For
this I credit Popular Mechanics,
January 2013 issue, pages 64-67 – a brilliant piece by Alex Hutchinson,
subtitled “The Concepts You Need to Know for 2013.” (Also thanks to good old MS Notepad for
helping me store and find my 12/30 note to use the article.)
1.
Nanopore sequencing: Decoding the complete genome of DNA by using linked
sequencers by Oxford Nanopore Technologies.
“Each sequencer pulls a strand of DNA through a 1-nanometer-wide hole …
and monitors the distinctive changes in an electric current that reveal which
of the four DNA bases is passing through the opening.” -- in about 15 minutes; (it took four months
in 2008.)
2.
Cognitive radio: Crowded airways [like in a church meeting full of iPads,
iPhones, etc.] need “cognitive radio devices, whose signals automatically jump
back and forth between frequencies in a fraction of a second to find open
spectrum.”
3.
Co-robotics: “… the next generation of robots will work closely with humans,
augmenting our capabilities …”
4.
Targeted tweets: “On Twitter, brands want their promoted tweets to show up only
for specific targeted audiences.” A new
way to advertise “to those they think will listen.”
5.
Plug-and-play satellites: The result of standardizing components and
“developing a common language for the parts to communicate …: A satellite can be designed and built in six
days instead of six years.”
6.
IGZO display: The semiconductor indium gallium zinc oxide can make screens
sharper for computers and mobile devices, and save energy.
7.
Cocrystallized explosive: “… military engineers are using [it] to create a new
generation of designer explosives” by merging two different materials into a
single cocrystal. [More complicated than
it sounds.]
8. Single-board
computer: With these credit-card-size … the Raspberry Pi Foundation aims to
take science and technology to schools around the world.” Costs only $25; plugs into a TV or keyboard.
9. Inductive
EV charging: “An electric current in one coil of wire generates an
electromagnetic field, and that induces a voltage in another nearby coil of
wire” for wireless inductive charging of batteries in consumer electronics and
cars. An old idea soon to reach critical
mass.
10.
Space fence: Tracking rush-hour traffic on” the final frontier,” currently done
with a 1961 system, will start to change soon with “construction of the first
radar site in the new $3.5 billion Space
Fence network.” High-frequency radar
detects softball-size objects 1200 miles away, and does “uncued tracking” of
unregistered objects.
Wow! Thanks for the heads-up, Popular Mechanics and Alex Hutchinson.
