Tech
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Tech
Nanotech Switch: Strategy controls minuscule motor
Researchers have modified a rotating protein fragment so that it starts and stops spinning with the addition and removal of zinc.
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- Tech
Civilians get better GPS
President Clinton directed the Defense Department to stop degrading signals from 24 Global Positioning System satellites, allowing civilians to receive the same location-pinpointing accuracy long available to the U.S. military.
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Engineering Top 20
Airplanes, telephones, refrigerators, and spacecraft are among the life-changing technological accomplishments highlighted at the National Academy of Engineering’s Greatest Engineering Achievements of the 20th Century Web site. A variety of illustrations, a brief history, and a timeline of important landmarks accompany each entry. Go to: http://www.greatachievements.org/
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Solar Surgery: Sunlight acts like laser
By channeling sunlight down a fiber optic cable, scientists have produced laserlike beams that can burn tumors off major organs.
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DNA embrace might drive micromachines
DNA interactions that bend tiny diving boards, or cantilevers, may open the door to powering micromachines by means of molecular reactions.
- Tech
Beads and glue defeat forgers
Researchers have devised a cheap, translucent material that, when embedded in credit cards and other items, would endow the items with unique identifiers that are almost impossible to tamper with or copy.
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Ribbon to the Stars
Advances in one of the tiniest of technologies—carbon nanotubes—is bringing the concept of a space elevator closer to reality.
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Cool Contraptions
The J. Paul Getty Museum’s intriguing online exhibition, “Devices of Wonder,” features optical devices, robots, thinking machines, and other fanciful contrivances of yesteryear. Check out a variety of ingenious contraptions for projecting images, playing music, revealing secrets, and more. Go to: http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/devices/choice.html
- Tech
Microdevice weds electronics, light fibers
By altering the chemical structures of dyelike molecules called chromophores, researchers have created tiny, low-voltage devices for converting electronic signals into light waves.
- Tech
Coal: The cool fuel for future jets
To power faster supersonic jets, scientists are developing coal-derived fuels that can absorb heat without breaking down at high temperatures.
- Tech
Liquid Logic: Tiny plumbing networks concoct and compute
By incorporating thousands of simple valves into microscopic networks of rubbery pipes and chambers, scientists have created fluid-manipulating microchips of unprecedented power.
