Cars could soon negotiate smart intersections without ever having to stop. Sick of waiting at traffic lights? The semi-autonomous driving aids being fitted to many new cars could consign the red light to history, Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) researchers report. According to their modeling, a system in which each car crosses […]
Applying Heat to Stay on Track
A clever electro-thermal actuator and lever system keeps hard drive recording heads on track. As the density of data stored on a hard drive gets close to multiple terabytes per square centimeter, the precision of the internal components is becoming increasingly significant. Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) researchers have designed a system […]
Lighting the Way to Miniature Devices
Electromagnetic waves created on a layer of organic molecules could provide the perfect on-chip light source for future quantum communication systems. A team of scientists including researchers at Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, has captured tiny flashes of light from an ultrathin layer of organic molecules sandwiched between two electrodes that could […]
Perfectly Formed Random-access Memory
Resistive random-access memory that avoids an initial forming process improves fabrication methods and reliability. An enhanced design for a promising computer memory technology has been developed by researchers at Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore. Victor Zhuo and colleagues developed resistive random-access memory (RRAM) that, during fabrication, does not require a harmful high-voltage […]
Perovskite Can Take the Heat
Myth-busting research into a new alternative solar cell material could lead to cheaper solar cells. Solar cells that are cheaper and easier to manufacture could challenge the dominance of silicon, with new research showing an alternative material called perovskite is more efficient and adaptable than previously thought. The challenge to developing efficient and cheap commercially […]
Light-modified Material Modifies Light
A material whose optical properties can be modified on a small scale by laser light promises a wide range of applications. Properties of small areas of a versatile optical film can be tweaked by applying ultrashort pulses of laser light, researchers at Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, show [1]. This tunability makes […]
High-Tech Librarian Knows Its Books
Automated robot that scans library shelves using laser mapping and radio tags can ensure no book is misplaced again. Being able to access and download information in an instant is a hallmark of the digital age. But much of the world’s knowledge remains between the pages of printed books. Tracking these volumes in libraries is […]
Silicon-Rich Alloy Offers Enhanced Channeling of Light for Optical Computer Chips
To improve the efficiency of waveguides — devices that guide light on the surface of silicon optical computer chips — a complex balance must be struck. The need for enhanced optical signal processing properties competes with the demand for low optical losses in waveguide material. Now, researchers at Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), […]
Robots & Humans: Who’s the Master?
Continuous adaptation makes for more natural interactions between robots and humans in shared tasks. A robot’s role in a shared task could be continuously adjusted during the activity, thanks to a new adaptive robot control system developed by researchers at Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, that can sense whether a human operator […]
‘Green’ Batteries Made to Last
An oxide/carbon composite outperforms expensive platinum composites in oxygen chemical reactions for green energy devices. Electrochemical devices are crucial to a green energy revolution in which clean alternatives replace carbon-based fuels. This revolution requires conversion systems that produce hydrogen from water or rechargeable batteries that can store clean energy in cars. Now, Singapore-based researchers have […]