Scientists demo spintronics semiconductor

Scientists at Ohio State University have demonstrated a form of plastic computer memory that uses the spin of electrons to read and write data, reports ZDNet.

The prototype spintronic device was developed using techniques found in the mainstream computer industry today. It's simply a thin strip of dark blue organic-based magnet layered with a metallic ferromagnet and connected to two electrical leads.

Still, the researchers successfully recorded data on it and retrieved the data by controlling the spins of the electrons with a magnetic field. The device is a bridge between today's computers and the all-polymer, spintronic computers the researchers hope to eventually create, according to a university release.

The University of Calgary, Faculty of Medicine scientists who proved it is possible to cultivate a network of brain cells that reconnect on a silicon chip have helped develop a new technology that monitors brain cell activity at a resolution never achieved before, writes Science Centric.

Developed with the National Research Council Canada (NRC), the new silicon chips are also simpler to use, which will help future understanding of how brain cells work under normal conditions and permit drug discoveries for a variety of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

The new technology from the lab of Naweed Syed, PhD, in collaboration with the NRC, is published online this month in the journal, Biomedical Microdevices.

Micro electromechanical systems, or MEMs, are promising in an array of hi-tech applications, says Gizmag.

However, the accuracy of conventional techniques to gauge the force and movement of tiny objects containing components so small they have to be measured on the scale of micrometers or nanometers are typically off by 10% or more because of their inherent uncertainties.

A new technology enabling MEMs to 'self-calibrate' could overcome this problem and make possible super-accurate and precise sensors for crime-scene forensics, environmental testing and medical diagnostics.