Make every surface a touch screen

Developed by Microsoft Research, Wearable Multitouch Interaction turns any surface in the user’s environment into a touch interface. “We wanted to

World's smallest radio stations: two molecules communicate via single photons

We know since the dawn of modern physics that although events in our everyday life can be described by classical physics, the interaction of light and matter is down deep governed by the laws of quantum mechanics. Despite this century-old wisdom, accessing truly quantum mechanical situations remains nontrivial, fascinating and noteworthy even in the laboratory. Recently, interest in this area has been boosted beyond academic curiosity because of the potential for more efficient and novel forms of information processing.

Record-speed wireless data bridge demonstrated: takes high-speed communications the 'last mile'

Scientists have created a new way to overcome many of the issues associated with bringing high-speed digital communications across challenging terrain and into remote areas, commonly referred to as the "last mile" problem. The researchers developed a record-speed wireless data bridge that transmits digital information much faster than today

Future smart phones will project images on the wall

New laser light source has a global market in consumer electronics. Mobile phones currently on the market are capable of showing high quality images and video, but the phones

More powerful electric cars: mechanism behind capacitor's high-speed energy storage discovered

Researchers have discovered the means by which a polymer known as PVDF enables capacitors to store and release large amounts of energy quickly. Their findings could lead to much more powerful and efficient electric cars.

Communication technologies including smartphones and laptops could now be 1,000 times faster

Many of the communication tools of today rely on the function of light or, more specifically, on applying information to a light wave. Up until now, studies on electronic and optical devices with materials that are the foundations of modern electronics -- such as radio, TV, and computers -- have generally relied on nonlinear optical effects, producing devices whose bandwidth has been limited to the gigahertz (GHz) frequency region. (Hertz stands for cycles per second of a periodic phenomenon, in this case 1billion cycles).

All-carbon-nanotube transistor can be crumpled like a piece of paper

(PhysOrg.com) -- Thanks to the flexible yet robust properties of carbon nanotubes, researchers have previously fabricated transistors that can be rolled, folded, and stretched. Now a team from Japan has made an all-carbon-nanotube transistor that can be crumpled like a piece of paper without degradation of its electrical properties. The new transistor is the most bendable reported to date that doesn’t experience a loss in performance.

IBM research achieves new record for quantum computing device performance

Scientists at IBM Research have achieved major advances in quantum computing device performance that they say may accelerate the realization of a practical,

Oxford Nanopore announces groundbreaking GridION and MinION gene sequencers

(PhysOrg.com) -- Oxford University spinoff company, Oxford Nonopore has announced at this year’s Advances in Genome Biology and Technology conference in Florida, two new machines for sequencing genes. Of particular note is the MinION, a machine small enough to fit in the hand which can be plugged into a laptop’s USB port. The other, the GridION, is a larger version that can be stacked to increase processing power. Both rely on a technology known as strand sequencing whereby a nanopore (engineered protein) is used to pull strands of DNA through a hole where a microchip measures minute changes in the electrical current in the membrane around it as individual bases, or pairs are pulled through. Because of the way it is done, much longer sections of DNA can be examined at once, doing away with the need to examine small sections independently and then knitting the results together with a computer afterwards.

Researchers build first physical 'metatronic' circuit

(PhysOrg.com) -- The technological world of the 21st century owes a tremendous amount to advances in electrical engineering, specifically, the ability to finely control the flow of electrical charges using increasingly small and complicated circuits. And while those electrical advances continue to race ahead, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania are pushing circuitry forward in a different way, by replacing electricity with light.

Space elevator by 2050 planned, to include space solar power

Obayashi Corp., headquartered in Tokyo, has unveiled a project to build a space elevator by the year 2050 that would transport passengers to a station 36,000

Ocean supremacy: the world’s largest “eco” super-yacht

Traditionally, a super-yacht is a vast, luxurious vessel where its opulence is only matched by its fuel consumption. However recently, the super wealthy have been making an attempt to show their green credentials by purchasing greener and more efficient ships. Sauter Carbon Offset Design (SCOD) have not set the standard by which all other green super-yachts will now be measured with the 42m Ocean Supremacy - the largest, greenest super-yacht in the world.

Electrical engineers build 'no-waste' laser

A team of University of California, San Diego researchers has built the smallest room-temperature nanolaser to date, as well as an even more startling device: a highly efficient, "thresholdless" laser that funnels all its photons into lasing, without any waste.