> > Using little more than a webcam and a laser, a young engineer has built a cheap 3D scanner that dovetails perfectly with the Makerbot and other desktop fabricators. It could be used as part of a copying system that would allow hobbyists to duplicate solid objects at home. “The technology exists to do this kind of thing, but it’s much more expensive,” said Andy Barry, a research engineer in the Autodesk Innovations Lab at NASA Ames... 

Researchers at MIT have demonstrated the first laser that uses the element germanium. The laser, which operates at room temperature, could prove to be an important step toward computer chips that move data using light instead of electricity, say the researchers. “This is a very important breakthrough, one I would say that has the highest possible significance in the field,” says Eli Yablonovitch, a professor in the electrical…  Read More →