Tech
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Computing
Scouring the Web
Looking for the perfect Web search engine? It probably doesn’t exist, but you can find out the strengths, weaknesses, and quirks of various Net-scouring tools at the “Search Engine Showdown” Web site, maintained by Montana State University librarian Greg R. Notess. Check out the inconsistencies report and sample tips for efficient searching. Go to: http://www.notess.com/search/
- Tech
Making a Little Impression: New chip-making method may mold the industry
A simple mechanical means of embossing silicon may offer an alternative to conventional chip-making methods.
- Tech
Tiny rockets may advance minisatellites
A new type of miniaturized rocket may bring microspacecraft one step closer to reality.
- Tech
Paint-on displays get closer to reality
By smearing on a coating and hardening it with light, researchers have created a new kind of electronic display.
- Tech
Deep Vision
Increasingly available virtual-reality gear gives scientists, engineers, and planetarium visitors new perspectives.
- Tech
Bugs on Mars
Undaunted by the hurdles on flight posed by thin air and a lack of oxygen, aerospace engineers are devising extraordinary flying machines resembling giant insects and windmills to make the exploration of Mars more rapid and effective.
- Tech
Live Tour: Joystick journeys reveal tumor interiors
A new holographic technique may someday enable doctors to skip certain biopsies and choose instead to take video excursions inside suspicious growths in skin or internal body linings.
- 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.
