Tech

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Carbon nanotubes drive X-ray scanner

X-ray scanners based on carbon nanotubes could make airport luggage screening and high-tech medical imaging more efficient.

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In Its Own Image: Simple robot replicates itself block by block

A robot made by stacking identical, cubelike modules has demonstrated that it can copy itself.

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Radio-a-Wreck

Radio transmitters broadcasting from imploding buildings are informing engineers about how such collapses disrupt radio communications and how rescuers might overcome those disruptions.

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Double bubble comes off in a pinch

By nestling droplets inside larger droplets, scientists have created a new strategy for encapsulating food additives and fragrances.

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Special Treatment

Researchers are developing nanosize metallic particles that can break down soil and groundwater contaminants faster and more cheaply than any other existing technology.

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Open Sesame: Portable devices may achieve magnetic resonance views

Top-notch magnetic resonance sensing now found only in hospitals and chemical labs may become available in portable devices, thanks to a new type of magnetic sensor.

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Leak Locator: Ultrasound for finding holes in spacecraft

Researchers have devised a way to pinpoint leaks in spacecraft by listening to ultrasound waves traveling through the ship's hull.

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X rays detect fingerprints

Analytical chemists have developed a method that visualizes elusive fingerprints with X rays.

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Silicon chips land a lasting laser

The first microchip-size silicon lasers promise to boost the maximum speeds of ordinary computers and electronic gadgets.

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Remembering, on the cheap

A new type of cheap plastic memory bit that stays set even when electrical power is off could facilitate the spread of flexible, radio-equipped tags as price tags, identity labels, and surveillance sensors.

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Nanotech Facts

The National Nanotechnology Initiative has a Web site devoted to “Nanotech Facts.” It provides an introduction to nanotechnology and a brief description of its many applications and potential societal implications. Go to: http://www.nano.gov/html/facts/home_facts.html

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Outsmarting the Electronic Gatekeeper: Code breakers beat security scheme of car locks, gas pumps

Because designers flouted a well-known rule for making cryptographic systems impenetrable, automakers and other businesses have embraced a wireless security technology that's vulnerable to attack.