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Ethanol
is a renewable fuel, and fuel cells are clean
energy generators. Using ethanol to generate
hydrogen for fuel cells would make for a clean
and renewable energy source. The trouble is
ethanol is flammable. Using automobile fuel
injectors gets the hydrogen out quickly enough
to avoid igniting the fuel.
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Biochip makes droplet test tubes
Biochips that manipulate minuscule droplets on surfaces
are getting better. One prototype uses water droplets
as test tubes, filling them with samples and reagents,
moving them about and merging them to mix their
contents. The device, which has no moving parts,
could eventually power portable medical, biological
and chemical testing equipment, including systems
that perform custom genetic screening.
Model
keeps virtual eyes right
You can always tell by the eyes. Even if you are
fooled by a virtual human's features, his gaze still
makes it apparent he's not for real. Where a person
looks turns out to be an issue of instinct and reflex
rather than intelligence. A computer model aims
to give virtual people the visual wiring of real
primates.
Simple
optics make quantum relay
Boosting ordinary optical signals is a matter of
copying fading light pulses and sending bright new
copies. The nascent field of quantum communications,
however, can't use the copying method. This has
led researchers to come up with all manner of tricky
schemes for transmitting information contained in
particles like photons. A technique that uses simple
equipment is a step toward practical long distance
quantum communication.
News briefs
Hot
tip boosts disk capacity... Nanotubes
boost shape recovery... Nanowires
spot DNA mutation... Scans
pick up object orientation... Nanotube
mix makes liquid crystal... Film
promises terabit storage.
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