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NEWS
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Sensitive liquid lens
A liquid
lens changes focus when a hydrogel surrounding it
reacts to external stimulation -- changes in pH or temperature,
or the presence of light, an electric field or biological
molecules. The lens could be used in biochips for sensing,
medical diagnostics and biological analysis. (Adaptive
Liquid Microlenses Activated by Stimuli-Responsive Hydrogels,
Nature, August 3, 2006)
Vertical passages for biochips
A way
of making plastic biochips vertically connects multiple
layers of microfluidic channels, making it easier to make
biochips that carry out multiple tasks including preparing
and analyzing samples. The technique could lead to inexpensive,
mass producible medical diagnostic and other labs-on-a-chip.
(Microfluidic Vias Enable Nested Bioarrays and Autoregulatory
Devices in Newtonian Fluids, Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences, published online August 3, 2006)
Neural net simplifies data
A type
of artificial neural network efficiently encodes data
that contains many variables into a simpler form and restores
the encoded data to its multidimensional form. The technique
could make it easier for scientists to store, analyze
and visualize large, complicated data sets in biology,
neuroscience and the study of networks. (Reducing the
Dimensionality of Data with Neural Networks, Science,
July 28, 2006)
Infrared detector IDs people
A detector made from an array of infrared sensors
and pattern recognition software can identify
individuals by their movements if the system has seen
the people before. The biometric technique could be used
to confirm a person's identity or spot people wanted by
law-enforcement officials. (Real-Time Human Identification
Using a Pyroelectric Infrared Detector Array and Hidden
Markov Models, Optics Express, July 24, 2006)
Guiding aerosols with light
A method
of shaping light beams makes it possible to guide
airborne liquid droplets as far as 2.75 millimeters. The
technique could be used in labs-on-a-chip to control aerosol
samples. (Optical Guiding of Aerosol Droplets, Optics
Express, July 10, 2006)
Materials chill in laser light
A crystal and a glass infused with erbium cool
down when hit with laser light. The materials could
be used with tiny semiconductor lasers to cool computer
chips and infrared cameras and other optical sensors.
(Anti-Stokes Laser Cooling in Bulk Erbium-Doped Materials,
Physical Review Letters, July 21, 2006) |
FEATURES
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View
from the High Ground: ICL's John Pendry
Physics as machine tool, negative refractive
index, metamaterials, shattered wine glasses, higher capacity
DVDs, scientific backwaters, risk perception and practice,
practice, practice.
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How
It Works: Quantum computing: qubits
Photons, electrons and atoms, oh my! These particles are
the raw materials for qubits, the basic building blocks
of quantum computers. |
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"Physics
is to the rest of science what machine tools are
to engineering. A corollary is that science places
power in our hands which can be used for good or
ill. Technology has been abused in this way throughout
the ages from gunpowder to atomic bombs."
- John Pendry, Imperial College London |
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Thanks
to Kevin from
GoldBamboo.com
for technical support |
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