Category: Technology

Microelectromechanical Systems Image Gallery

MEMSMicroElectoMechanical Systems (wiki). Yep, these little suckers are going to be big one day, so to speak. I found a page full of examples of gears, racks, mirrors, shutters and drive trains all in beautiful electron microscope vision.

What is it? Well, Wikipedia has this to say about them and quite frankly it does a good job:

MEMS generally range in size from a micrometer (a millionth of a meter) to a millimeter (thousandth of a meter). At these size scales, the standard constructs of classical physics do not always hold true. Due to MEMS’ large surface area to volume ratio, surface effects such as electrostatics and wetting dominate volume effects such as inertia or thermal mass.
They are fabricated using modified semiconductor fabrication technology (used to make electronics), molding and plating, wet etching (KOH, TMAH) and dry etching (RIE and DRIE), electro discharge machining (EDM), and other technologies capable of manufacturing very small devices.
Companies with strong MEMS programs come in many sizes. The larger firms specialize in manufacturing high volume inexpensive components or packaged solutions for end markets such as automobiles, biomedical, and electronics. The successful small firms provide value in innovative solutions and absorb the expense of custom fabrication with high sales margins. In addition, both large and small companies work in R&D to explore MEMS technology. Complexity and performance of advanced MEMS based sensors are described by different MEMS sensor generations.

I do know that there are some of these wonderful devices in the new Nintendo Wii (shameless plug, can’t fault a man for trying to get some extra cash can you?).
(image Courtesy of Sandia National Laboratories, SUMMiTTM Technologies, www.mems.sandia.gov)
Sandia MEMS: Image Gallery

Tumblr, Simple Blogs For Your Fast Paced Life

TumblrYou think to yourself, "gee, I wish I could have a nifty cool blog like this one but I’m too lazy.. All that writing and linking of stuff really gets me down." Not to worry, now there’s ‘Tumblr’! Yes, with all the things you need to do in your hectic life how can you be expected to make fully formed thoughts and still keep in touch with your adoring fans via web 2.0 technology? That cat’s not going to wash itself is it? No sir! But with Tumblr you can! With it’s easy to use click and post web interface you can post photos, links, text, video, conversations, and even quotes to your Tumblr web blog. It’s fast and easy, easy and fast. Get your’s today!
Oh yeah, I built one of my own, I figure if anyone reads it they might get back here and might click on the donation button on the right.

With a rush and a push…

Electronic Music Box Kit

OTOKIBAKOI can see something like this being hacked to become a MIDI input device.

OTOKIBAKO, an electronic music kit operated by turning the handle at the side, plays melodies by reading the black and white melody data sheet with light sensors. In addition, the special software "Melody Factory for OTOKIBAKO" enables you to create a melody data sheet of your own melody (with 3 octave range (C to B) including halftones)! 8 tones and 15 melodies are already installed. The wooden outer box projects a warm atmosphere and inspires you to paint on or carve pictures on to create your own OTOKIBAKO.

[via ektopia]
ELEKIT WEB World::BT-830 OTOKIBAKO

1×50 Atom Transistor

Graphene Transistors DemonstratedQuite amazing, the transistor junctions made from this material (Graphene) are ten times smaller than their silicon counterparts. As long as the heat dissipation issues are not the same as with silicon these could be what runs the computers in 20 years.

Using the world’s thinnest material, Graphene, researchers at the University of Manchester have created the world’s smallest transistor. According to Professor Andre Geim and Dr. Kostya Novoselov from The School of Physics and Astronomy at The University of Manchester, the new transistors are only one atom thick and less than 50 atoms wide. The development opens the gate to superfast computer chips at sizes not possible before with standard Silicon transistors.


[via digg, DailyTech]
University of Manchester – New graphene transistor promises life after death of silicon chip

Homebrew Nintendo DS Cart Released For Mass Market

Very nice, makes me want a Nintendo DS all the more. I wonder if the games are any good. It would be quite the thing to have a photo viewer on one. Keep a card with holiday snaps with you and pop it in when you want to show them off.

Home brew games and music on the move with your DS! With Games ‘n’ Music, you can put your Nintendo DS or DS Lite at the centre of your digital lifestyle. You can use it to launch home brew games written for the DS and readily available on the internet, listen to your happening sounds with the device’s integrated MP3 player or even watch videos. And you don’t need to modify your console to use it… Games ‘n’ Music comes with a 128MB Micro SD card for you to store your games and data, and if that’s not enough, just slip in a new card and expand its capacity to up to 2GB. It’s really easy to use too. Just fit the Micro SD card into the USB adapter (supplied), plug it into your computer and drag and drop your files onto the card. It’s that easy!

[via digg]
New Mass Market Homebrew Device for Nintendo DS

RFID Stapler, Office Products of the Beast?

RFID staplesLooks like a fine idea to me, I’d love to be able to sweep a scanner over a stack of papers and find out if a lost report is in it. Oh yeah, don’t let the title of the post fool you. That ‘xxx of the Beast‘ crap is for silly ninnies that don’t want the trains to run on time and like constant turmoil caused by the stupid notion of what happens to you after you die. I just figure that by using it in a title it’s a good way to get noticed. Note to all my friends that believe in that sort of thing, sorry to exploit your beliefs but why shouldn’t I  when it’s so darn easy?
Anyway, the RFID enabled staples are something that I’d buy now if I could. I’d staple everything. Papers, boxes, books, you name it! I’d never lose anything ever again. Ah, bliss! However, if I did have a cool high tech trackable stapler I’d more than likely invest on one of these fine DataSafe Security Wallets. It’s best to play it safe now and again, don’t you think? In the mean time I think I might have a closer look at this nifty RFID Experimentation kit I saw over on MAKE.  Think about it, how cool would it be to run a scanner over a sealed box of books and then be able to tell exactly whats in side of it? Anyone with a closet full of stuff will appreciate this I’m sure.

[via SCI FI Tech | SCIFI.COM]
Popluar Science (click on the slideshow)