China-backed Thai railway construction to begin in September
Bangkok (AFP) Jan 22, 2015 -
Construction on a $12 billion Chinese-backed railway through Thailand will begin in September, officials said Thursday, as part of a grand vision to overhaul the country's notoriously creaking network.
"The first two phases will start by September or October at the latest this year and will take around two-and-a-half years to complete," Thailand's Transport Minister Prajin Juntong told repor ...
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Toyota sells 10.23mn vehicles in 2014, still world's top automaker
Tokyo (AFP) Jan 21, 2015 -
Toyota kept its title as the world's biggest automaker on Wednesday as it announced record sales of 10.23 million vehicles last year, outpacing General Motors and Volkswagen, but a shaky outlook for 2015 could see it lose the crown to its German rival.
The worldwide annual sales figure beat Volkswagen, which logged sales of 10.14 million vehicles, and US-based GM, which said it sold 9.92 mil ...
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New method to generate arbitrary optical pulses
Southampton, UK (SPX) Jan 23, 2015 -
Scientists from the University of Southampton have developed a new technique to generate more powerful, more energy efficient and low-cost pulsed lasers.
The technique, which was developed by researchers from the University's Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC), has potential applications in a number of fields that use pulsed lasers including telecommunications, metrology, sensing and ma ...
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Smart keyboard cleans and powers itself -- and can tell who you are
Washington DC (SPX) Jan 23, 2015 -
In a novel twist in cybersecurity, scientists have developed a self-cleaning, self-powered smart keyboard that can identify computer users by the way they type. The device, reported in the journal ACS Nano, could help prevent unauthorized users from gaining direct access to computers.
Zhong Lin Wang and colleagues note that password protection is one of the most common ways we control who ...
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Only the lonely...(reveal the secrets of atomic nuclei)
Warsaw, Poland (SPX) Jan 23, 2015 -
Individual protons and neutrons in atomic nuclei turn out not to behave according to the predictions made by existing theoretical models. This surprising conclusion, reached by an international team of physicists including staff members from the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw (UW), forces us to reconsider how we have been describing large atomic nuclei for the past several decade ...
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Optic fiber for recording temps in extreme industrial environments
Madrid, Spain (SPX) Jan 23, 2015 -
The system they have developed is able to measure the temperature of mechanical or cutting processes in areas where conventional techniques do not have access.
In these environments, thermographic infrared cameras cannot be used because there is not a clear line of vision to the tool's cutting point, nor can thermocouples or other sensors be applied because of the deterioration they will s ...
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Optimizing optimization algorithms
Boston MA (SPX) Jan 23, 2015 -
Optimization algorithms, which try to find the minimum values of mathematical functions, are everywhere in engineering. Among other things, they're used to evaluate design tradeoffs, to assess control systems, and to find patterns in data.
One way to solve a difficult optimization problem is to first reduce it to a related but much simpler problem, then gradually add complexity back in, so ...
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Two or one splashing... It's different
Bonn, Germany (SPX) Jan 23, 2015 -
If two children splash in the sea high water waves will emerge due to constructive superposition. Different observations are made for the microscopic world in an experiment at the University of Bonn, where physicists used a laser beam to generate light waves from two cesium atoms.
The light waves were reflected back from two parallel mirrors. It turned out that this experimental arrangemen ...
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Rice-sized laser, powered one electron at a time, bodes well for quantum computing
Princeton NJ (SPX) Jan 23, 2015 -
Princeton University researchers have built a rice grain-sized laser powered by single electrons tunneling through artificial atoms known as quantum dots. The tiny microwave laser, or "maser," is a demonstration of the fundamental interactions between light and moving electrons.
The researchers built the device - which uses about one-billionth the electric current needed to power a hair d ...
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Breakthrough lights up metamaterials
New York NY (SPX) Jan 23, 2015 -
A City College of New York led-team has successfully demonstrated how to both enhance light emission and capture light from metamaterials embedded with light emitting nanocrystals. The breakthrough, headed by physicist Dr. Vinod Menon, could lead to a range of applications including ultrafast LEDs, nanoscale lasers and efficient single photon sources.
In the demonstration, the team used me ...
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Nano-beaker offers insight into the condensation of atoms
Basel, Switzerland (SPX) Jan 23, 2015 -
An international team of physicists has succeeded in mapping the condensation of individual atoms, or rather their transition from a gaseous state to another state, using a new method.
Led by the Swiss Nanoscience Institute and the Department of Physics at the University of Basel, the team was able to monitor for the first time how xenon atoms condensate in microscopic measuring beakers, o ...
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Canada's ambassador presses Obama on Keystone pipeline
Washington (AFP) Jan 22, 2015 -
Canada's envoy to Washington urged US President Barack Obama Thursday to approve the long-delayed Keystone XL oil pipeline, saying he wants to "correct the myths" about the controversial project.
Ambassador Gary Doer met in the US Capitol with two senators - one Democrat, one Republican - who support the pipeline that would transport Alberta oil sands crude to refineries along the US Gulf ...
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US duties on solar products will cause 'serious harm': China
Beijing (AFP) Jan 22, 2015 -
A US trade panel's move to impose import duties on solar products made in China and Taiwan will cause "serious harm", Beijing said Thursday, warning of the decision's global repercussions.
The statement from China's Commerce Ministry came one day after the US International Trade Commission paved the way for duty orders on imports of certain crystalline silicon photovoltaic products, saying t ...
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Ford goes Silicon Valley with new research center
San Francisco (AFP) Jan 22, 2015 -
Ford opened a new research center in Silicon Valley on Thursday, stepping up the company's efforts on connected vehicles, autonomous driving and ways to use big data.
"At Ford, we view ourselves as both a mobility and an auto company, as we drive innovation in every part of our business," said chief executive Mark Fields as he opened the new center in Palo Alto, California.
"This new res ...
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