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Articles archive for May 2009

Tech»

Two methods to produce graphene nanoribbons

By Damir Beciri
11 May 2009
nanoribbon.jpgYou remember we wrote about carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in one of our previous articles? Two groups of researchers have found ways to unfold CNTs in order to make nanoribbons of graphene. The experts claim that the development could point the way towards a new generation of electronics, including computer chips that are faster and tinier… »

Robotics»

Robot El-E assists to people with motor impairments

By Damir Beciri
9 May 2009
el-e-robot-butler.jpgMost of us take our interaction with the world around us for granted. Manipulating objects play an especially important role in people’s lives. El-E is an assistive robot that is explicitly designed to take advantage of this common structure in order to retrieve unmodeled, everyday objects for people with motor impairments. Georgia Tech’s Healthcare Robotics… »

Robotics»

BigDog – a rough-terrain robot

By Damir Beciri
One Comment8 May 2009
bigdog.jpgBigDog is a legged robot under development of BostonDynamics, with funding from DARPA. Their goal is to build unmanned legged vehicles with rough-terrain mobility superior to existing wheeled and tracked vehicles. The idea system would travel anywhere a person or animal could go using their legs, run for many hours at a time, and carry… »

Tech»

Nanotechnologies – Carbon nanotubes

By Damir Beciri
One Comment7 May 2009
nanotube-closeup.jpgThe discovery of nanotubes remains a debatable issue, especially because several scientists involved in the research could be likely candidates for the Nobel Prize. A large percentage of academic and popular literature attributes the discovery of hollow, nanometer-size tubes composed of graphitic carbon to Sumio Iijima of NEC in 1991. Carbon nanotubes have been produced… »

Gadgets| Tech»

Microsoft SecondLight casts second light on information

By Damir Beciri
6 May 2009
secondlight_1_.jpgThe SecondLight technology is going to help us with meta-data in a rather different way from the last article regarding SixthSense. Although often mixed with another Microsoft product called Surface the guys from Redmond clearly stated that SecondLight isn’t a second version of the Microsoft Surface. This technology allows a second set of images which… »

Gadgets»

SixthSense – an aid in everyday life

By Damir Beciri
3 Comments5 May 2009
sixthsense-pranav-mistry.jpgRemember the futuristic sci-fi computer interfaces where you operate devices with the use of your hand gestures? Although still a prototype, the Fluid Interfaces Group at MIT’s Media Lab unveiled the SixthSense, a wearable, gesture-driven computing platform that can continually augment the physical world with digital information.”We’re trying to make it possible to have access… »

Bionics| Robotics»

AirPenguin – flying robot penguins, what’s next?

By Damir Beciri
4 May 2009
eff8cbb8-2b6e-11de-982d-001ec9efd5b0-f60913311c0baa7fc0ad627a14b87496.jpgFolks from German company Festo keep creating bionic marine animals which float in air. Penguins are fascinating creatures which have lost their ability to fly in the course of their genetic development as marine birds, but Festo engineers  managed to create an artificial penguin and taught it “autonomous flight in the sea of air”. Named… »

Tech»

Electrofluidic Display technology – visual brilliance as in conventional printed media

By Damir Beciri
3 May 2009
efd-pixels.pngAre you thinking about getting an e-reader but you’re not a fan of reading from a dimmed screen? A new technology called Electrofluidic Display (EFD) technology is going to change your mind. EFD is a product of an international collaboration of the University of Cincinnati, Sun Chemical, Polymer Vision and Gamma Dynamics. It’s the first… »