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10 June 2014 Wireless data connections that exploit millimetre wave radio spectrum (30GHz to 300GHz) are expected to be used in worldwide 5G networks from 2020. The University of Bristol's Communication Systems and Networks research group has partnered with Bristol start-up Blu Wireless Technology (BWT) to develop this technology and they will demonstrate their innovative work at the Small Cells World Summit in London this week [10-12 June].

Illustration of a new structure developed by UCLA researchers for more energy-efficient computer chips. The arrows indicate the effective magnetic field due to the structure's asymmetry. Researchers at UCLA have created a nanoscale magnetic component for computer memory chips that could significantly improve their energy efficiency and scalability.

Spider silk transmits vibrations across a wide range of frequencies so that, when plucked like a guitar string, its sound carries information about prey, mates, and even the structural integrity of a web. The discovery was made by researchers from the Universities of Oxford, Strathclyde, and Sheffield who fired bullets and lasers at spider silk to study how it vibrates.

Combining black and white graphene can change the electronic properties of the one-atom thick material, researchers have found. Writing , an international team including Lancaster University shows that the electronic properties of graphene change dramatically if graphene is placed on top of boron nitride, also known as 'white graphite'.

02 Jun 2014 Combining black and white graphene can change the electronic properties of the one-atom thick materials, University of Manchester researchers have found. Writing , a large international team led by Dr Artem Mishchenko and Sir Andre Geim from The University of Manchester shows that the electronic properties of graphene change dramatically if graphene is placed on top of boron nitride, also known as 'white graphite'.

Graphene continues to reign as the next potential superstar material for the electronics industry, a slimmer, stronger and  much faster electron conductor than silicon. With no natural energy band-gap, however, graphene's superfast conductance can't be switched off, a serious drawback for transistors and other electronic devices.

Fast and curious: Electrons hurtle into the interior of a new class of quantum materials Posted May 16, 2014; 09:00 a.m. by Catherine Zandonella, Office of the Dean for Research As smartphones get smarter and computers compute faster, researchers actively search for ways to speed up the processing of information.

Caltech researchers have found a way to make measurements that go beyond the limits imposed by quantum physics. Today, we are capable of measuring the position of an object with unprecedented accuracy, but quantum physics and the Heisenberg uncertainty principle place fundamental limits on our ability to measure.

Press release issued: 14 May 2014 A team of researchers from the Universities of Bath, Bristol and Dundee has discovered for the first time that ultrasonic waves can be used to grab several microparticles at a time, effectively creating a pair of invisible 'ultrasonic hands' that can move tiny objects, such as cells, under a microscope.

Topological insulators are an emerging class of materials that act as both insulators and conductors, and could potentially be used in smartphones, computers and other electronic devices. A research team at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science has developed a new class of topological insulators in which one of two layers is magnetized.

Carnegie Mellon Researchers Use Autonomous Airboats To Monitor Hippo Dung in Kenya's Mara River Basin-Carnegie Mellon News - Carnegie Mellon University Floating Robots Venture Over Brown Pools Where Humans Dare Not Go : Byron Spice / 412-268-9068 / bspice [a] cs.cmu (p) edu PITTSBURGH—Small, autonomous airboats, disguised to look like crocodiles, helped scientists measure water quality this spring in Kenya's Mara River.

Manganites - compounds of manganese oxides - show great promise as "go-to" materials for future electronic devices because of their ability to instantly switch from an electrical insulator to a conductor under a wide variety of external stimuli, including magnetic fields, photo-excitations and vibrational excitations. This ultrafast switching arises from the many different ways in which the electrons and electron-spins in a manganite may organize or re-organize in response to such external stimuli.

While setting out to fabricate new springs to support a cephalopod-inspired imaging project, a group of Harvard researchers stumbled upon a surprising discovery: the hemihelix, a shape rarely seen in nature. This made the researchers wonder: Were the three-dimensional structures they observed randomly occurring, or are there specific factors that control their formation? The scientists answered that question by performing experiments in which they stretched, joined, and then released rubber strips.

While setting out to fabricate new springs to support a cephalopod-inspired imaging project, a group of Harvard researchers stumbled upon a surprising discovery: the hemihelix, a shape rarely seen in nature. This made the researchers wonder: Were the three-dimensional structures they observed randomly occurring, or are there specific factors that control their formation? The scientists answered that question by performing experiments in which they stretched, joined, and then released rubber strips.

When workers and organizations circumvent computer passwords and security rules, they unwittingly open the door to hackers, according to a study co-authored by Ross Koppel , an adjunct professor of sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. Koppel is also an affiliate professor at Penn's Perlman School of Medicine , a senior fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Penn's Wharton School and a senior investigator at the Department of Computer and Information Science in Penn's School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Press release issued: 16 April 2014 The development of light-driven 'micro-robots' that can autonomously investigate and manipulate the nano-scale environment in a microscope comes a step closer, thanks to new research from the University of Bristol. Such devices could be used for high-resolution imaging, allowing the investigation of delicate biological samples such as cells in new ways.

Scientists at Yale have confirmed a 50-year-old, previously untested theoretical prediction in physics and improved the energy storage time of a quantum switch by several orders of magnitude. They report their results in the April 17 issue of the journal Nature. High-quality quantum switches are essential for the development of quantum computers and the quantum internet - innovations that would offer vastly greater information processing power and speed than classical (digital) computers, as well as more secure information transmission.

Researchers have discovered a way to use standard semiconductors to detect light over a much broader range of wavelengths. The technology, developed by a team of scientists at Georgia State University and the University of Leeds, opens new possibilities in solar power generation and low-energy light detection.

Playing electronic games can make people feel aggressive, but new research finds that the reason has little to do with violent content. Researchers from the University of Oxford in the UK and the University of Rochester in the US carried out lab tests in which volunteers played both violent and non-violent games.

Scientists at Yale University have devised a dramatically faster way of identifying and characterizing complex alloys known as bulk metallic glasses (BMGs), a versatile type of pliable glass that's stronger than steel. Using traditional methods, it usually takes a full day to identify a single metal alloy appropriate for making BMGs.