eeDesignIt

Advance in low-cost clean energy generation

Editorial Team Oct 4, 2016

A substantial advance in generating electricity through a combination of concentrating solar power and thermoelectric materials has been reported by researchers at the University of Houston and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. By…

Computers

You learn something new every day, but what about algorithms?

Editorial Team Oct 4, 2016

Computation is stuck in a rut. The integrated circuits that powered the past 50 years of technological revolution are reaching their physical limits. This predicament has computer scientists scrambling for new ideas: new devices built…

A&D

NASA’s Curiosity rover continues to explore

Editorial Team Oct 4, 2016

After collecting drilled rock powder in arguably the most scenic landscape yet visited by a Mars rover, NASA's Curiosity mobile laboratory is driving toward uphill destinations as part of its two-year mission extension that commenced…

A&D

Our galaxy’s most mysterious star puzzles astronomers

Editorial Team Oct 4, 2016

A star known by the unassuming name of KIC 8462852 in the constellation Cygnus has been raising eyebrows both in and outside of the scientific community for the past year. In 2015 a team of astronomers announced that the star underwent…

Embedded

Next gen SoC addresses complexities of system architectures

Editorial Team Oct 3, 2016

The Gemini 3.0 cache-coherent network-on-chip IP that maximizes the performance of heterogeneous multicore system-on-chip (SoC) designs for cloud computing, automotive, mobile and IoT applications has been released by NetSpeed Systems. Many…

Nanotechnology

I want to say just one word to you. Just one word…plastics

Editorial Team Oct 3, 2016

If the 1967 film "The Graduate" were remade today, Mr. McGuire's famous advice to young Benjamin Braddock would probably be updated to "Plastics … with nanoparticles." These days, the mechanical, electrical and durability properties of…

Materials

The pressure of light is a “knife in the butter”

Editorial Team Oct 3, 2016

Researchers have used the pressure of light—also called optical forces or sometimes "tractor beams"—to create a new type of rewritable, dynamic 3D holographic material. Unlike other 3D holographic materials, the new material can be rapidly…

A&D

SpaceX rocket blast probe: Foul play?

Editorial Team Oct 3, 2016

xThe mysterious explosion of a SpaceX rocket last month took an odd turn with a "cordial" encounter between staff of Elon Musk's firm and fierce rival United Launch Alliance, The Washington Post reported. No one was hurt in the September…

Featured

Google software invasion ahead?

Editorial Team Oct 3, 2016

While the company has offered no official preview, it is expected to unveil a new line of Google-branded smartphones, a tablet and a home virtual assistant. Analysts anticipate that the internet titan will expand on a vision laid out by…

Featured

Apple privacy concerns: We hope you have nothing to hide…

Editorial Team Oct 3, 2016

When a user sends someone a message through Apple’s iMessage feature, Apple encrypts that message between Apple devices so that only the sender and recipient can read its contents. But a Wednesday report from news site the Intercept is a…