November 19, 2006, 9:13 PM CT

A Quantum Computer Step

A University of Utah physicist took a step toward developing a superfast computer based on the weird reality of quantum physics by showing it is feasible to read data stored in the form of the magnetic "spins" of phosphorus atoms.

"Our work represents a breakthrough in the search for a nanoscopic [atomic scale] mechanism that could be used for a data readout device," says Christoph Boehme, assistant professor of physics at the University of Utah. "We have demonstrated experimentally that the nuclear spin orientation of phosphorus atoms embedded in silicon can be measured by very subtle electric currents passing through the phosphorus atoms".

The study by Boehme and colleagues in Germany would be published in the recent issue of the journal Nature Physics and released online Sunday, Nov. 19.

"We have resolved a major obstacle for building a particular kind of quantum computer, the phosphorus-and-silicon quantum computer," says Boehme. "For this concept, data readout is the biggest issue, and we have shown a new way to read data".

Boehme, who joined the University of Utah faculty earlier this year, conducted the study with Klaus Lips a former colleague at the Hahn-Meitner Institute in Berlin and with graduate students Andre Stegner and Hans Huebl and physicists Martin Stutzmann and Martin S. Brandt of the Technical University of Munich.........

Posted by: Kevin      Permalink         Source

November 16, 2006, 8:27 PM CT

Exotic Relatives Of Protons And Neutrons

A team of scientists, including four at The Johns Hopkins University, has discovered two new subatomic particles, rare but important relatives of the familiar, commonplace proton and neutron.

Named "Sigma-sub-b" particles, the two exotic and incredibly quick to decompose particles are like rare jewels mined from mountains of data, said team leader Petar Maksimovic, assistant professor of physics and astronomy in the university's Krieger School of Arts and Sciences.

"These particles are members of what we call the 'baryonic' family, so-called for the Greek word 'barys,' which means heavy," Maksimovic said. "Baryons are particles that contain three quarks, which are the fundamental building blocks of matter".

The simplest baryons are the proton and neutron, which make up the nuclei of atoms of ordinary matter. "These newest members of that family are unstable and ephemeral, but they help us to understand the forces that bind quarks together into matter," Maksimovic said.

Containing the second-heaviest quark - called "the bottom quark" - the new particles are the heaviest baryons found yet: heavier even than a complete helium atom, which has two protons, though lighter than a lithium atom, which has three.

How rare is Sigma-sub-b? The team painstakingly analyzed a hundred trillion proton-antiproton collisions at the Tevatron, the world's most powerful particle accelerator, to find about 240 Sigma-sub-b candidates, Maksimovic said. The new particles are extremely short-lived, decaying within a tiny fraction of a second.........

Posted by: Sarah      Permalink         Source

November 15, 2006, 9:44 PM CT

Listening To Gunshots May Save Lives

From the crack of a supersonic bullet, Montana State University electrical engineering professor Rob Maher is exploring how sound can be used for everything from saving soldiers from snipers to saving wilderness from noise pollution.

This fall, Maher presented the results of two years of research into gunshots at the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Signal Processing Society's annual meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyo.

Because of its intense energy and distinctness, a gunshot is "the perfect signal" with which to explore the uses of sound, Maher said.

"It produces what engineers call the 'impulse response' of the sonic environment," Maher said. "If we can't make sense of how a gunshot behaves, then it's unlikely we can do much with more complicated, or lesser quality, sounds".

Maher initially explored two questions with gunshots: First, could the sound of a gunshot on a 911 recording be associated with a specific weapon? The question has intrigued prosecuting attorneys for decades. Second, could the sound of a gunshot be used to determine the location of a hidden sniper?

Through a search of prior studies and his own research, Maher found the "acoustical fingerprinting" of a gunshot from a 911 tape was impossible.........

Posted by: Tom      Permalink         Source

November 13, 2006, 8:44 AM CT

Diskette Handbag from Fractalspin

This whimsical little handbag, made by Zelle and available at Fractalspin, is a bit of a surprise. From a distance, what you see is a black bag with interesting metallic shapes forming an eye-catching pattern. Up close, you notice that it's made of recycled computer diskettes (12 genuine 1.44 MB diskettes, to be exact). A magnetic latch holds the two sides together at top (though it doesn't close the opening all the way). For a different look, you can remove the latch and take out the bottom liner to convert it into a slim bag you can hold close to your body.

The label on the bag suggests that you "allocate interior pockets to manage internal fragmentation." There are five interior pockets -- 2 with snaps, two elasticized, and one zippered) -- for your cell phone, iPod, credit cards and cash, lipstick, etc. The main compartment is big enough to hold a book, a pack of tissues, a hairbrush, candy. "Available memory: 17.28 MB." Gimmicky, yes, but super cute. It's $65 on the Fractalspin website.........

Posted by: Kevin      Permalink         Source

November 10, 2006, 4:29 AM CT

From Light To Sodium Atoms

For the first time, tornado-like rotational motions have been transferred from light to atoms in a controlled way at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The new quantum physics technique can be used to manipulate Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs), a state of matter of worldwide research interest, and possibly used in quantum information systems, an emerging computing and communications technology of potentially great power.

As published in the Oct. 27 issue of Physical Review Letters,* the research team transferred orbital angular momentum--essentially the same motion as air molecules in a tornado or a planet revolving around a star--from laser light to sodium atoms.

The NIST experiment completes the scientific toolkit for complete control of the state of an atom, which now includes the internal, translational, and rotational behavior. The rotational motion of light previously has been used to rotate particles, but this new work marks the first time the motion has been transferred to atoms in discrete, measurable units, or quanta. Other researchers, as well as the NIST group, previously have transferred linear momentum and spin angular momentum (an internal magnetic state) from light to atoms.

The experiments were performed with more than a million sodium atoms confined in a magnetic trap. The atoms were chilled to near absolute zero and in identical quantum states, the condition known as a Bose-Einstein condensate in which they behave like a single "super-atom" with a jelly-like consistency. The BEC was illuminated from opposite sides by two laser beams, one of them with a rotating doughnut shape. Each atom absorbed one photon (the fundamental particle of light) from the doughnut laser beam and emitted one photon in the path of the other laser beam, picking up the difference in orbital angular momentum between the two photons. The interaction of the two opposing lasers created a corkscrew-like interference pattern, inducing the BEC to rotate--picture a rotating doughnut, or a vortex similar to a hurricane.........

Posted by: Sarah      Permalink         Source

November 10, 2006, 4:14 AM CT

Audio Telescope Heeds Call Of The Wild Birds

Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Intelligent Automation, Inc. (Rockville, Md.) and the University of Missouri-Columbia have modified a NIST-designed microphone array to make an "audio telescope" that could help airports more efficiently avoid costly and hazardous bird-aircraft collisions by locating and identifying birds by their calls. The prototype system was described in a recent paper.*.

From chirps to trills, bird song commonly is soothing and restful--unless you're a pilot. Collisions with birds in flight, called "bird strikes," caused over $2 billion worth of damage to aircraft in the United States or U.S. aircraft abroad, since 1990, as per statistics from the Federal Aviation Administration. Worldwide, wildlife strikes --mostly birds--have destroyed more than 163 aircraft and killed more than 194 people since 1988.

Airports fight back with X-band radar and infrared cameras to monitor birds, but neither technology can distinguish between different kinds of birds, especially in bad weather. That's important because not all birds are equally hazardous to aircraft, and shutting down runways because of the proximity of unknown birds imposes its own costs in delays and increased aircraft congestion. The "audio telescope" proposed by NIST and IAI scientists is a one-meter-diameter concentric array of 192 microphones that would be mounted parallel to the ground to listen to the skies. By comparing the arrival time of sounds at different microphones, the array can determine the direction from which the sound came, even distinguishing simultaneous sounds coming from different directions. The scientists adapted mathematical algorithms designed to allow speech recognition systems to identify different speakers in order to distinguish different species by their calls. The system can tell a Canada goose from a gull or a hawk within a couple of seconds.........

Posted by: Kevin      Permalink         Source

November 7, 2006, 5:04 AM CT

Seawater is Tomorrow's Drinking Water

Scientists at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science today announced they have developed a new reverse osmosis (RO) membrane that promises to reduce the cost of seawater desalination and wastewater reclamation.

Reverse osmosis desalination uses extremely high pressure to force saline or polluted waters through the pores of a semi-permeable membrane. Water molecules under pressure pass through these pores, but salt ions and other impurities cannot, resulting in highly purified water.

The new membrane, developed by civil and environmental engineering assistant professor Eric Hoek and his research team, uses a uniquely cross-linked matrix of polymers and engineered nanoparticles designed to draw in water ions but repel nearly all contaminants. These new membranes are structured at the nanoscale (the width of human hair is approximately 100,000 nanometers) to create molecular tunnels through which water flows more easily than contaminants.

Unlike the current class of commercial RO membranes, which simply filter water through a dense polymer film, Hoek's membrane contains specially synthesized nanoparticles dispersed throughout the polymer - known as a nanocomposite material.

"The nanoparticles are designed to attract water and are highly porous, soaking up water like a sponge, while repelling dissolved salts and other impurities," Hoek said. "The water-loving nanoparticles embedded in our membrane also repel organics and bacteria, which tend to clog up conventional membranes over time."........

Posted by: Kevin      Permalink         Source

November 6, 2006, 8:16 PM CT

Productive fun with Wacom's Cintiq

Kevin Kelley recently picked up a 21 inch Cintiq drawing display, and he's in love with it. The Wacom Cintiq is an LCD monitor with a touch screen sensor embedded over the image. Essentially it's a cross between a graphic artist's drawing tablet and an LCD monitor. Differing from standard touch screen monitors is the 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity that the input area is able to discern, and the unique "pen on paper" texture of dragging a pen across the surface. Kelly bought his $2,500 Cintiq on the recommendation of artist Scott McCloud who has said that the input method made him more productive, and completely eliminated the symptoms of his hand strain malady.

Wacom released the first Cintiq tablet seven years ago. It was a 15 inch flat panel touch screen display, and a lot of geeks discounted it as a one shot gimmick. Personally, I thought that it was a glorious evolution in computer hardware, and I remember dreaming of when the technology would be the standard for all computers. Sadly, prices of desktop tablet monitors have remained high enough that only professional interests, such as design houses and graphic artists, can justify the expense. I'd love to install one at home, but it's a hard sell when I didn't even spend $2,500 on my tricked out desktop!

We're just now sorting through the interface issues of tablet computing, but progress is being made. slowly. Some industries will have an easier time making a move to an alternative input scheme: video game controls are well suited to this type of human interface. The Nintendo DS has been an overwhelming success in part because of the novelty and utility of the touch screen, and the hands-on Starcraft video floating around is nothing short of sexy. Ben Kuchera disagrees with me, but I think that this is the direction that all computer interfaces will move towards if the public can ever afford to adopt the hardware en mass.........

Posted by: Gina      Permalink         Source

November 6, 2006, 8:09 PM CT

How to disassemble iPod Shuffle 2

iFixit recently published a complete guide on how to disassemble the world smallest MP3 player - iPod Shuffle 2. All you need are just a spudger and a Philips screwdriver #00.

Well, let skip all the dissassembling process. What I want to know is what the heck inside this tiny thing!

On the top of its circuit logic board, you can see five button sensors, ARM chip and data cable ribbon. No idea about the ARM chip, but it has the number: 337S3300 844A N05WDK01 0642 ARM.

The bottom of the board has a Li-ion polymer battery and headphone jack plug, which is most impressive part of iPod Shuffle 2. The plug is multi-modal and switches between USB, analog audio, and possibly power modes.........

Posted by: Gina      Permalink         Source

November 6, 2006, 7:31 PM CT

Silent Eco-friendly Plane

MIT and Cambridge University scientists will unveil the conceptual design for a silent, environmentally friendly passenger plane at a press conference Monday, Nov. 6, at the Royal Aeronautical Society in London.

"Public concern about noise is a major constraint on expansion of aircraft operations. The 'silent aircraft' can help address this concern and thus aid in meeting the increasing passenger demand for air transport," said Edward M. Greitzer, the H.N. Slater Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT.

Greitzer and Professor Ann P. Dowling of Cambridge University are the lead principal researchers on the Silent Aircraft Initiative. This collaboration of 40 scientists from MIT and Cambridge, plus a number of others from more than 30 companies, was launched three years ago "to develop a conceptual design for an aircraft whose noise was almost imperceptible outside the perimeter of an airfield in an urban environment".

While originally conceived to make a huge reduction in airplane noise, the team's ultimate design also has the potential to be more fuel-efficient. In a typical flight, the proposed plane, which is designed to carry 215 passengers, is predicted to achieve 124 passenger-miles per gallon, almost 25 percent more than current aircraft, as per Greitzer. (For a down-to-earth comparison, the Toyota Prius hybrid car carrying two passengers achieves 120 passenger-miles per gallon.).........

Posted by: Kevin      Permalink         Source