Tech
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Tech
Electronic Leap: Plastic component may lead to ubiquitous radio tags
Tiny radio circuits cheap enough to be embedded into countless products have moved closer to reality with the development of a fast, plastic semiconductor diode.
- Tech
Speed Reader: Gene sequencing gets a boost
The first lab-ready technology to challenge the dominant gene-sequencing technique known as the Sanger method taps miniaturization and parallel reading of hundreds of thousands of DNA stretches to boost speed and slash cost.
- Tech
Easy Striders
New robots based on the mechanics of human walking use less energy and move more naturally than traditional bipedal robots do, suggesting new ways to approach two-legged robots and prosthetic design.
- Tech
Tapping Tiny Pores: Nanovalves control chemical releases
After creating arrays of nanovalves, each made from a single molecule, chemists used them to generate minuscule chemical discharges.
- Tech
Wiring up molecules
Minuscule gaps of controlled sizes in gold microwires may serve as test sites for probing properties of specks of material as small as a single molecule and as a basis for novel sensors and circuit components.
- Tech
A nanoprinter for cheaper diagnostics
Using strands of DNA as movable type, scientists have created a miniaturized printing technique for mass-producing medical diagnostic chips.
- Tech
Sensor measures mass of one DNA molecule
A new biosensor that can detect the mass of a single DNA molecule could lead to faster and more accurate screening for HIV infection, cancer, and other diseases.
- Tech
Slick trick snags catalyst
A costly type of catalyst sticks to Teflon, suggesting a new way to recover these chemicals from solutions.
- Tech
Smart Trap: Nanosensor tracks major brain chemical
The study of neurological diseases and brain functions could get a lot more precise with the invention of an optical sensor that can closely monitor a key chemical in the brain.
- Tech
Morphing Memory
A promising memory technology for future portable gadgets exploits the same atom-shuffling materials that have already led to rewritable CDs and DVDs.
- Tech
Fields of Beams: Carbon nanotubes crop up for big-screen TV
Carbon nanotubes serve as the electron emitters that light up the screen of a new experimental, high-definition television display.
- Tech
Morphing wheels for beginner bikers
A new bike design for kids morphs from tricycle into bicycle as the rider gets moving, possibly easing the often-fearful starts at riding two-wheelers.
