Manufacturing Bits: April 6


Powerful electromagnets The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (MagLab) has tested a new and powerful superconducting solenoid or electromagnet that operates at high currents. MagLab develops several different types of large and powerful magnets, which are used as scientific instruments. MagLab’s solenoid or electromagnet could one day be used to drive particle accelerators and compa... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Feb. 10


Accelerating and cooling muons Using a novel particle accelerator, a group for the first time have observed a phenomenon called muon ionization cooling–an event that could give researchers a better understanding of matter and the universe. Muons are obscure sub-atomic particles. This experiment could pave the way towards the development of new and powerful muon particle accelerators. Thes... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Oct. 29


Searching for dark energy The first tests have been conducted on a new cosmic cartography system that will soon search for dark energy and galaxies in the universe. The system, called the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), is a complex unit with 5,000 fiber-optic eyes. The DESI system is mounted on top of the 4-meter Mayall Telescope at the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Ariz... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Nov. 27


Hybrid solar for hydrogen and electricity Researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory developed an artificial photosynthesis solar cell capable of both storing the sun's energy as hydrogen through water splitting and outputting electricity directly. The hybrid photoelectrochemical and voltaic (HPEV) cell gets around a limitation of other water splitting devices that shortchange... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Oct. 2


Quantum satellites The Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering has developed a critical technology to enable quantum satellites. Fraunhofer has developed a quantum source, which would be used in satellites. In theory, the source generates entangled photons and transmits them to Earth from a satellite. They would serve to distribute secure keys for encrypting data. ... » read more

Data Center Power Poised To Rise


The big power-saving effort that kept U.S. data-center power consumption low for the past decade may not keep the lid on much longer. Faced with the possibility that data centers would consume a disastrously large percentage of the world's power supply, data center owners, and players in the computer, semiconductor, power and cooling industries ramped up effort to improve the efficiency of e... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: June 12


Elastic diamonds A group has developed a way to make elastic diamonds, enabling tiny diamond needles that can flex and stretch. Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the City University of Hong Kong and Nanyang Technological University have developed a process that enables elastic diamonds. Elastic diamonds could one day... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Mar. 20


Proton battery prototype A team at RMIT University built a prototype rechargeable proton battery combining hydrogen fuel cells and battery-based electrical power that has the potential, with further development, to store more energy than currently-available lithium ion batteries. The working prototype proton battery uses an activated carbon electrode for solid-state storage of hydrogen with... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Jan. 30


Wavy display architecture Researchers at KAUST developed a new transistor architecture for flexible ultrahigh resolution devices aimed at boosting the performance of the display circuitry. Flat-panel displays use thin-film transistors, acting as switches, to control the electric current that activates individual pixels consisting of LEDs or liquid crystals. A higher field-effect mobility of... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Jan. 23


Atomristors for thin memory Engineers at The University of Texas at Austin and Peking University developed a thin memory storage device with dense memory capacity. Dubbed "atomristors," the device enables 3-D integration of nanoscale memory with nanoscale transistors on the same chip. "For a long time, the consensus was that it wasn't possible to make memory devices from materials that were... » read more

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