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Category: electronics

Sea urchin spines inspire self-powered underwater sensors

Nature does it again! The natural world has a knack for giving us the blueprints for some useful technologies, and the humble sea urchin is the latest contributor. Scientists have designed a new class of smart sensors by mimicking the internal architecture found in their spines.

Sea urchins are covered in movable spines that have long been thought of as a form of deterrent and protection against predators. But according to a new study published in the journal Nature, they are also sophisticated sensing tools.

Shield and sensor.

New diamond growth method slashes device temperatures by 41°F

What started as a fun experiment to create a decorative diamond “owl” for distinguished guests has evolved into a scalable manufacturing process for electronics.

Researchers at Rice University have developed a bottom-up method for growing patterned diamond surfaces to cool electronics.

The technique enables diamonds to be integrated directly into devices, reducing operating temperatures by 23°C (41°F).

1Campaign platform helps malicious Google ads evade detection

A newly identified cybercrime service known as 1Campaign is enabling threat actors to run malicious Google Ads that remain online for extended periods while evading scrutiny from security researchers.

1Campaign is a cloaking service that passes Google’s screening process and shows malicious content only to real potential victims. Security researchers and automated scanners are served benign white pages.

The operation has been active for at least three years and is managed by a developer using the name ‘DuppyMeister,’ according to a report from data security company Varonis.

The IceCube experiment is ready to uncover more secrets of the universe

The name “IceCube” not only serves as the title of the experiment, but also describes its appearance. Embedded in the transparent ice of the South Pole, a three-dimensional grid of more than 5,000 extremely sensitive light sensors forms a giant cube with a volume of one cubic kilometer. This unique arrangement serves as an observatory for detecting neutrinos, the most difficult elementary particles to detect.

In order to detect neutrinos, they must interact with matter, creating charged particles whose light can be measured. These light measurements can be used to determine information about the properties of neutrinos. However, the probability of neutrinos interacting with matter is extremely low, so they usually pass through it without leaving a trace, which makes their detection considerably more difficult.

For this reason, a large detector volume is required to increase the probability of interaction, and state-of-the-art technology is crucial for detecting such rare interactions.

IceCube upgrade adds six deep sensor strings to detect lower-energy neutrinos

Since 2010, the IceCube Observatory at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station has been delivering groundbreaking measurements of high-energy cosmic neutrinos. It consists of many detectors embedded in a volume of Antarctic ice measuring approximately one cubic kilometer. IceCube has now been upgraded with new optical modules to enable it to measure lower-energy neutrinos as well. Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) made a significant contribution to this expansion.

IceCube serves to measure high-energy neutrinos in an ice volume of one cubic kilometer. As neutrinos themselves do not emit any signals, the tracks of muons and other secondary particles are measured precisely. Muons are elementary particles sometimes produced by the interaction of neutrinos with ice. Contrary to neutrinos, muons carry an electric charge. On their way through the ice, they produce a characteristic light cone, which is detected by highly sensitive detectors.

Now, 51 researchers from around the world have installed six new strings of novel sensors up to 2,400 meters deep into the eternal ice, thereby expanding the IceCube experiment to also measure low-energy neutrinos.

New laser “comb” can enable rapid identification of chemicals with extreme precision

Researchers demonstrated a broadband infrared frequency comb that can operate stably, efficiently, and accurately without the need for bulky external components. The device could be utilized in a remote sensor or portable mass spectrometer that can track and monitor multiple chemicals in real-time for extended periods.

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