Near-perfect performance in low-cost semiconductors

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Researchers redefine what it means for low-cost semiconductors, called quantum dots, to be near-perfect and find that quantum dots meet quality standards set by more expensive alternatives.

Tiny, easy-to-produce particles, called quantum dots, may soon take the place of more expensive single crystal semiconductors in advanced electronics found in solar panels, camera sensors and medical imaging tools. Although quantum dots have begun to break into the consumer market — in the form of quantum dot TVs — they have been hampered by long-standing uncertainties about their quality. Now, a new measurement technique developed by researchers at Stanford University may finally dissolve those doubts.

“Traditional semiconductors are single crystals, grown in vacuum under special conditions. These we can make in large numbers, in flask, in a lab and we’ve shown they are as good as the best single crystals,” said David Hanifi, graduate student in chemistry at Stanford and co-lead author of the paper written about this work, published March 15 in Science.

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AI transforming the world

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The world is fast evolving, with Artificial intelligence (AI) at the forefront in changing the world and the way we live. This article is Part 1 of a 2 part series.

An important question: What is AI? For many people, it remains unclear what this technology is all about, so this is a good place to start the conversation. AI is a branch in computer science that deals with the intelligent behavior of machines. It is an ingeniously simulated ability of a machine to imitate human behavior and our conventional response patterns. This is made possible with specific algorithms that make the AI function in a specified scope of activities (according to what the algorithm codes for). This means that with AI, many of our everyday activities can now be carried out effectively by programmed machine technology.

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America’s unhealthy obsession with productivity is driving its biggest new reading trend

“I probably started reading ultra hardcore about seven or eight years ago,” says Tom Bilyeu, an entrepreneur based in Los Angeles. “Ultra hardcore” means that Bilyeu reads everywhere: While he brushes his teeth, while he gets dressed, in the 30 seconds it takes to cross rooms in his house, he’s reading.

“My big secret is,” says Bilyeu, “I read in all those little transitional moments.” Plus, for the last eight years, he’s optimized his intellectual consumption by listening to audiobooks at three times the normal speed.

Audiobooks are the latest trend in book publishing. They’re part of the podcast boom, and they’re helping US publishers keep losses down as ebook sales from big-name companies continue to slump. What’s been around since the 1980s has a sleek new face, and today who’s listening, where, and why, offers a glimpse into a new reading trend sweeping the US.

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$500K Retrofit Housing Prize Competition Now Open for Team Registration

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Competition will range from community groups, to corporate teams, to int’l teams

On Tuesday evening the Longmont City Council gave the green light to DaVinci Quest CEO Karl Dakin to proceed with the 2010 Smarter, Safer, Greener House Competition where teams from around the world will compete to retrofit existing homes to maximum efficiency. DaVinci Quest is now issuing an open invitation for teams to sign up to compete for the $500,000 prize.

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Ford Fusion’s New Dashboard Helps Drivers Become More Fuel Efficient

 Ford Fusion’s New Dashboard Helps Drivers Become More Fuel Efficient

 

The Big Three promised to go green as part of their bailout deal. But Ford is starting in small ways, like with a new dashboard for their popular Fusion designed to encourage drivers to become more fuel-efficient by turning driving into a green game.

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PermaFlow Lets You Be Your Own Plumber

PermaFlow Lets You Be Your Own Plumber 

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The holidays are over now and I’m wiping my brow in relief that I didn’t have to call a plumber once between Thanksgiving and New Year’s! I usually don’t get through that period without the kitchen sink backing up. But one of 2008’s most popular new inventions, not to mention one of Pop Sci’s Best of What’s New, PermaFlow, tells me that I may not even have to call a plumber if the sink or toilet backs up.

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Passive Houses Have No Furnaces But Plenty Of Heat

Passive Houses Have No Furnaces But Plenty Of Heat 

From the outside, there is nothing unusual about the stylish new gray and orange row houses in the Kranichstein District, with wreaths on the doors and Christmas lights twinkling through a freezing drizzle. But these houses are part of a revolution in building design: There are no drafts, no cold tile floors, no snuggling under blankets until the furnace kicks in. There is, in fact, no furnace.

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Platinum-Free Fuel Cells Eliminates Need For Expensive Catalysts

Platinum-Free Fuel Cells Eliminates Need For Expensive Catalysts 

 A new polymer, shown in powdered form, can be used to make stable fuel-cell membranes that conduct negatively charged ions.

Fuel cells are, in principle, the most efficient way to convert hydrogen fuel into electricity. But they require expensive catalysts such as platinum to split hydrogen into ions and electrical current. Cheaper metals simply can’t withstand the harsh acidic environment of the fuel cell. Now researchers in China have developed a fuel cell that uses a new membrane material to operate in alkaline conditions, eliminating the need for an expensive catalyst. The power output of the new prototype, which uses nickel as a catalyst, is still relatively low, but it provides a first demonstration of a potentially much less expensive fuel cell.

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Peugot’s Concept Cars Of The Future

Puegot’s Concept Cars Of The Future 

If Gundam mated with Will Smith’s Audi in I, Robot, the offspring would resemble these futuristic concept cars from European brand Peugeot. The car-like vehicles were all entries in the 2008 Peugeot Design Contest. Designers were asked by organizers to create vehicles for that ambiguous but tantalizing “city of the future.” Areas of focus included environmental awareness, “social harmony,” interactive mobility and efficiency. As you can see in the “Blade” vehicle above, efficiency is improved with the wind turbine that designer Ying Hui Choo added to charge an on-board electric battery.

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Charge Your Gadgets With Wireless Electricity

Charge Your Gadgets With Wireless Electricity 

The ability to use wireless electricity to charge your gadgets could get many of you excited. Having this technology would mean you would never have to plug anything in again to a wall as the power would be supplied over the air. Wireless Electricity is not new, but past attempts see a lot of power that is lost through the air. Can Intel make a change to this? It seems like they are heading in the right direction.

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