http://scidujour.com Science and technology news specials. Fri, 22 Aug 2008 22:24:48 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en [caption id="attachment_101" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Intel's wireless charging prototype. Photo by John Herrman, via Gizmodo"] [/caption] Intel recently pulled the wraps off its mystical wireless charging device at the Intel Developers Forum in San Francisco. The gadget uses resonant magnetic fields to transmit power over a short distance. In their demonstration, the wireless ... http://scidujour.com/2008/08/intel-shows-off-wireless-charger/ Light bulbs siphon a lot of juice out of the grid, which makes them perfect targets for anyone trying to conserve power. Compact fluorescents (CFLs) have been leading the charge, armed with mercury vapor and phosphor that emits far more light per watt than hot incandescent bulbs. But they're toxic ... http://scidujour.com/2008/08/illuminating-deveopments/ Turns out that your average plasma TV sucks more electricity from the grid than those fancy new plug-in hybrid cars that are coming on the market. According to officials at the Electric Power Research Institute who were quoted in a recent Associated Press article, big-screen plasma TVs drain about four times ... http://scidujour.com/2008/07/plasma-tvs-suck-more-than-hybrids/ Researchers at the University of San Diego have created hunter-killer nanoparticles that seek out and destroy cancer cells. The particles stick to the fast-growing blood vessels that feed cancerous growths and release chemotherapy drugs at the site, killing the vessels and starving the cancer cells of oxygen.  Biologist David Cheresh and ... http://scidujour.com/2008/07/cancer-killing-nanoassassins/ All computer data boils down to ones and zeros. Until now, that is. A team of computer engineers at the University of Pennsylvania have figured out how to throw a "two" into the mix using copper nanowires, adding a third dimension to computing. They call the data triumvirates "trits," and ... http://scidujour.com/2008/07/ones-zeros-and-now-twos/ Dear Reader, You might have noticed that the site is conspicuously lacking the daily helpings of science news that, in fact, define it. Well, I've been trudging through a deluge of freelance work for B&H Photo Video and FileMaker, in addition to caring for my newborn son and wife. Additionally, I've ... http://scidujour.com/2008/07/dawdles-delays-and-dilly-dallies/ Before swarms of nanites can organize to eradicate the human race, they'll need a leader. Engineers in Japan have made the first steps in creating such a microscopic overlord, building a nanomachine that imitates human brain cells. The tiny machine can receive information from the macro world and transmit it ... http://scidujour.com/2008/07/nanobrain/ Photo Credit: Rensselaer/Koratkar Cover the insides of your boiler with copper nanorods and you'll increase its steam output by a factor of 30, granting your fire-breathing steam-turbine velocipede the supersonic speeds befitting its polished-brass fittings. Researchers at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute made the discovery by accident, not while tinkering in their anachronistic ... http://scidujour.com/2008/07/copper-nanorods-boost-steam-output-steampunks-rejoice/ In celebration of the birth of my first son, I have decided to increase my coverage of all things small. Enter Nanorama, an onslaught of new articles about nanotechnology and a new "Nanotech" category! So ready your scanning electron microscopes and study up on your quantum theory, we're getting small. http://scidujour.com/2008/07/nanoganza/ Researchers in the EU-funded research consortium CONTACT have built a printer that can lay down LCD displays on virtually any substrate, from plastic to paper to fabric. The new printer can spit out displays in any shape, freeing gadget designers to create more organic forms. Their new printer, dubbed Labratester 2, ... http://scidujour.com/2008/07/engineers-print-lcds-t-shirt-displays-pending/