Week of Sun, 2008-04-06 00:00 to Sat, 2008-04-12 23:59

An Air Force Office of Scientific Research-funded researcher whose work focused on Multi-User Detection (MUD) technology has made radio reception clearer where interference is a challenge for the military in theater.

Dr. Rachel Learned's AFOSR-supported doctoral work in multi-user detection examined the reception of radio signals that interfere with one another. She developed both a scheme for organizing the interfering transmissions and the corresponding receiver processing algorithms. This allows for small, lightweight, real-time receivers that are capable of pulling apart interfering signals.

Tellurian Biodiesel has entered into a joint venture with Golden State Foods (GSF) to recycle used cooking oil into biodiesel that exceeds industry specifications.

The new venture, Encore BioRenewables, plans to launch its first biodiesel production facility in Southern California in early 2009. The company plans to open additional processing plants throughout the U.S. as the market develops for their product. These plants will be sited near locations which aggregate used cooking oil from restaurants. Encore will recycle this material in the production of a more sustainable biodiesel fuel.

A new approach is able to create a dramatic improvement in cheap solar cells now being developed in laboratories.

By using a popcorn-ball design -- tiny kernels clumped into much larger porous spheres -- researchers at the University of Washington are able to manipulate light and more than double the efficiency of converting solar energy to electricity. The findings will be presented today in New Orleans at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society.

Computer memory that combines the high performance and reliability of flash with the low cost and high capacity of the hard disk drive could be closer than you think, thanks to a team of IBM (NYSE: IBM) scientists.

In two papers published in the April 11 issue of Science, IBM Fellow Stuart Parkin and colleagues at the IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose describe both the fundamentals of a technology dubbed "racetrack" memory as well as a milestone in that technology. This milestone could lead to electronic devices capable of storing far more data in the same amount of space than is possible today, with lightning-fast boot times, far lower cost and unprecedented stability and durability.

Project X in a new DDR3-2000 2GB (2x 1GB) kit from Super Talent Technology.

This "kit" is built with the fastest available, carefully screened DRAM chips, and is hand tested as a matched pair on a dual channel Asus Striker II Extreme motherboard.

The largest road safety research project ever launched in Europe will usher in a series of powerful road-safety systems for European cars. But, in the long term, its basic, experimental research could lead to a car that is virtually uncrashable.

A truck exits suddenly from a side road, directly into your lane only dozens of metres ahead. Suddenly, your car issues a warning, starts applying the brakes and attempts to take evasive action. Realising impact is unavoidable; in-car safety systems pre-tension the safety belts and arm the airbag, timing its release to the second before impact.

Although millions of people use Web search engines, researchers show that – by using relatively simple methods – most queries submitted can be classified into one of three categories.

Jim Jansen, assistant professor in Penn State's College of Information Sciences and Technology, worked with IST undergraduate Danielle Booth and Amanda Spink, Queensland University of Technology, to find that Web search engine users are doing primarily informational, navigational or transactional searching.

The first public appearance of the new ASIMO, joined by thousands of school children and members of the public, occurred in Belgium this week at Robotix.

The festivities, which run from the 5th to the 13th April, are taking place at the innovative science and technology museum, PASS (Parc d'Aventures Scientifiques) and include the Belgian Grand Finals of Eurobot and Eurobot Junior, the international amateur robotics contest for schools and young people.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has adopted a First Report and Order (Order) that will support the ability of the nation’s wireless carriers to transmit timely and accurate alerts, warnings and critical information to the cell phones and other mobile devices of consumers during disasters or other emergencies.

Adobe® Media Player 1.0 software is available from Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE). An Adobe AIR™ application, this customizable, cross-platform media player provides new ways for viewers to discover and interact with their favorite content, while offering revenue and brand-building opportunities for content publishers. Major television broadcasters and leading content publishers, including CBS, MTV Networks, Universal Music Group, PBS, CondéNet, and Scripps Networks have worked with Adobe to provide a broad range of television programming and entertaining video content to viewers.

Microsoft Corp. released the first community technology preview (CTP) of Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008, the new version of its robotics programming platform. Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 contains improvements in its runtime performance, distributed computational capabilities and tools.

Scheduled for release later this year, the first preview of the product is now available for evaluation and testing by developers, customers and partners. Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 is a Windows-based environment that can be used by academic, hobbyist and commercial developers for the creation of a variety of robotic programs and testing scenarios.

IBM (NYSE: IBM) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire FilesX, a privately held storage software company based in Newton, Mass., and Haifa, Israel, that specializes in continuous data protection and nearly instant data and application recovery software for enterprises and remote/branch offices. The acquisition is expected to close shortly. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Superinsulation may sound like a marketing gimmick for a drafty attic or winter coat. But it is actually a newly discovered fundamental state of matter created by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory in collaboration with several European institutions. This discovery opens new directions of inquiry in condensed matter physics and breaks ground for a new generation of microelectronics.

Syracuse Research Corporation (SRC)’s radar that is the prototype for Lockheed Martin’s [NYSE: LMT] Enhanced AN/TPQ-36 counter-fire target acquisition (EQ-36) radar recently completed successful performance testing in 360-degree counter-fire mode against mortars and rockets at the U.S. Army’s Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona. The prototype radar was developed by SRC under an Army Technology Objective.

EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) and Iomega Corporation (NYSE: IOM) have entered into a definitive agreement for EMC to acquire San Diego-based Iomega in a cash tender offer of $3.85 per outstanding share, or approximately $213 million.

EMC intends to commence the tender offer in the next two weeks, with completion of the tender offer expected in the second quarter of 2008, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. The acquisition is expected to have no material impact on EMC financial results for the full 2008 fiscal year.

SunEdison acquired the business of Renewable NRG™, a leading solar company in Portland.

According to Thomas (Tom) Rainwater, CEO of SunEdison, “Oregon citizens are pioneers in protecting the environment and using renewable energy, and Oregon is an important market for the PV industry. We are honored that Renewable NRG has chosen to become a part of our team. Their regional expertise in deploying and servicing photovoltaic systems in Oregon augments the SunEdison experience well.”

Finjan Inc. announced important findings by its Malicious Code Research Center (MCRC) identifying and analyzing the latest trends in the ongoing commercialization of cybercrime.

Criminals have started to use online cybercrime services instead of having to deal themselves with the technical challenges of running their own Crimeware server, installing Crimeware toolkits or compromising legitimate websites.

In a first-of-its-kind study, UC Irvine researchers have provided new insight into blog readers’ online habits and experiences, as well as how they perceive their roles in blog-based communities.

The research, led by Eric Baumer, doctoral candidate at UCI’s Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences; Mark Sueyoshi, international studies and East Asian cultures undergraduate student; and Bill Tomlinson, informatics professor, is the first to focus primarily on blog reading. Previous studies about weblogs, or blogs, typically have centered on blog writers, largely overlooking those who go online to read, comment and participate.

Micron Technology, Inc. is sampling 4 gigabyte (GB) DDR3 modules, designed using 2 gigabit (Gb) components, to provide the industry’s highest density DDR3 modules for notebook computers. The fast speeds, high-density and low-power of Micron’s portfolio of DDR3 modules – ranging in density from 512 megabytes (MBs) to now 4 GBs – allow these systems and applications to perform more effectively and utilize power more efficiently.

Blind Spot Mirror and the Cross Traffic Alert with Blind-Spot Monitoring System, arriving in 2009.

Ford will be first to market with the Blind Spot Mirror. This affordable mirror technology will first launch early next year and find its way onto many future Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles as standard equipment.

Micron Technology, Inc., (NYSE: MU) results of operations for the company’s second quarter and first six months of fiscal 2008, which ended February 28, 2008. Despite continued significant declines in average sales prices for the company’s primary products, the company reported net sales of $1.4 billion for the second quarter of fiscal 2008 compared to net sales of $1.5 billion for the previous quarter. The company also generated cash flow from operations during the second quarter of fiscal 2008 of $282 million and ended the quarter with cash and investments of $1.9 billion. As a result of the company’s current market capitalization being below book value, the company was required under FASB Statement No. 142, “Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets,” to record a non-cash charge of $463 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2008 to write off all the carrying amount of goodwill previously recognized in the company’s memory segment. The goodwill write-off does not affect the company’s day-to-day business operations, cash balance or competitive position. Reflecting the goodwill charge, the company reported a net loss for the second quarter of $1.01 per diluted share. On a non-GAAP basis, without the effect of the charge, the company’s net loss for the second quarter would have been $0.41 per diluted share or $314 million. These results compare to a net loss of $262 million, or $0.34 per diluted share, for the first quarter of fiscal 2008.

This strategic acquisition provides imeem with powerful content identification technology, a comprehensive Digital Registry, and an enhanced team of executive and engineering talent. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The acquisition also expands the mix of products and services the imeem social network offers to artists and music labels to help them take advantage of new opportunities to market, promote and make money from their music through widgets and applications.

BAE Systems has delivered the first 5,500 Headborne Energy Analysis and Diagnostic Systems (HEADS) – a new technology that will help scientists analyze the forces sustained by soldiers’ heads in impacts and blasts – to the U.S. Army for distribution to the service’s 4th Infantry Division.

BAE Systems developed HEADS in cooperation with the Army’s Program Executive Office for Soldier. Data from the system may be used to build better protective systems and to accelerate research for the diagnosis and treatment of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

Tests of the Transformational Satellite Communications System (TSAT) Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) demonstrated the microchip's functionality, speed and suitability for spaceflight. The tests, completed in late 2007 at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, simulated the most challenging radiation environment TSAT will experience during operation.

These successful risk-reduction tests are the result of more than 10 years of partnership between the Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] and IBM. The TSAT ASIC chip is the fourth generation of IBM terrestrial ASIC technology qualified for space use. The first appeared in 2001 in a Boeing-built satellite-based mobile communications system.

An enzyme from a microbe that lives inside a cow’s stomach is the key to turning corn plants into fuel, according to Michigan State University scientists.

The enzyme that allows a cow to digest grasses and other plant fibers can be used to turn other plant fibers into simple sugars. These simple sugars can be used to produce ethanol to power cars and trucks.

MSU scientists have discovered a way to grow corn plants that contain this enzyme. They have inserted a gene from a bacterium that lives in a cow’s stomach into a corn plant. Now, the sugars locked up in the plant’s leaves and stalk can be converted into usable sugar without expensive synthetic chemicals.

Raser Technologies, Inc. has initiated the development of an additional geothermal project in Utah. This brings Raser’s total projects under development to eight, representing 80-85 megawatts (MW) of geothermal power projects initiated since April, 2007. Raser announced in April, 2007 that it would initiate the development of approximately 100 MW per year over the following three years and then ramp up to 150 MW per year for each year thereafter. The additional project includes a second 10 MW plant accessing the same geothermal resource that had been previously announced for Utah’s Escalante Desert. The Company’s projects under development now include three projects in Nevada, three in Utah, one in New Mexico and one in Oregon.

Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE: HIT / TSE: 6501, "Hitachi") has acquired a majority ownership interest in M-Tech Information Technology, Inc. ("M-Tech"). The transaction adds M-Tech's identity management software and services to Hitachi's information security solutions portfolio.

Effective April 2, 2008, M-Tech's name has been changed to Hitachi ID Systems, Inc. ("Hitachi ID").

With stricter regulations requiring stronger internal controls and more effective privacy protection in corporations and government agencies alike, organizations are expanding their investment in information security.

Nokia and the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology in Lausanne and Zurich (EPFL and ETH Zurich) announced today the establishment of a joint long-term research program. Nokia Research Center will open a laboratory in Lausanne in June.

Collaboration with the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zurich (ETH Zurich) will focus on helping people benefit from a world where they are connected to each other, to the Internet and also to information from the surrounding physical world. Access to the "Internet of Things" from a mobile device will allow people to collect information from their physical environment, filter it based on their location or preferences and share with their friends or communities.

The SpursEngine™ SE1000 (SpursEngine) is a high-performance stream processor integrating four Synergistic Processing Element (SPE) cores derived from the "Cell Broadband Engine™" (Cell/B.E.™). Toshiba Corporation has started sample shipping and expects sales of 6 million units within the first three years of the SpursEngine’s release.

The secretary of the Air Force spoke of the future while reflecting on the past during an April 3 and 4 visit to Hanscom Air Force Base.

"For all the advances we've made, I still believe there are more imaginative things to be done with electronics," Secretary Michael W. Wynne said.

He said he considered Hanscom AFB, which is home to the Electronic Systems Center and the base where he was first stationed, the right place for this additional innovation.

By using an automatic system to advise rail traffic managers, it is possible to limit the consequences of disruptions on the railways. That is the claim by Andrea D’Ariano, who is today - Monday 7 April – obtaining his PhD on the subject at TU Delft.

Netherlands Railways (NS) is looking for ways to improve the punctuality of its trains. One possibility is to streamline the sequence of events during breakdowns and delays. A single delayed train can lead to many others being delayed too. At present, when there is a disruption or breakdown, it is rail managers who decide which trains are given priority and which are diverted, for example. There is no particular strategy for this – the managers take their decisions on an ad hoc basis.

Seagate (NYSE: STX) has begun worldwide shipment of its 1 terabyte (TB) enterprise-class Barracuda® ES.2 hard drives with a Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) interface. Applications addressing rich media content and collaborative applications like email can benefit from the average 135% performance boost over SATA-interface drives along with robust enterprise features and native compatibility.

Researchers have made a breakthrough in the development of "green gasoline," a liquid identical to standard gasoline yet created from sustainable biomass sources like switchgrass and poplar trees.

Reporting in the cover article of the April 7, 2008 issue of Chemistry & Sustainability, Energy & Materials (ChemSusChem), chemical engineer and National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER awardee George Huber of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst (UMass) and his graduate students Torren Carlson and Tushar Vispute announced the first direct conversion of plant cellulose into gasoline components.

Intel Corporation and LSI Corporation (NYSE: LSI) have a strategic multi-generation agreement to redefine how advanced RAID data protection is deployed on future Intel® Xeon-based server and workstation platforms. This technical collaboration brings together Intel's next-generation RAID technology, codenamed "Treemont," and LSI MegaRAID® software to deliver a new level of RAID value. The solution offers the full benefits of advanced data protection to business-critical data that resides on Intel server and workstation platform solutions.

QinetiQ has brought into service two important elements of the Combined Aerial Target Service (CATS) for the UK's armed forces, having completed a series of complex verification and evaluation trials on-time and within all the operational constraints. This contract, worth up to £308m over 20 years, was awarded to QinetiQ by the MOD on 14th December 2006.

The European Commission has awarded funding to Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC) for collaborative research in Internet threats. The three-year project, known as the Worldwide Observatory of Malicious Behaviours and Attack Threats (WOMBAT), aims at providing new means to understand the existing and emerging threats that are targeting the Internet economy and its users. Symantec’s new Symantec Research Lab – Europe at Sophia Antipolis in the south of France will work in collaboration with the WOMBAT consortium to gain better insight into Internet threats and malicious code trends.

Hynix Semiconductor Inc. and Grandis Inc. have signed a long-term license agreement for memory products incorporating Grandis’ patents and intellectual property in spin-transfer torque random access memory (STT-RAM). The two companies have also entered into a collaborative agreement to jointly integrate Grandis’ fundamental STT-RAM technology into Hynix’s future memory products.

STT-RAM is a next-generation, non-volatile memory (NVM) solution that overcomes the limitations of conventional magnetic RAM (MRAM) technologies. While existing memory technologies prove to be very difficult for manufacturing beyond the 40-nm process node, STT-RAM shows excellent scalability with shrinking design rules, which translates to greater density and, ultimately, lower cost per die. STT-RAM also consumes less power than existing mainstream memories, and provides unlimited endurance as well as fast read/write capability.

Wind energy leaders in most categories held onto their #1 positions in the latest version of the American Wind Energy Association’s (AWEA) annual rankings of wind power leadership in the United States, released today by the trade group.

The new listings, based on numbers compiled at the end of 2007, closely resemble those from the previous year, with Texas tops among states in both total and new wind power, FPL Energy operating the nation’s largest wind farms, GE Energy capturing the largest U.S. market share for wind turbines, and Xcel Energy boasting more wind on its system than any other investor-owned utility.