• MIT start-up raises $12.4 million in a first round

    Start-up has developed an innovative silicon cell architecture and a complementary manufacturing methodology which will allow it to make the solar cells so inexpensive that they would produce electricity at a comparable cost to that generated from coal powered stations

  • CoreStreet's new access control technology making news

    CoreStreet’s Card-Connected technology creates a system of stand-alone electronic locks and physical access control systems which communicate by reading and writing digitally signed data (privileges and logs) to and from smart cards; card holders thus become an extension of the physical access network in which cards, rather than of wires, carry information to and from the standalone locks

  • Small businesses offer real-world environmental technologies

    EPA is one of eleven federal agencies which participate in the SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) program; a surprising number of small companies offer innovative and effective technologies to deal with environmental problems

  • This weekend: 32nd annual computing Battle of the Brains

    The 32nd annual collegiate programming contest will take place this weekend in Alberta, Canada; one hundred three-person teams from thirty-three countries have qualified; twenty of the teams represent U.S. colleges

  • Australia, Japan in joint clean-coal project

    The Australian and Japanese government, and several companies join in retrofitting a coal-fired boiler at Callide A power station in Central Queensland with oxy-firing technology which will burn coal in a mixture of oxygen and recirculated flue gases

  • "Intellectual vacuum cleaner": China's industrial espionage campaign, I

    In an effort to accelerate its rise to economic and technological hegemony, China is employing its military, intelligence services, trade missions abroad, students sent to foreign universities — and Chinese-born citizens who are sent to form espionage sleeper cells — in a massive industrial espionage campaign against Western companies

  • Steve Ballmer talks of "fifth computing revolution"

    Microsoft’s CEO outlines the five pillars of the fifth computing revolution: Expanded processing power, huge amounts of storage, ubiquitous broadband, natural user interface (UI), and screens everywhere

  • Ballast-free cargo ship design to reduce invasion of non-native species

    As worries about non-native species invading the great Lakes mount, Wolverines researchers develop ballast-free cargo ship design; at least 185 non-native aquatic species have been identified in the Great Lakes, and ballast water is blamed for the introduction of most

  • Questions raised anew about space elevator stability

    As we place more systems in space — soon, perhaps, weapon platforms to counteract China’s growing anti-satellite warfare capabilities — there is a growing need to service and maintain these systems; one way to do so relatively on the cheap is to build a space elevator, but the stability of such an elevator is raising questions

  • Preparing for the electromagnetic pulse (EMP) threat

    One unexpected lesson of the many nuclear tests conducted by the superpowers in the late 1950s and early 1960s was that high-altitude nuclear blasts create far-reaching atmospheric effects that could instantly shut down power grids; as modern life becomes ever-more dependent on electronic gadgets, and as the proliferation of nuclear weapons and missiles continue, fear grows that an adversary will seek to cripple the United States by creating an atmospheric EMP effect

  • U.S. hi-tech companies brace for new squeeze on high-tech visas

    U.S. companies can apply for H1-B visa for a skilled foreign employee beginning 1 April for the fiscal year which begins 1 October; last year, all 65,000 H1-B visas were filled on the first day of application; tomorrow will be no different

  • Southern California utility to push solar power

    Southern California Edison, largest utility in California, will place 250 MW of photovoltaic generators on 65 million square feet of roofs of Southern California commercial buildings

  • Four-legged robot simulates human motion

    Four-legged, all-terrain robot can maintain its balance over rugged terrain while carrying a payload of up to 340 pounds; robot can also cope with man-made obstacles and gallop (well, something between “gallop” and “canter”) over impediments

  • U.K.'s Future Soldier / Science and Engineering Week a success

    Two events — Future Soldier and National Science and Engineering Week — took place in London, showing how government, industry, and academia can fruitfully cooperate to promote science, engineering, and technology education

  • New generator for wind turbines

    To connect to the National Grid, large turbines often use a doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) system comprising brushes and slip rings; these require regular maintenance which can be difficult to carry out, particularly offshore or in poor weather conditions; U.K. researchers offer solution