Three atoms thick transistor
The Laboratory of Nanoscale Electronics and Structures (LANES) has made a chip, or integrated circuit, confirming that molybdenite can surpass the physical limits of silicon in terms of miniaturization, electricity consumption, and mechanical flexibility. In early 2011, the lab unveiled the potential of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), a relatively abundant, naturally occurring mineral.
It has not been possible up to this point to make layers of silicon less than two nanometers thick, because of the risk of initiating a chemical reaction that would oxidize the surface and compromise its electronic properties. Molybdenite, on the other hand, can be worked in layers only three atoms thick, making it possible to build chips that are at least three times smaller. At this scale, the material is still very stable and conduction is easy to control.
MoS2 transistors are also more efficient. Its mechanical properties are good.
Michigan Appoints Emergency Manager for Flint
Michigan has authorized a state takeover of the City of Flint, citing a financial emergency. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has appointed former Flint mayor Michael Brown as the city’s new financial manager. Flint is now the fifth Michigan municipality to come under state-appointed management. [donkey democracy]
Protest against Nuclear Shipment in Germany
Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Germany along the route of a train carrying 123 tons of radioactive waste, which will be stored in the country. Estimates of the number of protesters range from 20,000 to 40,000. Most were peaceful, though some protesters sabotaged railroad tracks; around 700 staged sit-ins on the tracks. Called the Castor shipment, the train has already been waylaid by protests in Valognes, France, soon after it left a nuclear power plant where the waste had been treated. The train was also delayed at the French-German border, where protesters chained themselves to tracks. Neither of those actions was comparable in size to today’s.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c_5qnCVRYs&rel=0]