Tech
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Tech
Memory Enhancers
Engineers take aim at increasing the density of data storage on magnetic media.
- Tech
Smart dust can swarm target
Microscopic mirrors can swarm a target and produce an optical signal that identifies the target to the observer.
- Tech
Mind-Expanding Machines
Researchers have designed computer systems aimed at amplifying human thought and perception, such as a new type of cockpit display for aircraft pilots that exploits the power of peripheral vision.
- Tech
Bomb Sniffer: Cantilevers detect trace amounts of explosives
An ultra-sensitive chemical sensor uses microcantilevers to detect airborne plastic explosives within seconds.
- Tech
High-flying wing destroyed in crash
The unmanned NASA aircraft that holds the world record for high-altitude flight without rocket propulsion recently broke up over the Pacific Ocean.
- Tech
Shining True: Marking original documents with a lick of gloss
Scientists have a new way of making forgery-proof documents by using laser color printers to embed hologramlike images in a document’s glossy surface.
- Computing
Computer Game Art and History
Curious about early video games or recent developments in game technology? This Web site accompanies the “Game On” exhibition, developed by the Barbicon Gallery and the National Museums of Scotland. An exhibition guide briefly explains what the various displays include. The education section offers tips for creating a video game as a classroom project. The […]
- Tech
Press ‘n’ Peel Lasers: Coaxing light beams out of cheap plastic
Researchers have devised a way to imprint lasers in plastic—an achievement that may one day lead to ultracheap lasers mass-produced like poker chips.
- Tech
Counting calories on the road
People are programmed to spend about the same number of calories per day—roughly the energy of one hot dog—on daily travel, according to new analysis of British transportation statistics.
- Tech
Soft blow hardens Columbia-disaster theory
By blasting a gaping hole in a shuttle wing with a block of foam fired from a gun, a NASA investigative team appears to have confirmed the leading theory of what caused the Feb. 1 destruction of the space shuttle Columbia.
- Tech
Giving solar cells the rough treatment
A new solar cell design that traps photons in the crevices of a bumpy surface uses low-cost materials and may make these cells more commercially appealing.
- Tech
Tiny device brings out the best in sperm
A new device with potential use in fertility treatments separates robust sperm from stragglers by exploiting a phenomenon that occurs when two microscale fluid flows merge.
