Stanford Engineering Library Blog

From the Editor's Summary in the 1 May 2008 issue of Nature:

Basic electronics textbooks list three fundamental passive circuit elements: resistors, capacitors and inductors. But nearly forty years ago, Leon Chua predicted the existence of a fourth, the memristor — in effect a nonlinear resistor with memory. A paper from the Hewlett-Packard research lab now reports that memristance arises naturally in nanoscale systems where solid-state electronic and ionic transport are coupled under an external bias voltage.

See related article at SFGate.com, 5/1/08
HP Labs' find could revolutionize computing by Deborah Gage

Read the full article from Nature, 5/1/08 (Stanford- or by subscription-only)
The missing memristor found by Dmitri B. Strukov, Gregory S. Snider, Duncan R. Stewart & R. Stanley Williams

Researchers at MIT are using RFIDs to track post-it notes. Using a special pen and pad, the information you write on the post-it is stored into a system that then allows you to set reminders, alerts, etc.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/01/mit-reinvents-the-post-it-note-with-post-it-notes/

From Reuters:

E-Fuel Co has announced the release of it's "MicroFueler" that allows you to make your own fuel at home using sugar. At $10,000.00 a unit you may want to get your neighbors to chip in.

More from Reuters:
http://www.reuters.com/article/gc08/idUSN0850981420080509

About the MicroFueler from Engadget: http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/09/e-fuels-micro-fueler-creates-ethanol-from-sugar-in-your-backyar/

Congratulations to SoE's David A.B. Miller on his election to the National Academy of Sciences in recognition of his contributions to scientific research. Prof. Miller is currently the W. M. Keck Foundation Professor of Electrical Engineering at Stanford, Director of the the Solid State and Photonics Laboratory at Stanford, and a Co-Director of the Stanford Photonics Research Center. More

A University of Portsmouth (UK) Electronic and Computer Engineering student is developing an online electronics workbench that teaches students the fundamentals of electronics and evaluates their work using artificial intelligence. More

"We found the Earth's plate tectonics could become unstable if the surface temperature rose by 100 degrees Fahrenheit or more for a few million years," said lead author Adrian Lenardic, associate professor of Earth science at Rice University. "The time period and the rise in temperatures, while drastic for humans, are not unreasonable on a geologic scale, particularly compared to what scientists previously thought would be required to affect a planet's geodynamics." Read more at EurekAlert.

Researchers in Romania and Turkey have developed a simple, efficient method for recycling printed circuit boards into environmentally-friendly raw materials for use in fuel, plastic, and other useful consumer products. Read more in the article "Feedstock Recycling from the Printed Circuit Boards of Used Computers", Energy & Fuels. May 21, 2008. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ef700659t

"It's interesting to note that pesticides, such as DDT, and industrial chemicals, such as PCBs, show significant decreasing trends around the nation, but similar trends were not found for trace metals," said Gunnar Lauenstein, manager of the NOAA Mussel Watch program. "What is of concern is that there are contaminants that continue to be problematic, including oil-related compounds from motor vehicles and shipping activities." Read more about the results of the 20 year study at the Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment.

Dr Nigel Bannister, a University of Leicester space scientist, has worked out that sending texts via mobile phones in the United Kingdom works out to be far more expensive than downloading data from the Hubble Space Telescope. Read more at the University of Leicester eBulletin.

From the Associated Press (5/16, Jewell)

Designed by robotics firm Sarcos in Salt Lake City under contract for the U.S. Army, the aluminum and electronic 'exoskeleton' "works by sensing every movement the wearer makes and almost instantly amplifying it." The suit reportedly could multiply one's "strength and endurance as many as 20 times." The Army hopes "soldiers may someday wear the suits in combat, but it's focusing for now on applications such as loading cargo or repairing heavy equipment."

Complete article:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2008-05-15-robotic-suit-iron-man_N.htm

Michelle Butterfield, Times Colonist
Published: Saturday, May 17, 2008

Doctors in Calgary made history when they used a remote controlled robot called the Neuro-Arm to remove an eggshaped brain tumor from a patient at the University of Calgary. The robot has two arms and is controlled by a remote control and imaging system similar to that of a video game.

"NeuroArm has the distinct advantage of being able to move in smaller increments than a surgeon's hand, [Dr. Garnette Sutherland] said.

Typically, the human hand can steady itself and move in increments of one or two millimetres. NeuroArm can move in increments of 50 microns."

Complete article:
http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=9d9e3053-9214-40d6-805f-c0b08fd29ba7

According to the Times (London) database Bluetooth wireless technology was named after King Harald Bluetooth of Denmark and Norway, who unified warring tribes in the 3rd century, in the same way that Bluetooth was intended to unify different technologies.

Bluetooth has now moved into the medical field. Just like a laptop within a wireless signal, your “in-body network” would immediately send an alert when a heart attack is happening. The technology, which is being tested now in Portsmouth (UK), could also be used if a patient failed to take his or her medicines. Read the article in the Times (London).

Made from a soap based foam, the Flogos are filled with gases such as helium rather than air. Once it comes out of the machine it floats away.They can travel 20-30 miles and go as high as 20,000 thousand feet. They are also environmentally safe. The test sizes are small, but larger ones can be made. Read more on MSNBC

Former fighter pilot Yves Rossy, 48, accelerated to 186 miles an hour May 14, 2008, over the Swiss Alps during his first public flight while strapped to his self-made, jet-powered wings. He hopes to eventually fly the English Channel. Read more and watch the video on MSNBC

Researchers from the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems at EPFL (Switzerland) unveiled a novel, grasshopper-inspired jumping robot at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. The tiny robot weighs only 7 grams, and can jump 1.4 meters -- more than 27 times its body size -- ten times farther for its size and weight than any existing jumping robot. Read the full story at Actualities EPFL

The technology was developed in Georgia Tech’s Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access (CATEA) as part of a project to design a portable erythema and bruise-detection technology that will enhance early prevention and diagnosis of pressure ulcers, a secondary complication for people with impaired mobility and sensation. Read more about it at GT Newsroom

Scientists have unveiled a hypothetical Scenario describing how a magnitude 7.8 Southern California earthquake -similar to the recent earthquake in China- would cause loss of lives and massive damage to infrastructure, including critical transportation, power, and water systems. A copy of the full technical report, The ShakeOut Scenario, is available online at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1150.

In a new climate modeling study, which appears in the May 27-30 early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, atmospheric scientist Govindasamy Bala and his colleagues Karl Taylor and Philip Duffy demonstrate that the sunshade geoengineering scheme could slow down the global water cycle. Read more at the Lawrence Livermore Lab

New research led by a biologist at the University of Washington, Bothell, shows that some of the most popular current biofuel stockscan have negative effects on fossil fuel dependence and limiting greenhouse gas emissions. The authors determined that corn-based ethanol is the worst alternative overall. Read more at UWNews

Stanford chemists have developed a new way to make transistors out of carbon nanoribbons. A research team led by Hongjie Dai, the J. G. Jackson and C. J. Wood Professor of Chemistry, has made transistors called "field-effect transistors"—a critical component of computer chips—with graphene that can operate at room temperature. Summary Article at Stanford News Service or Read the paper in Physical Review Letters