Monday, November 17, 2003

Wednesday, November 05, 2003

Breakthrough in chip making or hype?
John Markoff, "Intel Claims Breakthrough in Chip Making," New York Times, November 5, 2003. Available online. (accessed today, free registration required).
David Lammers, "Intel plans high-k gate to stem wasted power,"EE Times, November 5, 2003. Available online. (accessed today).


It's actually unclear whether or not this is enough of a breakthrough to warrant Intel's boasts. It appears that this research is similar to what's being conducted in several labs around the country with high-k materials. Basically, the idea is that when you try to put more and more gates on a chip by thinning the silicon dioxide insulation layer, tunnelling occurs which causes energy loss. A better insulator would allow for more gates in the same volume.

Dial a Buoy?
Wired News: Seafaring the Smart Way
National Data Buoy Center Dial-A-Buoy Introduction
Now incoming or outgoing ships can use their cell phones or sat phones to call and get up-to-date conditions retrieved from NOAA buoys.

Friday, October 31, 2003

NeoDys

Near Earth Objects Dynamic Site
This site was featured in The NSDL Scout Report for the Physical Sciences v.2 no. 21 (October 31, 2003). Available online http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/Reports/NSDL/PhysSci/2003/ps-031031.php. "NEODyS provides information and services for all Near Earth Asteroids. Each NEA has its own dynamically generated home page providing information and services, and a search facility puts the information in easy reach." -- from the page

Thursday, October 30, 2003

NOVA | The Elegant Universe | PBS
{trying out the button on my Google toolbar}
This show should definitely be of interest to physicists and philosophers. It's basically a history and explanation of string theory. This is the theory that some hope will unify our understanding of everything from the very little to the very big. The book's even better: Brian Greene, The elegant universe : superstrings, hidden dimensions, and the quest for the ultimate theory, New York : Vintage Books, 2000. (QC794.6 .S85 G75 2000)
Hi! I'm just trying to set up a blog for the first time so we'll see how it goes. If all goes well, I can add postings to interesting things and helpful pages I find on the internet. We'll see.