Hybrid nanomaterial converts light and heat into electricity

Submitted by Freedomman on Wed, 11/28/2012 - 17:05

ARLINGTON, Texas (PNN) - November 13, 2012 - We’ve seen nanomaterials that can be used to convert light into electricity and others that can convert heat into electricity. Now researchers from the University of Texas at Arlington and Louisiana Tech University have created a hybrid nanomaterial that can do both. By pairing the material with microchips, the researchers say it could be used in self-powered sensors, low-power electronic devices, and biomedical implants.

New big screen TVs can be easily hacked to spy on viewers

Submitted by Freedomman on Wed, 11/21/2012 - 16:45

RIDGEFIELD PARK, New Jersey (PNN) - November 19, 2012 - Samsung’s 2012 top-of-the-line plasmas and LED HDTVs offer new features never before available within a television including a built-in, internally wired HD camera, twin microphones, face tracking and speech recognition. While these features give you unprecedented control over an HDTV, the devices themselves, more similar than ever to a personal computer, may allow hackers or even Samsung to see and hear you and your family, and collect extremely personal data.

MIT breakthrough could lead to paper-thin bulletproof armor

Submitted by Freedomman on Wed, 11/21/2012 - 16:39

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (PNN) - November 12, 2012 - Scientists have theorized that paper-thin composite nanomaterials could stop bullets just as effectively as heavyweight body armor, but progress has been hampered by their inability to reliably test such materials against projectile impacts.

I.B.M. reports nanotube chip breakthrough

Submitted by Freedomman on Wed, 10/31/2012 - 14:40

NEW YORK (PNN) - October 28, 2012 - I.B.M. scientists are reporting progress in a chip making technology that is likely to ensure the shrinking of the size of the basic digital switch at the heart of modern microchips for more than another decade.

New technology creates pressures greater than those at Earth’s inner core

Submitted by Freedomman on Wed, 10/31/2012 - 14:38

CHICAGO, Illinois (PNN) - October 24, 2012 - With a new megapressure environment, scientists will be able to replicate pressures one and a half times stronger than those found at the center of the Earth. The specialized anvil cell can create double the amount of pressure than anyone had previously demonstrated, an environment where new materials can be formed and where minerals behave very strangely.

Fascist governments unhappy with new app allowing cell phone encryption

Submitted by Freedomman on Wed, 10/31/2012 - 14:29

WASHINGTON (PNN) - October 21, 2012 - Mike Janke has been getting what he calls the “hairy eyeball” from international government agencies. The 44-year-old former Navy SEAL commando, together with two of the world’s most renowned cryptographers, was always bound to ruffle some high-level feathers with his new project - a surveillance-resistant communications platform that makes complex encryption so simple your grandma can use it.

Alpha Centauri's first planet discovered

Submitted by Freedomman on Wed, 10/24/2012 - 17:39

GENEVA, Switzerland (PNN) - October 16, 2012 - Astronomers have discovered an exoplanet roughly the size of Earth orbiting Alpha Centauri B, the star nearest our sun.

Super comet approaching

Submitted by Freedomman on Wed, 10/10/2012 - 13:41

HOUSTON, Texas (PNN) - October 9, 2012 - It appears that we have a bright comet heading this way in late next year. What we know right now is that it will be bright and possibly super bright before it is all over. So it is worth the effort to be ready for it.

With a 3-D printer you can build a gun with the push of a button

Submitted by Freedomman on Wed, 10/10/2012 - 13:39

NEW YORK (PNN) - October 7, 2012 - It has long been possible to make a gun at home. But what happens when it no longer takes knowledge and skill to build one?

It won’t be long before a felon, unable to buy a gun legally, can print one at home. Teenagers could make them in their bedroom while their parents think they are playing on their computer. I’m talking about a fully functional gun, where the schematic is downloaded free from the Internet and built on a 3-D printer, all with the click of a button.

Drones will soon be able to kill without human assistance

Submitted by Freedomman on Thu, 10/04/2012 - 18:38

WASHINGTON (PNN) - October 1, 2012 - Drones could soon operate without the help of humans.

Agence France-Presse is reporting that the Pentagon wants its drones to be more autonomous, so that they can run with little to no assistance from people.