13 | May 11, 1951: RAM Is Born Brian X. Chen May 11, 2010 |
1951: Jay Forrester files a patent application for the matrix core memory. Back when computers still weighed hundreds of pounds and were primarily used by the military, computer memory relied on cathode rays to retrieve information. But the Navy needed a faster computer that could run flight simulations in real time. In stepped a team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Led by professor Jay Forrester, the researchers developed a three-dimensional magnetic structure code-named Project Whirlwind. | 14 | Graphene transistor could advance nanodevices Miranda Marquit May 11, 2010 | Wang is part of a group at the Key Laboratory for the Physics and Chemistry of Nanodevices at Peking University in Beijing. Along with Zhiyong Zhang, Huilong Xu, Li Ding, Sheng Wang, and Lian-Mao Peng, Wang tested a top-gate graphene field-effect transistor based frequency doubler in order to gauge its performance. They were able to show that a graphene based frequency doubler can provide more than 90% converting efficiency, while the corresponding value is not larger than 30% for conventional frequency doubler. Their work is published in Applied Physics Letters: "A high-performance top-gate graphene field-effect transistor based frequency doubler." "Our work focused on raising the gain and frequency response of the frequency doubler by utilizing top-gate geometry on the device," Wang explains. "Only with a top-gate can people fabricate high-performance devices and integral circuits. This work paves the way to mass application of graphene transistors in the near future." | 15 | Curiously Hackable: 8 Awesome Altoids Tin Hacks Paul Lilly May 11, 2010 |
MacGyver could fashion all kinds of contraptions out of bubble gum wrappers, tree bark, and other nearby objects, which he did through seven seasons of crime solving, but one thing he never made was a custom USB key out of an Altoids tin. Come to think if it, he didn't do much of anything with Altoids, but the same can't be said for creative modders in more recent times. In fact, the Altoids tin has become an icon for D-I-Y culture. Its low cost, malleable yet sturdy frame, and pocket-able size makes it the ideal housing for small electronics. Have you ever considered fashioning an LED flashlight out of an empty Altoids tin? How about a USB battery pack? Probably not, but you just might after we showcase some of the most awesome Altoids tin hacks we could dig up. | 16 | Laser sets new world record with 12 attosecond pulse
May 12, 2010 | Ultrashort light pulse with stabilized optical phase. An ultrashort laser pulse is comprised of a few of these oscillations. (red or blue curve).
| Lasers can now generate light pulses down to 100 attoseconds thereby enabling real-time measurements on ultrashort time scales that are inaccessible by any other methods. Scientist at the Max Born Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Time Spectroscopy (MBI) in Berlin, Germany have now demonstrated timing control with a residual uncertainty of 12 attoseconds. This constitutes a new world record for the shortest controllable time scale. Light is an electromagnetic wave of very high frequency. In the visible domain, a single oscillation of the electric field only takes about 1200-2500 attoseconds. Consequently, an ultrashort laser pulse is comprised of a few of these oscillations. However, pulses from conventional short-pulse laser sources exhibit strong fluctuations of the positions of the field maximum relative to the pulse center. For maximum field strength, the center of the pulse has to coincide with a maximum of the electric field, as shown in Fig. 1 as a red curve. Consequently, methods have been developed to stabilize the position of the field maximum, i.e., the phase of the pulse. | 17 | 14 Ways to Supercharge Your Smartphone Ian Paul May 11, 2010 | 18 | New hard drive write method packs in one terabit per inch Casey Johnston May 6, 2010 | Hard disk systems have recently encounted a storage density ceiling. Most methods in use today have a limit of a few hundred gigabytes per square inch thanks to perpendicular recording. To try to keep storage density rising, scientists have looked at technologies from holographic storage to molecular polymers, but few have made it past the demonstration stage. In a paper in Nature Photonics this week, researchers describe a way to combine two hard drive writing methods to store data at densities of up to one terabit per square inch, and suggest the media could be stable up to ten terabits per square inch. Each of the two write methods deals with the issue of writing pieces of data very close together without affecting the bits around it. When bits are tightly packed, an effect called superparamagnetism can kick in, where the tiny amount of heat created by the write head will accidentally flip nearby bits and ruin surrounding data. As researchers attempt to pack data bits tighter into a surface, being able to write to an isolated bit without disturbing surrounding ones has become very challenging. One of the methods, thermally-assisted magnetic recording (TAR), heats an area of a small-grain surface to write it, and then cools the surface once the writing is done. In TAR, the amount of heat, design of the media, and distance between bits keep superparamagetism at bay. The heat also allows the material to magnetize more quickly, reducing the time it takes to write by a small amount. | 19 | New project aims for fusion ignition David L. Chandler May 10, 2010 | The concept for the new reactor builds on decades of experience with MIT’s Alcator fusion research program, also initiated by Coppi, which in its present version (called Alcator C-Mod) has the highest magnetic field and highest plasma pressure (two of the most important measures of performance in magnetic fusion) of any fusion reactor, and is the largest university-based fusion reactor in the world. The key ingredient in all fusion experiments is plasma, a kind of hot gas made up of charged particles such as atomic nuclei and electrons. In fusion reactors, atomic nuclei — usually of isotopes of hydrogen called deuterium and tritium — are forced together through a combination of heat and pressure to overcome their natural electrostatic repulsion. When the nuclei join together, or fuse, they release prodigious amounts of energy. | 20 | Physics on the edge Alexandra Witze May 22nd, 2010 | For the hottest thing in condensed-matter physics, check out the local liquor store. Hidden inside a device for chilling wine is the unusual compound called bismuth telluride. For physicists, bismuth telluride does more than keep champagne frosty. Under the right laboratory conditions, this crystal can start behaving in weird and wonderful ways. Over the past couple of years, researchers have made several toast-worthy new discoveries involving bismuth telluride and other related materials, known as topological insulators. These materials exhibit a split personality when it comes to conducting electrons. The bulk of the material is an insulator — in other words, it blocks the flow of electric current. But sometimes the surface can act as a conductor, shuttling electrons merrily along their way. | 21 | iPhone and Android Make Beautiful Music Together [VIDEO] Brenna Ehrlich May 7, 2010 | | Another addition to the cadre of smartphone musicians: Check out this dude, who has somehow patched together two Android (Android) handsets, two Windows Mobile devices and an iPod touch to build one kick-ass... is that a banjo? | |