• Millenium Technology Prizes awarded

    Prestigious technology innovation prize awarded to five recipients; amng the winners: new DNA fingerprinting technology which has revolutionized forensic science, helping identify criminals and free innocent parties worldwide

  • WiMAX patent alliance formed to promote the standard

    WiMAX has so far failed to deliver on the promise inerent in it; six WiMAX big hitters create a patent alliance which will allow for quicker and smoother adoption of the technology

  • Plasma-propelled flying saucer

    University of Florida researcher designs a plasma-propelled flying saucer — the patent application calls it “wingless electromagnetic air vehicle” — which may be used for surveillance purposes; vehicle powered by magnetohydrodynamics — the force created when a current or a magnetic field is passed through a conducting fluid

  • School of Robofish forms basis for underwater robot teams

    Most ocean robots require periodic communication with scientist or satellite intermediaries to share information, but new robots can work cooperatively communicating only with each other

  • U.S. nuclear recycling plans raise proliferation risks

    GAO says that the Department of Energy’s new approach to recycling nuclear materials — or rather, the department’s 2006 decision to go back to a more traditional plutonium separation method — increases the risk of nuclear proliferation

  • New class of meterials offers many benefits

    Microspheres to carry hydrogen, deliver drugs, filter gases, and detect nuclear weapons development

  • New low-carbon technology center in London

    The Center for Efficient and Renewable Energy in Buildings will provide a teaching, research and demonstration resource for the capital; the center is the first of its kind in the United Kingdom

  • Missing the energy-saving forest for the trees

    U.K. expert says that the beneficial effects of turning off standby lights, switching from bottled to tap water, washing clothes at a lower temperature, or having car tires at the right air pressure, pale in insignificance when compared with what was happening at the supply end of energy provision

  • Wrist-mounted translator

    Soldiers having to mix and converse with non-English speaking populations will appreciate the nifty device: a wrist-mounted translator developed at Derby University

  • Using herd mentality for protection

    New car security system acts as a herd of animals in the wild would: cars parked next to each other on the street or parking lot serve as look-outs for each other, alerting the authorities if one of the cars is being broken into

  • GE Energy, Schlumberger in clean-coal power plant venture

    Collaboration will bring together GE’s experience in integrated gasification combined-cycle (IGCC) systems and Schlumberger Carbon Service’s carbon capture and storage (CCS), site selection, and project management expertise

  • Future weapons on display

    Last week the futuristic-looking XM-25 IAWS was displayed to lawmakers; the system, still under development, will eventually be used to address the defeat of defilade targets — those targets protected by obstacles such as hills or ridges

  • Upcoming UCLA extension course: Biometric Identification Technology

    UCLA Extension course offers comprehensive review of major biometric technologies and issues; the course is designed for both people already in the field and for newcomers

  • Phase II for AV's nano aircraft

    Tiny UAV — 7.5 cm wing span, 10 grams in weight — to be used by military, law enforcement to gather information outdoors and indoors

  • Stretchy spider silks can be springs or rubber

    Spider silk is stronger than steel and nylon, and more extensible than Kevlar; it would be ideal for personal protective gear for soldiers and law enforcement, and medical applications; “would be ideal” — because we do not yet know how to spin artificial silk; Canadian scientists have interesting ideas