Lifeboat Foundation

A team of researchers affiliated with multiple institutions in China and one in the U.S. has found that semiconducting crystals of indium selenide (InSe) have exceptional flexibility. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes testing samples of InSe and what they learned about the material. Xiaodong Han with Beijing University of Technology has published a Perspective piece outlining the work by the team in China in the same journal issue.

As the researchers note, most semiconductors are rigid, which means they are difficult to use in applications that require varied surfaces or bending. This has presented a problem for portable device makers as they attempt to respond to user demand for bendable electronics. In this new effort, the researchers in China have found one semiconductor, InSe, that is not only flexible, but is so pliable that it can be processed using rollers.

InSe, as its name implies, is a compound made from indium (a metal element often used in touchscreens) and selenium (a non-metal element). Selenium is also a 2-D semiconductor, and has come under scrutiny after researchers discovered that its bandgap matched the visible region in the electromagnetic spectrum. It has previously been studied for use in specialty optoelectronic applications. In this new effort, the researchers looked into the possibility of using it as a semiconductor in bendable portable electronic devices.

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES), long the world’s largest tech trade show, will be all-digital in January 2021, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) announced on Monday. The CTA cited the COVID-19 pandemic and concerns about the spread of the virus as its reasoning for canceling the in-person event.

CES usually takes place in Las Vegas and involves many large gatherings in tightly packed convention halls, as well as smaller meetings between retailers, manufacturers, and other industry professionals.

Per the CTA, the digital CES will be a “new immersive experience.” The organization did not provide many details about what the online event will look like, but it claims it will be “highly personalized.” The organization still plans to hold CES 2022 in Las Vegas.

Circa 2008

Industrial motors can spin at a head-spinning 250,000 revolutions per minute. But a new matchbook-sized motor runs circles around the competition.

Researchers from ETH Zurich’s Department of Power Electronics created a drive system in cooperation with its industrial partners that exceeded 1,000,000 rpm in tests.

A giant underground gyroscope array has taken its first measurements of how the world goes ’round.

👽 New beetle

Fyodor R.

Researchers have developed a tiny wireless camera that is light enough to be carried by live beetles.

Continue reading “Beetle-mounted camera streams insect adventures” »

The consumer-electronics research arm has been quiet for years—but it’s also been busy. Its new mission: Make Google hardware as smart as Google software.

Adidas GMR, a smart insole for soccer players, is powered by Google ATAP’s Jacquard technology. [Photo: courtesy of Google].

Seagate has confirmed it is working on optical data storage.

Dark matter must exist, but has evaded all attempts to find it. Now comes our boldest plan yet – sensing its minuscule gravitational force as it brushes past us.

Samsung has announced its latest lineup of high-capacity consumer solid-state drives: the 870 QVO. It starts at $129.99 for the 1TB SSD, working all the way up to Samsung’s first 8TB model made for consumers.