Chronos is one of the many Smalltalk-related blogs syndicated on Planet Smalltalk
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Discussion of the Essence# programming language, and related issues and technologies.

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2009-11-27

Spin polarization achieved in room temperature silicon

From PhysOrg.com:

A group in The Netherlands has achieved a first: injection of spin-polarized electrons in silicon at room temperature. This has previously been observed only at extremely low temperatures, and the achievement brings spintronic devices using silicon as a semiconductor a step closer.
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Nanowires key to future transistors, electronics

From PhysOrg.com:

A new generation of ultrasmall transistors and more powerful computer chips using tiny structures called semiconducting nanowires are closer to reality after a key discovery by researchers at IBM, Purdue University and the University of California at Los Angeles.
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2009-11-18

Turning heat to electricity... efficiently

From PhysOrg.com:

In everything from computer processor chips to car engines to electric powerplants, the need to get rid of excess heat creates a major source of inefficiency. But new research points the way to a technology that might make it possible to harvest much of that wasted heat and turn it into usable electricity.
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2009-11-15

Scientists demonstrate 'universal' programmable quantum processor

From PhysOrg.com:

Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have demonstrated the first "universal" programmable quantum information processor able to run any program allowed by quantum mechanics -- the rules governing the submicroscopic world -- using two quantum bits (qubits) of information. The processor could be a module in a future quantum computer, which theoretically could solve some important problems that are intractable today.
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2009-11-10

Scientists develop DNA origami nanoscale breadboards for carbon nanotube circuits

From PhysOrg.com:

In work that someday may lead to the development of novel types of nanoscale electronic devices, an interdisciplinary team of researchers at the California Institute of Technology has combined DNA's talent for self-assembly with the remarkable electronic properties of carbon nanotubes, thereby suggesting a solution to the long-standing problem of organizing carbon nanotubes into nanoscale electronic circuits.
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Solving big problems with new quantum algorithm

From PhysOrg.com:

In a recently published paper, Aram Harrow at the University of Bristol and colleagues from MIT in the United States have discovered a quantum algorithm that solves large problems much faster than conventional computers can.
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Researchers discover key to vital DNA, protein interaction

From PhysOrg.com:

A researcher at Iowa State University has discovered how a group of proteins from plant pathogenic bacteria interact with DNA in the plant cell, opening up the possibility for what the scientist calls a "cascade of advances."
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2009-11-06

Magnetic nanoparticles to simultaneously diagnose, monitor and treat

From PhysOrg.com:

Whether it's magnetic nanoparticles (mNPs) giving an army of 'therapeutically armed' white blood cells direction to invade a deadly tumour's territory, or the use of mNPs to target specific nerve channels and induce nerve-led behaviour (such as the life-dependant thumping of our hearts), mNPs have come a long way in the past decade.
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2009-11-05

New Digital 'Electronics' Concept May Continue Moore's Law

From PhysOrg.com:

Computers of the future could be operating not on electrons, but on tiny waves traveling through an electron "fluid," if a new proposal is successful. The new circuit design, recently introduced by Dr. Héctor J. De Los Santos, CTO of NanoMEMS Research, LLC, in Irvine, California, may be a promising candidate to replace CMOS-based circuits, and ultimately continue the circuit density growth described by Moore's Law.


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2009-11-04

Capturing those in-between moments: Researchers solves timing problem in molecular modeling

From PhysOrg.com:

A theoretical physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology has developed a method for calculating the motions and forces of thousands of atoms simultaneously over a wider range of time scales than previously possible. The method overcomes a longstanding timing gap in modeling nanometer-scale materials and many other physical, chemical and biological systems at atomic and molecular levels.
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2009-11-03

Compressing photonic signals for greater bandwidth

From PhysOrg.com:

Cornell researchers have developed an ingenious method to time-compress optical signals. The process could enable optical communication systems to carry many more bits per second or could also be used to generate short bursts of light with complex waveforms needed to control chemistry and physics experiments where changes are induced by light.
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2009-11-02

Breakthrough in industrial-scale nanotube processing

From PhysOrg.com:

Rice University scientists today unveiled a method for the industrial-scale processing of pure carbon-nanotube fibers that could lead to revolutionary advances in materials science, power distribution and nanoelectronics. The result of a nine-year program, the method builds upon tried-and-true processes that chemical firms have used for decades to produce plastics. The research is available online in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
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