Thursday, April 11, 2013

Faster than silicon: Redesigned material could lead to lighter, faster electronics

Apr. 10, 2013 ? The same material that formed the first primitive transistors more than 60 years ago can be modified in a new way to advance future electronics, according to a new study.

Chemists at The Ohio State University have developed the technology for making a one-atom-thick sheet of germanium, and found that it conducts electrons more than ten times faster than silicon and five times faster than conventional germanium.

The material's structure is closely related to that of graphene -- a much-touted two-dimensional material composed of single layers of carbon atoms. As such, graphene shows unique properties compared to its more common multilayered counterpart, graphite. Graphene has yet to be used commercially, but experts have suggested that it could one day form faster computer chips, and maybe even function as a superconductor, so many labs are working to develop it.

Joshua Goldberger, assistant professor of chemistry at Ohio State, decided to take a different direction and focus on more traditional materials.

"Most people think of graphene as the electronic material of the future," Goldberger said. "But silicon and germanium are still the materials of the present. Sixty years' worth of brainpower has gone into developing techniques to make chips out of them. So we've been searching for unique forms of silicon and germanium with advantageous properties, to get the benefits of a new material but with less cost and using existing technology."

In a paper published online in the journal ACS Nano, he and his colleagues describe how they were able to create a stable, single layer of germanium atoms. In this form, the crystalline material is called germanane.

Researchers have tried to create germanane before. This is the first time anyone has succeeded at growing sufficient quantities of it to measure the material's properties in detail, and demonstrate that it is stable when exposed to air and water.

In nature, germanium tends to form multilayered crystals in which each atomic layer is bonded together; the single-atom layer is normally unstable. To get around this problem, Goldberger's team created multi-layered germanium crystals with calcium atoms wedged between the layers. Then they dissolved away the calcium with water, and plugged the empty chemical bonds that were left behind with hydrogen. The result: they were able to peel off individual layers of germanane.

Studded with hydrogen atoms, germanane is even more chemically stable than traditional silicon. It won't oxidize in air and water, as silicon does. That makes germanane easy to work with using conventional chip manufacturing techniques.

The primary thing that makes germanane desirable for optoelectronics is that it has what scientists call a "direct band gap," meaning that light is easily absorbed or emitted. Materials such as conventional silicon and germanium have indirect band gaps, meaning that it is much more difficult for the material to absorb or emit light.

"When you try to use a material with an indirect band gap on a solar cell, you have to make it pretty thick if you want enough energy to pass through it to be useful. A material with a direct band gap can do the same job with a piece of material 100 times thinner," Goldberger said.

The first-ever transistors were crafted from germanium in the late 1940s, and they were about the size of a thumbnail. Though transistors have grown microscopic since then -- with millions of them packed into every computer chip -- germanium still holds potential to advance electronics, the study showed.

According to the researchers' calculations, electrons can move through germanane ten times faster through silicon, and five times faster than through conventional germanium. The speed measurement is called electron mobility.

With its high mobility, germanane could thus carry the increased load in future high-powered computer chips.

"Mobility is important, because faster computer chips can only be made with faster mobility materials," Golberger said. "When you shrink transistors down to small scales, you need to use higher mobility materials or the transistors will just not work," Goldberger explained.

Next, the team is going to explore how to tune the properties of germanane by changing the configuration of the atoms in the single layer.

Lead author of the paper was Ohio State undergraduate chemistry student Elizabeth Bianco, who recently won the first place award for this research at the nationwide nanotechnology competition NDConnect, hosted by the University of Notre Dame. Other co-authors included Sheneve Butler and Shishi Jiang of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Oscar Restrepo and Wolfgang Windl of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

The research was supported in part by an allocation of computing time from the Ohio Supercomputing Center, with instrumentation provided by the Analytical Surface Facility in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Ohio State University Undergraduate Instrumental Analysis Program. Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation, the Army Research Office, the Center for Emergent Materials at Ohio State, and the university's Materials Research Seed Grant Program.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Ohio State University. The original article was written by Pam Frost Gorder.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. Elisabeth Bianco, Sheneve Butler, Shishi Jiang, Oscar D. Restrepo, Wolfgang Windl, Joshua E. Goldberger. Stability and Exfoliation of Germanane: A Germanium Graphane Analogue. ACS Nano, 2013; : 130326123449003 DOI: 10.1021/nn4009406

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/computers_math/information_technology/~3/w9fiRPZ0kZo/130410131502.htm

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Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Hacker Challenge: Share Your Best Spring Cleaning Hack

Hacker Challenge: Share Your Best Spring Cleaning HackWelcome, Lifehackers, to our next Hacker Challenge! Each week, we issue a new challenge. You get until Sunday to prepare your submission and send it to us. That gives you a few days to think about it and a whole weekend to work it up. Our editors pick the best submissions and our favorite will win a copy of the Lifehacker book!

Let's get started!

This Week's Hacker Challenge: Share Your Best Spring Cleaning Hack

For this week's challenge, we'd like to see your best spring cleaning hack?anything clever or out of the ordinary you do to get you and yours ready for spring after those long winter months. We're flexible here. Entries can be about cleaning or organizing your home, car, computer or wherever else you're able to strike fear in the hearts of clutter and disorganization. We've shown you how you can declutter your life and embrace minimalism. We've also talked about spring cleaning tips for your home and computer.

Now, it's your turn. We want to see your best spring cleaning hack.

How to Submit Your Entry

Make sure to follow these instructions when you submit your entry:

  • Post your entry below or send it to challenge@lifehacker.com with the subject Hacker Challenge: Spring Cleaning. If you post your entry below and need to include more than one image, just reply to your own comment or host your extra pics on a free, quick image-hosting site like imgur and link out to your gallery.
  • We will accept entries up through Sunday night, April 14 at 11:59pm Pacific Standard Time
  • We will showcase the best submissions and announce our favorite Tuesday, April 16.

So get to work! And don't forget to check back for new challenges every week.

Standard Gawker contest rules apply, so be sure to check them out before submitting your entry.

Images by Brian A Jackson (Shutterstock) and Tina Mailhot-Roberge.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/CMzOyNDGjHs/hacker-challenge-share-your-best-spring-cleaning-hack

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NTSB probes case of texting helicopter pilot

(AP) ? Evidence gathered in an investigation of a fatal medical helicopter crash has raised questions about whether the pilot was distracted by personal text messages when he failed to refuel the helicopter before taking off and misjudged how far the aircraft could fly without more fuel.

The case, scheduled to be considered at a meeting Tuesday of the National Transportation Safety Board, underscores concerns the board has already expressed that use of cellphones and other distracting electronic devices has increasingly become a factor in accidents and incidents across all modes of transportation ? planes, trains, cars, trucks and even ships. The Aug. 26, 2011, accident near Mosby, Mo., which killed four people, appears to be the first fatal commercial aircraft accident investigated by the board in which texting has been implicated.

The pilot, James Freudenbert, 34, of Rapid City, S.D., exchanged 20 text messages with an acquaintance over a span of less than two hours before the helicopter crashed into a farm field a little over a mile from where he hoped to refuel, documents made public by NTSB show. At least three of the messages were sent and five received while the helicopter was in flight, although not in the final 11 minutes of the last leg of the flight, according to a timeline prepared by investigators.

The timeline indicates Freudenbert also exchanged text messages at the same time he was reporting by radio to a company communications center that the helicopter was low on fuel. The helicopter was on the ground at the time waiting for the patient, who was being transferred from one hospital to another, and a nurse and a paramedic to board.

Although the pilot wasn't texting at the time of the crash, it's possible the messaging took his mind off his duties, interrupted his chain of thought and caused him to skip safety steps he might have otherwise performed, experts on human performance and cognitive distractions said. People can't concentrate on two things at once; they can only shift their attention rapidly back and forth, the experts said. But as they do that, the sharpness of their focus begins to erode.

"People just have a limited ability to pay attention," said David Strayer, a professor of cognitive and neural science at the University of Utah. "It's one of the characteristics of how we are wired."

"If we have two things demanding attention, one will take attention away from other," he said. "If it happens while sitting behind a desk, it's not that big of a problem. But if you are sitting behind the wheel of a car or in the cockpit of an airplane, you start to get serious compromises in safety."

In October 2010, two Northwest Airlines pilots overflew their destination of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport by 100 miles while they were engrossed in working on flight schedules on their laptops.

A text message ? especially one accompanied by an audible alert like a buzz or bell ? interrupts a person's thoughts and can be hard to ignore, said Christopher Wickens, a University of Illinois professor emeritus of engineering and aviation psychology. If the subject of the email is especially engaging, or especially emotional, that also makes it hard to ignore, he said.

The helicopter was operated by a subsidiary of Air Methods Corp. of Englewood, Colo., the largest provider of air medical emergency transport services in the U.S. The company's policies prohibit the use of electronic devices by pilots during flight.

Freudenbert apparently didn't check the amount of fuel on board the helicopter before taking off from the company's base in St. Joseph, Mo., even though he had been briefed that the aircraft would be low on fuel because it had been used the night before for training exercises. He radioed that he had two hours of fuel shortly after the helicopter was airborne.

But when the helicopter landed less than 10 minutes later in Bethany, Mo., to pick up the patient, Freudenbert radioed the communications center again to report that the copter was lower on fuel than he had initially thought. He estimated he had about 45 minutes worth of fuel, and said he didn't want to use any of the 20 minutes of reserve fuel federal regulations require be maintained. Investigators calculate he actually had 33 minutes worth of fuel left at that point.

Freudenbert opted to continue the patient transfer to a hospital in Liberty, Mo., changing plans only enough for a stop at an airfield a few miles closer than the Liberty hospital. The helicopter stalled and crashed at 6:41 p.m. CDT on a clear summer evening before reaching the airfield. A low fuel warning light might have alerted Freudenbert to his true situation, but the light was set on "dim" for nighttime use and may not have been visible. A pre-flight check by the pilot, if it had been conducted, should have revealed the light was set in the wrong position, investigators were told.

___

Online:

National Transportation Safety Board: http://www.ntsb.gov/safety/mwl3_2012.html

___

Follow Joan Lowy on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AP_Joan_Lowy

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-04-09-Distracted%20Flying/id-71e8f4c045844985bc2d538fb23b83e7

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HealthTok Lands $18.7M From NEA, Emergence & Others To Make Your Health Plan More Engaging

Screen shot 2013-04-10 at 4.16.28 AMTraditionally, healthcare managers -- whether they be health plans, care organizations, brokers or employers -- have struggled to get their members to engage with their wellness programs and heath tools. Founded in 2009, Denver-based startup, WellTok, has been on a mission to help health plan providers boost engagement by providing a suite of Web and mobile social media-based solutions. Through a social health management platform, the startup is essentially looking to help health plans "consumerize" their services, leveraging the ease-of-use, accessibility and social and mobile functionality now inherent to so many consumer-facing products to improve the user experience of their health plans.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/NWLJY251P3w/

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Nebraska Lets 7-Year-Old Brain Cancer Patient Score ... - SportsGrid

Inspirational ThingsNCAA Football

The last time I got out of my chair for a Nebraska touchdown run was way back, um, never. But I?ll have to admit that this was pretty damn cool. Jack Hoffman is a 7-year-old who was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2011, and has undergone two surgeries and numerous rounds of chemotherapy since. But on Saturday he lived out every kid?s dream: scoring a touchdown in a Div. I college stadium in front of thousands of fans.

Jack?s passion has always been Cornhusker football, and when his dad asked if he could get a photo with Nebraska running back Rex Burkhead, a special relationship was born. Last season Burkhead invited Jack to a game, and the boy ended up being adopted by the entire team. And that led to the big moment you see pictured, as Jack actually suited up ? wearing Burkhead?s No. 22 ? and ran a play toward the end of the Cornhuskers? spring scrimmage game on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

Jack took a handoff from quarterback Taylor Martinez and, led by a cadre of blockers, scampered 69 yards for a touchdown as 60,000-plus fans went nuts. It was the game?s final score, and the entire team celebrated in the end zone, hoisting Jack on their shoulders.

And ? no flags.

Omaha.com:

Shortly afterwards, with a couple of television cameras and microphones in his face ? and the game ball still under his arm ? Jack summed up the day with three words.

?It was awesome.?

Nebraska assistant athletic director Jeff Jamrog credited wide receivers coach Rich Fisher for the idea. Fisher brought it up Friday, and Jamrog put the wheels in motion. Burkhead and Husker fullback C.J. Zimmerer, the president of NU?s chapter of Uplifting Athletes, agreed that the team was in position to give Jack a moment he?d never forget.

Jack is on a two-week break from a 60-week regimen of chemotherapy, which provided the window for Saturday?s play.

His father, Andy:

Andy said Jack is ?doing great? and that an MRI at Children?s Hospital in Boston showed that the tumor has shrunk substantially in the past year.

?We?re very optimistic for Jack,? Andy said.

Photo: Daily Nebraskan.


Source: http://www.sportsgrid.com/ncaa-football/nebraska-lets-7-year-old-brain-cancer-patient-score-td-before-60000-fans-and-it-sure-is-getting-dusty-in-here/

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Israel court: Life sentences for Jewish radical

JERUSALEM (AP) ? An Israeli court on Tuesday delivered two consecutive life sentences to a U.S.-born Jewish extremist for the murder of two Palestinians and the attempted murder of others.

Originally from Florida, Jack Teitel was living in the West Bank when arrested in 2009. He was convicted in January for the 1997 killings.

The Jerusalem District Court gave Teitel additional time for other charges, including weapon violations and incitement to violence. He was ordered to pay compensation to victims' families.

The indictment said Teitel sought to avenge the deaths of Israelis killed by Palestinians.

In addition to his Palestinian victims, Teitel also targeted a dovish Israeli professor with a pipe bomb and messianic Jews who venerate Jesus. A teenager was injured when opening a booby-trapped package.

The court rejected his insanity plea.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/israel-court-life-sentences-jewish-radical-131528834.html

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Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Goat that walked into Mont. bar was taken from zoo

In this April 3, 2013 photo shows Butte-Silver Bow Animal Shelter supervisor Jacki Casagranda sits with "Shirley" a pygmy goat in Butte Mont. The goat was picked up at a local bar by the animal warden last weekend. Fairmont Hot Springs Resort general manager Steve Luebeck says staffers knew the goat was missing but didn't realize it had been stolen until they saw a story in The Montana Standard reporting that a goat had been taken into a Butte bar early Sunday. Shirley was returned to the resort's petting zoo. (AP Photo/The Montana Standard, Walter Hinick)

In this April 3, 2013 photo shows Butte-Silver Bow Animal Shelter supervisor Jacki Casagranda sits with "Shirley" a pygmy goat in Butte Mont. The goat was picked up at a local bar by the animal warden last weekend. Fairmont Hot Springs Resort general manager Steve Luebeck says staffers knew the goat was missing but didn't realize it had been stolen until they saw a story in The Montana Standard reporting that a goat had been taken into a Butte bar early Sunday. Shirley was returned to the resort's petting zoo. (AP Photo/The Montana Standard, Walter Hinick)

(AP) ? So the goat that walked into a Montana bar last weekend ... was stolen from a petting zoo.

Fairmont Hot Springs Resort general manager Steve Luebeck says staffers knew the goat was missing but didn't realize it had been stolen until they saw a story in The Montana Standard on Wednesday reporting that a goat had been taken into a Butte bar early Sunday.

The pygmy goat, named "Shirley, was returned to the resort's petting zoo.

Luebeck tells The Standard (http://bit.ly/11rcGB5 ) he has never had an animal stolen from the zoo, which has goats and miniature horses. He says zoo managers would like to know who took the animal so they can press charges.

___

Information from: The Montana Standard, http://www.mtstandard.com

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/aa9398e6757a46fa93ed5dea7bd3729e/Article_2013-04-04-Bar%20Goat/id-d92e4621811347b0a96a3284608ca45a

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