Thank goodness -- we can finally put to rest to all of the rumors and speculation. Google pulled the curtain on Android 4.4 KitKat Thursday, announcing the new mobile OS will appear first in the forthcoming Nexus 5 handset, which goes on sale for $349.
While we weren't expecting a hefty update, some of the features announced in KitKat -- like the newly revamped interface and new messaging features in the Hangouts app -- were on our wish list. Other features, like optimization updates to help KitKat run on low-end phones, simply remind us that Google is still battling all the issues that lead to device fragmentation.
Regardless, let's walk through some of the key features of KitKat and what you can expect when you finally get your hands on the new OS (whenever that is, because as we know, Android updates can take a long time to roll out).
A better phone dialer You wouldn't expect an overhaul of a dialer application to be a marquee feature, but Google has achieved the near impossible. When you're in the dialer interface, now you can type just the first few letters of who or what you're looking for -- whether it's a business or a friend -- and the dialer will immediately bring it up. You won't have to venture into Contacts for this essential information.
If this search functionality sounds familiar, that's because some manufacturers already offer this feature in their own version of the Android dialer. Samsung's TouchWiz UI, for example, helps you find the name of the person you want to call by letting you key in the first few letters of his or her name on the number pad. So perhaps the bigger news isn't that Google overhauled its dialer applications, but that it's looking to what third-parties are doing to give consumers what they want.
KitKat also provides a novel form of caller ID, fetching the location information of unknown numbers that call you to provide a better glimpse into who might be calling and where they're located. This is an especially helpful addition when you consider the number of telemarketer calls that aren't routed through an 800 number.
Fabulous interface makeover Stock Android doesn't have to be plain and simple. As some developers posited in our Android retrospective, KitKat includes a slightly revamped interface design. You'll see better use of screen real-estate in applications that utilize the new "immersive" full-screen abilities, like Google Music and Books. And the new navigation bar is now translucent, so your wallpaper won't be cropped by a colored menu bar. KitKat also sports a new condensed font.
Making electrical contact along 1-D edge of 2-D materials
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
31-Oct-2013
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Contact: Ellis Simon esimon@ccny.cuny.edu 212-650-6460 City College of New York
As postdoc at Columbia, CCNY physicist Cory Dean and colleagues devised new method that addresses graphene's contamination problem
Dr. Cory Dean, assistant professor of physics at The City College of New York, is the lead author of a paper published today in the journal Science that demonstrates it is possible for an atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) material to have electrical contact along its one-dimensional (1D) edge. The contact architecture offers a new assembly technique for layered materials that prevents contamination at interfaces.
Professor Dean conducted the research as a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University, working with Professor of Electrical Engineering Ken Shepard and Professor of Mechanical Engineering James Hone, the paper's co-authors. The new method, which was developed using graphene as the two-dimensional model, resulted in the cleanest graphene produced to date.
"Two-dimensional materials such as graphene, which are just one atom thick, can have their electrical properties externally modified," Professor Dean said. "However, because the materials are extremely sensitive to the environment, any external contamination quickly degrades performance."
The need to protect the material from contamination while still allowing electrical access has been a roadblock to development of graphene-based technologies, he added. "By making contact only to the 1D edge of graphene, we have developed a fundamentally new way to bridge our 3D world to this fascinating 2D world without disturbing its inherent properties. This virtually eliminates external contamination and finally allows graphene to show its true potential in electronic devices."
"Our novel edge-contact geometry provides more efficient contact than the conventional geometry without the need for further complex processing," added Professor Shepard. "There are now many more possibilities in the pursuit of both device applications and the pure physics of clean systems."
The researchers fully encapsulated the 2D graphene layer in a sandwich of thin insulating boron nitride crystals. To do this, they employed a new technique in which the top boron nitride crystal was used to sequentially pick up the other layers in the stack. "This technique completely eliminated any contamination between layers," Professor Dean noted.
Once they created the stack, they etched it to expose the edge of the graphene layer. Then they evaporated metal onto the edge to create the electrical contact. By making contact along the edge, the team realized a 1D interface between the 2D active layer and 3D metal electrode.
Even though electrons entered only at the 1D atomic edge of the graphene sheet, the contact resistance was remarkably low, reaching 100 ohms per micron of contact widtha value smaller than what is typically achieved for contacts at the graphene top surface.
Continuing their collaboration, the team is now working on applying these techniques to develop new hybrid materials by mechanical assembly and edge contact. They plan to draw from the full suite of available 2D layered materials, including graphene, boron nitride, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), transition metal oxides (TMOs), and topological insulators (TIs).
"With so much current research focused on developing new devices by integrating layered 2D systems, potential applications are incredible, from vertically structured transistors, tunneling based devices and sensors, photoactive hybrid materials, to flexible and transparent electronics," added Professor Hone.
###
About The City College of New York
Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided low-cost, high-quality education for New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. More than 16,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in: the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; the Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture; the School of Education; the Grove School of Engineering; the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education, and the Colin L. Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership.
Set on a striking, 35-acre hilltop campus in upper Manhattan, CCNY has produced more Nobel laureates than any other public institution in the United States. The College has been touted as one of America's Top Colleges by Forbes, one of the Best Colleges in the United States as well as one of the Best Value Colleges by the Princeton Review, and ranks among U.S. News' top regional universities. For additional information, visit http://www.ccny.cuny.edu.
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Making electrical contact along 1-D edge of 2-D materials
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
31-Oct-2013
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Contact: Ellis Simon esimon@ccny.cuny.edu 212-650-6460 City College of New York
As postdoc at Columbia, CCNY physicist Cory Dean and colleagues devised new method that addresses graphene's contamination problem
Dr. Cory Dean, assistant professor of physics at The City College of New York, is the lead author of a paper published today in the journal Science that demonstrates it is possible for an atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) material to have electrical contact along its one-dimensional (1D) edge. The contact architecture offers a new assembly technique for layered materials that prevents contamination at interfaces.
Professor Dean conducted the research as a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University, working with Professor of Electrical Engineering Ken Shepard and Professor of Mechanical Engineering James Hone, the paper's co-authors. The new method, which was developed using graphene as the two-dimensional model, resulted in the cleanest graphene produced to date.
"Two-dimensional materials such as graphene, which are just one atom thick, can have their electrical properties externally modified," Professor Dean said. "However, because the materials are extremely sensitive to the environment, any external contamination quickly degrades performance."
The need to protect the material from contamination while still allowing electrical access has been a roadblock to development of graphene-based technologies, he added. "By making contact only to the 1D edge of graphene, we have developed a fundamentally new way to bridge our 3D world to this fascinating 2D world without disturbing its inherent properties. This virtually eliminates external contamination and finally allows graphene to show its true potential in electronic devices."
"Our novel edge-contact geometry provides more efficient contact than the conventional geometry without the need for further complex processing," added Professor Shepard. "There are now many more possibilities in the pursuit of both device applications and the pure physics of clean systems."
The researchers fully encapsulated the 2D graphene layer in a sandwich of thin insulating boron nitride crystals. To do this, they employed a new technique in which the top boron nitride crystal was used to sequentially pick up the other layers in the stack. "This technique completely eliminated any contamination between layers," Professor Dean noted.
Once they created the stack, they etched it to expose the edge of the graphene layer. Then they evaporated metal onto the edge to create the electrical contact. By making contact along the edge, the team realized a 1D interface between the 2D active layer and 3D metal electrode.
Even though electrons entered only at the 1D atomic edge of the graphene sheet, the contact resistance was remarkably low, reaching 100 ohms per micron of contact widtha value smaller than what is typically achieved for contacts at the graphene top surface.
Continuing their collaboration, the team is now working on applying these techniques to develop new hybrid materials by mechanical assembly and edge contact. They plan to draw from the full suite of available 2D layered materials, including graphene, boron nitride, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), transition metal oxides (TMOs), and topological insulators (TIs).
"With so much current research focused on developing new devices by integrating layered 2D systems, potential applications are incredible, from vertically structured transistors, tunneling based devices and sensors, photoactive hybrid materials, to flexible and transparent electronics," added Professor Hone.
###
About The City College of New York
Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided low-cost, high-quality education for New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. More than 16,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in: the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; the Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture; the School of Education; the Grove School of Engineering; the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education, and the Colin L. Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership.
Set on a striking, 35-acre hilltop campus in upper Manhattan, CCNY has produced more Nobel laureates than any other public institution in the United States. The College has been touted as one of America's Top Colleges by Forbes, one of the Best Colleges in the United States as well as one of the Best Value Colleges by the Princeton Review, and ranks among U.S. News' top regional universities. For additional information, visit http://www.ccny.cuny.edu.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Believe it or not, there are some people in this world who think that faking a high score to be top dog on the global Game Center leaderboard is both big and clever. Of course, most of us know better, so it's with a great deal of relief that Apple's latest developer-facing update is looking to deal ...
Thomas Friedman famously announced that "the world is flat" in his 2005 book of that name. He was writing about globalization. In Friedman's view, voice over Internet (VoIP), file sharing, and wireless were the "steroids" that have accelerated the flattening of global commerce. Today I would add video over Internet, which has become more and more prevalent as bandwidth has improved.
The two leaders in the business Web conferencing space are Cisco WebEx and Citrix GoToMeeting. A new product, My Web Conferences from a company named MyTrueCloud, promises to offer these leaders some lower-priced competition, though it lacks some of the refinements of the older products -- and the established players are both upgrading their offerings and decreasing their base prices in response to less expensive business services and free consumer offerings.
Some businesses do use consumer products for voice and video over the Internet: Microsoft Skype, Google Hangouts, and Google Voice (no video) are three I've used extensively. While these can be useful, they don't quite meet the criteria for business-grade Web conferencing.
These higher-end products are expected to simultaneously deliver desktop shares, video, and audio; to provide high reliability and high quality; to integrate with common desktop software; and to work with mobile devices. They're also expected to handle large conference broadcasts, either in the base service or via a separate product. As we will see, there's a bit of variation among the business-grade products we are considering in all of these areas, as well as some differences in the bundling strategies.
Jeffrey Zients was tapped to help fix problems with the Obama administration's heath care website.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Jeffrey Zients isn't exactly a household name. But if he can cure what ails the Affordable Care Act website, he'll be one of the best-known figures in the Obama administration.
Zients (rhymes with Heinz) is the professional manager President Obama turned to in order to solve the by-now-infamous problems with the federal government's health care exchange website.
Zients was settling into his job as the head of Obama's National Economic Council when the president tapped him to help rescue the site. The 46-year old is known as a brainy problem-solver with a knack for cutting through bureaucratic knots.
It was Zients, for instance, whom Obama turned to at an earlier point to unstick the "Cash for Clunkers" initiative. That 2009-2010 federal effort to lift auto sales out of the doldrums by underwriting dealer rebates to car buyers had stalled when the computer systems were overwhelmed with requests. Zients is credited with overseeing that fix.
Zients performed a similar managerial feat to break a bottleneck on GI Bill benefits for post-9/11 vets.
"Jeff Zients is a rock star," said Vivek Kundra, who served as the Obama administration's chief information officer from 2009 to 2011. "He has an amazing ability to convene the right people, to be pragmatic about problem-solving and to focus the energy of the administration on execution. He can close the gap between the theoretical and the ability to actually deliver something meaningful."
Besides being the administration's chief performance officer during Obama's first term, Zients served two stints as acting director of the Office of Management and Budget.
His OMB experience gave him plenty of experience testifying before Congress. That should come in handy since he's likely to find himself planted for hours on end at the many hearings Congress promises to have on problems with the Obamacare website.
Fred Malek, a long-time Republican fundraiser, adviser to presidents, corporate chieftain and Zients fan, said: "I think he's very well suited for the job. Look, he's not a technology expert but that's not what you need. You have a lot of technology experts being imported to help with this fix.
"What you need is somebody who can manage a team, lead a team, figure out what the most important aspects of things are and drive them toward a positive result," Malek said.
"Jeff is a very good CEO. He works very well with people. He's highly analytical but at the same time has a very nice personal touch which enables him to get buy-in to what he wants to do, to get followership and to get people moving in the right direction," he said. "He understands the world of business. He understands the world of government. He knows enough about technology. But above and beyond everything else, he's just a damn good manager."
That said, here are few more things to know about Zients:
He and Malek led an investor group (that included Colin Powell) that got Major League Baseball to agree to return a team to Washington. But in one of Zients' few high-profile failures, the MLB awarded the franchise to another group. Still, Malek credits Zients with getting city officials in Washington, D.C., on board with the effort, something Malek hadn't been able to achieve before Zients joined.
He honed his management chops early and hasn't let them dull. Shortly after graduating from Duke University (summa cum laude, of course, in political science), he became a management consultant, eventually holding the chief executive officer's job and other top posts at two firms that provided corporate clients with research and management advice.
He had a supersized payday when the two companies went public. In 2002, Fortune estimated his wealth at $149 million, which placed him 25th on its list of the richest Americans then under 40.
His mother, Debbie Zients, thinks the world of him, telling USA Today that he "has a lot of brains up there but he's very caring and very compassionate."
Contact: Karen McNulty Walsh kmcnulty@bnl.gov 631-344-8350 DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory
Surfaces with differently shaped nanoscale textures may yield improved materials for applications in transportation, energy, and diagnostics
UPTON, NY-When it comes to designing extremely water-repellent surfaces, shape and size matter. That's the finding of a group of scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, who investigated the effects of differently shaped, nanoscale textures on a material's ability to force water droplets to roll off without wetting its surface. These findings and the methods used to fabricate such materials-published online October 21, 2013, in Advanced Materials-are highly relevant for a broad range of applications where water-resistance is important, including power generation and transportation.
"The idea that microscopic textures can impart a material with water-repellent properties has its origins in nature," explained Brookhaven physicist and lead author Antonio Checco. "For example, the leaves of lotus plants and some insects' exoskeletons have tiny-scale texturing designed to repel water by trapping air. This property, called 'superhydrophobicity' (or super-water-hating), enables water droplets to easily roll off, carrying dirt particles along with them."
Mimicking this self-cleaning mechanism of nature is relevant for a wide range of applications, such as non-fouling, anti-icing, and antibacterial coatings. However, engineered superhydrophobic surfaces often fail under conditions involving high temperature, pressure, and humidity-such as automotive and aircraft windshields and steam turbine power generators-when the air trapped in the texture can be prone to escape. So scientists have been looking for schemes to improve the robustness of these surfaces by delaying or preventing air escape.
Creating nanoscale textures
"In principle, the high robustness required for several applications could be achieved with texture features as small as 10 nanometers (billionths of a meter) because the pressure needed for liquid to infiltrate the texture and force the air out increases dramatically with shrinking texture size," explained Checco. "But in practice, it is difficult to shrink the surface texture features while maintaining control over their shape."
"For this work, we have developed a fabrication approach based on self assembly of nanostructures, which lets us precisely control the surface texture geometry over as large an area as we want-in principle, even as large as square meters," Checco said.
The procedure for creating these superhydrophobic nanostructured surfaces, developed in collaboration with scientists at Brookhaven's Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN), takes advantage of the tendency of "block copolymer" materials to spontaneously self-organize through a mechanism known as microphase separation. The self-assembly process results in polymer thin films with highly uniform, tunable dimensions of 20 nanometers or smaller. The team used these nanostructured polymer films as templates for creating nanotextured surfaces by combining with thin-film processing methods more commonly used in fabricating electronic devices, for example by selectively etching away parts of the surface to create textured designs.
"This new approach leverages our thin-film processing methods, in order to precisely tailor the surface nanotexture geometry through control of processing conditions," said Brookhaven physicist and co-author Charles Black.
The effect of shape
The scientists created and tested new materials with different nanoscale textures-some decorated with tiny straight-sided cylindrical pillars and some with angle-sided cones. They were also able to control the spacing between these nanoscale features to achieve robust water repellency.
After coating their test materials with a thin film of wax-like material, the scientists measured how water droplets rolled off each surface as they were tilted from vertical to flat positions and compared the behavior with that of untextured solids.
"While we fabricated several different nanotextures that all significantly increased the water repellency, certain shapes performed differently than others," said Brookhaven physicist and co-author Atikur Rahman. The enhanced water-repellency was consistent with earlier studies, including a previous one by Checco and collaborators that showed that air bubbles trapped in the textured surfaces force the water to ball up into drops. However, in the current study, the team further showed that cone-shaped nanostructures are significantly better than cylindrical pillars at forcing water droplets to roll off the surface, thus keeping surfaces dry.
"In the case of the cylindrical pillars, as the contact line of the droplet recedes on the textured surface, it can get pinned to the nanotexture, leaving behind a microscopic liquid layer on the pillars' flat tops instead of a perfectly dry substrate," Checco said. "The cone-shaped structures have smaller, pointed tops, likely preventing this effect."
The other important finding was that the water-repelling ability of cone-shaped nanotexturing held up even when water droplets were sprayed onto the surface with a pressurizing syringe. Such pressure could potentially force water into the nanosized pockmarks between the conical or cylindrical pillars, displacing the air bubbles and destroying the water-repelling effect.
The scientists monitored the splashing droplets using a high-speed camera capable of capturing 30,000 frames per second. For the cone-textured surface, "The sprayed droplets splash and eject satellite droplets that spread radially outward while the centermost portion of the original drop flattens out, then recoils, and bounces off the surface," Checco said. "We do not observe any pinned drops at the impact point after the drop has bounced back, indicating that the surface remains water-repellent during the impact at speeds up to 10 meters per second, which is faster than the speed of a falling raindrop."
Next steps
The team is working on extending this technique to other materials, including glass and plastics, and on fabricating surfaces that are also oil-repellent by further tweaking the feature shape.
They are also studying the resistance of different nanotextures to water penetration using intense beams of x-rays available at Brookhaven's National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS). "The goal is to understand quantitatively how the forced liquid infiltration depends on the texture size and geometry. This will assist the design of even more resilient superhydrophobic coatings," Checco said.
The nanopatterning technique used in this study also enables the design of a wide variety of materials with different texturing-and therefore different water-repelling properties-on different parts of a single surface. This approach could be used, for example, to fabricate nanoscale channels with self-cleaning and low fluid friction properties for diagnostic applications such sensing the presence of DNA, proteins, or biotoxins.
"This result is an excellent example of the type of project that can be done collaboratively with the DOE's Nanoscale Science Research Centers," said Black. "Previously, we have been pursuing similar structures for an entirely different scientific purpose. We are happy to work with Antonio through the CFN User program to help him accomplish his research goals."
###
This research was funded by the DOE Office of Science.
Brookhaven Science Associates (BSA), the company that manages Brookhaven Lab for the Department of Energy, has filed a U.S. Provisional Patent Application for this technology. For information about licensing the technology from BSA, contact Kimberley Elcess, elcess@bnl.gov, (631) 344-4151.
The Center for Functional Nanomaterials is one of five DOE Nanoscale Science Research Centers (NSRCs), national user facilities for interdisciplinary research at the nanoscale, supported by the DOE Office of Science. Together the NSRCs comprise a suite of complementary facilities that provide researchers with state-of-the-art capabilities to fabricate, process, characterize and model nanoscale materials, and constitute the largest infrastructure investment of the National Nanotechnology Initiative. The NSRCs are located at DOE's Argonne, Brookhaven, Lawrence Berkeley, Oak Ridge and Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories. For more information about the DOE NSRCs, please visit http://science.energy.gov.
The National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) provides intense beams of infrared, ultraviolet, and x-ray light for basic and applied research in physics, chemistry, medicine, geophysics, and environmental and materials sciences. Supported by the Office of Basic Energy Sciences within the U.S. Department of Energy, the NSLS is one of the world's most widely used scientific facilities. For more information, visit http://www.nsls.bnl.gov.
DOE's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit science.energy.gov
Related Links
Scientific paper: "Robust Superhydrophobicity in Large Area Nanostructured Surfaces Defined by Block Copolymer Self Assemby"
Previous research: Scientists Glimpse Nanobubbles on Super Non-Stick Surfaces
One of ten national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies and national security. Brookhaven Lab also builds and operates major scientific facilities available to university, industry and government researchers. Brookhaven is operated and managed for DOE's Office of Science by Brookhaven Science Associates, a limited-liability company founded by the Research Foundation for the State University of New York on behalf of Stony Brook University, the largest academic user of Laboratory facilities, and Battelle, a nonprofit applied science and technology organization.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Contact: Karen McNulty Walsh kmcnulty@bnl.gov 631-344-8350 DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory
Surfaces with differently shaped nanoscale textures may yield improved materials for applications in transportation, energy, and diagnostics
UPTON, NY-When it comes to designing extremely water-repellent surfaces, shape and size matter. That's the finding of a group of scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, who investigated the effects of differently shaped, nanoscale textures on a material's ability to force water droplets to roll off without wetting its surface. These findings and the methods used to fabricate such materials-published online October 21, 2013, in Advanced Materials-are highly relevant for a broad range of applications where water-resistance is important, including power generation and transportation.
"The idea that microscopic textures can impart a material with water-repellent properties has its origins in nature," explained Brookhaven physicist and lead author Antonio Checco. "For example, the leaves of lotus plants and some insects' exoskeletons have tiny-scale texturing designed to repel water by trapping air. This property, called 'superhydrophobicity' (or super-water-hating), enables water droplets to easily roll off, carrying dirt particles along with them."
Mimicking this self-cleaning mechanism of nature is relevant for a wide range of applications, such as non-fouling, anti-icing, and antibacterial coatings. However, engineered superhydrophobic surfaces often fail under conditions involving high temperature, pressure, and humidity-such as automotive and aircraft windshields and steam turbine power generators-when the air trapped in the texture can be prone to escape. So scientists have been looking for schemes to improve the robustness of these surfaces by delaying or preventing air escape.
Creating nanoscale textures
"In principle, the high robustness required for several applications could be achieved with texture features as small as 10 nanometers (billionths of a meter) because the pressure needed for liquid to infiltrate the texture and force the air out increases dramatically with shrinking texture size," explained Checco. "But in practice, it is difficult to shrink the surface texture features while maintaining control over their shape."
"For this work, we have developed a fabrication approach based on self assembly of nanostructures, which lets us precisely control the surface texture geometry over as large an area as we want-in principle, even as large as square meters," Checco said.
The procedure for creating these superhydrophobic nanostructured surfaces, developed in collaboration with scientists at Brookhaven's Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN), takes advantage of the tendency of "block copolymer" materials to spontaneously self-organize through a mechanism known as microphase separation. The self-assembly process results in polymer thin films with highly uniform, tunable dimensions of 20 nanometers or smaller. The team used these nanostructured polymer films as templates for creating nanotextured surfaces by combining with thin-film processing methods more commonly used in fabricating electronic devices, for example by selectively etching away parts of the surface to create textured designs.
"This new approach leverages our thin-film processing methods, in order to precisely tailor the surface nanotexture geometry through control of processing conditions," said Brookhaven physicist and co-author Charles Black.
The effect of shape
The scientists created and tested new materials with different nanoscale textures-some decorated with tiny straight-sided cylindrical pillars and some with angle-sided cones. They were also able to control the spacing between these nanoscale features to achieve robust water repellency.
After coating their test materials with a thin film of wax-like material, the scientists measured how water droplets rolled off each surface as they were tilted from vertical to flat positions and compared the behavior with that of untextured solids.
"While we fabricated several different nanotextures that all significantly increased the water repellency, certain shapes performed differently than others," said Brookhaven physicist and co-author Atikur Rahman. The enhanced water-repellency was consistent with earlier studies, including a previous one by Checco and collaborators that showed that air bubbles trapped in the textured surfaces force the water to ball up into drops. However, in the current study, the team further showed that cone-shaped nanostructures are significantly better than cylindrical pillars at forcing water droplets to roll off the surface, thus keeping surfaces dry.
"In the case of the cylindrical pillars, as the contact line of the droplet recedes on the textured surface, it can get pinned to the nanotexture, leaving behind a microscopic liquid layer on the pillars' flat tops instead of a perfectly dry substrate," Checco said. "The cone-shaped structures have smaller, pointed tops, likely preventing this effect."
The other important finding was that the water-repelling ability of cone-shaped nanotexturing held up even when water droplets were sprayed onto the surface with a pressurizing syringe. Such pressure could potentially force water into the nanosized pockmarks between the conical or cylindrical pillars, displacing the air bubbles and destroying the water-repelling effect.
The scientists monitored the splashing droplets using a high-speed camera capable of capturing 30,000 frames per second. For the cone-textured surface, "The sprayed droplets splash and eject satellite droplets that spread radially outward while the centermost portion of the original drop flattens out, then recoils, and bounces off the surface," Checco said. "We do not observe any pinned drops at the impact point after the drop has bounced back, indicating that the surface remains water-repellent during the impact at speeds up to 10 meters per second, which is faster than the speed of a falling raindrop."
Next steps
The team is working on extending this technique to other materials, including glass and plastics, and on fabricating surfaces that are also oil-repellent by further tweaking the feature shape.
They are also studying the resistance of different nanotextures to water penetration using intense beams of x-rays available at Brookhaven's National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS). "The goal is to understand quantitatively how the forced liquid infiltration depends on the texture size and geometry. This will assist the design of even more resilient superhydrophobic coatings," Checco said.
The nanopatterning technique used in this study also enables the design of a wide variety of materials with different texturing-and therefore different water-repelling properties-on different parts of a single surface. This approach could be used, for example, to fabricate nanoscale channels with self-cleaning and low fluid friction properties for diagnostic applications such sensing the presence of DNA, proteins, or biotoxins.
"This result is an excellent example of the type of project that can be done collaboratively with the DOE's Nanoscale Science Research Centers," said Black. "Previously, we have been pursuing similar structures for an entirely different scientific purpose. We are happy to work with Antonio through the CFN User program to help him accomplish his research goals."
###
This research was funded by the DOE Office of Science.
Brookhaven Science Associates (BSA), the company that manages Brookhaven Lab for the Department of Energy, has filed a U.S. Provisional Patent Application for this technology. For information about licensing the technology from BSA, contact Kimberley Elcess, elcess@bnl.gov, (631) 344-4151.
The Center for Functional Nanomaterials is one of five DOE Nanoscale Science Research Centers (NSRCs), national user facilities for interdisciplinary research at the nanoscale, supported by the DOE Office of Science. Together the NSRCs comprise a suite of complementary facilities that provide researchers with state-of-the-art capabilities to fabricate, process, characterize and model nanoscale materials, and constitute the largest infrastructure investment of the National Nanotechnology Initiative. The NSRCs are located at DOE's Argonne, Brookhaven, Lawrence Berkeley, Oak Ridge and Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories. For more information about the DOE NSRCs, please visit http://science.energy.gov.
The National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) provides intense beams of infrared, ultraviolet, and x-ray light for basic and applied research in physics, chemistry, medicine, geophysics, and environmental and materials sciences. Supported by the Office of Basic Energy Sciences within the U.S. Department of Energy, the NSLS is one of the world's most widely used scientific facilities. For more information, visit http://www.nsls.bnl.gov.
DOE's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit science.energy.gov
Related Links
Scientific paper: "Robust Superhydrophobicity in Large Area Nanostructured Surfaces Defined by Block Copolymer Self Assemby"
Previous research: Scientists Glimpse Nanobubbles on Super Non-Stick Surfaces
One of ten national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies and national security. Brookhaven Lab also builds and operates major scientific facilities available to university, industry and government researchers. Brookhaven is operated and managed for DOE's Office of Science by Brookhaven Science Associates, a limited-liability company founded by the Research Foundation for the State University of New York on behalf of Stony Brook University, the largest academic user of Laboratory facilities, and Battelle, a nonprofit applied science and technology organization.
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Her new album won’t be available for purchase until Tuesday (October 22) but Katy Perry has made the entire opus streamable right now.
The “Hot N Cold” songstress’ forthcoming record will be available in a 13-song standard edition as well as a 16-track deluxe version.
And Katy is giving her fans a chance to hear each and every ditty all weekend long before heading to stores and online retailers to snag a copy next week.
The Prism track listing is:
1. Roar
2. Legendary Lovers
3. Birthday
4. Walking On Air
5. Unconditionally
6. Dark Horse (ft. Juicy J)
7. This Is How We Do
8. International Smile
9. Ghost
10. Love Me
11. This Moment
12. Double Rainbow
13. By The Grace Of God
Bonus Tracks:
14. Spiritual
15. It Takes Two
16. Choose Your Battles
Google’s latest Terms of Service update allows the company to use your personal information from Google+, including your name and photograph, in targeted advertising that will appear while your connections are browsing the web. Thankfully, Google announced the upcoming changes well in advance, leaving users plenty of time to opt out of Shared Endorsements if they so choose before the ads launch next month.
In order to withdraw from Shared Endorsements, simply log in to your Google account (if you aren’t already logged in), click this link, which leads to the Shared Endorsement settings, scroll to the bottom of the page, and uncheck the box next to this statement: “Based upon my activity, Google may show my name and profile photo in shared endorsements that appear in ads.” The click Save.
Now your face will never pop up alongside your favorite brand of cereal or that movie you saw last week. Congratulations.
More from BGR: iOS 7 takes a beating in extensive user experience review
Susan Bennett has done voice-over for airlines, TV, and radio ads. But none of that compares to being the voice behind Siri, a product loved and hated by millions. CNET chatted with her about being Apple's personal iPhone assistant.
Susan Bennett
(Credit: CNN video/Screenshot by CNET)
It's been a whirlwind week for Susan Bennett. She's been talking to a lot of people she doesn't know -- including reporters like me, when I called to interview her this week.
But talking to a lot of strangers is not exactly new for Bennett.
She says she's the voice of Siri, Apple's voice-recognition personal assistant app -- the one that talks to millions of iPhone and iPad users, and elicits a specific type of passion when users talk about how frustrating the service can be. (Apple, of course, in its steel-trap ways, would never confirm that Bennett is the golden voice, and did not reply when I asked anyway.)
Bennett's media frenzy began last Friday, when she first revealed to CNN that she is the voice behind Siri (though with the release of iOS 7, she's no longer the only voice for the personal assistant. Users can choose a male voice as well). The reveal came about after The Verge published an article about machine language and text-to-speech technology, titled "How Siri Found its Voice." The accompanying video featured a voice actress recording audio for text-to-speech software, and some viewers assumed that woman, Allison Dufty, was the voice of Siri.
That quagmire convinced Bennett that the time was right to reveal herself. She came forward to CNN -- which inadvertently discovered her secret months before -- for the scoop.
In the CNN piece, she fleshes out the basics of her story, like how she found out her voice was being used on millions of iPhones (a friend recognized her voice and e-mailed her). But this week I called her up to ask about the quirks of talking to yourself, the ins and outs of recording for software, and how much she really uses the personal assistant app. Spoiler: She doesn't really.
Q: How did you get started in voice-over work? Susan Bennett: I started off in this wacky business as a singer. One day I showed up to a jingle session and the voice actor didn't show up. The studio owner said, "Susan, you don't have an accent; get over here and read this." And I said, "Ohh, I can do this. I can read. I can act." And so that's how it started.
How did you get involved in the Siri project? Bennett: I wasn't working with Apple at the time. I was working for a text-to-speech company. And what they do is they reorganize the sounds, and form different sentences, and manipulate them, process them in the studios, and my voice happened to be chosen for Siri.
What were the recording sessions like? Bennett: They were four hours a day for a month -- basically the sentences were created to utilize any combination of vowels, consonants, diphthongs, syllables that could possibly combine in the English language. Sometimes they were nonsensical, and sometimes they were pretty crazy.
Susan Bennett
(Credit: Susan Bennett)
Like what?
Bennett: I could not even begin to remember, I'd have to see the script.
What was it like to discover that you were Siri's voice? Bennett: It was kind of crazy. I'm used to hearing my voice in the airport, or on radio and TV commercials [Bennett does voice-over work for airlines and other businesses], but it was another story to respond to my voice -- coming from a device in my hand. It was pretty weird.
I actually just bought an iPhone 4 before the 4S came out. So I didn't have Siri on the phone for a long time. My husband ran right out and bought the 4S as soon as it came out. And he didn't realize that he had it on the setting where every time he picked it up, Siri would just automatically speak. And she would just say [in Siri voice], "How can I help you? How can I help you?" And he finally just says, "Well you can just go away!" And Siri says, "What did I do to deserve that?"
It's pretty absurd to be talking to yourself on a phone. What's the most fun you've had with using Siri? Bennett: I usually joke around and try to get her to say that she and I are related. But she disses me. She doesn't act as if she understands the question. She's lying, of course.
Another time I spoke to her, and she really came back with some attitude and I said, "Siri, what are you doing?" and she said, "I'm talking to you." As if she meant, parentheses, "Idiot."
Do you think you have anything in common with the Siri personality that Apple has cooked up? Bennett: Well, she has a sense of humor. She can have a little attitude at times. I'd say in that way, she's pretty human. Once they smooth out the technology and make her a little less robotic, it'll be really interesting. It'll really be like having a person in your hand.
Do you ever get frustrated using Siri? Bennett: To tell you the truth, I don't really use her that much. I've been racing around the country since this thing blew up [coming out as Siri to the press] and I haven't really been using the feature. I haven't had to.
Obviously, people will associate you with this role for a long time. Are you ready to be known as Siri? Bennett: I really didn't want to divulge it for a while. Because most of us voice-over folks, we kind of live in our booths, and we're happy to be anonymous. But I knew that once I disclosed the information, that I would not be anonymous. So I really had to weigh that.
The thing that made me really decide to do it was that my son had just been bugging me about it for a long time saying, you really need to do this. It's such a great opportunity. Then after The Verge video, I just realized that people really want to know. And I thought, well the timing is right.
Apple is notoriously tight-lipped about everything. Has the company given you any flak about coming out as Siri? Bennett: Apple's whole thing, as you say, is to try to stay distant, and keep the mystery alive. They don't want people to associate a face to the voice. They want people to imagine the person they are listening to, rather than know the person they are speaking to.
The seductive tale of the most famous vampire of all time traditionally plays out against the crumbling, cobweb-covered walls of his Transylvania castle. Now the setting gets a more modern twist in NBC's upcoming primetime drama, premiering Oct. 25.
Set in 19th century London, the show stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers as the vampire count, who poses as an American industrialist who wants to introduce modern science (wireless electricity in particular) to staid Victorian society. Playing off this, British production designer Rob Harris (Mr. Selfridge, Hornblower) added items on the cutting edge of 1896 -- telephones, electric carriages and the cinema -- to the milieu. "The idea was to make it as interesting as we could and do a new take," says Harris, a three-time Emmy nominee. "It gives you more scope to invent your world."
The sets were built on two Budapest soundstages, and the production found that Hungary's capital, with its centuries-old streets and patinaed buildings, stood in well for London. The design for Dracula's lavish mansion, Carfax Manor, "came from a very rich person's house in London from the period. We didn't want Gothic or a castle tower. It's kind of similar to an 1896 Great Gatsby with strong colors," Harris says.
Besides the task of building some 150 sets for the series' 10 episodes, a main challenge was designing Dracula's world at night, as sunlight is deadly for a vampire. "We had to do a lot of dramatic lighting to make it look interesting. Dracula lives in a twilight world."
But perhaps the most unexpected change is that Dracula's private quarters contain no coffin. Says Harris, "He will sleep in an actual bed."
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Believe it or not, there are some people in this world who think that faking a high score to be top dog on the global Game Center leaderboard is both big and clever. Of course, most of us know better, so it's with a great deal of relief that Apple's latest developer-facing update is looking to deal ...
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