Technology News

Researchers find that tiny nanowires can lift liquids as effectively as tubes
Monday, April 1, 2013 - 10:30

New research carried out at MIT and elsewhere has demonstrated for the first time that when inserted into a pool of liquid, nanowires — wires that are only hundreds of nanometers (billionths of a meter) across — naturally draw the liquid upward in a thin film that coats the surface of the wire. The finding could have applications in microfluidic devices, biomedical research and inkjet printers.

 

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New solar-cell design based on dots and wires
Monday, March 25, 2013 - 11:25

Using exotic particles called quantum dots as the basis for a photovoltaic cell is not a new idea, but attempts to make such devices have not yet achieved sufficiently high efficiency in converting sunlight to power. A new wrinkle added by a team of researchers at MIT — embedding the quantum dots within a forest of nanowires — promises to provide a significant boost.

 

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Hybrid ribbons a gift for powerful batteries
Monday, March 25, 2013 - 11:19

Hybrid ribbons of vanadium oxide (VO2) and graphene may accelerate the development of high-power lithium-ion batteries suitable for electric cars and other demanding applications.

 

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CO2 could produce valuable chemical cheaply
Saturday, March 23, 2013 - 10:41

Researchers at Brown and Yale have demonstrated a new “enabling technology” that could use excess carbon dioxide to produce acrylate, a valuable commodity chemical involved in the manufacture of everything from polyester cloth to disposable diapers.

 

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NIST Guides Seek Interoperability for Automated Fingerprint ID Systems
Wednesday, March 20, 2013 - 14:15

A new set of publications from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) could make it easier, faster, and most importantly, more reliable, for forensic examiners to match a set of fingerprints with those on file in any database, whether local, state or national.

 

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Researchers Trap Light, Improve Laser Potential of MEH-PPV Polymer
Monday, March 18, 2013 - 19:54

Researchers from North Carolina State University have come up with a low-cost way to enhance a polymer called MEH-PPV’s ability to confine light, advancing efforts to use the material to convert electricity into laser light for use in photonic devices.

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