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Graphene-based, ultra-thin light detector peeks below the surface
A new prototype light detector uses graphene's light-absorbing properties to see in a broad band of light wavelengths that includes terahertz waves. These fall between the microwave and infrared bands, thereby making it possible to look just beneath the surface of opaque objects such as skin and plastic.
Whereas most existing terahertz detectors are bulky and slow and must be kept at close to absolute zero (around 4 Kelvin), the prototype developed in a collaboration between the University of Maryland, Australia's Monash University, and the US Naval Research Lab operates at room temperature and at speeds co-author Michael Fuhrer says are "more than a million times faster" than existing room temperature detectors in the terahertz range.
This is possible thanks to a principle called the hot-electron photothermoelectric effect and to a material called graphene, which is composed of pure carbon that's so thin it measures just one atom in thickness.
Graphene has gained a reputation as something of a wonder material for its super strength (it's stronger than steel) and conductive properties, and it's the hero once again here as its electrons absorb the light and retain the resultant energy. "They remain hot while the carbon atomic lattice remains cold," explains Dennis Drew, a physics professor at the University of Maryland and co-author on the study.
The electrons then flee the lattice for one of two metal electrodes. More electrons escape through one than the other, as they possess different conductivities, and this asymmetry produces an electrical signal that detects the presence of terahertz waves.
These are light waves that are invisible to human eyes, but unlike x-rays – which don't stop until they reach something as dense as your bones – terahertz waves cannot penetrate water or metal. They are also non-ionizing, so they won't damage body tissues or DNA.
So where might such a detector be used? In security scanners, for example, it could identify concealed weapons without invading bodily privacy. It could also make medical imaging safer and more effective.
Other applications include chemical sensing, remote bomb detection, night vision goggles/cameras, high-altitude telecommunications, manufacturing quality control (as terahertz waves penetrate cardboard and plastic), preventing premature car rusting, and even 3D printing.
A paper describing the research was published recently in the journal Nature.
Source: University of Maryland
Source: http://www.gizmag.com/graphene-thin-light-detector-terahertz/33717/
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Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.
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