Enabling
a handshake paperless exchange of business
cards could be just the beginning for personal
area networks that use the human electric
field. A prototype that zips along at ethernet
speed points the way to indoor wireless networks
without radio waves or infrared beams. The
key to the network is a sensitive crystal. Full
story
Queries
guide Web crawlers
Search engines approach the problem of sorting out
the vast amount of information on the Internet by
casting their nets as widely as they can, then sifting
through the catch. An algorithm that analyzes what
people are looking for could point search engines
toward more relevant pages.
Nanowires
make flexible circuits
Nanowires might one day be used to make microscopic
machines. But before then they could help liberate
computer circuits from the rigid, expensive confines
of silicon chips. A process that makes thin films
from semiconductor nanowires improves the prospects
for plastic electronics and electronic paper.
DNA
forms nano waffles
A method for stitching together strands of DNA yields
microscopic waffled sheets and ribbons. The nanostructures
make handy building materials that could help bridge
the huge technological chasm between the realm of
molecules and the merely microscopic.
