This report provides an overview of the current state of circularity in the electronics value chain in Africa, identifies key areas of concern, provides appropriate recommendations, and proposes priority actions to improve circularity of the sector. The recommendations focus on the individual life cycle stages of the electronics value chain, …
WHAT microelectronics was to the '70s and the '80s, optoelectronics promises to be for the 21st century. Optoelectronic circuits are finding increasing use in many diverse areas like telecommunications, imaging technology and high speed computing. One of the major areas of research has been to fabricate optical circuits. A combination …
Scientists at the Research and Technology Department of the Naval Surface Warfare Center in White Oak, Maryland, have produced high quality insulator films on gallium arsenide semiconductors, a concept previously thought to be impossible. The technique could refashion electronics. According to researchers, gallium arsenide is intrinsically a better semiconductor than …
IF FRAUDSTERs have devised ingenious ways to dupe banks and financial institutions of millions of dollars each year, then scientists trying to combat forgery have certainly not lagged behind. Recently, British researchers unveiled the latest, state-of-art electronic signature verification system that uses neural network technology to detect forgeries with 95 …
BY 1998, 10 "digital cities" will dot the expanse of the European Union in an attempt to promote the unrestricted flow of information through electronic networks. The EU industry commissioner Martin Bangemann's plan, unveiled on March 30, is that the cities will offer complete deregulation and open competition. He is …
THE South can now begin challenging the stereotypes about itself that had been sold so enticingly till now. The Environmental Liaison Centre International (ELCI), in Nairobi has launched a project to assist Kenyan non-governmental organisations to gain access to electronic communication. For every 1,000 words sent out by the North, …
Researchers from Magellan Technology, a firm based in western Australia, have developed radio signal-based bagtags to ensure that the luggage of air passengers is not misplaced during transit (New Scientist, Vol 145, No 1961). Unlike the currently used optical scanners, which 'read' the codes inscribed on the tags, the new …
INSERT this: you are a scientist who must travel frequently but your presence in a static laboratory is essential every breathing moment. Delete that: you are a cybernetic organism, a brain, almost electronic in its stamina, that must also refer to the scientific information busily accumulated by your research group …
(Attn: No literary liberties have been taken with this piece because techno-slapdash is another lingo altogether). BIT: One bit is the smallest piece of information for a computer and just sufficient to tell the difference between "yes" and "no": 8 bits make 1 byte. MODEM (MOdulator-DEModulator): A device through which …
The modest telephone lines -- with their constantly evolving technology -- are going to stay as the backbone of the revolution in information technology. Right now, fibre optics is making a big difference in telecommunications -- sophisticated lasers transform electrical representations of conversations, faxes, or data into light pulses, which …
An abbreviation for "users network", USENET is a collection of electronic bulletin boards or conferences called "newsgroups" -- where users all around the world read and post articles containing news, analysis and opinions. USENET, started in 1979, has around 300,000 users worldwide. The discussions are categorised into different newsgroups according …
• Investors have been flocking to timber-based businesses in Malaysia, where timber related stocks are being traded at high prices. This is a result of a combination of strong timber prices and a comparative scarcity of timber-related listings on the Kuala Lumpur stock market. • Japanese electronics firms are looking …
DESIGNER science is coming of age. Scientists are combining the growing understanding of processes and structures at the molecular, atomic and subatomic levels with computer modelling techniques to synthesise new products. And, they are now discovering that their theoretical simulations are borne out by reality. Scientists hitherto used trial-and-error methods …
NEVER in recent history has the world witnessed political and strategic changes as dramatic as those seen between 1986 and 1991. In this short span, a once proud and mighty superpower has not only gone -- quite literally -- to pieces, but has joined the queue of supplicants paying obeisance …
THE PERSONAL computer on your desk could soon be processing data at 10 times its present speed following the introduction of the most advanced microprocessor chip for PCs yet -- the Pentium, made by Intel Corp of USA (New Scientist, Vol 138, No 1873). The Pentium, also one of the …
THE GOVERNMENT has decided to allow higher royalty payments than its present 8-per cent ceiling, on a case-by-case basis, to improve the quality of technology being imported. Finance secretary Montek Singh Ahluwalia says royalty payment norms are being reviewed, indicating a change of heart that hopefully will reassure multi-national companies …
CAN ONE consult a book from a library in Paris while sitting in Delhi? The obvious answer would be no, but given the pace at which modern communication technology and computers are being developed and adopted by libraries, it may well be possible in the next few years. Readers will …
INSPIRED by the human sense of touch, robotics engineers are trying to build a mechanical hand that can feel, grab and manipulate objects just like the human hand. Ultimately, engineers trying to design sensitive robotic hands picture their research coming full circle to biology -- by restoring tactile sensibility to …
THOUGH reports linking brain, cancer to the use of mobile phones pushed down shares of US Cellular telephone companies, Japanese firms remain mostly unaffected. Tokyo stock market analysts explain this is because the Japanese have been inoculated by earlier reports of radioactive cellular phones. Says Edward Staiano of Motorola, the …
Six months ago, the Union department of electronics (DoE) announced an ambitious plan to create electronics hardware technology parks (EHTPs) in order to help the country's stagnating electronic components industry by giving it access to international technology and to collaboration with multinationals. However, EHTPs have, failed to take off owing …
DESPITE sex-role conditioning by teachers and traditional attitudes that rule out floor and site jobs for women, the number of Indian women taking to engineering has increased manifold in the period between 1975 and 1990. The percentage of women enrolled in engineering degree courses has increased rapidly from 1.3 per …
