This week’s Top 5 engineering technology articles include breakthroughs in existing items that have the potential for some serious transformative power.
- Transparent Wood Made Stronger Than Glass By Applying Epoxy
- These New Earbuds Can Translate Languages For You In Real-Time
- High-Efficiency Power Amplifier Could Bring 5G Cell Phones
- DHL’s Tilt-Rotor ‘Parcelcopter’ Is Both Awesome And Actually Useful
- IBM Scientists Achieve Storage Memory Breakthrough
Transparent Wood Made Stronger Than Glass By Applying Epoxy
Phys.org
It’s not quite transparent aluminum, but it was enough to get me interested in clicking on the article. Making transparent wood has some interesting applications in things like solar panels, privacy windows, automobiles, etc. And now, by adding epoxy the research team has made the product stronger, a better insulator, and be more biodegradable than plastic.
Though the methods to prepare the wood might be a bit extensive now, by refining them for mass production, the sustainability of materials and removal of a segment of plastics from the environment could be another huge win for the planet.
These New Earbuds Can Translate Languages For You In Real-Time
Science Alert
There have been any number of science fiction endeavors that have used an instant translator. By swallowing a pill or putting a device in your ear, you are able to hear any language (human or otherwise) instantly translated into your native language.
Beyond the applications of understanding the intricacies of an alien race to maintain diplomacy and peace, an item like that could be very handy on Earth today. Imagine traveling to another country and being able to communicate without studying another language for weeks, months, or more.
Global companies would be able to conduct business without fear of mistranslation or delay in document preparation. And, it would make subtitled films a much nicer experience.
High-Efficiency Power Amplifier Could Bring 5G Cell Phones
Phys.org
Though the phone sitting next to me while I compose this post has more computing power than the desktop computer I used while in college, I’m always looking for it to go faster and be more efficient.
And, researchers at Purdue University may have come across a way to make that happen much faster than scheduled. 4G phones are currently the “peak” of cell technology, but 5G is not only in development, but less than three years from market based on industry projection.
This push to market could be sped up greatly by using a power amplifier made of silicon vs. the current method of gallium arsenide. By using silicon, the researchers are able to integrate the power amplifier necessary for 5G directly into the chip. Not only does this boost power, but would reduce manufacturing costs and power consumption within the device.
So, here’s to 5G and all the wonderfully connected things you might be able to do, but in reality Words with Friends and Candy Crush will simply load faster between turns.
DHL’s Tilt-Rotor ‘Parcelcopter’ Is Both Awesome And Actually Useful
Wired.com
Between two remote villages in the Bavarian Alps, it takes roughly 45 minutes to navigate the weather and distance. DHL, a German shipping company, has reduced the time for package delivery between villages to eight minutes.
With the ability to automatically deliver medicines and small packages through the wind and snow, that makes this service infinitely more useful than the vague promises of other delivery companies to have drone delivery everywhere by 2020.
IBM Scientists Achieve Storage Memory Breakthrough
Phys.org
Memo
ry storage has exploded in my lifetime. I’m old enough to remember installing a basic computer program by inserting floppy disc 1, waiting, inserting floppy disc 2, waiting, etc. And heaven help you if you didn’t load up the discs in the correct order or fast enough for the program to be recognized. We moved from that to smaller discs with more storage, zip discs with the capability of 100 floppy discs, to a flash drive that I put in my pocket with 8 gigs of storage and beyond.
Now, with improvements at IBM, storage memory is about to have a major breakthrough. According to the researchers, this breakthrough could provide exponential storage growth. Using a process called Phase Change Memory, the researchers have sketched out standalone storage, combination storage, and storage caches.
This method combined with the 5G phones may mean an even larger expansion in initiatives like the connectivity of the Internet of Things.
So, that’s all for me this week. Keep your eyes open to the world around you and grab yourself an instant translator and you’ll have news from everywhere.
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