Brown University researchers have devised a way to control both the size and composition of iron-platinum nanorods and nanowires. Nanorods with uniform shape and magnetic alignment are one key to the next generation of high-density information storage, but have been difficult to make in bulk.

The technique produces nanorods and nanowires from 20 nm to 200 nm long by varying the ratio of solvent and surfactant used in synthesis. Researchers also demonstrated that the same technique works to control the shape of cobalt-platinum nanorods, suggesting that it may work for many other combinations as well.

Just a few years ago, the average computer used a 120-GB disk drive to hold all of a userís information. Today’s multimedia-intensive user can exhaust that capacity in no time and the need continues to grow. Engineers expect to max out conventional magnetic storage techniques by about 2010, at which time nanotechnology may be the only viable alternative.

In addition to information storage, the method has potential in other areas where very dense magnetic charge is an advantage, including magnetic motors and generators. The stability and biocompatibility of the iron-platinum alloy also make such nanorods and nanowires good candidates for biological applications.

Visit here for more information.

NASA has released its CLARAty (Coupled-Layer Architecture for Robotic Autonomy) robotic software for public downloading. CLARAty is an integrated framework for reusable robotic software that defines interfaces for common robotic capabilities such as pose estimation, navigation, locomotion, and planning. In addition to supporting multiple algorithms, CLARAty provides adaptations to multiple robotic platforms.

NASA is releasing most of the CLARAty infrastructure and several of its algorithms that have been approved for public release. The long-term goal is to release as much of the robotic functionality as possible in order to engage the public robotic community to develop surface mobility and robotic control algorithms for challenging environments.

The first release provides a sample of the CLARAty reusable robotic infrastructure and includes mechanism models for wheeled, legged, and hybrid vehicles. Other modules include support for generic digital and analog I/O, cameras, and motors. Several modules in this release provide vision infrastructure for images, color images, camera models, 3D point cloud, and surface normal image representations.

Visit here for more info on downloading the public elements of CLARAty.

New and/or advanced curing technologies are needed to incorporate into a metal packaging protective coating and decoration process. Systems could be used in metal containers for aerosols, beverages, food products and specialty packaging, all of which require external and/or internal protective coatings. Click here to respond to this Tech Need.

Environmentally cleaner solutions for aggregate binding technologies are needed that are able to withstand high temperatures. The desired solution could be an inorganic technology, although more acceptable organic binders or hybrid mixes of inorganic and organic will be considered. Click here to respond to this Tech Need.

The Technology Needs of the Week are anonymous requests for technology, distributed through the yet2.com marketplace, that you and your organization may be able to fulfill. Responding to a Tech Need is the first step to gaining an introduction with a prospective “buyer” for your technology solution.

A prototype of what may be the next generation of personal computers has been developed by researchers at the University of Maryland. The system is capable of computing speeds 100 times faster than current desktops and is based on parallel processing on a single chip, an approach that allows the computer to perform different tasks simultaneously.

The prototype uses a circuit board about the size of a license plate on which 64 parallel processors are mounted. To control those processors, they have developed the crucial parallel computer organization that allows the processors to work together and make programming simple for developers. In future devices, the technology could include 1,000 processors on a chip the size of a fingernail.

Uzi Vishkin, UM professor and developer of the prototype, explained the advantage of parallel processing: “Suppose you hire one person to clean your home, and it takes five hours, or 300 minutes, for the person to perform each task, one after the other. That’s analogous to the current serial processing method. Now imagine that you have 100 cleaning people who can work on your home at the same time! That’s the parallel processing method.”

For more information on the technology, and to find out how you can submit a name for the technology, visit here.

A portfolio of technologies applies mid-infrared spectroscopy to the analysis of fluids, including blood, serum, and other biological fluids. Tests are non-destructive and the techniques require no reagents or other chemicals. The spectroscopic signatures obtained from the samples can be used to aid the diagnosis of disease, since molecular signatures are unique. Multiple analytes can be obtained from one sample within a single measurement, and typical tests require only 30 seconds. Click here for more info.

By applying mid-infrared spectroscopy to bodily fluids, a suite of technologies offers the potential for quick, accurate, and inexpensive diagnostic support for a variety of diseases in humans or animals. A spectrographic “snapshot” of sample fluids from blood serum, lymph, and saliva can be matched to the unique spectroscopic pattern of known conditions and diseases. Pattern recognition can then result in a quick diagnosis. Because each spectrogram is captured digitally at a moment in time and contains the complete spectrum from the sample, there is no inherent need to preserve the sample. Click here for more info.

The Technologies of the Week describe inventions offered for license through the yet2.com marketplace. Search over $2.5 billion of licensable technologies at www.yet2.com.