Latest Technology & NEWS

If you've ever watched any of the Star Trek episodes, you may be forgiven for experiencing a slight sense of déjà vu when you see the new SeaOrbiter.

Although you may not see the immediate resemblance, the ship may look strangely familiar until it finally clicks into place. Startrek Enterprise? It looks very similar in some ways, very different in other ways.

But no doubt, you're likely to see something familiar there reminding you of the Starship Enterprise.

Literally looking like something from a futuristic movie, the SeaOrbiter is a vessel unlike you've ever seen. Upon first glance, you will actually be forgiven for wondering how on earth this monster will manage to glide through the oceans of the world. The vessel looks totally unstable, unlike any other conventiional ship you may have ever seen.

But then again, this is no conventional ship.

The huge 167ft structure will be partly submerged, allowing what seems to be an upper deck and a lower deck - the latter being submerged under the water. Located in Norway, the testing of a smaller version of the vessel in simulated ocean conditions at Europe's largest simulation laboratory proved the vessel to be extremely stable, even in some of the toughest simulated ocean conditions.

The vessel is currently in prototype phase but the inventor, Jacques Rougerie, has big dreams for the SeaOrbiter. It seems like the SeaOrbiter will act as a floating laboratory where researchers can remain under water almost permanently while researching the world's oceans.

Now what would be the appropriate parting shot for this story? "Beam me up, Scotty!" No...how about "Take us down, Scotty?"

A new generation of ultrasmall transistors and more powerful computer chips using tiny structures called semiconducting nanowires are closer to reality after a key discovery by researchers at IBM, Purdue University and the University of California at Los Angeles.

The researchers have learned how to create nanowires with layers of different materials that are sharply defined at the atomic level, which is a critical requirement for making efficient transistors out of the structures.

Renewable energy is a very hot topic these days, one which is receiving an incredible amount of attention - for good reason.

The world has by now realized that it cannot just keep consuming valuable environmental resources in the pursuit of energy.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. Maple tree seeds (or samara fruit) have been delighting children since times immemorial. Interestingly, the aspiring aerospace engineers at the University of Maryland's Clark School of Engineering have been learning the techniques to exploit the Maple tree seeds’ unique design for surveillance in emergency situations, including defense.

Back in the decade of 1950s, researchers tried to develop an unmanned aerial vehicle based on the way a maple seed falls to the ground. However, the wind proved to be a great hurdle knocking off all the vehicles one by one without letting them land safely on the ground. Till June, 2009, the safe landing of the vehicle on the ground had been an open challenge for all the engineers.

However, Clark School students finally succeeded in solving the problem. The strategy opted by them allowed the vehicle to take off and finally it was deployed from an aircraft. However, it was found to be more economical and easier to launch the device by hand.

Further, the students studied the maple tree seeds thoroughly to develop the first uncontrollable MAV monocopter. A new design was developed introducing tiny flyers that flew with natural elegance. Next came the first rotorcraft of the world. It was controllable, single winged and comparatively manageable and could be quite useful in surveillance for defense, fire control, and various other rescue purposes.

One of the researchers, Evan Ulrich, remarked, “Natural maple seeds usually trade off altitude for rotation as they fall to the ground." The altitude and the rotation caused by the wind provide the maple seed trees with power that’s required to fly in the air. It will be interesting to see what type of applications are actually born out of this 'new' technology. Hobby flight? Aerial Surveilance maybe? This should be an interesting technology to see develop in the near future. For further details, contact the Maryland Office of University Communications.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines made history on Monday, 23 November 2009, by operating the very first passenger flight using a biofuel called biokerosene. The SkyEnergy consortium has also been established, seeing KLM join hands with North Sea Petroleum and Spring Associates.

The consortium will be advised by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) with regards to all things ecological.

KLM says it is very careful in the development of biokerosene, following very strict financial, technological and ecological criteria, so as to not jeopardise the food chain, promote deforestation or excessive water consumption. KLM President & CEO Peter Hartman added: “The conservation of biodiversity is, of course, also a precondition. Our cooperation with WWF is both important and inspirational.”

Klm has been involved in research of biokerosene research since 2007, and with the establishment of SkyEnergy they hope to accelerate the development of this technology.

According to KLM's press release: “KLM has been involved in biokerosene research since 2007. With the establishment of SkyEnergy, we are accelerating development and hope to achieve a market breakthrough. Within the consortium, we have clustered expertise and experience in legislation, ecology and technology, as well as the ability to develop biokerosene in an economically viable manner. We are moving forward with great resolve, but cannot do it alone. We need the efforts and support of government, industry and broader society.”

KLM and Air France are also together pursuing what they call an ambitious Climate Action Plan.

Biokerosene is made up of kerosene that is derived from biomass, and is a flammable hydrocarbon liquid.

Terepac has been hard at work creating a microelectronic nervous system for the world. It focuses on developing a technology that allows the common people to make use of electronics in their daily lives.

The company aims at making the use of technology easier and more productive for the people.

Rather than a complex "Internet of Things" to find the useful ones from, Terepac aims at providing its clients an inexpensive, yet practical two way communication and sensing platform . Moreover, it fully appreciates that the devices it provides must safeguard the privacy of the users. And the variety is amazing! The fundamental components of the platform include radio frequency identification (RFID) tags.

The tags, both passive and active are coupled with wireless networked sensors. Though the sensors employ the communication and object identification capabilities of the tags, they obtain and manage the data from the required location in a highly efficient way. It dramatically enhances the capabilities of the tags. Terepac products are quite economical when it comes to usage. They also reduce the environmental impact caused by most of the sensors currently available in the market. Many of these lack in the packaging technology.

The brand is on the look out for partners interested in semiconductor design and fabrication industry. The name aims at providing components, both smaller and more economical. This approach targets at meeting the customer requirements effectively without making them pay huge sums. The company also employs system designers who may provide designs that target customer requirements and the market channels as well.

The brand also aims at providing its clients with the services based upon a variety of electronic products. In order to know more about electronic assembly and packaging by Terepac, please visit www.terepac.com