Germanium to Overtake Silicon?

Silicon has long been the undisputed elements behind creating transistors. Its semiconductor properties make it optimal for hosting the transfer of charges. Germanium, which is one spot below silicon on the periodic table, was experimented with in the 40s but set aside to make way for silicon because it was trickier to integrate into circuits.

Now, germanium's been making a comeback. A part of the advancement of technology has been an emphasis on miniaturization. Every gadget seems to be getting thinner and lighter, and scientists aren't sure that silicon transistors/circuits can keep up. That is why people have been turning to germanium, which, due to its position on the periodic table, can transfer charges much quicker than silicon. The limitation with using germanium had previously been making it comply with standard CMOS technology. Two types of circuits exists: nFETs, which use transistors to conduct negative charges, and pFETs, which utilize transistors to conduct positive charges. While germanium pFETs have been a "slam dunk," according Krishna Saraswat, an electrical engineer at Stanford University, the nFET version was lacking. But Purdue University engineer Peide Ye and his team have concocted a new design for germanium nFETs that could see the element be heavily used in the near future. Mark Bohr, a senior fellow at Intel, suggests that silicon scaling could be a thing of the past within a decade.

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New Species Found

The first detailed research returned from the depths of the Mariana Trench. The group of scientists came back with amazing discoveries. The expedition set several new records including the gathering of the deepest rock samples and the discovery of a new fish species at the greatest lengths ever recorded as well. The findings of this expedition is going to help answer all sorts of questions people have of organisms; things like how they live in different habitats never before explored. The new species that was found is also going to give insight on how high-pressure environments influence and impact organisms.

To read more: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141220040544.htm

New species found in the deepest trenches on earth

Researchers have returned from the first detailed study of the Mariana Trench aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel Falkor. The expedition set many new records, including the deepest rock samples ever collected and the discovery of new fish species at the greatest depths ever recorded.

More on this here

Hyperloop

Hyperloop: the new transportation system created by SpaceX founder and Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk that will be ready for passengers in approximately 10 years. This new transportation system could cut travel time between Los Angeles and San Francisco down to 35 minutes. This is incredible because the trip typically takes 12 hours by Amtrak train, and more than six hours by car. This transportation system would carry passengers in pods moving as fast as 800 miles per hour. The project is approximately anywhere between $7 billion and $19 billion. Hyperloop CEO Dirk Adhlborn said that the price range is due to the unpredictability of prices for materials and other expensive over the next decade. He also says that if he finds it too difficult to build the inaugural Hyperloop in California, he may choose to build it in another country. To learn more about Hyperloop, visit the link provided below.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/19/hyperloop-10-years_n_6357430.html?ir=Science&ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000042

Solar Power From Space

Dr. Paul Jaffe, from the US Navy Research Laboratory, is working on two modules that would float in space and collect solar energy. This would increase the amount of energy collected by up to four times, especially since he wants the modules to be kilometers in length, increasing efficiency without overheating. The solar panels on Earth only catch a very small fraction of the energy being sent by the sun, and while this idea is not new, Dr, Jaffe is proposing modules that, if successfully put into effect, could power entire cities with a small collection of these modules. This is a potential new source of energy that could bring us one step closer to solving the current energy problem.

More information here: http://gajitz.com/beaming-with-pride-sending-solar-power-down-from-space/

3D Printed Dress

As 3D printing becomes a greater deal, people are expanding the range as to what can be printed.  Nervous System, a design studio, has created a 3D printed dress that feels like a real dress.  Using a software called Kinematics, the dress starts out as a model in a CAD program and then broken down into a variety of triangles.  After that, hinges are attached to the triangles through the use of algorithms.  This was a difficult task for the team because the hinges had to be small enough so that there could be movement between the triangles, but thick enough so that the attachment does not break.  These combinations of triangles allow the dress to flow freely.  Currently, producing the dress takes about two days and would sell for $3,000.  Although this is the case, Nervous System is figuring out away to print them more efficiently and cost effectively.

Read more at:

http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/17/tech/innovation/3d-printed-plastic-dress/index.html

BPG: A new, superior image format that really ought to kill off JPEG

For years we have been accustomed to JPEG photo files and have never questioned them. They are easily accessible by basically every computer in the world and their quality is never much of an issue. However, like the article states, JPEG is still one of those few remaining "dinosaurs" from the beginning of the internet. Is it time for a change?

link to article

Better Portable Graphics, or BPG, is the new replacement for JPEG. It offers a higher image quality at half the file size. This is due to its advanced algorithm, ability to render 14 bits per color channel (instead of 8), and like a PNG it brings an alpha channel (transparency). Overall the BPG sounds like a much better choice but its biggest flaw is its lack of support. Considering it is a new file format computers, phones, tablets, devices in general, are not programmed to support BPGs. Perhaps in the future there will be a way to easily access BPG files but for now that is something the creators are working on. 

RoboBrain - Google for Robots

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As we all remember from Robotics last year, robots need a lot of help to actually perform actions, and writing those tasks can be quite tedious. For instance, instead of being able to type, "turn right," we had to implement several lines of code involving functions for configuring the power of each motor for a certain duration of time in order to get the robot to turn. Robots don't have nearly the same interpretational skills as humans do, which is why simple tasks like movement need very descriptive instructions.

Ashushtosh Saxena and peers from Stanford University have developed RoboBrain to serve as a search engine for robots. If a robot wishes to carry out a certain task, it may search up those instructions using RoboBrain. But RoboBrain is far more than a search engine - it allows robots to add to the database as it moves along by utilizing the device's sensors and data storage in order to create information that can accessible by all kinds of robots.

The team has already demonstrated this with eggs. One of their robots, under RoboBrain, was able to carry an egg carton from one end of the table to another. This seemingly basic task can be carried even further - the technique behind carrying the egg carton can also be used for other fragile objects. All this can be learned by querying RoboBrain.

Saxena and his crew want to take RoboBrain even further. So far, the service has teamed up with Tell Me Dave (a start-tup designed to teach robots natural languages) and PlanIt (a method for robots to plan paths by using crowdsourced information). They also want to step into the instructional video world and have robots acquire knowledge simply by viewing "how-to" videos and gathering the essential parts.

4 Hour Flights are Nearing Reality

Imagine a plane that could both fly us around the earth in 8 hours and take us to space. This is the idea of the British firm called Reaction Engines with their new airplane design. This opens a whole new opportunity for commercial air flight and space travel. The new engine that will allow this is called the "Sabre Engine" and is supported by a technology that allows it to get cooled for more than 1000 degrees Celsius in 0.01 seconds. The firm is now in the development stage for this groundbreaking plane, however with the 1.1 billion dollar price tag, it may have its downsides. 

Flexible 3D Touchscreens

In the not so distant future, the idea of malleable screens may become a reality. A Finnish group called Canatu has been working to develop a carbon nanobud screen which can be used in a similar fashion to glass screens. The properties of this malleable screen come from the chemical makeup of carbon nano tubing that can maintain conductivity even when displaced by 120% of its original location. The by having a surface that is easy to curve, the applications of this new technology are endless when applied to design. Some uses range from the car dashboards to computer parts. 

Source: http://www.technocrazed.com/stretchable-film-can-make-touchscreen-any-surface

Tons of Plastic In Oceans

Microplastic pollution is filling various oceans across the globe. Around 269,000 tons of plastic may be floating around the earth's oceans. To better understand the severity of the issue and how much plastic there is in the ocean, scientist from six different countries came together to collect data. Based on the data collected scientist "estimate a minimum of 5.25 trillion plastic particles weighing nearly 269,000 tons in the world's oceans." All of this plastic in the ocean is a huge danger to marine life all across the world. Marine animals are dying and habitats are being destroyed. Plastic waste is being dumped into the ocean and the consequences are beginning to show.

To read more about this issue go here:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141210140827.htm

The Death of the Password

The FIDO (Fast IDentifaction Organization) Alliance, which is composed of heavyweights like Microsoft, Google, VISA, MasterCard, Paypal, and more, is working with Nok Nok Labs to replace the use of passwords. Passwords are a pain. They are extremely important for the security of our data, yet they are so hard to remember and so difficult to keep track of. FIDO wants to eliminate passwords by implementing two types of user authentication factors- biometric and key. Passwords can be replaced with facial recognition, voice recognition, iris recognition, or something as simple as fingerprint recognition, as seen with the newer iPhone models. Biometric authentication is super secure because unlike a password, which can be shared by multiple people or taken through data breaches, your physical identity is unique. To add another layer of security, FIDO wants to use a physical USB key to make sure that the individual is actually attempting to log in, not a machine. This two-step verification process is what companies want for the future and although it may seem like a daunting task at first glance, the alliance believes it is definitely possible.

http://www.popsci.com/death-password-starts-today

Mimicking Sense of Touch

Scientists have discovered how to mimic the sense of touch. A team from the US and China did this by making an experimental array that can sense pressure in the same range as the human fingertip. More specifically, they used bundles of vertical zinc oxide nano wires to build arrays consisting of about 8,000 transistors. Each of the transistors could then independently produce an electronic signal when placed under mechanical strain. This advancement is very essential because it can be applied in many different ways. For example, the advance could speed the development of smarter artificial skin. "This could make artificial skin smarter and more like the human skin. It would allow the skin to feel activity on the surface". Another way this could be applied is with robots: the sensors could give the robots a more adaptive sense of touch. As Prof Wang said, "this could be used in broad range of areas, including robotics, (very small devices known as MEMS), human-computer interferences and other areas that involve mechanical deformation". To know more about this advancement, click on the website: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-22302487

Fighting Cancer

Cancer remains the second most common cause of death in the United States.  More specifically, brain cancer is amongst the most tedious forms of cancer to remove during surgery since it is difficult to distinguish the difference between brain cancer and healthy brain.  Because of this, surgeons many times fail to remove all of the cancer.  Luckily, Dr. Jim Olson has been working on "brain paint" which will help surgeons see what is cancer.  This "paint" is produced by peptides from scorpions (specifically Deathstalkers which has a paralyzing sting).  The process goes: the day before surgery the patient gets an injection of "brain paint" in their blood stream.  The peptide them brings the florescent molecule to the cancer cell which then is visible to the surgeons with a special camera.  So far, they have experimented with this "paint" on rats and dogs, which have been successful.  This can mean a lot for the future, and can increase the success rate of surgery.  

Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140605-how-venom-can-help-tackle-cancer

Spray-on Solar Power

University of Toronto researcher Illan Kramer, has invented a new way to spray solar powered cells on to flexible surfaces. Kramer has used light-sensitive materials known as colloidal quantum dots (CQD) to spray on surfaces. This new invention is going to make spray-on solar cells easy and cheap to produce. Until now, the only way that you could get CQDs on surfaces was through the process of batching them on. This process was very slow and expensive. Kramer's new process is now going to change the industry and make the process of making different materials solar powered a lot easier and cheaper. 
To read more: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141205124349.htm

California's Drought Might be a Look Into the Future

Currently California is having the worst drought it has had in 1,200 years. Scientists have been able to track the droughts in California through tree rings. Tree rings can tell us vital information about the climate of a region and how dry the earth was. The fact that there was not much rain or snow this year doesn't really matter in the big picture. There have been years where the earth was less dry despite the fact that there was much less rain and snowfall than this year. The reason why this drought is bad is because of the extreme heat that is scorching the soil. Climate change is warming the soil, creating terrible droughts despite sufficient rainfall. This could be a look into the future of our Earth and how dry it will be if climate change continues.

More information on this here: http://www.livescience.com/49029-california-drought-worst-ever.html

Hearing Wifi?

Frank Swain invested in a pair of Starkey Halo hearing aids for his hearing that has been slowly diminishing over the course of ten years. These hearing aids connects to bluetooth which streams audio from his iPhone.  Swain began thinking, if this device can help people hear things they could not before, it is possible to hear other things such as wifi?  So, Frank Swain and and Daniel Jones, a sound artist, began working on a project Phantom Terrains.  They hacked into his hearing aid and translated the wifi into sounds that they could hear: crackling, clicking, and tones.  The more stronger   the surrounding wifi is, the more frequent the clicks are.  So as you walk close to a wifi router, the clicks and crackling become more dense. If it is to the left of you, you would hear the sounds in your left ear, and the same goes for your right.  If we are able to hear wifi, think of the number of other things we may be able to hear and how that can potentially change our view of the world and open new findings.

 

If you would like to hear what it would sound like if you were to have the hearing aid on click hear: http://www.wired.com/2014/12/guys-hacked-hearing-aids-let-listen-wi-fi-networks/

New research paves the way for nano-movies of biomolecules

"Scientists have caught a light sensitive biomolecule at work using an X-ray laser. Their new study proves that high speed X-ray lasers can capture the fast dynamics of biomolecules in ultra slow-motion, revealing subtle processes with unprecedented clarity."

The biomolecule processes that occur in the human body are very hard to capture due to the high velocity that they happen in. But with this new breakthrough, scientists can shoot a high speed X-ray at a biomolecule and capture the light that is refracted. Scientists are then able to use this refracted light to create a moving image of the process.

Iron Man Suit

DARPA has been working on creating an exosuit that resembles the iron man suit. Their mission is to create this suit in order to benefit soldiers in the army. They want to develop "a soft, low-powered exosuit that will augment the physical capabilities of soldiers". They expect that the suit will allow troops to carry 100-plus pounds of equipment without risking the joint and back injuries that typically occur in the field. DARPA has already wrapped up its first phase which tested exosuit components in the lab and outdoors. In the next phase, engineers will test how various pieces, including bionic arms and legs, will perform when integrated into one suit. To learn more about the process of finalizing DARPA's exosuit, go to the website provided below.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/military/research/the-iron-man-suit-in-real-life-is-coming-darpa-17493769

Exoskeletons Are Changing Lives

We've heard of exoskeletons being used in the military before, and this field seems to be moving along slowly, but surely. However, exoskeletons are finding a field that can be much more helpful to society: rehabilitation.
Ekso Bionics has created an exoskeleton that is meant to help patients who can't walk get back on their feet (literally) and slowly work towards being able to walk again. The suit uses pressure sensors to detect when the wearer wants to take a step forward, and it is so effective that patients walk up to 300 steps on their first try. It also has something they call variable assist, which allows the patient to use as much of his/her own strength as possible, which is perfect for rehabilitation. While it is not currently available for the public, Ekso Bionics is working towards making the suit more independent (as of right now it requires a personal trainer to work with the patient) and available to clinics. It is a great step forward towards helping paraplegics walk again, and it has a giant psychological effect, as it reminds them what walking feels like again.
More information along with a great video telling the story of a patient who used this suit can be found here: http://www.popsci.com/watch-paralyzed-man-take-stroll-bionic-exoskeleton-video

NASA spaceship ready for test flight

Orion, NASA's Spacecraft designed to one day launch humans back into space, is ready for its first test flight. The test flight was set for today at 7:05 a.m. ET, but due to high winds and a stuck liquid-oxygen drain it was rescheduled for Friday morning. Orion is set to orbit the earth twice in a range of 4 hours before coming back down and landing in the Pacific Ocean. The first test flight will carry no astronauts but will a step forward in NASA returning to the crewed spaceflight business.

The news of Orion's launch is exciting because it brings back an important era in American history that has slowly been forgotten. The whole concept of space and space travel amazes me and with newly found technology NASA will be able to travel further. Mars is the final objective for Orion and perhaps soon it will be achievable.

Orion 

http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/30/tech/innovation/nasa-orion-spacecraft-test-flight/index.html 

Made In Space Transports and Replicates First 3D Printed Object on Space Station

3D printing has been making big strides lately. It has literally skyrocketed to space, actually will be coming down soon as well. Scientists at NASA have sent a 3D printing module to the ISS where experiments will be conducted. Because of zero-g conditions, 3D printing has to be done in a more complicated way in order to be used properly. The initial test for the 3D printer was panel for the machine itself. Not something too interesting in all honesty, but a worthy test of capabilities. In addition, actual test objects will printed both on earth and on the ISS so they could be compared. This will provide scientist with information on what needs to be changed for future versions of the printer.

More Here: http://singularityhub.com/2014/11/27/made-in-space-transports-and-replicates-first-3d-printed-object-on-space-station/