Gizmorama - February 11, 2015

Good Morning,

Is your computer not fast enough? Well, there's a new material that has the potential in the realm of industrial and technological applications that could make computer chips even faster. What?

Learn about this and more interesting stories from the scientific community in today's issue.

Until Next Time,
Erin

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*-- New silicon material could lead to super-fast computers --*
AUSTIN, Texas (UPI) - In the worlds of chemistry and material science, thin is in. Squeeze, shave and press a chemical element into a one-atom-thick sheet, add the suffix "ene" to the end, and you've got a new material sure to posses industrial and technological applications.

First it was graphene, promising to revolutionize everything from medecine to electronics. Now, it's silicene -- a sheet of silicon, one atom thick -- vowing to make computers chips even faster.

Like carbon and graphene, silicon organizes into a neat honeycomb like atomic structure when squeezed into its thinnest form. This makes for exceptional electrical conductivity.

It's application in the construction of computer chips could improve speed and efficiency. Many companies in Silicon Valley have been looking to develop new materials for computer chips, as silicon seemed to have reached a performance ceiling.

Silicene transistors could quickly become a favorite in the Valley, researchers say, as it is so similar to the material that turned Northern California into the heart of America's tech boom.

"If we can get good properties out of it, it can be translated immediately by the semiconductor industry," Deji Akinwande, a computer engineer at the University of Texas at Austin, told the MIT Technology Review.

Akinwande has developed a variety of techniques for producing and working with the delicate yet stubborn material.

Still, silicene remains especially difficult to grow in a lab, and some scientists question whether it is (or ever will be) ready for industrial application or commercial adoption. It is corrupted almost as soon as it formed, and must be thoroughly protected as it is adapted to its application.

But other researchers say Akinwande's demonstration of a silicene transistor is likely to encourage other scientists to try working with the material.

"Nobody could have expected that in such a short time, something that didn't exist could make a transistor," Guy Le Lay, a materials scientist at Aix-Marseille University in France, told Nature.

"Now that a device has been made," Le Lay said, "other scientists will see it is not a dream material, it is a practical thing."


*-- Can jet planes launch small satellites into orbit on the cheap? --*
WASHINGTON (UPI) - Launching a satellite is an expensive endeavor. Rockets must be built -- often only to be obliterated upon re-entry or wrecked as they splash back into the ocean. And massive amounts of fuel must be expended to propel the heavy metal objects through Earth's atmosphere. It's a problem for both private communication companies and the federal government.

But problem solvers at the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency are working on a solution -- the Airborne Launch Assist Space Access (ALASA) program. Military engineers working on the program want to use a small and efficient propellant system launched from a jet plane (not a large rocket blasted from a launch pad), to spring satellites weighing up to 100 pounds into low Earth orbit.

Figuring out how to launch small satellites with a jet would cost a fraction of the price of a traditional rocket launch. Plus, the aircraft is 100 percent reusable. Such a strategy would also allow communication systems to be bolstered on short notice.

"We've made good progress so far toward ALASA's ambitious goal of propelling 100-pound satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO) within 24 hours of call-up, all for less than $1 million per launch," said Bradford Tousley, director of DARPA's Tactical Technology Office. "We're moving ahead with rigorous testing of new technologies that we hope one day could enable revolutionary satellite launch systems that provide more affordable, routine and reliable access to space."

The project's initial planning has been approved and it has since moved into Phase 2, with DARPA contracting Boeing to execute on the construction of several prototypes. Up to 12 test flights are included in Phase 2 planning.

In addition to potentially saving time and fuel costs, the plan would also limit the necessity of some ground-based launch infrastructure and would free up the planning constraints currently inhibiting federal agencies, military branches and communication companies that often have to share rides into orbit.

"We envision an alternative to ride-sharing for satellites that enables satellite owners to launch payloads from any location into orbits of their choosing, on schedules of their choosing, on a launch vehicle designed specifically for small payloads," said Mitchell Burnside Clapp, program manager for ALASA.

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