Power/Performance Bits: Sept. 24


Textiles for energy storage Scientists at RMIT University developed a way to laser print waterproof textiles with graphene supercapacitors for embedded energy storage. The process takes three minutes to create a 10x10cm patch. The electronic textile is based on nylon coated with PDMS on one side for waterproofing. The other side was paint coated with graphene oxide and a binder to form thin... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Sept. 11


Thread transistor Researchers at Tufts University developed a thread-based transistor that can be fashioned into simple, all-thread based logic circuits and integrated circuits which could be woven into fabric or worn on the skin, or even surgically implanted. The thread-based transistor (TBT) is made of a linen thread coated with carbon nanotubes, creating a semiconductor surface. Two thin... » read more

Week in Review: IoT, Security, Auto


Products/Services Rambus agreed to acquire Hillsboro, Ore.-based Northwest Logic, a purveyor of memory, PCIe, and MIPI digital controllers. The transaction is expected to close in the current quarter. Financial terms weren’t disclosed; Rambus said in a statement, “Although this transaction will not materially impact 2019 results due to the expected timing of close and acquisition accountin... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: July 30


100GHz transceiver Engineers at the University of California Irvine built a new wireless transceiver that works above 100 gigahertz. The 4.4-millimeter-square silicon chip, called an "end-to-end transmitter-receiver," uses a digital-analog architecture that modulates the digital bits in the analog and radio-frequency domains to process digital signals quickly and energy-efficiently. "We cal... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: July 10


Wearable heart monitoring Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin developed a lightweight, stretchy heart monitoring patch that can be worn externally. Along with being easy to wear, the graphene-based 'e-tattoo' is more accurate than existing electrocardiograph machines, according to the team. The e-tattoo measures cardiac health using both electrocardiograph and seismocardiograph... » read more

System Bits: June 25


Supercomputers around the world At last week’s International Supercomputing Conference in Frankfurt, Germany, the 53rd biannual list of the Top500 of the most powerful computing systems in the world was released. Broken out by countries of installation, China has 219 of the world’s 500 fastest supercomputers, compared with 116 in the United States. Ranking by percent of list flops, the ... » read more

System Bits: June 10


SlothBot swings through the trees, slowly A robot that doesn’t often move, spending its days, weeks, months, in the forest canopy, monitoring the local environment – that’s SlothBot, from the Georgia Institute of Technology. The robot has two photovoltaic solar panels for its power source. It is designed to stay in the trees for months at a time. It’s gone through trials on the Geor... » read more

System Bits: June 4


Thin films for quantum computing Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory report their development of two-dimensional tungsten/selenium thin films that can control the emission of single photons, potentially useful in quantum technologies. “Efficiently controlling certain thin-film materials so they emit single photons at precise locations—what’s known as deterministic quantum em... » read more

System Bits: May 21


Washable, wearable energy devices for clothing Researchers at the University of Cambridge collaborated with colleagues at China’s Jiangnan University to develop wearable electronic components that could be woven into fabrics for clothing, suitable for energy conversion, flexible circuits, health-care monitoring, and other applications. Graphene and other materials can be directly incorpor... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Mar. 26


Material holds both electrons, holes Researchers at Ohio State University discovered a material that can hold both electrons and holes. They hope the material, the layered metal crystal NaSn2As2, could simplify electronics, potentially removing the need for multiple layers or materials. "It is this dogma in science, that you have electrons or you have holes, but you don't have both. But our... » read more

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