Tech

  1. Tech

    Coddled crystal slams door on light

    A better fabrication process yields such a high-quality optical material that microchips using light, rather than electrons, may be close to reality.

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  2. 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.

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  3. Tech

    Columbia Disaster Working Hypothesis: Wing hit by debris

    The independent board investigating the breakup of the space shuttle presented its first detailed account of what might have caused the Feb. 1 disaster.

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  4. Tech

    A Breath of Fresh Air: Bacteria rid sewage of its stink

    Wastewater-treatment plants can use hydrogen sulfide-degrading bacteria instead of chemicals to reduce odors.

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  5. Computing

    Computation Takes a Quantum Leap

    A quantum computation involving a custom-built molecule furnishes experimental evidence that a quantum computer can solve certain mathematical problems more efficiently than can a conventional computer.

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  6. Tech

    Tipping tiny scales

    A prototype detector based on a tiny silicon cantilever that operates in air has achieved a 1,000-fold sensitivity boost when measuring tiny quantities of chemical agents.

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  7. Computing

    Minding Your Business

    By means of novel sensors and mathematical models, scientists are teaching the basics of human social interactions to computers, which should ease the ever-expanding collaboration between people and machines.

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  8. Computing

    Tight packaging for digitized surfaces

    A novel digital compression scheme may make it practical to transmit detailed models of three-dimensional surfaces over the Internet.

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  9. Computing

    Computer grid cracks problem

    A large network of powerful computers solved a 32-year-old optimization challenge known as the "nug30" quadratic assignment problem.

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  10. Computing

    Strength and weakness in diversity

    Although the Internet's redundancy and diversity help it survive local node malfunctions despite its vast size and complexity, it is vulnerable to attacks aimed specifically at the most highly connected nodes.

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  11. Tech

    Nanotechnologists get a squirt gun, almost

    A novel computer simulation of molecular behavior suggests that a minuscule squirt gun able to spit liquids a few hundred nanometers ought to work.

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  12. Tech

    Digital Cells

    Researchers are gearing up to create cells with computer programs hardwired into the DNA.

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