News Digest : 8 Sep 2014

Few takers for national scholarship examination

Ahmedabad Mirror | 8 Sep 2014

Compared to 2012, there has been almost a five-time decrease in the number of students appearing for the National Talent Search Exam in 2013 to avail of scholarship. The number of students appearing for a national level test to avail of scholarship has fallen drastically. As per data sourced by Mirror, 669 students from the city appeared for National Talent Search Examination in 2012. Compared to this, the number fell to 104 in 2013.The reasons have been lack of awareness and not enough promotion on part of the authorities. Read More

Electric current to boost memory

Ahmedabad Mirror | 8 Sep 2014

Researchers find stimulating brain using magnetic pulses can improve memory. This may help treat memory disorders from injury and stroke. Stimulating a particular region in the brain via non-invasive delivery of electrical current using magnetic pulses, called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), improves memory, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study. The discovery opens a new field of possibilities for treating memory impairments caused by conditions such as stroke, early-stage Alzheimer's disease, traumatic brain injury, cardiac arrest and the memory problems that occur in healthy aging. Read More

Japan firm showcases touchable 3D tech

Ahmedabad Mirror | 8 Sep 2014

Technology that generates touchable 3D imagery was unveiled in Japan recently, with its developers saying users could pull and push objects that are not really there. Know-how that could improve a gaming experience, or allow someone to physically shape objects that exist only on a computer, will soon be available to buy, said Miraisens, based outside Tokyo. Read More

Makhkhi ki roti aur keedon ka shaak

Ahmedabad Mirro r | 6 Sep 2014

AMC team finds rotten vegetables, insects in flour and kitchen staff with unclean nails and uncovered hair at GU messes. Hostelers on Gujarat University campus would find it hard to digest if they were to know what goes into the making of their food at the mess. Rotten vegetables, insects in the wheat flour, dirty stoves, coupled with kitchen staff carrying unclean nails and uncovered hair were found at four GU messes by a health team of AMC that made a surprise check of the premises. Read More

Nanoparticle key to new malaria vaccine

Ahmedabad Mirror | 6 Sep 2014

A self-assembling nanoparticle designed by a US professor is the key component of a potent new malaria vaccine that can destroy the malarial parasite before it has time to spread. For years, scientists trying to develop a malaria vaccine have been stymied by the malaria parasite's ability to trans form itself and “hide“ in the liver and red blood cells of an infected person to avoid detection by the immune system. Read More

Researchers make durable fabric-based circuit boards

Ahmedabad Mirror | 6 Sep 2014

A pair of researchers at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, have developed a computerised knitting tech that allows for creating fabric circuit boards (FCBs) that can take a beating and keep on working. The tech has been described in Proceedings of the Royal Society A. Read More

GUIDE - Do a foolproof factory reset

Ahmedabad Mirror | 3 Sep 2014

A factory reset might not prevent thieves from stealing data from your old cellphone. Here is how to do it right. Android's factory reset feature is supposed to wipe all the data off your device, ensuring none of your personal data is left. You should be able to sell or dispose of your device in confidence after using it. Unfortunately, Android may not always wipe everything -and people who are determined enough may be able to recover some of your personal data afterwards. But you can ensure your personal data is completely wiped if you know what you're doing. Read More

Rs 16 crore state-of-the-art college has - Zero infrastructure

Ahmedabad Mirror | 3 Sep 2014

IIIT Vadodara has admitted 135 students though it doesn't have classroom, hostel of its own. The freshers at Indian Insti tute of Information Tech nology (IIIT), Vadodara, has to swallow a bitter pill when they were allotted a new hostel, a place without basic facilities and rude neighbours. As IIIT-Vadodara is still an upcoming institute and has no infrastructure of its own, arrangements have been made for a batch of 135 students to study at Government Engineering College (GEC) in Gandhinagar. Though GEC has allotted block number 9 for educational purpose, there is no hostel room to spare. Read More

Is There Life After Touchscreens?

TAIPEI — Touch panels have become such a mainstay of our everyday gadgets that many of us are already taking them for granted. At Touch Taiwan show last week, I saw display vendors mired in the battle over ever-narrowing bezels, and the never-ending pixel-per-inch war. As I examined the proliferation of display technologies, I found myself getting lost in the weeds. Read More

High-voltage switcher delivers energy savings to smart meters

Expanding its portfolio of high-voltage power solutions for offline AC/DC designs, Texas Instruments (TI) has ntroduced a 700-V switcher with a quiescent current of less than 100 uA. The UCC28880 controller integrates a 700-V power MOSFET and high-voltage current source, increasing overall energy efficiency of 'always-on' non-isolated power systems with output currents up to 100 mA, such as smart meters, home automation equipment and white goods. Read More

Collaborating to compete: a smarter way

Building a collaborative business model, which integrates skills and capabilities across companies in ways that are difficult for competitors to replicate, can deliver competitive advantage.  The selection of the right skills and capabilities is therefore a strategic task. Peter Carney discusses how by collaborating, companies can improve performance and succeed. Read More

Piezo device harvests energy from sound

Researchers in London have developed a device that uses sound to help generate an electrical charge, a development that could see mobile phones recharged by everyday background noise. The device from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) uses the piezoelectric properties of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods to harvest energy from vibration and movement. Read More

Materials study aims at improving nuclear reactor performance

Materials critical to the safe and profitable operation of nuclear reactors are to be examined by the recipient of a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship. Dr Ben Britton, a nuclear metallurgy fellow at Imperial College London’s Department of Materials, will use the award to further the understanding of two alloys used to build reactor cladding, tubing and heat exchangers. Read More

Nanophotonics key to high-speed information transfer

A development in the US could lead to computer chips capable of transporting digital information at light speed. Reporting in Optica, optical and material scientists at the University of Rochester and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich describe a basic model circuit consisting of a silver nanowire and a single-layer flake of molybendum disulphide (MoS2). Read More

Fabric circuit boards that can take bending, washing, stretching and bullets fired at them

A pair of researchers at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, has developed a computerized knitting technology that allows for creating fabric circuit boards (FCBs) that can take a beating and keep on working. In their paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, the two describe how the new technology works and just how strong the resulting products can be. Read More

Changing temperature powers sensors in hard-to-reach places

he clock, powered by changes in temperature and atmospheric pressure, was invented in the early 17th century by a Dutch builder. Three centuries later, Swiss engineer Jean Leon Reutter built on that idea and created the Atmos mechanical clock that can run for years without needing to be wound manually. Read more

Intelligent welding clamp design software using computer-aided optimization

A fundamental part of all types of manufacturing technologies is clamping. This operation is critical especially in welding where the high temperatures and forces due to possible deformation enhance the need even more. The task of specifying clamping positions and forces for welding assemblies are among the most common everyday tasks for welding SMEs. At present preparing the optimal clamping design needs significant human resources both in time and experience. Read More