SuVolta technology halves gadgets' power requirements

Silicon Valley start-up SuVolta says it's found a way of cutting the power requirements of chips by half, without affecting performance.
The SuVolta PowerShrink platform works by minimizing the electrical variation of the millions of transistors on a chip, and has been licensed by Fujitsu, which plans to start making chips based on it next year.
Unlike Intel's attempt to deal with the same issue by moving to a 3D design, the SuVolta system doesn't require new fabrication equipment or design infrastructure.
"When you move away from planar, bulk CMOS, you're asking the semiconductor industry to bear a huge cost burden, literally billions of dollars, associated with developing new manufacturing facilities and circuit designs," says the company's CTO, Dr Scott Thompson.
"SuVolta's technology works within existing designs and IP flows, and with existing equipment."
As semiconductors become smaller, power increasingly leaks from components. One reason for this is the way individual transistors need differing voltages to switch them on or off. Decreasing this variation, says SuVolta, means current leakage can be cut by half.
"By providing the industry with a clever and easily manufacturable way to cut power in half or more, SuVolta makes possible the development of portable products with extended time between battery charges," says Dr Bruce McWilliams, president and CEO.
"The SuVolta PowerShrink platform will scale to much smaller feature sizes and bring advantages for future generations of integrated circuit designs."
Fujitsu's teamed with SuVolta to develop the technology at 65nm, and the companies say they've verified 'substantial' reductions in threshold voltage (VT) variation and have confirmed that devices function normally.
"Together, we have proven that the technology provides significantly reduced transistor threshold variability as well as circuit operation at much lower voltages, including SRAM memories operating at below 0.5 volts," says McWilliams.
The company plans to license the process to other manufacturers.
 

Dr. Irwin D. Mandel, Expert on Dental Chemistry, Dies at 89

 
Millions of dental patients who have successfully avoided unpleasant drill-and-fill procedures owe much to Dr. Irwin D. Mandel — an expert on dental chemistry jocularly known among colleagues as a leader of “the Salivation Army.”
Dr. Mandel, a founder of the preventive dentistry movement who did research into the biochemistry of saliva that has had significant impact in medical fields beyond his own, died on May 26 in Montclair, N.J., his daughter Carol Ann Mandel said. He was 89 and lived in West Caldwell, N.J.
Dr. Mandel was the founding director of the division of preventive dentistry at the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine, the first such department in the country. The division’s mission was to promote practices that have since become standard, among them:
¶ Moving from casual brushing to a daily regimen that includes the use of dental floss to remove plaque, the invisible bacterial substance that sticks to teeth and initiates decay.
¶ Applying fluoride, from water, toothpastes, mouthwashes or gels, because fluoride renders tooth enamel resistant to decay.
¶ Making regular dental visits for checkups and removal of hardened plaque that even scrupulous flossers and brushers cannot erase.
“Irwin was the person most prominently associated with that shift, the father of preventive dentistry,” Dr. Ira B. Lamster, dean of the College of Dental Medicine, said.
Much of the shift was based on Dr. Mandel’s research into the chemistry of saliva and the changes that occur with different oral diseases, information used in both diagnosis and treatment. For example, until his research, it was not known that levels of protein and electrolytes in saliva differ with various diseases. Also, in researching cavities, Dr. Mandel was one of the first scientists to link acidity levels in saliva to the development of decay.
Dr. Lawrence A. Tabak, deputy director of the National Institutes of Health and previously director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, said Dr. Mandel’s research had repercussions far beyond dentistry. “He laid the groundwork for what we today know as the innate immune system,” Dr. Tabak said.
One way the body defends itself is with antibodies that are part of the immune system. But another way is with what are called preformed protective molecules, most of them proteins, that can kill bacteria. “Today we call that part of the innate immune system,” Dr. Tabak said. “Irwin was one of the very first to point out the presence of these preformed protective molecules in saliva, but it turns out they are found throughout the body. And that work has now exploded so that many laboratories around the world explore the innate immune system.”
Dr. Mandel was also one of the first scientists to point out that saliva could be used as a diagnostic tool for more than oral diseases. “Today, probably the most important saliva-based test is the F.D.A.-approved test for H.I.V.,” Dr. Tabak said.
In 1985, the American Dental Association awarded Dr. Mandel its first Gold Medal for Excellence in Dental Research.
Irwin Daniel Mandel was born in Brooklyn on April 9, 1922, one of two sons of Samuel and Shirley Mandel. He graduated from City College in 1942, received his degree in dentistry from Columbia in 1945 and soon after became a research assistant at the university. He spent his entire career at Columbia, becoming a professor emeritus in 1992.
In addition to his daughter Carol, Dr. Mandel is survived by his wife of 67 years, the former Charlotte Lifschutz; another daughter, Nora Lee Mandel; a son, Richard; his brother, Burton; and two grandchildren.
The author of more than 225 scientific articles, Dr. Mandel was something of an unofficial historian of dentistry, once writing about decayed teeth found in the fossil skulls of South African Australopithecine hominids 500,000 to 1 million years old.
Looking to the future, Dr. Mandel recognized the challenge in getting people to take proper care of their teeth. He told The New York Times in 1971: “We’d like everybody to take advantage of the new procedures developed by dental science. But we know from experience that many people will not, just as many people continue to smoke and to eat diets too rich in fats despite the medical warnings against such practices.”

Alyson Warr: From track to science lab

Alyson Warr, 18, of East Freetown, is graduating first in her class from Apponequet Regional High School and has her sights set on a future in the field of science.
“I’ve just always been curious how the world works and I’m fascinated by cells, and the universe,” said Warr. “When I took biology as a freshman, I was interested in learning more about the detail of how things worked. I took AP biology as a junior, and that was a huge inspiration for me.”
She’s taking her inquisitiveness to the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the fall, where she will join about 50 other students accepted into the Commonwealth Honors College’s Talent Advancement Program (TAP) for biology. She plans to focus her studies on cellular and molecular biology and biochemistry, but for now she wants to keep her future career prospects open.
“I’m drawn towards research science, and in the past I’ve considered being a doctor, a surgeon, so I’m leaving my options open for medical school after college,” she said.
Warr spent the summer of 2009 working as a Sea Lab office worker, where she prepared experiments and activities for instructors and presentations to the New Bedford public School Board.
Since freshman year, she has earned four Science Course Awards. She is also the recipient of four Principal’s Academic Achievement Award, which is given to students who maintain an “A” average each year. She has also received a Harvard Book Award and a Certificate of Honor for placing in the top 11 percent in “Les Grands Concours” National French Exam.
Her AP biology teacher, Bonnie Ferreira, describes her as an impressive student and person. “She has unparalleled maturity, motivation and standard of excellence,” said Ferreira. “She is a remarkable young woman.”
Warr’s community service includes academic tutoring, and involvement with Klete Squires, a representative of the Special Olympics.
In addition to her interest in science and research, Warr was also active in extracurricular activities at Apponequet and outside of school. Throughout her high school career she participated in dance and spring track. She was a captain of the field hockey team, and received a varsity letter and MVP Defense award as well as a sportsmanship award.
In addition, she was president of the National Honor Society and a member of SHAPE, the Student Help and Peer Education organization at Apponequet.
“It is stressful sometimes because we had to have a full day of work then go to track,” she said. “It’s mostly being self-motivated. Everything I’m involved in I do because I love it. I just have to get it all done, so I make it work somehow.”
As for her departure from East Freetown and Apponequet, Warr said she will miss everyone but is excited about the future.
“It’s such a small school, so everybody knows each other. I have a great group of friends. The music kids also do sports and drama — everyone is close. But lot of (my friends) are also going to UMass,” she said.

Researchers capture elusive antimatter

Mysterious, elusive antimatter has been captured for a period of at least 1,000 seconds by a team of international researchers, including University of Calgary scientists.
The feat marks a major leap forward from the fraction of a second that antimatter was previously captured at the world's largest particle physics lab, at CERN -the European Organization for Nuclear Research.
"The whole point of this project is to try to basically understand what antimatter looks like. If you catch it for a fraction of a second, it's gone in a flash, you don't have time to look at it, to interrogate it," said Rob Thompson, a U of C physics professor. "The longer we can hold it, the more we can use conventional physics techniques to really try to look at it."
The research paper on the team's findings was published Sunday in the online journal Nature Physics.
Antimatter, the stuff of Star Trek science fiction and, more recently, toted around in the movie Angels and Demons, contains information that scientists say could potentially shake the core of physics.
Current theory of the universe's beginnings suggests that matter and antimatter should have been produced equally. However, since they destroy each other on contact, eventually nothing should have remained but pure energy. Instead, only antimatter seems to have vanished.
"One of the big mysteries in science is what happened to antimatter," said Makoto Fujiwara, lead author and a U of C adjunct professor.
Theories suggest that the two should look and act the same. That's the principle the scientists hope to explore by capturing antimatter long enough to examine it closely.