"NANOTECH: Intel founder joins ZettaCore's board"
Molecular-memory chip startup ZettaCore Inc. last week appointed Intel Corp. co-founder Les Vadasz to its board of directors. Vadasz was a part of Intel's founding team in 1968 and subsequently managed the design teams for the world's first DRAM, the world's first EPROM and, most importantly, the world's first microprocessor. ZettaCore claims that within the decade almost every electronic device will contain memory based on its molecular memories, nonvolatile chips with low power consumption that will be capable of storing gigabytes. "This is a very interesting technology capability that will be a contender for semiconductor memory technology," said Vadasz.
Audio Interviews / Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031222S0028

"Les nanotubes remportent le record de mobilit� de porteur de charges dans Les nanotubes de carbone ont r�cemment �tabli un nouveau record en termes de mobilit� de porteur de charges dans un semi-conducteur � temp�rature ambiante, d�passant d'environ 23 % le record ant�rieur �tabli en 1955 par l'antimoniure. Ce nouveau record, mesur� par le professeur Michael Fuhrer et ses coll�gues du Center for Superconductivity Research de l'Universit� du Maryland (College Park), indique que le silicium combin� � des nanotubes peut d�passer m�me les alternatives les plus exotiques existant aujourd'hui en termes de rapidit�.
Audio Interviews / Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031222S0011

"NANOTECH: Sapphire taper spawns silica nanowire"
A nanowire manufacturing method has yielded 50-nm optical cables &3151; one-thousandth the thickness of a human hair � by drawing a millimeter-sized silica wire across a sapphire taper. Since the nanowire's 50-nm diameter is as much as one-third the size of the wavelength of light going through it, light spirals around the outside of the fiber (rather than inside it) with minimal signal loss.
Audio Interviews / Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031218S0022

"NANOSCALE: devices called nearly fit for fabrication"
As downsized silicon devices approach nanometer dimensions, single-molecule memory cells challenge conventional wisdom. Today every micron-size capacitor in a DRAM cell is fastidiously refreshed every millisecond just to guarantee that bleeding electrons don't float the voltage past the boundary between zero and one. If that's the case, how often will individual molecules and single-electron devices need refreshing? Will nanoscale devices retain the same properties of their micron-size brethren? Will such organic molecules even be able to survive the high temperatures of semiconductor fabrication? Researchers are attempting to answer these questions by carefully characterizing single-molecule devices. While no one is yet claiming that nanometer-size single molecules are ready to replace micron-size DRAM capacitors, some results suggest that it won't be long before molecular-size devices can be fabricated into reliable memories.
Audio Interviews / Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031218S0018

"NANOTUBES: snag semiconductor carrier mobility record"
Carbon nanotubes recently set a record for carrier mobility in a semiconductor at room temperature, surpassing the previous record, set in 1955 by indium antimonide (InSb), by about 23 percent. The new record, measured by professor Michael Fuhrer and colleagues at the University of Maryland's Center for Superconductivity Research (College Park), indicates that silicon combined with nanotubes could outpace even the most exotic alternatives available today.
Audio Interview / Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031217S0020

"NANOTECH: Molecular memory startup snags ex-Intel exec Les Vadasz"
Molecular memory chip startup, ZettaCore Inc. will announce Wednesday (Dec. 17) the appointment of Intel co-founder Les Vadasz to its board of directors. Vadasz was a part of Intel's founding team in 1968 and subsequently managed the design teams for the world's first DRAM, EPROM and, most importantly, the world's first microprocessor. Likewise, Denver-based ZettaCore plans to begin it development work with molecular memory chips before taking on the rest of the semiconductor industry. The company claims that within the decade "almost every electronic device will contain memory based on a new generation of technology," namely its molecular memories capable of storing gigabytes on chips that are less power hungry and nonvolatile.
Audio Interviews / Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031216S0016

"Intel va proposer les premiers algorithmes d'apprentissage de cause � effet"
Intel Corp. a d�voil� cette semaine une machine polyvalente d'apprentissage capable de fusionner des flux distincts provenant de capteurs en temps r�el aussi facilement que de d�tecter et d'identifier des objets et des conditions. Propos� comme un logiciel � libre �, ce progiciel d'apprentissage t�l�chargeable sera pr�sent� cette semaine lors de la conf�rence Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS) � Vancouver, au Canada. Pour la toute premi�re fois, selon Intel, sa biblioth�que de r�seau probabiliste permettra d'int�grer facilement les relations de cause � effet dans des programmes de contr�le qui surveillent les r�seaux de captage. Avant les r�seaux probabilistes, les m�thodes statistiques pouvaient uniquement cat�goriser les corr�lations. Elles pouvaient, par exemple, lier une pelouse humide � la pluie, mais elles �taient incapables de d�terminer la cause. En ajoutant des graphes orient�s qui indiquent le sens de la causalit�, des nombres importants de flux de donn�es peuvent �tre r�duits � des conclusions en se contentant de suivre ces graphes.
Audio Interviews / Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031209S0003

"ALGORITHM: Intel to release first 'causal' learning algorithms"
Intel Corp. unveils a do-everything machine learning package this week capable of fusing separate streams from real-time sensors as easily as spotting and identifying objects and conditions. Released as "open source" software, the downloadable machine learning suite will be described at the Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS) conference this week in Vancouver, B.C. For the first time ever, according to Intel, its probabalistic network library will enable causal relations to be easily cast into control programs that monitor sensor networks. Prior to probabalistic networks, statistical methods could only categorize correlations, which could relate, for example, a wet lawn to rain, but not tell which caused which. By adding directed graphs, which show the direction of causality, large numbers of incoming data streams can be tamed down to the conclusions that should be drawn from them by merely "following the graph."
Audio Interviews / Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031208S0008

"NANOTECH R&D act becomes law"
President Bush signed into law the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act on Wed. (Dec.3), which has been approved by both Houses of Congress after months of haggling. The $3.7 billion appropriation will be divided among eight government agencies: National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Justice, Department of Transportation and the Department of Agriculture (NSF, DOE, NASA, NIST, EPA, DOJ, DOT, DOA, respectively).
Audio Interviews / Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031203S0025

"NANOTECH: Sandia: Output/wavelength firsts for deep-UV LEDs"
Sandia National Laboratories is reporting new levels of wavelength/power output for deep-ultraviolet LEDs, which are considered critical to future semiconductors, biosensors and communications. Two deep-UV semiconductor LEDs registered output power of 1.3 and 0.4 milliwatts at wavelengths of 290 nanometers and 275 nm, respectively. Both were described as record-setting marks.
Audio Interviews / Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031201S0036

"NANOTECH:Nanoscale devices self-assemble through magnetism"
Nanoscale devices have been "self-assembled" in the lab to demonstrate everything from a single-molecule transistor to a computer-in-a-test-tube. But with no way to self- assemble a complex system, they remain laboratory curiosities. Magnetic self-assembly, argue its inventors at Drexel University (Chicago), could bridge the gap by filling in predefined areas on already fabricated silicon wafers with arrays of molecular-size devices. The technique uses colloidal superparamagnetic nanoparticles to populate specific areas of a wafer with molecular devices at room temperature.
Audio Interviews / Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031201S0075

"NANOTECH: The uses of imperfection"
Forget the doomsayers' prediction of legions of nanobots wreaking havoc when it comes time for fabrication. Researchers in the nano trenches insist that molecular-scale devices will remain tethered tightly to existing silicon lithography for the foreseeable future.
Audio Interviews / Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031201S0035

"MAGNETIC: Chips from magnetoresistive material"
Magnetoresistive materials being developed by researchers at the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory may offer a promising alternative to the semiconductor industry's current chip-making processes. Instead of relying on atomic accuracy, theorists say that the researchers, who have harnessed nanoscale imperfections in a material, could use it as a thin film for chip fabrication.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031124S0054

"NANOTECH: Nano research eyes ink jet-printed NanoProducts Corp. lab researchers have begun work on nanoscale devices that may lead to the formation of "plastic" circuit elements and circuit "sheets" fabricated with ink jet printers within three years. The company's researchers have started the evolution toward such products by integrating nanoscale materials with existing micron-sized devices and composites, enhancing their performance and lowering their cost.
Audio Interviews / Interviews on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031117S0066

"QUANTUM: Quantum-key encryption system ships"
Magiq Technologies Inc. today announced commercial availability of its quantum-key distribution and encryption system. The Navajo Security Gateway, which offers unbreakable encryption over existing fiber-optic lines, will initially be available only to U.S. companies and agencies, the company said.
Audio Interviews / Interviews on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031117S0068

"NANOTECH: Nanowires formed using extrusion technique"
A newly discovered natural way to form nanoscale wires from bulk droplets could simultaneously cut their cost and increase yields. The discovery could also lead to advances in composite materials, electronics and pharmaceuticals, researchers said.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031117S0086

"S�curit� accr�e des r�seaux en fibres optiques gr�ce � un nouveau syst�me cryptographique"
Un syst�me de cryptage et de distribution de cl�s quantiques, mis au point par Magiq Technologies Inc. et baptis� le Navajo Security Gateway, devrait permettre un cryptage ind�chiffrable sur les r�seaux en fibres optiques existants. Ce nouveau syst�me cryptographique sera, dans un premier temps, uniquement disponible aux soci�t�s et organismes des Etats-Unis, indique un communiqu� publi� par la soci�t�.
Audio Interviews / Interviews on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031112S0002

"SENSOR: Biosensor funded for terror war"
A wide net that has been cast to create integrated bio- and chemical-agent sensors following terrorist threats on U.S. territory has reeled in a novel handheld biological-warfare agent design. The handheld device, which recently got the green light from the National Science Foundation, is based on a prototype sensor developed at the University of Buffalo. The unit combines an LED with protein-imprinted xerogels with integrated emission sites (Pixies) and a CMOS detector.
Audio Interviews / Interviews on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031110S0063

"NANOTECH: Nanosprings breakthrough shrinks size of sensors"
Quantum dots, nanowires and other nanoscale structures populate the frontier of semiconductor research, collectively aimed at downsizing chip components to the molecular scale. So far piezoelectric materials have been used to fabricate nanowires and nanobelts (ring-shaped nanowires) for experimental nanoscale lasers, field-effect transistors, gas sensors, cantilevers and resonators. But none of these have been "single crystal" and therefore only partially exploit the piezoelectric phenomenon, according to one research scientist, who now claims to have fabricated the world's first single-crystal nanosprings that not only outperform predecessors but also promise to enable single-molecule sensors.
Audio Interviews / Interviews on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031106S0025

"OPTICS: U.S. project targets optical links for future supercomputers"
Seeking to boost strategically important supercomputing, the Energy Department has awarded a $20 million contract to an IBM-Corning research team to develop optically-switched interconnects for supercomputers. The 30-month contract for optical interconnect research was awarded Tuesday (Nov. 4) to the team of IBM Research (Yorktown, N.Y. and Zurich, Switzerland) and Corning's Science & Technology Division (Corning, N.Y.). The project to develop high-speed, optically switched interconnects for supercomputers combines IBM's electronic control circuity with Corning's all-optical switching technology.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031105S0029

"NANOTECH: Nanocell used for molecular logic, memory"
Integrated circuits all depend on lockstep, unerring, nanoscale accuracy in their fabrication. Now Rice University researchers have challenged that wisdom by demonstrating that molecule-sized electronic devices can be used for both logic and memory, despite being randomly wired, error-prone and inaccurately formed at the nanoscale.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031103S0026

"NANOSCALE: Logic and memory shown on molecular scale"
Rice University researchers have demonstrated that molecule-sized electronic devices can be used for both logic and memory, despite being randomly wired, error-prone and inaccurately formed at the nanoscale, according to Rice University professor James Tour, who said his work demonstrates that today's chip makers can achieve increases of two to three orders of magnitude in chip density by leveraging the lithographic tools they already have to form random-access addresses into arrays of nanoscale molecular memories.
Audio Interviews / Interviews on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031031S0022

"Les diodes tunnels hybrides pourraient d�passer la loi de Moore"
Depuis les ann�es 1950, les chercheurs en semi-conducteurs savent que les effets de confinement quantique des diodes tunnels am�liorent la vitesse du circuit et le traitement du courant tout en r�duisant le nombre de composants et la consommation �nerg�tique. Cependant des difficult�s li�es au traitement ont depuis longtemps rel�gu� les diodes tunnels aux mat�riaux exotiques et aux appareils discrets. Aujourd'hui, certains chercheurs affirment qu'un nouveau proc�d� de diode tunnel compatible CMOS permet d'allonger la dur�e de vie des usines de semi-conducteurs existantes en outrepassant le n�ud suivant dans le calendrier de production des semi-conducteurs (tel qu'il est d�fini par la loi de Moore). Des diodes tunnels int�grables sur du silicium pourraient �galement fournir suffisamment de densit� de courant pour permettre aux composants de radiofr�quence utilis�s pour les t�l�communications d'�tre appliqu�s directement sur du silicium (et non plus sur de co�teuses puces � l'ars�niure de gallium), autorisant ainsi des solutions monopuce pour t�l�phones portables.
Audio Interviews / Interviews on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031030S0037

"NANOTECH: Nanosprings breakthrough shrinks size of sensors"
Quantum dots, nanowires and other nanoscale structures populate the frontier of semiconductor research, collectively aimed at downsizing chip components to the molecular scale. So far piezoelectric materials have been used to fabricate nanowires and nanobelts (ring-shaped nanowires) for experimental nanoscale lasers, field-effect transistors, gas sensors, cantilevers and resonators. But none of these have been "single crystal" and therefore only partially exploit the piezoelectric phenomenon, according to one research scientist, who now claims to have fabricated the world's first single-crystal nanosprings that not only outperform predecessors but also promise to enable single-molecule sensors.
Audio Interviews / Interviews on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031030S0059

"Hybride Tunneldiode k�nnte Moore's Law austricksen"
Halbleiterforscher wissen schon seit den 50er Jahren, dass das so genannte Quantum-Confinement von Tunneldioden elektronische Schaltungen schneller macht und dabei hilft, die Zahl der Bauelemente und den Leistungsverbrauch reduzieren. Die aufw�ndige Herstellung beschr�nkte die Produktion von Tunneldioden auf diskrete Versionen und stempelte sie als exotisches Material ab. Jetzt sind Forscher zu dem Schluss gekommen, dass ein neuer CMOS-kompatibler Fertigungsprozess f�r Tunneldioden die Lebensdauer vorhandener Silizium-Herstellungsanlagen verl�ngern k�nnte, und zwar durch ein '�berspringen' des n�chsten Node in der Halbleiterentwicklung gem�� Moore's Law. Im Silizium integrierbare Tunneldioden k�nnten zudem eine ausreichende Stromdichte bieten, damit die HF-Komponenten der Telekommunikationsindustrie nicht mehr auf teure GaAs-Chips aufgebaut werden m�ssten, sondern sich auf Silizium integrieren lassen. Eine komplette Handyschaltung auf einem Chip k�nnte damit Wirklichkeit werden.
Audio Interviews / Interviews on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031029S0016

"CHIPS: Hybrid tunnel diodes could leapfrog Moore's Law"
Semiconductor researchers have known since the 1950s that the quantum-confinement effects of tunnel diodes boost circuit speed and current handling while reducing component count and power consumption. But processing difficulties long confined tunnel diodes to exotic materials and discrete devices. Now some researchers say a new CMOS-compatible tunnel diode process could extend the lifetime of existing silicon fabs by leapfrogging the next node in the semiconductor road map (as defined by Moore's Law). Silicon-integratable tunnel diodes might also provide enough current density to allow telecom radiofrequency components to be moved off separate-and costly-gallium-arsenide chips and onto silicon, allowing one-chip cell phone solutions.
Audio Interviews / Interviews on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031029S0015

"Une batterie microfluidique qui fonctionne � l'eau"
La conversion de pression hydrostatique directement en courant �lectrique, sans � pi�ces mobiles � comme dans une pile � combustible, a �t� utilis�e dans un nouveau type de batterie. Le prototype de batterie � microcanal �lectrocin�tique exploite la puissance �lectrique de l'ordre du sous-nanoamp�re issue de 500 000 canaux microfluidiques pour g�n�rer des microamp�res de puissance.
� Nous souhaitions seulement d�montrer le principe, non pas pour g�n�rer beaucoup de puissance, mais pour montrer qu'il est possible de convertir la pression hydrostatique directement en �lectricit� �, explique Larry Kostiuk, professeur en thermodynamique � l'Universit� d'Alberta. Il a collabor� pour ses travaux avec le professeur Daniel Kwok, un chercheur dans le domaine de la nanofabrication.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031027S0001

"Le bit quantique est au centre d'une nouvelle alliance s�curitaire"
Un cryptage ind�chiffrable reposant sur la distribution d'une cl� quantique pourrait bien faire son apparition sur un r�seau pr�s de chez vous. La semaine derni�re, deux soci�t�s suisses se sont associ�es � une organisation professionnelle dans le but de cr�er l'infrastructure n�cessaire � la distribution mondiale de cl�s quantiques ind�chiffrables. Id Quantique SA, World Internet Secure Key (WiseKey) SA et l'Organisation internationale pour la s�curit� des transactions �lectroniques (OISTE) ont annonc� un partenariat lors de la conf�rence ITU Telecom World 2003 � Gen�ve. Id Quantique fournira le mat�riel, WiseKey le r�f�rentiel de cl�s quantiques et l'OISTE constituera l'autorit� internationale de certification et d'enregistrement. Toutes les trois entit�s ont leur si�ge � Gen�ve.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031024S0001

"MEMS: Microfluidic battery runs on water"
Converting hydrostatic pressure directly into electrical current � without moving parts like a fuel cell � has enabled the demonstration of a new kind of battery. The electrokinetic microchannel battery prototype harnessed the combined sub-nanoamp electrical output from 500,000 microfluidic channels to generate microamps of current.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031023S0044

"DNA: Silicon IC unravels DNA's spiral for easy reading"
Researchers at Purdue University have succeeded in unraveling strands of DNA into an easy-to-ready linear "tape," potentially a first step toward one day creating computers based on DNA, according to the team.
Audio Interviews / Interviews on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031020S0091

"MUSIC: EEG brain cap detects musical creativity"
Music researchers report making strides toward a modern-day "brain cap" that can detect and recognize musical ideas in the minds of composers with up to 99 percent accuracy. Eduardo Reck Miranda, head of computer music research and leader of the neuroscience-of-music group at the University of Plymouth, England, recently reported up to 99 percent accuracy in recognizing specific electroencephalogram patterns for musical ideas using a 128-electrode EEG brain cap with signal-processing algorithms including three neural networks
Audio Interviews / Interviews on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031020S0090

"QUANTUM: Key to new security alliance is quantum"
Uncrackable encryption based on quantum-key distribution could soon come to a network near you. Two Swiss companies last week joined hands with a trade organization in pledging to create the infrastructure necessary for worldwide distribution of unbreakable quantum keys. Id Quantique SA, World Internet Secure Key (WiseKey) SA and the International Organization for the Security of Electronic Transactions an-nounced a partnership at the ITU Telecom World 2003 conference in Geneva. Id Quantique will supply the hardware, WiseKey the secure-key repository and the nonprofit organization-which is known as OISTE, its French acronym-the certification and registration authorities worldwide. All three are headquartered in Geneva.
Audio Interviews / Interviews on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031020S0054

"LABS: In Sharp Labs, quest is always tomorrow's tech"
Sharp Laboratories of America aims to turn your TV into a Web-surfing, news-gathering, sports-summarizing, on-demand movie viewing, e-mail center. As the beachhead for U.S. imports from Japan's $20 billion Sharp Corp., Sharp Labs also has designs on your cell phone, video recorder, document-imaging system and more. Sharp decided last year to ditch CRTs after estimating that LCD-based televisions, including the company's LCTV brand, could account for as much as 45 percent of the worldwide market by 2004. To cash in, Sharp Labs began developing technologies to differentiate its LCTVs as uniquely capable for U.S. viewing needs.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031013S0048

"OPTICS: Analog CMOS chip mimics the retina of an octopus"
Neophyte scuba divers tend to expect underwater vistas akin to those in tropical-island brochures-bright, clear water, filled with colorful fish. The harsh reality is that most underwater scenes are poorly lit at best, with the norm being dark, monotone and murky. To compensate, the octopus' visual system has adapted to spotting prey in the worst waters. Indeed, who would be a better model for a low-visibility vision system than an animal that, when attacked itself, sprays its own low-visibility "ink"? Accordingly, researchers sponsored by a National Science Foundation effort are intent on imparting the vision abilities of an octopus to undersea autonomous robots. By mimicking the octopus' ability to see well underwater with an analog silicon octopus retina ("o-retina"), the University of Buffalo group believes it can revolutionize space and undersea exploration, and improve visibility in hazardous environments and hard-to-reach places such as underground pipes
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031006S0057

"Im Nanobereich k�nnte Silizium seinen Vorteil verlieren"
Diamanten halten ewig, oder? Nicht wenn es danach geht, was Forscher der Ohio State University (OSU) in der Kristallstruktur des Siliziums zu sehen glauben. Bisher haben Wissenschaftler angenommen, das kristalline Strukturen auf Atomebene entlang 'scharfer' Kanten aufeinander sto�en. Aber neue Forschungen an der OSU lassen darauf schlie�en, dass sich die kristallinen Strukturen auf der Oberfl�che von Silizium, Galliumarsenid, Glas und sogar von Diamanten durch die Kr�fte eines thermischen Gleichgewichts kontinuierlich ihre Phase �ndern und damit ihre Kanten 'abrunden'.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031001S0006

"Scanner r�alis� � partir de rev�tements de nanoparticules semi-conductrices"
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. vient de d�voiler son scanner optique biom�dical activ� par nanoparticules � la r�union annuelle de la Society for Biomolecular Screening. Le scanner a �t� d�velopp� dans le cadre d'une coentreprise avec Quantum Dot Corp. (Hayward, Californie). Le scanner optique, d�velopp� par l'unit� de production Panasonic de Mitsubishi, utilise des nanoparticules cod�es en tant que g�nes dans cette application biom�dicale initiale. En m�langeant un lot de nanoparticules � une substance inconnue, les g�nes et autres �l�ments int�ressants sont scann�s par fluorescence lorsqu'ils sont expos�s aux ultraviolets.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030929S0084

"CHIPS: At nanoscale, silicon may lose its 'edge' over time"
Diamonds are forever, aren't they? Not according to a new interpretation of the crystalline structure of silicon wafers from researchers at Ohio State University. Until now, scientists believed that crystalline facets met each other at atomically sharp edges. But new research at OSU suggests that the crystalline facets on the surface of silicon, gallium arsenide, glass and even diamond are all continually changing phases in a process of rounding off their edges by the force of thermal equilibrium. To be sure, the process affects macroscopic characteristics only very slowly: It takes centuries for the sharp edges of diamond facets to visibly round, for example. But at the nanoscale the force acts instantly, determining the precise shapes of atomic-scale structures. By harnessing this force at the nanoscale, Ohio State University researchers hope to make it possible to prepattern nanowires and quantum dots onto future silicon wafers.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/issue/se/OEG20030929S0086

"QUANTUM: Scanner made from semiconducting nanoparticles coatings"
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. unveiled its nanoparticle-enabled biomedical optical scanner this week at the Society for Biomolecular Screening annual meeting here. The scanner was developed as part of a joint venture with Quantum Dot Corp. (Hayward, Calif.). The optical scanner, developed by Mitsubishi's Panansonic unit, uses nanoparticles coded as genes in this initial biomedical application. By mixing a batch of nanoparticles with an unknown substance, the genes and other items of interest are scanned by fluorescing when exposed to ultraviolet light.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030926S0010

"ORGANIC: The glitch may be in makeup of organic polymer molecules"
Organic materials consist of long chains of protein molecules repeatedly linked with smaller carbon-based molecules (hence the term "organic"). Unlike semiconducting crystals, which are small interlocking molecules, organic polymer semiconductors are composed of very large, chainlike molecules repeatedly linked with smaller carbon molecules. Like all of the things that foster life, air and water also affect organic semiconductors like OLEDs, but they do so negatively. The corrosive effects of oxygen, moisture and high temperatures lead to "denaturing" in any organic molecule. Denaturing means the long complex folded interlocking strands of the organic molecule unravel, thereby eliminating its former functions. In living things, denaturing means the protein dies; in organic semiconductors, it's just as bad.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030923S0056

"OLED: Organic polymers to precede nano semi"
With the advent of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), organic semiconductors have thrown down the gauntlet as alternatives to silicon in some applications. But there remains a large hurdle--inexpensive "weather proofing" to ensure a long life. Meanwhile, high-performance MEMS-enabled polymer memories and bottom-up nanoscale technologies such as carbon nanotubes promise to keep enhancing high-end silicon semiconductors. This summer, Olight joined NuVue as brand names to conjure with. These new polymer-enabled organic LED displays come from DuPont (E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co.) and Kodak, respectively. Lightbulb-making giant in Germany, Osram GmbH (Munich), also announced its brand name-Pictiva. Engineering evaluation kits are available.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030923S0055

"NEURAL: The blind shall see, the deaf shall hear"
Enabling the blind to see and the deaf to hear was once a biblical tale of divine intervention, but today silicon chips are enabling such miracles. The core problems of such "neural implants"-discovering biocompatible-materials and life-like signal-encoding-have enabled man-made electronics to fool the brains of the afflicted into accepting sensory data from artificial sources. So far, hybrid analog/digital sensor systems seem to work best, with analog chips used for the neural implants inside the body and digital chips used for outboard sensory-preprocessing, but for the future, who knows? When the formerly divine becomes man-made, no mortal can predict what miracles may emerge next, but on the drawing board already are such miracles as curing blindness and deafness, enhancing senses, annotating experience, augmenting memory and enabling artificial telepathy.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030923S0053

"NANOTECH: Iron nanoparticles make single sweep of toxic waste"
A "universal elixir" brewed from nanoscale technologies is being promoted as a fast, cost-effective way to clean up hazardous waste. The curious marriage of high technology and heavy industry, researchers at Lehigh University said, would attack large-scale toxic wastes with injection wells that employ highly reactive nanoparticles of iron. The slurry would simultaneously neutralize and "fix" in place all known contaminants. Such an approach, the researchers said, contrasts with those of organizations like the U.S. Department of Environmental Protection's trillion-dollar Superfund, which clean up sites of contaminated soil and groundwater by treating them with agent-specific neutralizers, one shovel at a time.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030922S0058

"OPTICS: Darpa deal funds optical interconnect research"
IBM Corp. will team with Agilent Technologies Inc. to pursue "terabit per second optical interconnect" technology for multiprocessing servers, under a four-year, $30 million contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa). The goal is to build chip-sized modules that interconnect high-speed microprocessors at aggregated data rates of up to a Tbit/second.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030922S0060

"MAGNET: World's strongest magnetic field is demonstrated"
Researchers at Florida State University's National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee achieved the holy grail of magnetism recently when their high-temperature superconductor attained the coveted 25-Tesla field strength record.
The bore of a high-temperature superconductor (HTS) insert coil is the spot where researchers place their experiments, and thus the bigger the better. The nominal size is 33 mm, which makes the 25-Tesla HTS insert coil larger than most, but bores as large as 105 mm are under development at the lab for nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) applications.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030916S0044

"Darpa finance la recherche en mati�re d'interconnexion optique"
IBM Corp. et Agilent Technologies s'appr�tent � faire �quipe afin de mettre au point la technologie relative � une interconnexion optique � la vitesse du t�rabit par seconde pour les serveurs multitraitement, dans le cadre d'un programme de quatre ans et d'un montant total de 30 millions de dollars financ� par l'Agence f�d�rale pour les projets de recherche avanc�e de d�fense (DARPA).
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030912S0004

"OPTICAL: Darpa to fund optical interconnect research"
IBM Corp. will team with Agilent Technologies to pursue fabled "terabit per second optical interconnect" technology for multiprocessing servers under a four-year, $30 million effort backed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa). The effort aims to build chip-sized modules that interconnect high-speed microprocessors at aggregated data rates of up to a terabit per second.
Audio Interviews / Interviews on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030910S0040

"CHIPS: Modeling tools aid in immersion lithography quest"
A German company is fielding modeling tools that can help chip makers assess the promise of immersion lithography. Putting a layer of water between a wafer and the stepper lens could extend current 193-nanometer lithographic exposure tools down to the 45-nm chip-manufacturing node and below, experts believe.
Audio Interviews / Interviews on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030908S0054

"NANOTECH: Nanocrystal research unraveling nature's secrets"
In nature, incredibly complex nanostructures pervade every bulk material, from macroscopic sea shells to microscopic diatoms. But reproducing such atomic accuracy in man-made materials has required costly high-temperature, high-vacuum manufacturing-and the synthetic structures are simpletons compared with nature's creations. Now, Sandia National Laboratories researchers say they have begun to unravel nature's secrets on the road to developing a "wetware" manufacturing process that is expected to produce inexpensive, waste-free materials with more finely tuned properties than previously achievable.
Audio Interviews / Interviews on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030908S0053

"MEMS: research looks to make Casimir a force for good"
Empty space is not really empty. According to quantum-vacuum theory, at any instant it's composed of a finite amount of matter, an equal amount of antimatter and the simultaneous winking into and out of existence of a finite number of photons.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030825S0034

"IBM passe la d�position sous le microscope"
Une proc�dure d'IBM Corp. faisant intervenir un microscope �lectronique par transmission permet aux chercheurs de cr�er des vid�os en temps r�el des processus de d�position de liquide afin d'explorer leurs m�canismes. Cette technique exp�rimentale permett
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030818S0002

"TEM: IBM advance puts deposition under the microscope"
Transmission electron-microscope (TEM) procedure from IBM Corp. lets researchers create real-time videos of liquid deposition processes to explore their mechanisms at work.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030813S0028

"NANO: lithography effort harnesses self-assembly"
Nanoscale patterning of silicon substrates with regular, repeatable, atomically perfect application-specific templates could enable manufacturable nanoscale chips within the decade, according to scientists at the University of Wisconsin's Materials Resear
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030811S0054

"La nanolithographie permet de tirer parti de l'auto-assemblage"
Le modelage de nano-�chelle de substrats de silicium avec des mod�les r�guliers, r�p�titifs, atomiquement parfaits et sp�cifiques pourrait permettre la fabrication de puces de nano-�chelle au cours de cette d�cennie, avancent certains scientifiques du cen
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030807S0015

"Les puces �lucident les myst�res de la vision"
Rendre la vue aux aveugles va au-del� de la proph�tie biblique depuis que les chercheurs du monde entier s'attaquent de front au probl�me. Plusieurs chercheurs ont r�cemment pr�sent� des prototypes de r�tine artificielle � la Conf�rence Internationale sur
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030731S0030

"PROSTHESIS: Chips unravel vision mysteries"
Enabling the blind to see again is moving beyond the realm of Biblical prophecy as researchers around the world tackle the problem head-on. Recently, several researchers showed off artificial-retina prototypes at the International Joint Conference on Neural Networks.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030730S0032

"Intel s'associe � l'Alzheimer's Association"
Intel Corp. pense avoir trouv� la solution � ce que l'on appelle le � maintien � domicile des personnes �g�es �, c'est-�-dire l'apport de soins aux personnes �g�es qui d�cident de rester chez elles malgr� des probl�mes de sant� croissants, tels que la mal
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030729S0005

"AI: creating a veritable cognitive mind"
Marvin Minsky, MIT professor and AI's founding father, says today's artificial-intelligence methods are fine for gluing together two or a few knowledge domains but still miss the big AI problem. Indeed, according to Minsky, the missing element is something so big that we can't see it: common sense.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030728S0027

"AI: quest goes small-concept"
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in recent years has poured hundreds of millions into every aspect of big artificial intelligence-expert systems, neural networks, genetic algorithms, evolutionary programming, fractal geometry, chaos theory, cellular automata, artificial life. And that just scratches the surface on the software side; legions of cognitive hardware architectures have also been beneficiaries of Darpa largesse. But thus far the far-flung investment has yielded little tangible return in solving the big-AI problem-getting machines to think like humans, learning from experience and applying logic and common sense to solve real-world problems. Given laymen's expectations of robots as fully cognitively functional assistants, that lack of quantitative progress has been a thorn in the agency's side.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030728S0026

"QUANTUM LED: Sandia's bright idea--hybrids that emit full-spectrum light"
Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have blended quantum dots with an LED to produce a solid-state white-emitting device that does not depend on phosphors or multiple light sources.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eetuk.com/tech/news/OEG20030723S0030

"AI: Darpa research focuses on 'cognitive computers'"
The Pentagon is funding artificial intelligence research under a $29 million program called the Perceptive Assistant that Learns (PAL) program.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030717S0040

"VR: Sympathetic' haptic device feels every remote move"
Countless science fiction books muse about systems that let one person share another's sensory experiences. Now a group at the State University of New York at Buffalo's Virtual Reality Lab is applying the concept in a haptic device for real-world applications.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030715S0024

"OPTICAL: Blueprint brews 3D band-gap crystals"
A cookbook developed by University of Toronto researchers describes how to fabricate efficient, large-scale, three-dimensional photonic band-gap (PBG) crystals. PBG materials enable light from micro-lasers to carry information on-chip the way fiber optics uses light for communication between chips.
Audio Interviews / Interviews on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030630S0052

"FRENCH: Les chercheurs mettent en lumi�re une barri�re Schottky r�glable pour transistors ferro�lectriques"
Les transistors ferro�lectriques (jonctions ultra-miniatures sans porte et � deux bornes reliant le semi-conducteur et l'oxyde) se commutent par inversion de la polarit� de leur jonction. C'est la r�gion o� les semi-conducteurs sont r�gl�s sur une longueur d'onde unique de diode laser. Dans la mesure o� le fonctionnement de cette r�gion �chappe encore en partie aux sp�cialistes, personne n'est parvenu � stabiliser avec succ�s le transistor ferro�lectrique. Et les chercheurs de poursuivre leurs travaux.
Audio Interviews / Interviews on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030625S0029

OPTICAL: IBM claims world's first 3D magnetic crystal"
IBM Research has created what it claims is the world's first 3D magneto-optical crystal, complete with embedded quantum dots with optical properties. The work underscores IBM's strategy for nanoscale metamaterials that feature tunable properties not found in nature�such as magnetic crystals. By gradually melding metamaterials with traditional silicon technologies, IBM envisions a mix-and-match cookbook of metamaterials. The first metamaterial exhibits long-sought magneto-optical coupling. This was achieved by carefully packing magnetic- and optical-nanoparticles into a common crystaline superlattice, thereby coupling their properties. It also enabled a magnetic field to modulate an optical transmission.
Audio Interviews / Interviews on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030625S0025

"SCHOTTKY: Researchers demostrate tunable Schottky barrier, aim for ferroelectric"
Ferroelectric transistors�ultra-small gateless two-terminal junctions between semiconductor and oxide�switch by reversing the polarity of their junction. This is the region where semiconductors are tuned for a single wavelength in a laser diode. But because the region's actions are not well understood, no one has successfully stabilized the ferroelectric transistor. There was a tool missing. Now researchers are creating a model of the Schottky barrier in hopes of finding that missing tool. They said the work could lead to smaller, faster computers.
Audio Interviews / Interviews on CD
Text: http://www.eet.com/at

"MEMS: Oak Ridge claims sensitivity record for Si MEMS sensor"
Now that it has proved the concept of a "small, vibrating nose" built as a silicon microelectromechanical system, Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee has set itself the task of seeing how small an amount of substance the MEMS design can detect. "From our calculations, we believe that we can make it sensitive to the mass change of a single molecule," said researcher Panos Datskos.
Audio Interviews / Interviews on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030623S0061

"MEMS: UK firm helps bring MEMS to volume production"
Bringing microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) into mainstream manufacturing has been the goal over the last two years for Surfaced Technology Systems, which created a family of plasma etch and deposition tools to speed the process. STS (Newport, England) said its "Pro" tools lower the cost-per-wafer of MEMS designs for volume production, by streamlining the use of anisotropic deep etched structures in silicon.
Audio Interviews / Interviews on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030619S0041

"AI: software gives virtual guitars a lifelike sound"
Sibelius Software Ltd. has successfully applied the principles of artificial intelligence to give the performances of its music software a more humanlike sound. By crafting a rule system that simulates a human virtuoso, Sibelius and its new "guitar-only" version, called G7, perform music convincingly enough to turn heads.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030616S0072

"SARS: Neural-net scanner promises early detection of SARS"
Researcher Harold Szu, working at the Naval Research Laboratory (Arlington, Va.), has turned advanced target recognition technology into what he hopes will be a method for containing the spread of SARS. His 200-channel infrared body scanner, equipped with an unsupervised-learning Lagrange constraint neural network (LCNN) algorithm, can see into the body at any depth and resolve local hotspots-a sign of diseased cells.
Audio Interviews / Interviews on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030616S0069

"MEMS: Lab claims world's best MEMS sensor"
Panos Datskos at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee is claiming a new world's record by detecting just 5.5 femtograms with the Lab's silicon micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) sensor. Measuring just 2 microns long by 50 nanometers thick, the silicon cantilevers�like the teeth of a comb�were vibrated by an inexpensive diode laser. Measurements of the frequency of oscillation confirmed that the sensor had detected just 5.5 femtograms.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eet.com/at/m/news/OEG20030612S0020

"SOLARCELLS: Tetrapod nanocrystals could improve solar cells"
A new shape for semiconductor nanocrystals--tetrapods, rather than simple spheres, rods and disks--could double the efficiency of "plastic" solar cells, according to Paul Alivisatos, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley. Alivisatos claimed tetrapod-based solar cells promise to convert twice as much incident light into electricity, thus improving chemical sensors, biomedicine and optoelectronic devices, as well as serving as strengthening additives to plastic composites.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eet.com/at/news/OEG20030609S0065

"CLAY: Hybrid films herald organic sensors, 'smart' materials"
Purdue University's Cliff Johnston describes one-nanometer thin films of crystalline clay on germanium substrates that promise to provide the scaffolding for smart materials with embedded organic sensors. Besides enabling faster, more sensitive sensors, marrying organic sensor monolayers with ultra-thin clay films enables "smart" materials that sense their own problems and alert users or even perform "self-healing" in remote applications such as robotic space exploration.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: EETimes, June. 9, 2003, page 53

"QUANTUM: Single-electron transistors shed heat"
Characterizing the electron flow and the resulting causes of heat dissipation in low-dimensional nanoscale electronics could lead to cool-running single-electron "quantum dot" transistors, according to Robert Blick, electrical and computer engineering associate professor at University of Wisconsin--Madison.
Audio Interviews / Interviews on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030602S0105

"PHOTONIC: Researchers tap into quantum dots for optical comm"
Semiconducting polymers embedded with lead-sulphide nanocrystals could produce a light source for integrated photonic chips, according to recent work by professor Ted Sargent at the University of Toronto. The technique, producing infrared light at wavelengths used in communications systems, could be used to create photonic components orders of magnitude less expensive than current components, which can cost as much as $1,000.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030602S0072

"PHOTONIC: Michigan gears gears up solar car design"
The University of Michigan unveiled its newest solar car design which it claims is even better than last year's award winning "M-Pulse." This year's entry, dubbed the "SpectruM" adds 1,000 more solar cells plus a passenger seat.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030523S004

"US-Wissenschaftler produzieren Josephson-Quantenelement"
Wissenschaftler der Universit�t von Maryland konnten erstmals eine Verflechtung von Quantenbits (Qubits) in einem Festk�rper-Supraleiter-Schaltkreis aus Josephson-Elementen herstellen. Obwohl noch weit von einer Quanten-Logikschaltung und noch weiter von einem Quanten-Computer entfernt, l�sst dies auf Fortschritte beim Bau eines derartigen Computers hoffen.
Audio Interviews / Interviews on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030523S0017

"QUANTUM: Researchers demonstrate first quantum Josephson-junction"
The world's first entanglement of quantum bits (qubits) in a solid-state superconducting Josephson Junction circuit has been reported by University of Maryland researchers. Though far from a quantum logic circuit and even farther from a quantum computer, the demonstration holds hope that engineering improvements could someday produce such a computer.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030522S0008

"A-LIFE: Project treads in Darwin's path to simulate evolution"
A research program in artificial intelligence has been refocused to simulate real biological organisms in hopes of gleaning an understanding of biological diversity. The goal is to create a living "road map" that encapsulates the history of evolution in an electronic petri dish called Avida. The researchers are investigating how complex organisms evolve from simple ones.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030521S0044

"A-LIFE: Artificial life research switches to saving real lives"
An artficial intelligence research program has been refocused to simulate real biological organisms in hopes of gleaning an understanding of biological diversity. As described by Richard Lenski, these simulations will help direct research on living systems and will provide understanding of the origins of biocomplexity.

Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030513S0025

"MUSIC: Tech gives tone-deaf a voice makeocver"
Purdue software corrects resonant frequency of recorded voice samples
Just as digital image-processing algorithms can correct blemishes, poor lighting and bad color in a photograph, software created for digital signal processing can make an average singing voice sound like a trained one.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: EETimes, May 5, 2003, page 51

"NANOTECH: IBM's nanotubes yield smallest solid-state emitter"
Phaedon Avouris describes IBM Research's carbon nanotube technology which has enabled the world's smallest solid-state emitter and the first electrically-controlled single-molecule light emitter. The light-emitting nanotube (LEN) operates in the important 1.5-micron range, portending optical communications on silicon chips with integrated 1.4-nm diameter LENs.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eet.com/at/n/news/OEG20030501S0035

"DIGITAL-BIO: Living enzyme acts as molecular switch "
Johns Hopkins University researcher Marc Ostermeier described a single-molecule switch engineered from a strand of a living protein�an enzyme. Such molecular switchs could be applied as super-sensitive sensors that detect even a single molecule of a biological warfare agent. Medically, molecular switches have even wider-scale potential, from early detection of hard-to-diagnosis maladies, to "lethal drug" delivery only to cancerous cells.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030414S0064

"Aufgeladene" Brennstoffzelle soll Leistung verzehnfachen"
Mit dem "Aufladen" von Brennstoffzellen durch Mischen von Brennstoff und Sauerstoff sind extrem flache, in einem Walzvorgang herstellbare Brennstoffzellen zu erwarten. Die Inventor Generics Group Ltd. aus Cambridge in England glaubt, dass die neue Entwicklung die sperrigen Metalltrennplatten �berfl�ssig machen, die Zellgr��en herabsetzen und die Leistungsdichte verzehnfachen wird.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030415S0011

"FUELCELL: oxygen mix promises to increase performance"
Michael Priestnall describes super-charging fuel cells by premixing the fuel with the oxygen, holding out the promise of super-slim fuel cells that can be manufactured on a printing press.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eet.com/at/hpm/news/OEG20030411S0046

"BIOFUEL: cell can run on ethanol and enzymes"
Shelley Minteer describes research looking at an alternative to hydrogen fuel cells that would tap known biological processes to generate electricity.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eet.com/at

"QUANTUM: Photons enlisted in quantum computer search"
In the search for a physical system that could encode quantum states and thus form the basis for a practical quantum computer, researchers at the University of Rochester are turning to photonics.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: EETimes, March 24, 2003, page 45.

"CHIPS: Growth envisioned for semiconducting crystals"
Rudolf "Ruud" Tromp described his groundbreaking work in the study of the growth of organic-semiconducting crystals, such as pentacene, which is being applied in flat-panel display technology. Tromp's work today follows naturally from pioneering research he initiated at IBM's T.J. Watson Research Center in 1983. Indeed, the work he began there in understanding the structure and growth of semiconductor surfaces and interfaces has been rewarded by the American Physical Society, which has presented him with its Davisson-Germer Prize in Atomic or Surface Physics.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eet.com/at/lae/news/OEG20030317S0048

"SOFT: 'chip' compiles Java into no-OS embedded C"
Francis daCosta explains Advanced Cybernetics Group's claim to have developed a "write anywhere, run anywhere" technology, called Eclipse, that compiles Java programs into an embedded-C program that has no operating system. Next, ACG intends to compile the C program as software not only for embedded microcontrollers but also for hardware field-programmable gate arrays. Eventually, the company wants to program every chip in a system � not just the CPU � with Java.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eet.com/at/c/news/OEG20030311S0041

"SENSOR: nets converge in health-care trials"
Research under way at Intel Corp. will result in new applications, new infrastructure and new business opportunities in the 21st century, including major inroads in health care services, said the company's chief technology officer, Patrick Gelsinger, in a keynote Friday (Feb. 21) at the Intel Developer Forum.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030221S0018

"DNA: molecules form nanodevice scaffolding"
Richard Kiehl describes using DNA's unique lock-and-key mode of chemical bonding as a molecular-circuit assembly technique that he believes will be compatible with silicon-based electronics. A patterned silicon substrate, complete with interconnection pads, carries DNA-coded "tiles" that serve as breadboards for nanocomponents. The components are measured in angstroms, enabling densities of 10 trillion bits per square centimeter (1.6 trillion bits/inch2). In the prototype system, the nanocomponents are small gold clusters that have the ability to act as single-electron memory cells.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eet.com/at/news/OEG20030218S0065

"ADAPTIVE: optics give ground scope a steady gaze"
Michael Lloyd-Hart describes putting the final touches on a ground-based telescope that's said to offer three times better resolution than the Hubble Space Telescope. The last piece, a computer-controlled 2-foot flexible mirror, complements a 21-foot fixed primary mirror in a system that combines advanced algorithms with real-time DSP control to overcome distortions caused by Earth's atmosphere.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eet.com/at/news/OEG20030211S0039

"NANOSCALE: waveguides provide view of single molecules"
Michael Levene describes how researchers at Cornell University perforated the top layer of a chip with two million "holes" that serve as nanoscale waveguides for a 488-nanometer laser, allowing them to film individual molecules during chemical reactions.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eet.com/at/news/oe/OEG20030131S0022

"SMART DUST: Companies test prototype wireless-sensor nets"
Professor David Culler describes how self-organizing wireless-sensor networks, a realization of the Pentagon's "smart-dust" concept, have reached the prototype stage worldwide. The smart sensors, or Motes, were created by the University of California at Berkeley and Intel, and are being tested out worldwide today.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eet.com/at/news/OEG20030128S0028

"FEDERATION: Remote labs team up to simulate astronaut's heart"
Independent computer simulations running hundreds of miles apart have been harnessed to create a single, interacting supersimulation of the right and left ventricles of an astronaut's heart. The simulation tied together work done in separate labs, and represented the first successful U.S. application of an IEEE standard for organizing independent, distributed simulations into a larger, single simulation, called a federation.
Text: http://www.eet.com/at/news/OEG20030121S0047

"CHIPS: Lithography leap creates 20-nm chip features"
Professor James Taylor at the University of Wisconsin describes a way to create 20-nanometer chip feature sizes with 100-nm masks, giving an unexpected leap to Moore's Law and possibly extending the life of current lithography. The so-called "bright-peak technology" adjusts the phase of X-ray lithography to control diffraction � a technique that works for X-rays or even traditional optical lithography.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eet.com/at/news/OEG20030117S0038

"NASA recruits robotics, sensors for Mars Scout mission"
Joel Levine, NASA scientist, describes the Ares unmanned flyer--one of four proposals NASA is considering for its planned Mars Scout mission slated for 2007. Ares would include robotics technology, flight instrumentation and cameras to record data that can be relayed back to Earth.
Audio Interview / Interview on CD
Text: http://www.eet.com/at/news/OEG20030114S0020

"ROBOTS: Sensitive robots taught to gauge human emotion"
Engineer Nilanjan Sarkars is working with psychologist Craig Smith at Vanderbilt University to improve human-machine interfaces by teaching robots to sense human emotions. Such "sensitive" robots would change the way they interact with humans based on an evaluation of a person's mood.
Text: http://www.eet.com/at/news/OEG20030107S0033

"INTERNET: System permits long-distance manipulation of image files"
Team leader Lyndon Pierson describes a remote viewing system being developed at Sandia National Laboratories which llows an image of any size to be interactively visualized and manipulated over the Internet without transferring the file from its secured server. The system � "Be There Now" � is said to save download time on large files and keep sensitive files secure.
Text: http://www.eet.com/at/news/OEG20030106S0053

"EXTREME-UV: Researchers improve tabletop EUV laser"
Professors Margaret Murnane and Henry Kapteyn at the University of Colorado have boosted the output power and reduced the beam wavelength of their tabletop extreme ultraviolet (EUV) laser system built with off-the-shelf components without altering its $5,000 cost, opening the system to a new range of possible applications, including nanoscale chip lithography and microscopy. By modifying their previous tabletop EUV system, the researchers increased the system's output power from 100 watts to 1 megawatt, and downsized the wavelength of its laser beam from 30 nanometers to 7 nm, making it applicable to 13 nm lithography and microscopy.
Text: http://www.eet.com/at/news/OEG20030103S0061