicon-based devices can be made. University of Manchester researchers have successfully created a transistor using graphene which performs well when cut to sizes smaller than 10 nanometres. They demonstrated a transistor one atom wide and ten atoms long. It may be some time before the process is commercialized; there is currently no way to reliably cut graphene to this scale, and the researchers had to employ a trial-and-error approach combined with random chance in making a transistor this small.
Japanese begin testing new method for neural control of devices - Researchers at Osaka University announced plans to test the use of sheets of electrodes placed on the surface of the brain to control external devices. They plan to use subjects who are already scheduled for brain surgery for conditions such as epilepsy. The sheets of electrodes would be placed over the primary motor cortex do not require puncturing the cortex. Found on Slashdot.
Battery-free brain monitoring - Belgium researchers have developed a portable EEG reading headset that is powered by body heat and solar energy. The device looks like a regular pair of headphones, albeit an ugly pair, and a much lighter and easier to wear than other portable EEG devices.
The moon and the magntotail - Twice a month the moon passes through the earth's magnetic tail (yes, that it what it is called), with consequences such as moon dust gathering sufficient charge (resulting in potentials of -200 to -1000 volts) to become dust storms that move from night side to the day side. This dust can present special challenges to astronauts and their equipment who may one day be working there.
World's smallest transistor built, and it's not from silicon - Scientists have long known that silicon is unstable as a result of oxidation and decomposition if used to make devices smaller than 10 nanometres, thus representing a physical limit on how small silicon-based devices can be made. University of Manchester researchers have successfully created a transistor using graphene which performs well when cut to sizes smaller than 10 nanometres. They demonstrated a transistor one atom wide and ten atoms long. It may be some time before the process is commercialized; there is currently no way to reliably cut graphene to this scale, and the researchers had to employ a trial-and-error approach combined with random chance in making a transistor this small.
Japanese begin testing new method for neural control of devices - Researchers at Osaka University announced plans to test the use of sheets of electrodes placed on the surface of the brain to control external devices. They plan to use subjects who are already scheduled for brain surgery for conditions such as epilepsy. The sheets of electrodes would be placed over the primary motor cortex do not require puncturing the cortex. Found on Slashdot.
Battery-free brain monitoring - Belgium researchers have developed a portable EEG reading headset that is powered by body heat and solar energy. The device looks like a regular pair of headphones, albeit an ugly pair, and a much lighter and easier to wear than other portable EEG devices.