Leapfrog / Disruptive Technologies

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 03 Aug 2007 08:39

The HCCI engine:

http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/19139/

The DiesOtto engine:

link

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 05 Aug 2007 06:44

Ultra-short laser pulse used to flip magnetic bit

http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/30762

Could result in hard-drives and memories which are orders of magnitude faster and cheaper.

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 06 Aug 2007 08:53

The dazzler:

http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/19142/?a=f

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 07 Aug 2007 08:22

nano-particulate boric acid boosts lubricants:

http://www.physorg.com/news105631137.html

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 09 Aug 2007 02:31

Cheap Titanium:

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2007/08/d ... t-int.html

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 25 Aug 2007 12:13

Tilera mesh-chip architecture:

http://www.technologyreview.com/Biztech/19269/

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 28 Aug 2007 06:40

Newer, better fuel cell architecture:

http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/19301/

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 28 Aug 2007 06:51

Single-walled Carbon Nanotubes demonstrate astonishingly high electron storage capacity, at 1 electron for every 32 carbon atoms:

http://www.physorg.com/news107419836.html

This means they could be used as supercapacitors that outperform existing batteries.

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 29 Aug 2007 02:55

Breakthrough in vaccine development:

http://www.physorg.com/news107521605.html

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 03 Sep 2007 15:46

3D printing:

http://www.fool.com/investing/high-grow ... nting.aspx

the next disruptors:

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/biz ... tors.biz2/

sanjchopra · Post by **sanjchopra** » 12 Oct 2007 07:25

Washington abuzz with talk of dragonfly spies

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 07 Nov 2007 09:59

User-customized manufacturing could be the future:

http://www.technologyreview.com/Biztech/19678/

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 08 Nov 2007 05:53

Chinese are gearing up for mass-manufacturing of wind turbines -- floating on permanent magnets:

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/11 ... ag_lev.php

Multatuli · Post by **Multatuli** » 11 Nov 2007 23:25

Aussie Student Supercharges ADSL Connections

Australian researcher develops tech to raise internet speed x100, which should hit the market in 2 to 3 years.

Quotes :

Dr. Papandriopoulos's PhD thesis is comprised with methods and techniques to use mathematic algorithms to reduce interference in DSL lines. This research is grabbing international attention due to the promise it holds; ADSL connections implementing the algorithm can go from approximately 1-10 Mbps to a blazing 100 Mbps or above.

Dr. Papandriopoulos's technology revolves around the interference and cross-talk that occurs between the cable wires of high-speed ADSL (Asymmetric DSL) wires. This significant cross talk and the resulting interference forces providers to settle for lower speeds.

"That is not an issue for voice calls these days but it becomes a problem when you're trying to wring more bandwidth out of these existing copper telephone wires [which power ADSL broadband connections],â€

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 13 Nov 2007 11:42

Cloning Breakthrough on Monkeys:

http://news.independent.co.uk/sci_tech/ ... 152325.ece

Could pave the way for widespread cloning of human stem cell tissue

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 14 Nov 2007 09:52

Solid Oxide Fuel Cells normally require high temperatures to work, but newer ones are being developed which could work at 200C:

http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/19710/

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 14 Nov 2007 22:46

That new computer architecture being propsed by Dr. Karmakar is a definite breakthrough technology. Unfortunately India and Indians are in no position to exploit it.

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 15 Nov 2007 09:29

I believe there's an NRI heading a firm called Tilera, which is unveiling a scalable multi-core chip architecture. They're pretty interesting too.

Anyway, here's an interesting discovery about a chemical sensing device using Raman spectroscopy -- an "optical nose" if you will:

http://www.physorg.com/news114276950.html

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 15 Nov 2007 09:47

Measurement capabilities have now been brought down to the Planck scale level of precision:

http://www.nature.com/news/2007/071114/ ... 7.242.html

This is the smallest unit of measurement theoretically possible in nature.
With this, we can now probe the nature of space and gravity itself.

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 15 Nov 2007 09:49

Monkeys Have Been Cloned

This now paves the way for cloning of human cells, a feat never before thought possible

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 19 Nov 2007 10:15

Get ready for the strong stuff!

Ultra-strong Nanotube Fibers Now Possible

Remember how nanotubes were touted for making a space elevator, because they're potentially 100x stronger than steel, etc?

Of course, little flaws and difficulties have prevented that dream from coming true -- thusfar. But now, those difficulties are being overcome, and the idealized physical strength of nanotubes is starting to be actualized.

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 27 Nov 2007 07:00

3D Printers Improve Industrial Design

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 06 Dec 2007 11:47

IBM Breakthrough in Electro-Optical Modulator Could Radically Shrink Supercomputers

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 10 Dec 2007 10:21

Super-Oleophobic Materials Stop Fingerprints

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 16 Dec 2007 18:13

Is Craig Venter Creating 'Microbesoft'?

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 23 Dec 2007 06:03

NASA Declares Synthetic Muscles Invention of the Year

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 24 Dec 2007 03:46

Cardioplegic infusion permits revival of the 'dead'

Multatuli · Post by **Multatuli** » 31 Dec 2007 10:33

New Material Promises to Save LCD, Solar Power Industry

German researchers claim breakthrough that may salvage the solar industry from the brink of disaster.

Quote :

Solar cells have always relied on the metal indium, due to its transparency, which is essential to light emission or absorption in electronics. Engineers also regard indium valuable in LCDs and other transparent electrical devices. However, indium is a relatively rare metal on Earth and existing supplies are rapidly dwindling. Researchers have frantically searched for transparent conducting materials to little avail.

A new team claims it may have found the solution in one of the Earth's most abundant elements. Researchers at the Planck Institute have devised a new approach, utilizing graphene -- single 2D layers of carbon atoms, extracted from graphite -- 10 layers of which are applied to form an electrode. Each layer that comprises the electrode is a mere 5 nm thick.

The material has conductivity comparable or superior to indium and falls just slightly short of indium in transparent character. The current device is 80% transparent to visible light and 100% transparent to infrared light.

http://www.dailytech.com/New+Material+P ... e10143.htm

Multatuli · Post by **Multatuli** » 31 Dec 2007 10:37

In this clip we see a demonstration of optical camouflage. ItÂ´s in Japanese.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G97F6EgYV5Y

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 20 Jan 2008 06:59

The concept of acoustic cloaking is being developed, which could be valuable for submarine stealth technology:

http://www.aip.org/pnu/2008/split/853-2.html

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 28 Jan 2008 09:40

Graphene Could Replace Silicon on Microchips

Graphene Fastest Conductor

New Breakthrough in Graphene Production

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 02 Feb 2008 06:06

A new solar technology based on tiny nano-sized antennae is capable of harvesting energy with 80% efficiency, as opposed to the 10-20% seen on commercial solar panels today. But if that isn't amazing enough for you, these new panels can even harvest energy at night, by absorbing light from the infrared region of the spectrum, which continues to residually radiate during nighttime. And even better still is that solar panels based on this technology could be manufactured even more cheaply than existing silicon-based solar panels today. Now these are innovations that Indians need to pay attention to, as they could liberate countless masses from misery, providing power 24/7.

http://www.groovygreen.com/groove/?p=2385

http://www.inl.gov/featurestories/2007-12-17.shtml

http://www.gizmag.com/researchers-devel ... ight/8574/

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 08 Feb 2008 06:41

This article's nearly a year old, and yet it contains a relatively recent piece of progress, which I've only just noticed:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 140937.htm

The excitation state of the metastable nuclear isomer of Thorium-229 relative to ground has been accurately measured. If further research can trigger its transition back to ground, then this could lead to the nuclear battery.

Nuclear isomers have the potential to store and release vast quantities of energy without actually splitting the atomic nucleus. As such, they are capable of powering everything from advanced aerospace vehicles to potent new WMD not covered by by the NPT.

I personally even think that India should try to fund joint research in this area with Russia. This technology could fundamentally transform the world.

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 17 Feb 2008 14:45

Metallic Hydrogen

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 18 Feb 2008 06:05

Sonar/EM Cloaking Technology

video included

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 19 Feb 2008 10:11

More on

Graphene as the Next Evolution Over Silicon

Speeds of 1 Terahertz or better -- incredible

This article is part of MIT Technology Review's Special Report on

Top 10 Emerging Technologies

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 20 Feb 2008 09:42

Textiles are such a major export for India, that Indian suppliers should also consider moving into the high-end engineered textiles:

http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/20306/

like self-cleaning fabrics

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 20 Feb 2008 10:00

Another interesting new development:

http://www.physorg.com/news122655117.html

http://www.physorg.com/news98556080.html

An aluminum alloy has been developed which, on contact with water, will split that water into hydrogen and oxygen. In this way, hydrogen can immediately be created on demand from water, and used to power a combustion engine or fuel cell, with the exhaust product again being water.

Is this some kind of perpetual free energy system? No, of course not -- when the aluminum alloy reduces the water to free the hydrogen, the oxygen is then bound to surface of the aluminum, thus oxidizing it into alumina (aka. aluminum oxide). Energy (eg. electricity) has to be used to remove that oxygen to refresh the alloy back to its original state.

But the point is that this type of system would allow hydrogen to be produced on demand, from stored water. This could allow hydrogen filling stations to simply store water onhand, rather than the dangerously volatile and combustible hydrogen gas. They could then use aluminum alloy in conjunction with electricity to produce hydrogen to fill up hydrogen-powered vehicles on demand.

Multatuli · Post by **Multatuli** » 27 Feb 2008 02:38

Specialized nanotubes set the record for the blackest material on Earth

Chalk up another valuable use of carbon nanotubes -- creating the darkest material on Earth. Last month researchers at Rice College and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York used the handy carbon molecular structures to set an unusual world record -- the record for the most light-absorbing material known to man.

To give an idea of exactly how black the result is, black paint reflects approximately 5 percent of the visible light that strikes it. The previous darkest material was a nickel-phosphorous compound, which only reflected 0.35 percent of visible light. The new nanotube compound blows away these previous competitors, reflecting a bare 0.045 percent of the visible light that hits it. This is almost nine times less than the previous record holder and over a hundred times less than black paint.

The first possible business application considered by Rice and RPI was solar power. Despite the recognition, though, the solar industry remains relatively lukewarm to the new material. While a few companies such as SolFocus contacted the team, others like Marc Cortez, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Soliant Energy were skeptical about the technology. Mr. Cortez stated doubts about whether the technology could make an impact, stating, "The ultimate challenge will be to take it from the lab into a high-volume manufacturing environment. Itâ€™s only then youâ€™ll know whether or not it will be a 'game-changing' technology."

With the solar power industry not warming up enough to the new technology, a new group has jumped in to court Rice and RPI -- the U.S. Military. The Military, according to Popular Science, approached the researchers with interest in using the technology. The Military, which is investigating a number of nanotube applications, expressed hopes for employing the technology to make its B-2 stealth bombers even stealthier. By using the material, the B-2s would be capable of absorbing even more radar, making them more difficult to spot. The military is excited about how the new material could revolutionize its stealth efforts, making its arsenal deadlier and more efficient than ever.

Meanwhile, Professor Yu-Lin is quick to remind people of the technology's more peaceful applications such as improving the efficiency of solar panels, which are typically coated in more reflective black paint. Another valuable application, he believes is using the material to line telescope barrels to provide a darker background to provide less interference with the focused celestial light.

http://www.dailytech.com/Military+Goes+ ... e10813.htm

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 27 Feb 2008 05:23

Yeah, I read that -- it was synthesized by a team which included Dr Pulickel Ajayan from Rice University in Texas (he's formerly from Rensselaer).

It would likely be useful for stealth, where every bit of absorption counts, but for solar power it would hardly absorb much more energy than existing black paints.

Bharat Rakshak

Leapfrog / Disruptive Technologies

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