Tech

Tech

Cold Lighting

Solid-state light sources, such as light-emitting diodes, promise greater energy efficiency than do incandescent lamps. The Sandia National Laboratories has launched a Web site that offers articles, references, and other information on semiconductor-based lighting and its use for illuminating homes, offices, and public spaces. Go to: http://lighting.sandia.gov/

Tech

Sowing neat rows of seeds on silicon

A new way to introduce foreign atoms into silicon with atomic-scale precision may help chip manufacturers over a looming hurdle.

Tech

Taming High-Tech Particles

Researchers are beginning to study whether nanomaterials could have unintended negative consequences in the human body or the environment.

Computing

Finding networks within networks

A new mathematical procedure, or algorithm, picks out those members within a larger network—for instance, related sites on the World Wide Web—that have especially close ties.

Tech

Littlest catalysts get a lot of support

Tiny metal clusters used as catalysts are getting so small that presumably inert carrier materials that host them are also getting involved in the reactions.

Tech

Beam Team: Unusual laser emits a band of light

A novel laser on a microchip emits a band of light rather than the single, pure color usually expected from a laser.

Tech

Itsy chain turns bitsy gears

A tiny chain with links the size of biological cells offers a new way to deliver power to micromachines.

Tech

Circuitry in a nanowire: Novel growth method may transform chips

Made from alternating bands of different semiconductors, a new type of superthin wire incorporates working electronic and optical devices within the wire itself, raising the prospect of making extremely tiny and versatile circuits from the striped filaments.

Computing

Calculating Cartoons

Thanks to sophisticated computer simulations of the laws of physics, spectacular special effects—plus a zoo of strange but real-looking creatures—increasingly enliven movie screens and computer-game consoles.

Tech

Little levers for satellites: Cilia may precisely dock tiny spacecraft

Tiny artificial hairs that imitate biological cilia flex with enough muscle and finesse to maneuver tiny satellites into place for docking with a mother ship.

Tech

Magnetic refrigerator gets down and homey

Because it uses a permanent magnet, a new, prototype magnetic cooler takes up so little space that it could give rise to ordinary household refrigerators and air conditioners that run on magnetism instead of volatile liquids.

Tech

Engineered crystal obeys inner bananas

Flexing new skills at custom-designing crystals, researchers built a specific optical trait into a new organic crystal by tinkering with the shape of one of the crystal's constituent molecules.