And that’s why companies like IBM are really exploring silicone alternatives. One very promising direction is with carbon nanotubes and IBM has just reached a major milestone. They have created a new computer chip based on carbon nanotube technology that has more than 10,000 transistors. This is a far cry from the current generation of silicone-based microprocessors, but it does demonstrate a lot of potential for carbon nanotubes moving forward.

As you might remember, carbon nanotubes are constructed with sheets of cabon that are just a single atom thick, rolling them into a cylinder. These conduct electricity better than silicon and have the perfect shape to act as transistors. Unfortunately, they have to be completely free of inpurities and they have to be aligned perfectly. They’re harder to work with, but they could hold the future of computing because carbon nanotubes can also scale much smaller than silicone.

It’s unlikely that we’ll have a Nexus 2013 next year based on carbon nanotube technology, but with the continuing research and innovation at places like IBM, the future of Moore’s Law might still be viable.

[Source]

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The Stanford scientists behind the work say that “carbon nanotubes could be an excellent alternative to the platinum, palladium and other precious-metal catalysts now in use.” Inside a fuel cell, the catalysts are needed to oxidize the hydrogen at the anode.

The study demonstrates that when they shred the other walls of a multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT) with the inner walls left intact, the MWNT gained “enhanced” catalytic ability. The electrical conductivity remained good too. When used in metal-air batteries, the potential is for batteries that have 10 times the theoretical energy density of “today’s best lithium-ion technology.”

Further research is needed, of course, but this could be the key to cracking the puzzle of more widespread fuel cell adoption.

[Source]

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What you see in the above picture is Robojelly, a robot jellyfish designed by the researchers at Virginia Tech, which could be very useful in the future for underwater surveillance or search and rescue operations. You might be thinking that there is nothing new about a robot inspired by nature, but the robot jellyfish has a new trick up its sleeve. Theoretically, the Robojelly will go on working without ever running out of energy, as long as it’s in water.

The Robojelly is powered by hydrogen and is made up of materials called shape-memory alloys. Just in case you are preparing to refer to Wikipedia, shape-memory alloys are materials which are capable of returning to their original shape when heat is applied. The robot mimics a jellyfish’s movements via eight moving segments wrapped in platinum-coated carbon nanotubes.

When the oxygen and hydrogen in the water react with platinum powder, heat will be produced. The alloys will change shape due to this heat and propulsion occurs all thanks to the opening and closing movements of the segments.

The research paper has been published in the journal of Smart Materials and Structures and the project was led by Yonas Tadesse. According to him, “To our knowledge, this is the first successful powering of an underwater robot using external hydrogen as a fuel source”.

In the video, you will find an electricity-powered version of the Robojelly swimming in a water tank. The hydrogen-powered robot needs more work to be done on it and has only been tested while it’s clamped to the tank’s bottom. They are currently working to increase its maneuverability.

So, this is a robot which can stay underwater for a very long time as it can refuel itself from the water around it. That’s certainly very innovative. And yeah, almost forgot, the research is US Navy-backed, and you know what that means. Enemy submarines beware!

[Image Source]

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Are you amazed after hearing about the travel distance of an elevator in the Burj Khalifa? Then get ready for this new concept from Tokyo-based construction company Obayashi Corp. The Japanese company has come out with their space elevator concept which involves constructing a space cable, which extends a quarter of the way to the moon from the Earth’s surface.

If you are thinking that this is a crazy new idea, the concept of a space elevator has been around for decades. Inspired by the Eiffel Tower, Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, who introduced a concept of a free-standing tower reaching into space way back in 1895. In recent years, the topic has been discussed in many conferences and even NASA is interested in it.

Expected to become a reality in 2050, the Japanese space elevator design features a 96,000 kilometer (59,652 mile) cable made of carbon nanotubes extending into space from a station on the ground. There will be a counterweight at the end of the cable to hold the entire thing in place.

The vehicle carrying the passengers (30 at a time) and cargo will be travelling along the cable with speeds of around 200 km/h. Their destination will be a station with residential facilities and a research center 36,000 kilometers from the surface of the Earth. At the above said speed, the elevator journey might take about a week (no, you won’t be standing all the way). As you can see in the above figure, electricity for the terminal station will be generated via solar panels.

But the company isn’t talking about how much all this might cost (trillions?), or where its location will be (most likely somewhere around the equator as centripetal forces are required for keeping the cable stretched), or about the risks involved (bad weather, or an issue with the counterweight which could result in the cable becoming a waist belt for our planet).

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There is no denying that Inkjet Printers are infinitely useful these days. You can print reports, pictures, stickers, and bomb detectors- did I just say bomb detectors? Yes, I certainly did. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have created a prototype wireless sensor that is capable of detecting explosives and uses simple inkjet printing techniques for production. The sensor is designed to detect traces of ammonia easily, which is often the key ingredient in explosives.

The new technology is the brain-child of Manos Tentzeris, a Professor at Georgia Tech, who designed the inkjet techniques for the project and aims to provide a detection system that is not only cheap but also easy to produce in mass.

The process of creating the sensor involves the printing carbon nanotubes onto specialized paper-like material and uses ink that consists of silver nanoparticles that can be passed through a standard inkjet printer. So what’s the significance of such a technology and why should we care? In today’s world there is a growing need for bomb detection methods in government buildings, airports, shipyards, and hell, even in schools these days. Unfortunately, today’s explosives detection methods come in two flavors: low cost with awful results, or get results with a very high cost. This new technology aims to bring us an effective way of sensing out explosives at a much more reasonable cost, while consuming less energy and requiring less specialized knowledge to operate.

If the device works as promised and lives up to the hype, it could provide a very important role in explosives detection around the world; thanks to its small design, low cost, and energy efficient form factor.

[Source via Gatech]

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