Engineers develop new energy-efficient computer memory using magnetic materials

Dec. 14, 2012 ? By using electric voltage instead of a flowing electric current, researchers from UCLA's Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have made major improvements to an ultra-fast, high-capacity class of computer memory known as magnetoresistive random access memory, or MRAM.

The UCLA team's improved memory, which they call MeRAM for magnetoelectric random access memory, has great potential to be used in future memory chips for almost all electronic applications, including smart-phones, tablets, computers and microprocessors, as well as for data storage, like the solid-state disks used in computers and large data centers.

MeRAM's key advantage over existing technologies is that it combines extraordinary low energy with very high density, high-speed reading and writing times, and non-volatility -- the ability to retain data when no power is applied, similar to hard disk drives and flash memory sticks, but MeRAM is much faster.

Currently, magnetic memory is based on a technology called spin-transfer torque (STT), which uses the magnetic property of electrons -- referred to as spin -- in addition to their charge. STT utilizes an electric current to move electrons to write data into the memory.

Yet while STT is superior in many respects to competing memory technologies, its electric current-based write mechanism still requires a certain amount of power, which means that it generates heat when data is written into it. In addition, its memory capacity is limited by how close to each other bits of data can be physically placed, a process which itself is limited by the currents required to write information. The low bit capacity, in turn, translates into a relatively large cost per bit, limiting STT's range of applications.

With MeRAM, the UCLA team has replaced STT's electric current with voltage to write data into the memory. This eliminates the need to move large numbers of electrons through wires and instead uses voltage -- the difference in electrical potential -- to switch the magnetic bits and write information into the memory. This has resulted in computer memory that generates much less heat, making it 10 to 1,000 times more energy-efficient. And the memory can be more than five-times as dense, with more bits of information stored in the same physical area, which also brings down the cost per bit.

The research team was led by principal investigator Kang L. Wang, UCLA's Raytheon Professor of Electrical Engineering, and included lead author Juan G. Alzate, an electrical engineering graduate student, and Pedram Khalili, a research associate in electrical engineering and project manager for the UCLA-DARPA research programs in non-volatile logic.

"The ability to switch nanoscale magnets using voltages is an exciting and fast-growing area of research in magnetism," Khalili said. "This work presents new insights into questions such as how to control the switching direction using voltage pulses, how to ensure that devices will work without needing external magnetic fields, and how to integrate them into high-density memory arrays.

"Once developed into a product," he added, "MeRAM's advantage over competing technologies will not be limited to its lower power dissipation, but equally importantly, it may allow for extremely dense MRAM. This can open up new application areas where low cost and high capacity are the main constraints."

Said Alzate: "The recent announcement of the first commercial chips for STT-RAM also opens the door for MeRAM, since our devices share a very similar set of materials and fabrication processes, maintaining compatibility with the current logic circuit technology of STT-RAM while alleviating the constrains on power and density."

The research was presented Dec. 12 in a paper called "Voltage-Induced Switching of Nanoscale Magnetic Tunnel Junctions" at the 2012 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting in San Francisco, the semiconductor industry's "pre-eminent forum for reporting technological breakthroughs in the areas of semiconductor and electronic device technology."

MeRAM uses nanoscale structures called voltage-controlled magnet-insulator junctions, which have several layers stacked on top of each other, including two composed of magnetic materials. However, while one layer's magnetic direction is fixed, the other can be manipulated via an electric field. The devices are specially designed to be sensitive to electric fields. When the electric field is applied, it results in voltage -- a difference in electric potential between the two magnetic layers. This voltage accumulates or depletes the electrons at the surface of these layers, writing bits of information into the memory.

"Ultra-low-power spintronic devices such as this one have potential implications beyond the memory industry," Wang said. They can enable new instant-on electronic systems, where memory is integrated with logic and computing, thereby completely eliminating standby power and greatly enhancing their functionality."

The work was supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) NV Logic Program. Other authors included researchers from the UCLA Department of Electrical Engineering; UC Irvine's Department of Physics and Astronomy; Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (a Western Digital Company); and Singulus Technologies, of Germany.

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More bang for bugs

Friday, December 14, 2012

A new study from the rainforests of Panama provides an unprecedented level of detail regarding the diversity and distribution of arthropod species from the soil to the forest canopy. Yves Basset, scientific coordinator of the CTFS Arthropod Initiative at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, led an international team on Project IBISCA-Panama to sample, sort, catalogue, and finally estimate that a 6,000 hectare forest hosts a total of around 25,000 arthropod species ? a figure vastly outnumbering that of better-studied organisms. The study will be published online on Dec. 13 in the journal Science.

Most multicellular species on Earth are arthropods living in tropical forests. Yet, given the difficulties involved in merely tallying them, we know very little about their exact numbers? even at the scale of a single forest. A massive collaborative effort involving 102 researchers from 21 countries was necessary to collect and identify arthropods from all parts of the rainforest. During 2003-2004, the field team spent an effort of nearly 70 person- or trap-years in sampling the rainforest canopy from a construction crane, inflatable platforms, balloons, climbing ropes through forest layers, as well as crawling along the forest floor to sift soil, and trap and bait arthropods. During the ensuing eight years, the team sorted and identified 130,000 arthropods, to a total of more than 6,000 species.

By scaling up the diversity values obtained from twelve intensively-sampled sites, the team was able to calculate that the rainforest reserve harbors in excess of 25,000 arthropod species. "This is a high number as it implies that for every species of vascular plant, bird or mammal in this forest, you will find 20, 83 and 312 species of arthropods, respectively," explains Basset. "If we are interested in conserving the diversity of life on Earth, we should start thinking about how best to conserve arthropods," adds Tomas Roslin from the University of Helsinki, one of 35 co-authors.

"What surprised us the most was that more than half of all species could be found in a single hectare of the forest", said Basset. "This is good news, as it means that to determine the species diversity of a tropical rainforest, we need not sample gigantic areas: a total of one hectare may suffice to get an idea of regional arthropod richness ? provided that this total includes widely spaced plots representative of variation within the forest," said Roslin.

"Another exciting finding was that the diversity of both herbivorous and non-herbivorous arthropods could be accurately predicted from the diversity of plants", says Basset. "By focusing conservation efforts on floristically diverse sites, we may save a large fraction of arthropods under the same umbrella. Further, this strengthens past ideas that we should really be basing estimates of global species richness on the number of plant species," stresses Roslin.

"While we have assigned immense resources to mapping our genes, resolving sub-atomic structures and searching for extra-terrestrial life, we have invested much less in exploring with whom we share the Earth. Why such research should be run on a shoe string budget just escapes me," reflects Basset.

###

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute: http://www.stri.org

Thanks to Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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orpitasingh: Baby eye injuries how to deal with | health and fitness ...

Eye injuries, should comply with the site of injury and illness as differences in processing:

1 after pregnancy, pregnant women should not strenuous physical exercise, not too tired, but also to the appropriate exercise.Blepharal contusion swelling can be. Early fetal education is not simply a cold compress fetal directly from the mother to accept education, but mainly refers to the mother?s mental state effect on fetal growth, advocated by adjusting the pregnant body inside and outside environment, avoid undesirable stimulation on embryonic and fetal effects, to make fetal growth in body and mind, more health mature., let its surrounding vascular shortened, 1 ? after 2 can be changed into heat, in order to promote the swelling receive; at the same time oral some antibiotics, promote inflammation subsidise.

In 2 conjunctival contusion, a small amount of bleeding can receive because in the transportation, marketing process, severe concussion caused yolk membrane formed by the breakdown of the scattered yellow eggs, no smell, the egg is still relatively thick, can give children to eat, but not in storage.At the same time, some antibiotic eye drops drip; if the injury is heavy influence of vision, should be to the hospital for conjunctival mucosa graft repair, in order to prevent symblepharon.

3 corneal epithelial abrasion, between the person and person?s individual difference is very large, even with the same approach to vaccination, each produced within the human body?s response was not identical, some produce antibodies, acquired immunity is strong; and some antibodies produced less, acquired immunity is weak.Apply ointment, should be part of the affected eye adorn, individual 24 hours will be healed; corneal edema by 50% glucose hypertonic eyedrops.

4 contusion of the iris and ciliary body can be divided into several scenes, mydriasis, deformation, can take J black glasses light; anterior chamber bleeding, both eyes should adorn, half supine rest, should go to the hospital to cure; if flash diplopia, should immediately go to hospital for treatment; part of operation of antibiotics and drugs of lowering intraocular pressure, in order to prevent the generation of secondary glaucoma.

Color orbital contusion, lens injury, retinal and choroidal contusion and optic nerve contusion, should immediately be eyes with sterile gauze adorn after hospital treatment.

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Source: http://health-and-fitness-guide.lu72.com/20121210/baby-eye-injuries-how-to-deal-with.html

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Home Improvement and Landscaping Ideas Opt For Plumbing ...

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Obama: Marijuana not high priority, 'bigger fish to fry'

President Obama says recreational users of marijuana in states that have legalized the substance should not be a "top priority" of federal law enforcement officials prosecuting the war on drugs.

"We've got bigger fish to fry," Obama said of pot users in Colorado and Washington during an exclusive interview with ABC News' Barbara Walters.

"It would not make sense for us to see a top priority as going after recreational users in states that have determined that it's legal," he said, invoking the same approach taken toward users of medicinal marijuana in 18 states where it's legal.

Obama's comments on marijuana are his first following Colorado and Washington voters' approval of Nov. 7 ballot measures that legalize the recreational use and sale of pot in defiance of federal law.

Marijuana, or cannabis, remains classified under the Controlled Substances Act as a Schedule I narcotic whose cultivation, distribution, possession and use are criminal acts. It's in the same category as heroin, LSD and "Ecstasy," all deemed to have high potential for abuse.

Obama told Walters he does not ? "at this point" ? support widespread legalization of marijuana. But he cited shifting public opinion and limited government resources as reasons to find a middle ground on punishing use of the drug.

"This is a tough problem, because Congress has not yet changed the law," Obama said. "I head up the executive branch; we're supposed to be carrying out laws. And so what we're going to need to have is a conversation about, How do you reconcile a federal law that still says marijuana is a federal offense and state laws that say that it's legal?"

The president said he has asked Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justice Department to examine the legal questions surrounding conflicting state and federal laws on drugs.

"There are a number of issues that have to be considered, among them the impact that drug usage has on young people, [and] we have treaty obligations with nations outside the United States," Holder said Wednesday of the review underway.

As a politician, Obama has always opposed legalizing marijuana and downplayed his personal history with the substance.

Obama wrote in his 1995 memoir, "Dreams from My Father," that he would smoke pot regularly with his high school buddies who formed a "club of disaffection." The group was known as the "Choom Gang," says Obama biographer David Maraniss.

"There are a bunch of things I did that I regret when I was a kid," Obama told Walters. "My attitude is, substance abuse generally is not good for our kids, not good for our society.

"I want to discourage drug use," he added.

While the administration has not prioritized prosecutions of marijuana users and small-scale distributors in states where it's legal, it has not ceased prosecutions altogether. The Justice Department has continued raids on pot providers ? including in states where they are legal ? in an approach that experts say is more aggressive than Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush.

"I never made a commitment that somehow we were going to give carte blanche to large-scale producers and operators of marijuana ? and the reason is, because it's against federal law," Obama told "Rolling Stone" in an interview earlier this year.

It "is a murky area," Obama told the magazine, "where you have large-scale, commercial operations that may supply medical marijuana users, but in some cases may also be supplying recreational users. In that situation, we put the Justice Department in a very difficult place if we're telling them, 'This is supposed to be against the law, but we want you to turn the other way.' That's not something we're going to do."

Obama and the Office of National Drug Control Policy say the negative impacts of widespread marijuana legalization loom large.

Legalization would lower the price of "weed," thereby fueling its use and triggering more widespread negative health effects and subsequent costs of care, the administration says in its official policy position. Officials also say legalization would do little to curb drug violence or eliminate cartels.

"When you're talking about drug kingpins, folks involved in violence, people who are peddling hard drugs to our kids and our neighborhoods that are devastated, there is no doubt we need to go after those folks hard," said Obama.

"It makes sense for us to look at how we can make sure that our kids are discouraged from using drugs and engaging in substance abuse generally," he said. "There's more work we can do on the public health side and the treatment side."

Colorado and Washington are the first states to legalize recreational use of marijuana, presenting a fresh challenge for the Obama Justice Department to navigate in a second term.

While public opinion has shifted toward legalization over the past few years, Americans remain divided about the personal use of pot.

Fifty percent of American adults oppose legalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use, while 48 percent would support such a measure, according to a November ABC News/Washington Post poll. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 points.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat who personally opposed legalization, on Monday formally approved the voter-backed amendment to the state constitution legalizing recreational use of marijuana.

The measure will allow individuals to possess one ounce of pot and up to six marijuana plants and licensed stores to sell marijuana starting next year.

Washington State last week officially became the first to allow recreational use of marijuana when a voter-approved ballot measure took effect.

In both states, pot use remains illegal in public. Eighteen states have approved the use of marijuana for medicinal use with a doctor's order. Federal law still prohibits all use and sale of marijuana.

ABC News' Jason Ryan contributed to this report.

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/marijuana-users-not-high-priority-obama-210709158.html

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The excellent Brain Food from Unboundary: An Appetite for 21st ...

Posted by Jonathan Martin under Uncategorized
1 Comment?

?

Just last week I was asked by a colleague for a readily accessible, engaging and stimulating short introduction and overview of 21st century learning he could provide his faculty, and, somewhat?embarrassingly, I found myself a bit stumped.

I know of plenty of great books, but what the best single short and free resource?

One option, and it is a pretty good option, is the pamphlet from NAIS, A Strategic Imperative: A Guide to Becoming a School of the Future, (which I was pleased to be a small contributor to). ? But it is written a bit more for school-leaders than for teachers, is a bit long, and is a little dry. ? ? It is still a great resource though; I?ve embedded it at the bottom of this post [after "more..."].

So it was with great satisfaction that I scanned the?above first publication of Brain Food for Education, which comes from the innovation firm Unboundary and was produced by my good friend and highly esteemed educational blogger and thinker, Bo Adams.

This is a great tool for the purpose I described, and as such, includes of course great links for those who want to dig deeper and learn more.

?

4 things I like especially:?

1. ?The visual look and graphic design is tremendous: bright, appealing, professional.

2. ?The Discussion prompts shared on page 19 are very helpful: they could be a great resource for schools working to generate more and better conversation among all their constituencies as they facilitate change. ? ?(for an additional resource, see the discussion prompts included in the guide to becoming a school of the future,page 36).

3. ? The schools selected as exemplars are inspiring? from the nation of Finland (and I was glad to learn of the RSA video about PISA here) to High Tech High and Nueva Schools in California. ? ?As Bo writes, ?just seeing even one example can help us raise our aspirations and trajectories.? ? Indeed? and I?d underscore, try to go and see them first-hand.

4. ?The guide grounds its ideation about the future of learning in that most important topic: what do we want for our students: what skills and capacities. ? ?I was appreciative for learning about the Top Skills for the Future report from the Institute for the Future; to quote:

Global connectivity, smart machines, and new media are just some of the drivers reshaping how we think about work, what constitutes work, and the skills we will need to be productive contributors in the future.?This report analyzes key drivers that will reshape the landscape of work and identifies key work skills needed in the next 10 years.

It does not consider what will be the jobs of the future. Many studies have tried to predict specific job categories and labor requirements. Consistently over the years, however, it has been shown that such predictions are difficult and many of the past predictions have been proven wrong. Rather than focusing on future jobs, this report looks at future work skills?proficiencies and abilities required across different jobs and work settings.

I hope to return to this Skills for the Future report for further examination in a future post.

?

What might I have added? ?This is a terrific guide, and I have no complaints. ?But, there are a few things I might have considered adding.

1. Connectivism: peer and networked learning. ?As regular readers here know, I have been a bit consumed this past year with the concept of connectivism, that we all learn better and more deeply when we are webbed into networks of learners who are exploring and sharing their thoughts as part of a collective or community. ? ? Unless I missed it, there is no reference in this fine guide to the vision of John Seely Brown that is articulated in what I think is among the most important books in the past decade, A New Culture of Learning. ? To quote:

Embracing change and seeing information as a resource can help us stop thinking of learning as an isolated process of information absorption and start thinking of it as a cultural and social?process of engaging with the constantly changing world around us.

The new culture of learning actually comprises two elements. The first is a massive information network that provides almost unlimited access and resources to learn about anything. The second is a bounded and structured environment that allows for unlimited agency to build and experiment with things within those boundaries.

2. There is an important reference in Brain Food on page 9 to the important truth that in the coming years, ?internet literacy will be among the most valued skills.? ?Excellent. ?I would have built more upon this concept, expanding it to include reference to the critical nature of developing Digital citizenship and what Rheingold calls, in his incredibly valuable 2012 book, Net Smart(s).

3. Page 12 discusses the exciting field of gamification. ?Indeed, gamification relates to my comment just above about networked learning, which may well be best exhibited in the past decade by online multiplayer games such as World of Warcraft and now Minecraft (which is the obsession of my two sons). ? But I would have taken just another sentence here or in a nearby box to reference the growing importance of Big Data and Learning Analytics, and especially how we need to work to find ways to bring LA to students and empower them to track, manage, and employ data to enhance their ownership of their learning journey.

4. ?In the discussion prompts, I might have added another question or two in predictions and solutions to tease out further people?s vision of the school of the future and ground it in practice, questions like : what would you observe in a school which has addressed most of these problems and implements most of these solutions? ? How would you know your school is succeeding, and what criteria would you use to measure that? ? ?How would you build a road-map to the future that would help you know how far along this journey you have progressed?

?-

I embedded below for quick access some of the recommended videos from this publication which most interested and excited me: Enjoy. ?Let me again in closing extend my compliments to Bo Adams and the Unboundary team for this excellent publication and resource, which I expect to use often in the coming months.

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Source: http://21k12blog.net/2012/12/13/the-excellent-brain-food-from-unboundary-an-appetite-for-21st-century-educational-change/

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Car bomb kills two in Somali capital

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - A suicide car bomber killed two people in the centre of Somalia's capital Mogadishu capital on Friday in a blast that appeared to target an African Union peacekeepers' convoy, police and residents said.

Security in Mogadishu has improved greatly since Islamist rebels allied to al Qaeda fled the capital more than a year ago, but the coastal city remains dogged by bombings and assassinations blamed on the militants.

The bomber struck on the Maka al-Mukaram road, a thoroughfare lined by construction sites and tea-rooms that last year was a frontline in the battle for control of Mogadishu.

"An AMISOM armored convoy passed us and just after we heard a loud explosion. We looked back and saw thick smoke," Samira Hussein, who was travelling down the road in a minibus taxi, told Reuters at the blast site where the twisted wreckage of the car smoldered.

The blast killed the bomber and two civilians and wounded seven others, Abdifatah Sabriye, a senior police commander in Mogadishu's Waberi district, told Reuters.

The al Shabaab rebel group claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was targeting the United States' head of counter terrorism in east Africa.

The group said on its Twitter feed (@HSMPress) that the official was injured as he was being driven to the presidential palace in a convoy of three armored vehicles.

American diplomats in Nairobi were not immediately available for comment.

Locals said the street, which links the commercial K4 district with parliament, was quieter than usual as the blast happened during Friday prayers.

In late September, al Shabaab withdrew from the southern port of Kismayu, their last major urban stronghold, a retreat that signaled their demise as a quasi-conventional military force. The rebels vowed to step up a campaign of suicide bombings and hit-and-run attacks.

(Reporting by Abdirahman Hussein, Abdi Sheikh and Duncan Miriri in Nairobi; Writing by Richard Lough; Editing by Angus Macswan and Jason Webb)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/car-bomb-kills-two-somali-capital-190311340.html

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Spanish botched fresco artist sells work on eBay

MADRID (AP) ? The 80-year-old Spanish artist who became famous because of her botched restoration of a Christ fresco in a small-town church is auctioning one of her works on eBay for charity.

Celia Gimenez's oil painting "Las Bodegas de Borja" ("Borja's Wine Cellar"), was fetching ?620 ($808) Thursday, doubling its starting price after 31 bids. The sale closes Monday.

Gimenez became a sensation in August when pictures spread on the Internet of an "Ecce Homo" ("Behold the Man") mural in a chapel in the town of Borja that she disfigured while trying to restore it. Twitter users redubbed it "Ecce Mono" ("Behold the Monkey").

The painting has since become a tourist attraction and the image has been used on T-shirts and wine labels.

A note on eBay says the auction's proceeds will go to the Catholic charity organization Caritas.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/spanish-botched-fresco-artist-sells-ebay-120509803.html

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Did Land-Dwellers Emerge 65 Million Years Earlier Than Was Thought?

There is a significant difference between an article that leaves the basis premise alone but changes some of the details compared to an article that attacks the core of the theory.

Even in the recent case where someone suggested that the speed of light was slightly exceeded by neutrinos the results were broadly assumed to be experimental error because the theory of special relativity is widely considered proven fact. Perhaps a small refinement to SR would accommodate FTL neutrinos -- this would not necessarily destroy the basic theory. Einstein did not destroy Newton, he improved the model.

If I invented a time machine and go back in time to interview Adam & Eve it would be very difficult for a science journal to accept this evidence as scientific because it violates the very concept of scientific study -- natural causes are always assumed as anything else is not science (this assumption is reasonable). Short of time travel, I would say it is impossible for any theory to replace modern evolutionary theory unless it also has a naturalistic explanation. If I found a complete set of mammal fossils in pre-Cambrian rock it would be publishable in Nature, etc. but this does not mean that most evolutionists would suddenly embrace special creation. Evolutionists would simply modify their their to accommodate new data -- they have modified it a number of times in the past to accommodate new data.

In the case of global warming the full-blown time-to-panic theory is not well established as a scientific fact, so it is relatively easy to publish against that oppose this -- if you attempt to say that there is no anthropogenic global warning due to industrial greenhouse gases you will find it much more difficult to get it published -- this is how science works.

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/iygclkn3hDg/story01.htm

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