#Nanofibers #Power #Nanobots with Harvested #Energy

In the future, nanobots could swim in your bloodstream, constantly on the lookout for early signs of disease, according to researchers creating a piezoelectric power source that harvests mechanical motion. Look for self-powered pacemakers and other medical implants using piezoelectric energy harvesting within seven years. RColinJohnson @NextGenLog


Piezoelectric nanogenerator alligns 60 nanometer by 500 micron semiconducting fibers on interdigitated electrodes of platinum fine wires and packaged using a soft polymer on a silicon substrate.

Here is what EETimes says about piezoelectric energy harvesting: The nascent field of piezoelectric energy harvesting got a boost recently when researchers reported the creation of nanogenerators on both silicon and polymer substrates. The eventual aim is the design of energy harvesters that could power small electronic devices from environmental motions. A medical implant, for example, might be powered by the mechanical energy in flowing blood. Besides medical implants, the researchers are targeting applications of wireless sensors and portable electronic devices on "stretchable" substrates...the tiny nanogenerators could eventually power nanorobots that would inhabit a patient's bloodstream for extended periods, taking samples and transmitting diagnostic data to doctors for analysis.
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#Graphene Enables World's Strongest Magnetic Field

Graphene--pure crystalline carbon atoms--are known to make better electronic chips, but could also enable higher density magnetic storage too, thanks to new magnetic properties revealed by these researchers. Look for graphene to begin replacing our aging silicon chip infrastructure within five years. RColinJohnson @NextGenLog


In this scanning tunneling microscopy image of a graphene nanobubble, the hexagonal two-dimensional graphene crystal is seen distorted and stretched along three main axes. The strain creates pseudo-magnetic fields far stronger than any magnetic field ever produced in the laboratory.

Here's what Berkeley Labs says about its own announcement: Graphene, the extraordinary form of carbon that consists of a single layer of carbon atoms, has produced another in a long list of experimental surprises...a multi-institutional team of researchers headed by Michael Crommie, a faculty senior scientist in the Materials Sciences Division at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a professor of physics at the University of California at Berkeley, reports the creation of pseudo-magnetic fields far stronger than the strongest magnetic fields ever sustained in a laboratory – just by putting the right kind of strain onto a patch of graphene...
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#IBM's #Optical Amp Ushers in Era of #Silicon #Photonics

Computing with light instead of electrons is the aim of this optical amplifier from IBM, which repurposes its CMOS fabs for crafting tiny waveguides, optical gratings, mixers and other photonic devices. Look for medical spectroscopy made so sensitive with IBM's light amplifier that it can detect disease in a puff of breath within five years. RColinJohnson @NextGenLog


Scanning electron microscope cross-sectional image of the silicon (Si) waveguide core, the silicon dioxide (SiO2) and silicon oxynitride (SiOxNy) cladding layers. The color-map illustrates the Ey electric field component of the fundamental transverse-magnetic mode at a wavelength of λ = 2200 nm.

Here is what EETimes says about IBM's optical amplifier: Optical amplifiers used in applications like telecommunication links must be made with materials such as indium gallium arsenide phosphide. IBM researchers said they have been able to do the same thing for other applications using a much less expensive standard silicon process. Fabricated at its Yorktown Heights, N.Y., pilot line using the same silicon photonic waveguides used for telecommunications optical interconnects, the new silicon optical amplifier targets the mid-infrared band used by heat sensors, medical imagers and industrial process monitors...
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UK: World’s Fastest-Growing #Solar Market?

Solar energy is bursting out all over--even in dreary-weather England, where the fastest growth is now being experienced. Look for the "fastest growing" crown to be passed around country-to-country in sync with changing incentive patterns over the rest of the decade. RColinJohnson @NextGenLog


iSuppli’s forecast of annual PV installations in the United Kingdom


Here is what iSuppli says about its own forecast: The sun is rising on the United Kingdom’s solar market in 2010, as attractive government incentives make it the world’s fastest-growing country for Photovoltaic (PV) installations this year, according to iSuppli Corp...Installations of PV systems in the United Kingdom will amount to 96 Megawatts (MW) in 2010, up an astounding 1,500 percent from 6 MW in 2009. While the country’s growth will start from a nearly negligible level in 2009, the expansion will dramatically outpace the growth of the next fastest-growing nation—Spain—which will rise by approximately 730 percent in 2010...
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Nuclear Fusion to Harness Power of Sun

Nuclear fusion is currently only occuring on the Sun--at least in our solar system--but with these new reactor lining materials the containers capable of unlimited energy production on Earth may be possible too. Look for fusion reactors to finally be perfected by the end of the decade. RColinJohnson @NextGenLog


Chase Taylor, left, and Jean Paul Allain are developing coatings capable of withstanding the grueling conditions inside nuclear fusion reactors.

Here is what Purdue says about it fusion research: Researchers have discovered mechanisms critical to interactions between hot plasma and surfaces facing the plasma inside a thermonuclear fusion reactor, part of work aimed at developing coatings capable of withstanding the grueling conditions inside the reactors. Fusion powers the stars and could lead to a limitless supply of clean energy. A fusion power plant would produce 10 times more energy than a conventional nuclear fission reactor, and because the deuterium fuel is contained in seawater, a fusion reactor's fuel supply would be virtually inexhaustible. Research at Purdue University focuses on the "plasma-material interface," a crucial region where the inner lining of a fusion reactor comes into contact with the extreme heat of the plasma. Nuclear and materials engineers are harnessing nanotechnology to define tiny features in the coating in work aimed at creating new "plasma-facing" materials tolerant to radiation damage, said Jean Paul Allain, an assistant professor of nuclear engineering...
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#4G Debuts from #Clear in Shrink-Wrap at #BestBuy

Best Buy Connect service will offer shrink-wrapped wireless WiMax 4G services from Clear giving customers access to connection services when they buy their 4G devices. Look for consumers to take advantage of more 4G services by virtue of the convenience of getting cut-rate prices for bundles with 4G devices, starting in 2011. RColinJohnson @NextGenLog


Here is what Clear says about it deal with BestBuy: Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ:CLWR), a leading provider of wireless broadband services and operator of the fastest 4G network in the country, and Best Buy Connect, LLC, a subsidiary of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) today announced the formation of a strategic wholesale relationship in which Best Buy will use Clearwire's 4G network to offer mobile internet service to customers under the Best Buy Connect service. Beginning in 2011, Best Buy will offer a new 4G tier for its recently introduced Best Buy Connect service. Best Buy Connect was conceived to help accelerate mobile broadband adoption by providing consumers the convenience of one-stop shopping for devices, service activation, billing and customer support from Best Buy...

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#MEMS Startup Aims Picoprojectors at 3D Modeling

Today 3D models must be meticulously input with measurements or with handheld haptic scanners, but now an automated technique using pico-projectors has been invented. Look for touchless fingerprint sensors, intelligent surveillance and videogame makers generate 3-D models from real-world setups within five years. RColinJohnson @NextGenLog


Here is what EETimes says about structured light illumination: Structured light illumination (SLI) can automatically build a three-dimensional model of any object, replacing the tedious process of measurement that is usually required. Stripes of light are projected onto objects as a digital camera records their deformation, letting algorithms automatically deduce the size, shape and subtlest contours of even moving objects. Now microelectromechanical system startup Seikowave (Lexington, Ky.), in cooperation with the Center for Visualization and Virtual Environments at the University of Kentucky, is harnessing MEMS picoprojectors to bring SLI to the mass market...
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3D- and Internet Enabled TVs to Become Standard Equipment

3D-TVs will sell fewer than 5 million units in 2010, according to market forecasters, but Internet enabled (IE) TVs were more popular--a trend predicted to continue. Look for 3D- and IE-TVs to merge and become standard equipment on all high-end TVs within five years. RColinJohnson @NextGenLog


iSuppli’s forecasts of global 3D and Internet-enabled (IE) TV shipments.

Here is what ABI says about 3D-TV: A new generation of TVs has reached retail, with 3D models now available from all leading TV manufacturers. DisplaySearch forecasts 3.4 million 3D TVs to be shipped in 2010, with the market expected to reach 42.9 million in 2014. Based on this forecast, 3D TV market penetration is expected to grow from a 5% share of total flat panel TVs in 2010 to 37% in 2014...
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Here is what iSuppi says about 3D- versus IE-TV: While the consumer electronics headlines this year have been dominated by 3-D television news, the real story in 2010 is about Internet-Enabled TVs (IETVs), according to iSuppli Corp. Global shipments of IETVs—i.e., TV sets with built-in Internet capability—will amount to 27.7 million units in 2010. In contrast, 3-D set shipments will total only 4.2 million this year. While 3-D television shipments are set to soar in the coming years, iSuppli’s forecast shows the biggest near-term growth story is in IETV.
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