Science

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UCLA engineers develop new energy-efficient computer memory using magnetic materials: MeRAM is up to 1,000 times more energy-efficient than current technologies

By using electric voltage instead of a flowing electric current, researchers from UCLA's Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have made major improvements to an ultra-fast, high-capacity class of computer memory known as magnetoresistive random access memory, or MRAM.

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MeRAM bit

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NASA to Provide Commentary as Grail Moon Mission Ends

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This still image and animation shows the final flight path for NASA's twin Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission spacecraft, which will impact the moon on Dec. 17, 2012, around 2:28 p.m. PST.

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Rocket Burn Sets Stage for Dynamic Moon Duos' Lunar Impact

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An artist's depiction of the GRAIL twins (Ebb and Flow) in lunar orbit. During GRAIL's prime mission science phase, the two spacecraft will orbit the moon as high as 31 miles (51 kilometers) and as low as 10 miles (16 kilometers).

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Rice uses light to remotely trigger biochemical reactions: Deep-sea microbes that thrive in high temperatures are key to light-activated catalysis

Since Edison's first bulb, heat has been a mostly undesirable byproduct of light. Now researchers at Rice University are turning light into heat at the point of need, on the nanoscale, to trigger biochemical reactions remotely on demand.

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Chemical processes can be activated by light without the need for bulk heating of a material through a process developed by researchers at Rice University. The technique involves coating nanorods with thermophilic enzymes that are activated at high temperatures. Lighting the plasmonic gold nanorod causes highly localized heating and activates the enzyme.

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Nanocrystals Not Small Enough to Avoid Defects: Berkeley Lab Scientists at Advanced Light Source Show Dislocations Can Be Induced by Pressure in Ultrafine Nanocrystals

Nanocrystals as protective coatings for advanced gas turbine and jet engines are receiving a lot of attention for their many advantageous mechanical properties, including their resistance to stress. However, contrary to computer simulations, the tiny size of nanocrystals apparently does not safeguard them from defects. Nanocrystals Not

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Stress-induced deformation of nanocrystalline nickel reflects the dislocation activity observed by researchers at Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source using a radial diamond-anvil-cell X-ray diffraction experimental station.

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Twin NASA Probes Prepare for Dec. 17 Mission-Ending Moon Impact

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Mars Rover Self-Portrait Shoot Uses Arm Choreography

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On the 84th and 85th Martian days of the NASA Mars rover Curiosity's mission on Mars (Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, 2012), NASA's Curiosity rover used the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) to capture dozens of high-resolution images to be combined into self-portrait images of the rover.

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Curiosity Rover Nearing Yellowknife Bay

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The NASA Mars rover Curiosity used its Mast Camera (Mastcam) during the mission's 120th Martian day to record this view of a rock outcrop informally named "Shaler".

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Imec Shows Path Toward Non-Si Devices at IEDM 2012

At this week's IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM 2012), imec addressed key challenges of scaling beyond silicon-channel finFETs. Imec showed that channel mobility can be boosted by growing non-Si channels on a strain relaxed buffer (SRB), and demonstrated excellent scalability potential of the technology. Moreover, imec revealed insight on the unique influence oxide trapping has on the gate stack mobility in High-Mobility Ge and III-V channels.

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Comparison of mobility in unstrained and strained Si and Ge p-FinFETs. Unstrained Ge shows degraded mobility w.r.t. strained Si. Strained Ge can improve pFET mobility by 59%.

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Imec paves the way for intelligent item-level RFID tagging to replace bar codes: World-first UHF IGZO Schottky diode is breakthrough achievement towards low-cost passive thin-film RFID tags

At this week's IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM 2012), imec presented the world-first ultra-high frequency Schottky diode based on amorphous IGZO (Indium-Gallium-Zinc Oxide) as semiconductor. This breakthrough achievement will enable the development of thin-film passive UHF (ultra-high frequency) RFID (radiofrequency ID) tags to replace item-level bar codes.

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Imec’s world-first ultrahigh frequency IGZO Schottky diode

http://www.nanotech-now.com/news.cgi?story_id=46572