Tech

Computing

Net History

Nethistory.info is a new Web site devoted to the history of the Internet. Its aim is to provide material documenting the applications and platforms that came together to create the early Internet, including protocols, personal computers, e-mail, the World Wide Web, networks, and much more. You can sign up for a free monthly newsletter and […]

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Cramming bits into pits

By skewing the alignment of pits on an optical disk's surface, disk makers might store much more than one bit per pit.

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Dawn of the commercial space age

On Oct. 4, a privately funded, piloted craft called SpaceShipOne reached a height of 378,000 feet (115.1 kilometers), breaking a world altitude record for rocket-powered planes and claiming the $10 million Ansari X prize.

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Bartending lessons for microassembly

Engineers have demonstrated the feasibility of quickly assembling identical microcircuit components by agitating subunits in a liquid.

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Transmuting a powerful poison

A new chemical process for fuel cells powered by hydrocarbons eliminates carbon monoxide that would clog fuel-cell electrodes while also extracting energy from the troublesome gas.

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Hungry for Nano

The food industry is turning to nanotechnology as it searches for innovations that could bring safer, healthier, and tastier products to consumers.

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Tiny Timepiece: Atomic clock could fit almost anywhere

Physicists have shrunk the high-tech heart of an atomic clock to the size of a rice grain.

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Electrifying Toxic Cleanup: Electrodes could stimulate removal of radioactive waste

Researchers have devised a bioremediation system that electrically stimulates bacteria to break down toxic chemicals in the environment.

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Helping circuits get enough oxygen

The search for new insulators needed for making ever-smaller circuits may get a boost from a new electron microscopy technique sensitive to a single oxygen atom missing from a crystal layer.

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Sound power for deep-space travel beyond sun’s reach

An unusually efficient new type of power unit for spacecraft uses sound to convert heat to electricity.

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Ocean Envy

By mimicking the flippers of penguins, whales, and dolphins, engineers hope to make ocean vessels that are as maneuverable and efficient as the marine animals.

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A new deep-sea submersible

Scientists have announced a 4-year, $21.6-million design-and-construction effort to replace the aging research submersible Alvin.