Critical & Emerging Technologies

The rapid increase in global energy consumption and the environmental impact of traditional energy resources pose serious challenges to human health, energy security, and the environment; and reveal a growing need to develop new types of clean and sustainable energy solutions  such as electric vehicles with low exhaust emissions. However the …

Phase change materials are substances that absorb and release thermal energy (heat) during the process of melting and freezing  at defined temperatures . They are called “phase change” materials because they  transition from one of the two fundamental states of matter – solid and liquid – to the other  during …

Cloud computing has burst recently into technology and business scene promising great technical and economic advantages, like offering On-demand provisioning of computer services, improved flexibility and scalability as well as reducing costs. Another attractive point of the cloud is its ability to enable a mobile workforce, which brings enhanced flexibility …

In an increasingly globalised and interconnected world it has become simple for people and goods to cross borders and so for terrorists. America’s borders and ports are busy places, with tens of millions of cargo containers and hundreds of millions of lawful travelers entering the country each year, while tens …

With the growing global concerns over climate change, scientists are looking for cleaner energy sources and other ways to minimize the carbon footprint in the world.  A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions that come from the production, use and end-of-life of a product or service. …

A system on a chip or system on chip (SoC) is an integrated circuit (also known as a “chip”) that integrates all components of a computer or other electronic system on a single circuit die. Similar to how a microcontroller integrates a microprocessor with peripheral circuits and memory, an SoC …

Night vision devices are becoming essential equipment for night driving, night flying and night surveillance, wildlife observation and search and rescue missions. According to Industry ARC’s report on Night vision devices, the market is estimated to grow to $20.5 billion in 2020 at a CAGR of 7%.   Since the …

Lab-on-chip  is an integrated miniaturized device  that  allows researchers to perform all the operations  from sample collection to final analysis onto the same chip. Theoretically, LOC technology has the potential to carry out almost any laboratory procedure on a miniaturized scale. This could range from DNA sequencing and biochemical detection …

Tungsten is one of the hardest metals on the earth, and many scientists compare it to diamond. Tungsten is a dull silver-colored metal with the highest melting point of any pure metal. Pure tungsten melts at a whopping 6,192 degrees F (3,422 degrees C) and won’t boil until temperatures reach …

Optical communications make use of light waves, very high frequency (100 terahertz) electromagnetic waves, for information transmission. Modern optical communications were begun in the 1960s, when lasers were invented as a coherent light source. Since then, the rapid development of photonic technologies has made possible optical communication links with a …