Tech

  1. Tech

    Fiber Helper: Minuscule controllers may open data floodgates

    A device that fits on the end of optical fibers may make possible the next big boost in Internet speed without new underground cables.

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  2. Tech

    A Shot in the Light

    Bullet replicas that look on a microscopic level like they've been fired from a gun—even though they haven't—enable forensics specialists to fine-tune as never before instruments to automatically match bullets from crime scenes.

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  3. Tech

    Satellite links may don quantum cloaks

    A theoretically foolproof scheme to shield secrets via the laws of quantum mechanics demonstrates its readiness to take on Earth-satellite communications.

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  4. Tech

    Deadly Bubble Bath: Ultrasound fizz kills microbes under pressure

    A modest pressure increase on a liquid agitated by ultrasound dramatically boosts the microbe-killing power of those high-frequency sound waves.

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  5. Tech

    Robotic heart surgery

    By using robotic rather than conventional open-heart techniques, doctors can perform heart surgery with smaller incisions, giving patients less pain and speeding recovery.

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  6. Tech

    Resistancefree wire takes long jump

    A wire-making company has demonstrated a process that yields potentially inexpensive, high-current superconducting wires about 10 times longer than previous prototypes.

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  7. Computing

    Loony Tunes: Bugs blare in software set to music

    A novel way of converting computer programs into familiar-sounding music helps programmers locate errors in their code.

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  8. Computing

    Software’s beginnings

    The earliest known use of the term software to describe computer programs dates back to 1958.

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  9. Computing

    ‘Love bug’ lessons

    In early May, the malicious ILOVEYOU computer virus shut down hundreds of thousands of computers and caused several billion dollars in damage.

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  10. Computing

    A loosely woven Web

    The World Wide Web is less like a network of heavily interconnected superhighways and more like a jungle of one-way streets often leading to dead ends.

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  11. Tech

    Hidden Costs: It takes much stuff to make one tiny chip

    A new analysis reveals that the production of a single 2-gram microchip requires nearly 2 kilograms of chemicals and fossil fuels.

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  12. Tech

    Hot Flashes, Cold Cuts

    By obliterating matter in a never-before-seen way, a new breed of lasers cuts everything from eyeballs to diamonds with unprecedented precision.

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