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China plans to launch its first e-commerce satellite in 2017, with the primary purpose of using satellite data in agriculture.

The plan was announced on Monday during an international aviation and aerospace forum in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, China Aerospace Museum and Juhuasuan, an arm of e-commerce giant Alibaba.

“In an era of space economy, the potential of a commercial space industry is immeasurable,” Han Qingping, president of the Chinarocket Co., Ltd, said at the forum.

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Kolkata, India, have for the first time implemented a bio-waste-derived electrode as cathode in a quantum-dot-sensitized solar cell.

“The materials to be used as cathode in quantum dot solar cells need to be highly catalytic and electrically conducting to facilitate the electron transfer processes,” explains Professor Sayan Bhattacharyya from the Department of Chemical Sciences at IISER. He adds that the lamellar structure of human hair is likely responsible for the graphene-like sheets in the transformed graphitic porous carbon. “Secondly,” he continues, “since hair contains keratin and other amino acids, carbonizing the acid-digested hair under inert conditions likely retains the nitrogen and sulphur hetero-atoms, which are useful to enhance the catalytic propensity of the produced carbon.”

As the professor explains, the idea behind this research project was to use a bio-waste resource like hair in future energy technologies to achieve a win-win situation — i.e., “A smart way to address environmental concerns and also to produce cheaper devices.”

Continue reading “Solar Cell Cathodes Made from Human Hair” »

The robot revolution is gaining pace, but is it running in line with our values? Here are some of the main ethical issues keeping the AI experts up at night.

“Central banks increasingly are under pressure to keep ‘their’ currencies attractive. They should let the general public access electronic central bank money, not just financial institutions ( Niepelt 2015). To do this, they should embrace the blockchain.”

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New method for creating smaller switches for QC identified and making smaller and more efficient QC systems possible.

Edmonton nanotechnology researchers working with atom-sized materials have made a breakthrough that could lead to smaller, ultraefficient computers.

The team, led by Robert Wolkow, together with collaborators at the Max Planck Institute in Hamburg, have developed a way to create atomic switches for electricity nearly 100 times smaller than the smallest switches, or transistors, on the market today. Their findings appeared in the Oct. 26 edition of the scientific publication Nature Communications.

Continue reading “Edmonton researchers’ tiny discovery may revolutionize computers” »

Talk about downsizing – researchers at the University of California in Santa Barbara have developed a design for a 50 nanometer square computer, the university announced Oct. 27.

For now, that size is entirely theoretical. It could be managed by a novel kind of logic that enables the computer to process data inside a three-dimensional structure.

“In a regular computer, data processing and memory storage are separated, which slows down computation. Processing data directly inside a three-dimensional memory structure would allow more data to be stored and processed much faster,” said Gina Adam, a postdoctoral researcher and the lead author of the paper.

Continue reading “Tiny Computer Pushes the Envelope with Micro-Memory” »

In a newly published study, nanoscientists look ahead to what we can expect in the coming decade, and conclude that nanoscience is poised to make important contributions in many areas, including health care, electronics, energy, food and water.

Nanoscience research involves molecules that are only 1/100th the size of cancer cells and that have the potential to profoundly improve the quality of our health and our lives. Now nine prominent nanoscientists look ahead to what we can expect in the coming decade, and conclude that nanoscience is poised to make important contributions in many areas, including health care, electronics, energy, food and water.

Significant progress has already been made in nanomaterials, report authors Paul Weiss, who holds a UC presidential chair and is a distinguished professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UCLA, and Dr. Andre Nel, chief of nanomedicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. In the journal ACS Nano, Weiss, Nel, who is a distinguished professor of medicine, and their colleagues say the following:

Continue reading “How Nanoscience Will Improve Our Lives in the Coming Years” »

Patches of chain-like molecules placed across nanoscale particles can radically transform the optical, electronic, and magnetic properties of particle-based materials. Understanding why depends critically on the three-dimensional features of these “polymer nano-patches”—which are tantalizingly difficult to reveal at a scale spanning just billionths of a meter.

Now, scientists have used cutting-edge electron tomography techniques—a process of 3D reconstructive imaging —to pinpoint the structure and composition of the polymer nano-patches. The results, published earlier this month in the journal Nature, “lay the foundation for new nanoscale architectures that could potentially enhance technologies such as self-assembled solar cells and catalysts,” said lead author Eugenia Kumacheva of the University of Toronto.

Continue reading “New Technique Reveals Powerful, ‘Patchy’ Approach to Nanoparticle Synthesis” »

Yikes.

A ROBOT designed by NASA for search and rescue missions was caught on camera as it burst into flames in a blast “as powerful as a stick of dynamite”.