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nanotimes News in Brief

The megawatt laboratory is equipped with three medium-voltage transformers, each with a power rating of 1.25 MW, which are connected to the 20 kV grid.

One transformer supplies power to the solar array simulators, which supply the inverters to be tested with a voltage of up to 1000 V and a current of up to 1000 A. The other two transformers are used to feed the electricity into the medium-voltage grid. Their voltage can be adjusted between 255 and 790 V. This range covers all voltages that are commonly used internationally.

10-10/11 :: October/November 2010

nanotechnology workshop in Leatherhead, U.K., in September 2010. http://www.foodqualitynews.com/Legislation/Nano- definition-is-a-legal-minefield-warn-scientists

In a recent publication of the IEEE Sensors Journal, A. Ya‘akobovitz, S. Krylov at the Tel-Aviv Univer- sity, Israel, outlined ways to improve the sensitivity of accelerometers by using an efficient yet simple and manufacturable design, which can be applied in sport, communication, transportation and defen- se.

Dr. Krylov and Ya’akobovitz showed, theoretically and experimentally, how amplification techniques developed at their lab can be used for improving the performance of micro-accelerometers. Instead of electronically amplifying the extremely small signals produced by the accelerometer, the resear- chers incorporated a mechanical amplification, a sort of a miniature clock hand, in order to generate a larger signal output, thereby reducing the devices’ noise and improving their sensitivity.

View into the new megawatt laboratory at Fraunhofer ISE for testing inverters in the power range up to 1 MW. ©Fraunhofer ISE

http://www.ise.fraunhofer.de

Nano definition is a legal minefield, warn scien- tists. Agreeing on a legal definition of nanomate- rials that satisfies food manufacturers, regulators, enforcement bodies and consumers will be hugely challenging, according to experts gathered at a

The device was fabricated from silicon-on-insulator wafer and is distinguished by a robust single-layer architecture and simple fabrication process. The de- vices were operated using electrostatic and inertial actuation of the proof mass combined with the op- tical sensing. Theoretical and experimental results, which are in a good agreement with each other, indicate that the motion amplification scheme rea- lized in the framework of the suggested architecture results in larger detectable displacements and could be efficiently used for sensitivity improvement of microaccelerometers. © Sensors Journal, IEEE