Tiny plasma analyzer now orbiting Earth

LAUREL, Md., March 12 (UPI) -- A new U.S. orbiting satellite is carrying a tiny analyzer to study plasma depletions, known as plasma bubbles, that can disrupt communications.

Researchers from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., working with scientists from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Goddard Space Flight Center and the U.S. Air Force Academy, developed the Flat Plasma Spectrometer.

The analyzer is one of three experimental payloads onboard the Air Force Academy's Falconsat-3 microsatellite that was launched Thursday on an Atlas V from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The six-month mission is demonstrating an improved technology to help the Air Force better understand and forecast plasma bubbles.

"We've aggressively miniaturized the instrument by applying manufacturing techniques used in the micro-electronics world to build personal computer components," said Robert Osiander, APL's principal investigator for the project. "Where we once could only carry one spectrometer per spacecraft, we can now carry dozens."

Falconsat-3 was one of six satellites launched aboard a single rocket as part of the U.S. Defense Department's Space Test Program-1 mission, the first Air Force mission to use an Atlas V launch vehicle.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International. All Rights Reserved.

Next big things in consumer gadgets

CHICAGO, March 11 (UPI) -- Biometrics and Bluetooth stole the show Sunday at the International Housewares Association trade show in Chicago.

SPI Inc. featured a headrest that can be attached to a car seat or office chair, equipped with Bluetooth for the phone and a jack for an iPod or other MP3 player.

SPI spokeswoman Erin Burgy said developers were just focusing on in-car use in light of legislation making its way through state legislatures mandating the use of hands-free devices for cell phones for drivers.

"But we had a number of executives come by and say they'd attach it to their office chairs since they do a lot of business on their cell phones," Burgy said.

The headrest is set to make its debut in the fourth quarter and sell for $59.95.

Pass Lock introduced the PL-600, a security lock that can be programmed to recognize a thumbprint. The security lock also works with a number code, electronic key or panic key and is designed for installation on homes, apartments or to secure rooms.

The $649 unit runs on batteries and the company estimates it can actually save money for landlords over 10 years with an average lock costing $200 and replacement keys running $2 to $4.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International. All Rights Reserved.

Scientists build nanoscale electron switch

BOULDER, Colo., March 8 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers have demonstrated a prototype nanoscale electronic switch that works with lightning-like speed.

The scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology said their proof-of-concept experiments demonstrate nanoscale electrical switches can be built from self-assembled layers of organic molecules on silver wires. Potential applications range from a replacement technology for magnetic data storage to integrated circuit memory devices.

Scientists note silver would be a natural choice for nanoscale and microscale electrical contacts because of its high conductivity but it has one notorious drawback: in an electric field, silver ions readily form silver "whiskers," tree-like branching growths of crystals that can short-out microelectronic devices.

But two NIST researchers have demonstrated that can be a feature, not a bug, in an experiment that uses the branching to make a nanoscale binary switch.

The NIST has applied for a patent on the switch.

The study was reported recently in the journal Applied Physics Letters.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International. All Rights Reserved.

Scientists urge fiber optic clock signals

BOULDER, Colo., March 8 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say atomic clock signals generated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology might be best shared using fiber-optics technology.

The researchers at JILA -- a collaboration of NIST and the University of Colorado-Boulder -- say time and frequency information can be transferred between laboratories or to other users in several ways. But they said the best atomic clocks today are so accurate -- neither gaining nor losing 1 second in as long as 400 million years -- more stable methods are needed.

The scientists said the best solution might be to use lasers to transfer data over fiber-optic cables, allowing accurate comparisons of distantly located atomic clocks of different types. That, say the researchers, might lead to enhanced measurement accuracy in experiments to determine whether so-called constants of nature are, in fact, changing.

Sharing of clock signals via fiber also would enable synchronization of components for advanced X-ray sources at linear accelerators, which may power studies of ultra-fast phenomena in chemistry, biology, physics and materials science.

Three state-of-the-art techniques for distributing ultra-stable time and frequency signals over fiber optics are described online in the journal Review of Scientific Instruments.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International. All Rights Reserved.

Insider trading probe of electronics firm

TAIPEI, Taiwan, March 13 (UPI) -- Taiwan's biggest maker of branded consumer electronics was searched Tuesday as part of an investigation into alleged insider trading, prosecutors said.

Three current or former senior BenQ Corp. financial executives were also detained for questioning, prosecutors said.

The investigation involves allegations some employees benefited from a sell-off of BenQ shares in March 2006, just before the company posted a huge fourth-quarter 2005 loss, which led to the company's share price plummeting, Financial Supervisory Commission Vice Chairwoman Susan Chang told Taiwan's Central News Agency.

Neither the FSC nor prosecutors gave further details.

BenQ said it would cooperate fully with the investigation.

In October 2005 BenQ bought Germany's Siemens AG's cell-phone division and set up BenQ Mobile to make BenQ-Siemens cell phones.

The new company's German division soon filed for bankruptcy after BenQ said it would stop funding the business. About 2,000 employees lost their jobs.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International. All Rights Reserved.