Project Aura: Toward Distraction-Free Pervasive Computing [.pdf]
http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~aura/docdir/Aura-Perv02.pdf
In the April-June 2002 special issue of the IEEE Pervasive Computing journal, a team from Carnegie Mellon University contributed with a discussion of their Project Aura. The project's goal is to increase computing efficiency, particularly in wireless environments, so that "distractions such as poor performance and failures" are minimized. With greater system reliability and fewer distractions, users can make better use of their time and focus on the task at hand. This article describes the specifics of Project Aura, bringing together many areas that are being studied to accomplish the team's goals. The Aura home page gives further insights into research and additional papers. [CL]
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Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science [.pdf]
http://web.mit.edu/cmse/www/AR02.smithh.pdf
Published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Materials Processing Center and Center for Materials Science, this document gives an in-depth overview of nanostructure technology research and applications. Work in this area at MIT is extensive, and many Nanostructures Laboratory's efforts are described. There are several lithography and fabrication techniques being investigated, which constitute most of the text. Some other investigations include semiconductor light-emitting diodes, photonic crystals, nanoscale transistor technology, nanomagnets, and magnetic random access memories. [CL]
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IBM: Scaling CMOS to the Limit [.pdf]
http://www.research.ibm.com/journal/rd46-23.html
This is the latest issue of the IBM Journal of Research and Development. "This double issue contains fifteen papers which address the challenges of scaling CMOS devices as physical limits are approached." Specifically, research teams report on topics such as silicon-on-insulator technology, new CMOS materials and device structures, dynamic random-access memory, and many others. The papers provide views of how far scaling could progress in the future and what constrains further advancement. Several back issues of the journal are also available, and each focuses on a different area of research. [CL]
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PRIMES is in P [.pdf, .ps]
http://www.cse.iitk.ac.in/news/primality.html
A professor and two graduate students at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur "have discovered a polynomial time deterministic algorithm to test if an input number is prime or not." News of their work was released on August 6, 2002. Because it allows a computer to quickly assess a number's primality, this breakthrough has generated considerable interest in the mathematics and computer science communities. A preprint of the research paper that proves the algorithm is provided on this Web site, and the algorithm itself is presented in pseudo code. Links to two major news reports are also given, which describe in simple terms the significance of the achievement. [CL]
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NDTnet
http://www.ndt.net/v07n08.htm
Non-destructive testing (NDT) is a branch of engineering that detects and evaluates flaws in materials. NDTnet is a monthly online journal that offers news and information about NDT technology and ultrasonics. Research papers and conference proceedings are often included as well, complete with abstracts. This is the Web site of the August, 2002 issue, which has "selected papers of the 3rd International Conference on NDE in Relation to Structural Integrity for Nuclear and Pressurized Components." NDTnet is a free publication, and several years of back issues are also available. [CL]
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Cooling, Heating, and Power for Buildings [RealPlayer, QuickTime, Flash, .pdf]
http://www.bchp.org/index.html
This site discusses a novel way of maximizing a building's energy efficiency by integrating cooling, heating, and power (CHP). Operated by the US Department of Energy and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the site's material is divided into different user groups, such as technical professionals, building owners, and the general public. Interactive databases offer information about CHP system installations, case studies, fact sheets, and site reports. People interested in learning about CHP technology will find a detailed introduction, overview of benefits, and multimedia videos that describe the operation of various types of CHP systems. [CL]
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Federal Communications Commission: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking [.pdf]
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-02-231A1.pdf
In this report regarding the transition to digital television released August 9, 2002, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) addresses the need for copy protection of digital broadcasts. In particular, the main topic is the development of a broadcast flag that will "mark digital broadcast programming so as to limit its improper use." The implications of the broadcast flag are discussed in detail, including its affect on cable and satellite operators, and electronics equipment manufacturers. A statement by the commissioner of the FCC is attached at the end of the document, and it considers the need for the proposed rulemaking and the direction of further legislation. [CL]
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Distributed Search for Fermat Number Divisors
http://www.fermatsearch.org/
This distributed computing project hopes to add to the list of known Fermat number divisors. After downloading the required software, anyone willing to contribute their computer's idle time can take part in the project. Users that succeed in finding a divisor will be recognized on the site. There are further resources on this Web site than just the program. For instance, the main page offers an interesting historical account of Fermat numbers and their divisors, and the math section has graphs of results that are suitable for people with a decent understanding of the subject. [CL]
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Glenn Learning Technologies Project [.zip]
http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/
The NASA Glenn Research Center hosts this giant site about aerospace technologies, aeronautics, and related math and science. A selection of educational guides, which are essentially online textbooks, explains how airplanes and jet engines work. Problem sets and lesson plans are given at the end of the guides. Countless projects and activities demonstrate the concepts introduced in the background material. Teacher resources are available that help grade school instructors integrate these topics in the classroom. There is also a library of software titles that can be downloaded, including simulators of jet engine design and testing. [CL]
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Presentations: Transportation Infrastructure [.pdf, RealPlayer]
http://www.ceworld.org/ceworld/Presentations/TransportationInfrastructure//FHWA-Bike-Ped.cfm
The American Society of Civil Engineers CE World Web site hosts this "course on bicycle and pedestrian transportation," provided by the Federal Highway Administration. Two of the three course components are given here, namely the student guide and the scripted slide show; the instructor's guide is not provided. Examples of good design practices that accommodate pedestrians and bicyclists are illustrated in the slide show. The student guide consists of 24 lessons that teach transportation planning techniques and methods of efficient land use. This course does an excellent job of explaining many issues involved in these forms of transportation. [CL]
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Destination Tomorrow: Bringing the Future into Focus [Flash]
http://destination.larc.nasa.gov/index_net.html
"Destination Tomorrow: Bringing the Future into Focus is a 30-minute educational program, designed for educators, parents, and lifelong learners by NASA Langley's Office of Education." The material presented on this Web site can be used in conjunction with the show, or as a standalone resource for those that do not receive the broadcast stations. Currently, there are six episodes listed online, and each has five segments that look at various technological innovations. The latest show, for example, discusses Mars exploration, flight simulators, unmanned aerial vehicles, and more. Following brief introductions to each topic are links to other NASA Web sites that explore the subject in more detail. [CL]
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Clockworks: From Sundials to the Atomic Second [Shockwave, QuickTime]
http://www.britannica.com/clockworks/main.html
Being able to look at a clock and check the time is something we all take for granted, but life would be a lot more complicated without accurate timing devices. This site, from Britannica.com, looks at ten manmade instruments that various civilizations have used to measure time. These clocks span many centuries, from the sundial in 1500 BC to the state of the art Cesium atomic clock. Some of the items come readily to mind, like the quartz watch, but others are much more obscure. For instance, not many people know how a clepsydra works. Both the physical operation of the devices and their historical significance are described in individual articles. [CL]
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AMS Books Online [.pdf]
http://www.ams.org/online_bks/conm22/
The American Mathematical Society (AMS) offers this textbook on factorization free on its Web site. This is the third and most recent edition of the book, published in 2002. Mainly suited for graduate level math students or other university researchers, it gives the prime factors of hundreds of numbers that fall into a characteristic form. The material is presented in massive tables, and detailed instructions with examples are given that describe how to use the tables. Individual chapters are bookmarked to make it easy to navigate. The main page of AMS Books Online lists many other references free for download. [CL]
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webTeacher
http://www.webteacher.org/
Sponsored by the National Cable and Telecommunications Association and Cable in the Classroom, this site provides an Internet and Web tutorial "useful for anyone, but designed specifically for teachers." The site's content is separated into six main sections, and each builds on the information presented in the previous one. It starts with a basic introduction to Web navigation, then proceeds into email and other electronic communications, multimedia, homepage construction, and peripherals. The final section gives some tips and lesson plans to integrate all of this knowledge into the classroom. All of the material is very well organized, and users will find plenty of useful information to help them get started in the online world. [CL]
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The Chaos Hypertextbook: Mathematics in the Age of the Computer [QuickTime]
http://hypertextbook.com/chaos/
Written by Glenn Elert, this online textbook is aimed at "anyone with an interest in chaos, fractals, non-linear dynamics, or mathematics in general." Although it is not extremely technical, the author recommends having a decent mathematical background. Many people will recognize, at least by name, some of the topics covered. Mandelbrot and Julia sets are two well known fractals, and the book explains how they are constructed and gives some images. The fourth and final chapter discusses ways of measuring chaos. Some remarkable images of fractals are given in the Eye Candy appendix. [CL]
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Mathematica: A World of Numbers And Beyond [RealPlayer, QuickTime]
http://www.exploratorium.edu/mathematica/index.html
Mathematica is an exhibition presented by San Francisco's Exploratorium museum. Although the physical exhibition concluded on May 5, 2002, some online material about the makers of Mathematica is still available for browsing. Well known modernist designers Charles and Ray Eames created the exhibit 40 years ago to make math fun. The most interesting resources on the Web site are the three Real Video Web casts. These 75-minute presentations focus on architectural design and offer different perspectives of the Eames's work. The first Web cast starts with poor sound quality, but it improves after the first couple minutes. [CL]
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EETimes Network: The Worldwide Electronics Resource
http://www.eetnetwork.com/
EEdesign (last mentioned in the February 15, 2002 NSDL Report for Math, Engineering, and Technology is one of many Web sites that are part of the EETimes Network. This new resource for electrical engineering (EE) and electronics professionals integrates the online versions of global technical newspapers. It also serves as a central access point to sites for specific industries that are part of the EETimes Network. For instance, there are features for communications, analog design, embedded systems, semiconductors, and microwave engineering. All of this provides an excellent way to keep up to date on breakthrough technologies, market developments, and business dealings. This site is also reviewed in the August 16, 2002 Scout Report. [CL]
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Humanoid Robot [QuickTime, RealPlayer, Viewpoint Media Player]
http://world.honda.com/robot/
Honda is widely known as a major car manufacturer, but it is also an innovator of new robot technologies. The company's "humanoid robot research and development plan" seeks to create a highly mobile, intelligent robot with the potential to benefit society. After many years of work, considerable progress has been made, and this is described in detail on this site. An overview of the development of three prototypes -- the P1, P2, and P3 -- is given, and some specifications are provided for the later two. Visitors to the site can view movies of the robots in action, or examine the newest prototype, ASIMO, in 3D. ASIMO rang the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange on February 14, 2002, and a news article of this story is presented on the site. [CL]
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IPWatchdog.com: Internet Law Page [.pdf]
http://www.ipwatchdog.com/internet.html
Gene Quinn, a professor of law and patent attorney, operates this site about Internet law. There are several categories to browse, such as cybercrimes, encryption, MP3s, constitutional law, and many more. Some examine individual court cases, federal acts and rulings, and related news. Others simply provide an overview of the topic, with basic definitions and links to offsite resources. Many government documents and Web sites are listed that address these issues. The site also has sections for intellectual property law and antitrust law. Publications, journal papers, and news articles are offered for all of these topics. [CL]
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Future Fab: International [.pdf]
http://www.future-fab.com/
Future Fab International offers a large selection of articles and white papers related to the semiconductor industry. With contributors from hundreds of companies and an editorial board comprised of IBM, Intel, and Texas Instruments representatives, it is a well respected publication. The last six volumes are currently online, with about 280 white papers listed. Articles deal with many aspects of fabrication, including wafer processing and contamination control. Major press releases are also given on the site. Future Fab is an annual publication, according to the Web site, but it appears to be released twice per year. [CL]
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Consumer Electronics Association: Digital America
http://www.ce.org/publications/books_references/digital_america/default.asp
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is the publisher of Digital America 2002, a diverse assessment of digital technology penetration into the US consumer market. Digital technology is a very broad term, which is why this report covers a wide variety of products and services. Specific market analyses are given for items ranging "from handheld computers and personal video recorders (PVRs) to wireless phones and MP3 players." Besides looking at the trends that are shaping the future, Digital America considers the history that made current advancements possible. This report is very well presented online, but it cannot be downloaded as a single file. [CL]
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The Panama Canal [Flash]
http://www.pancanal.com/
Among all the engineering feats of the 20th century, the Panama Canal was certainly one of the greatest. The Panama Canal Authority (PCA) provides this home page, which contains a vast amount of information regarding the canal's origins and current affairs. Most visitors to the Web site will be mainly interested in the complete history of the canal. This begins with early plans by the Spanish in the 1500s, and documents all progress until the final completion in 1914. An impressive photo gallery includes historical pictures and panoramic views of four main locations, and a live camera shows the boat traffic in the canal at ten second intervals. Other resources such as maritime operations and news articles are also available. [CL]
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Federation of American Scientists: Intelligence Resource Program [.pdf, .doc]
http://www.fas.org/irp/index.html
Founded in 1945 by members of the Manhattan Project, the main commitment of the Federation of American Scientists is to end "the worldwide arms race." This section of its Web site has extensive information about US and international intelligence resources and the threat of terrorism, many of which are technology related. For example, chemical and biological weapons are discussed in several documents. There are also cryptographic and security systems highlighted, as well as overviews of classified aircraft. A wide assortment of news articles, government reports, and official documents are provided, including a recent report about "the acquisition of technology relating to weapons of mass destruction." [CL]
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Mike's Hardware
http://www.mikeshardware.co.uk/
This site is a good place to find information about future computer components and software. The most useful feature of Mike's Hardware is its often-updated roadmap of the commercial computing industry. It has tentative release dates and specifications for microprocessors, chipsets, graphics processors, operating systems, and memory technologies. Products for both industry and home use are covered. This information can be especially important when considering the right time to buy in the constantly changing market. The roadmaps extend past 2005, but dates are much less firm beyond about a half year. Current prices for Intel and AMD CPUs are also given. [CL]
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Energy Efficiency and Electric Motors
1. Basics of Design Engineering: Motors
http://www.machinedesign.com/bde/index.asp?main=bde&Section=bdemotors&bpp=6
2. How Does a Motor Work?
http://www.westernelectric.com.au/help/howdoes.htm
3. Office of Industrial Technologies: Motors [.pdf]
http://www.oit.doe.gov/bestpractices/motors/
4. Motor Solutions Online: Your Guide to Electric Motors Best Practice
http://www.isr.gov.au/resources/netenergy/domestic/bpp/motors/index.html
5. Premium-Efficiency Motors Initiative: Fact Sheet
http://www.cee1.org/resrc/facts/motrs-fx.php3
6. Copper Motor Rotor Project [.pdf]
http://www.copper-motor-rotor.org/
7. Piezoelectric Motor Research [.pdf, .mpg, .zip]
http://web.umr.edu/~piezo/
8. Radial Electric Motor
http://www.theverylastpageoftheinternet.com/newclaims/radial_electric_motor.htm
Electric motors account for about half of all energy consumption in the US. They can be found just about everywhere; in fact, motors control the majority of moving parts in machines. Being so widespread, it is possible to see substantial energy savings with just a small improvement in efficiency.
A very comprehensive overview of electric motors can be found on the Machine Design Web site (1). It describes five common types of motors and how they operate. Some material is fairly technically oriented. For a more basic introduction, the Western Electric company (2) discusses the underlying theory and construction of electric motors. This is more suited for early high school students and above. The Department of Energy's Office of Industrial Technologies (3) provides many documents related to best practices for motor systems. Many energy saving techniques are outlined in these tip sheets and technical publications. Similar information is contained in this Australian Web site (4). Specific issues, such as motor rewinding, are discussed to correct many common mistakes made when conducting maintenance and repairs. Some interesting facts about general motor use and the "Premium-Efficiency Motor Initiative" are given on this Web site (5). The short article demonstrates that industry and government organizations realize the importance of improving motor efficiency. Along these same lines, a project is underway that hopes to make copper motor rotors economically feasible (6). Current rotors are made with aluminum, but switching to copper would help make motors more energy efficient. The Web site has many documents on the status of the project. The University of Missouri at Rolla has a research group investigating piezoelectric motors (7). Some details of piezoelectric motor design and manufacturing are given. A news article from March 2002 (8) tells of a revolutionary new kind of electric motor. This breakthrough could make electric cars cheaper than gasoline fueled vehicles. [CL]
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Below are the copyright statements to be included when reproducing annotations from The NSDL Scout Report for Math, Engineering, and Technology.
The single phrase below is the copyright notice to be used when reproducing any portion of this report, in any format:
From The NSDL Scout Report for Math, Engineering, & Technology, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2002. http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/
The paragraph below is the copyright notice to be used when reproducing the entire report, in any format:
Copyright Susan Calcari and the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, 1994-2002. The Internet Scout Project (http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/), located in the Computer Sciences Department of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, provides information about the Internet to the U.S. research and education community under a grant from the National Science Foundation, number NCR-9712163. The Government has certain rights in this material. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of the entire Scout Report provided this paragraph, including the copyright notice, are preserved on all copies.
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, or the National Science Foundation.
For information on additional contributors, see the Internet Scout Project staff page:
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