World's 'lightest material' claim

18 November 2011 Last updated at 08:23 ET

A team of engineers claims to have created the world's lightest material.

The substance is made out of tiny hollow metallic tubes arranged into a micro-lattice - a criss-crossing diagonal pattern with small open spaces between the tubes.

The researchers say the material is 100 times lighter than Styrofoam and has "extraordinarily high energy absorption" properties.

Potential uses include next-generation batteries and shock absorbers.

The research was carried out at the University of California, Irvine and HRL Laboratories and is published in the latest edition of Science.

"The trick is to fabricate a lattice of interconnected hollow tubes with a wall thickness 1,000 times thinner than a human hair," said lead author Dr Tobias Schaedler.

Low-density

The resulting material has a density of 0.9 milligrams per cubic centimetre.

By comparison the density of silica aerogels - the world's lightest solid materials - is only as low as 1.0mg per cubic cm.

The metallic micro-lattices have the edge because they consist of 99.99% air and of 0.01% solids.

The engineers say the material's strength derives from the ordered nature of its lattice design.

By contrast, other ultralight substances, including aerogels and metallic foams, have random cellular structures. This means they are less stiff, strong, energy absorptive or conductive than the bulk of the raw materials that they are made out of.

William Carter, manager of architected materials at HRL, compared the new material to larger low-density structures.

"Modern buildings, exemplified by the Eiffel Tower or the Golden Gate Bridge are incredibly light and weight-efficient by virtue of their architecture," he said.

"We are revolutionising lightweight materials by bringing this concept to the nano and micro scales."

Robust

To study the strength of the metallic micro-lattices the team compressed them until they were half as thick.

After removing the load the substance recovered 98% of its original height and resumed its original shape.

The first time the stress test was carried out and repeated the material became less stiff and strong, but the team says that further compressions made very little difference.

"Materials actually get stronger as the dimensions are reduced to the nanoscale," said team member Lorenzo Valdevit.

"Combine this with the possibility of tailoring the architecture of the micro-lattice and you have a unique cellular material."

The engineers suggest practical uses for the substance include thermal insulation, battery electrodes and products that need to dampen sound, vibration and shock energy.

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Robots set out to sample the seas

18 November 2011 Last updated at 10:21 ET

Four robots have set out on an epic 33,000 nautical mile (66,000km) journey across the Pacific Ocean.

Created by US firm Liquid Robotics, the four are aiming to set the record for the longest distance at sea travelled by an unmanned craft.

Throughout their journey the robots will gather lots of data about the composition and quality of sea water.

The journey is expected to take about 300 days, and is designed to inspire researchers to study ocean health.

The robots were launched from the St Francis Yacht Club on the edge of San Francisco harbour on 17 November.

Initially the four will travel as a flotilla to Hawaii and then will split into two pairs. One will go on to Australia and the other will head to Japan to support a dive on the Mariana Trench - the deepest part of the ocean.

The robots manage to move thanks to interaction between the two halves of the autonomous vehicle. The upper half of the wave-riding robot is shaped like a stunted surfboard and it is attached by a cable to a lower part that sports a series of fins and a keel.

Sensor readings

Interaction between the two parts brought about by the motion of the waves enables the robot to propel itself.

Electrical power for sensors is provided by solar panels on the upper surface of the robot.

On their epic journey, the four robots will take sensor readings every 10 minutes to sample salinity, water temperature, weather, fluorescence, and dissolved oxygen.

About 2.25 million data points will be gathered during the voyage and the wandering route they will take passes through regions never before surveyed.

The data set will be fed back as it is gathered and then shared with anyone that registers their interest with Liquid Robotics.

The company is also seeking innovative suggestions about what to do with the data being gathered. The winning entry in this competition will win six months of access to the wave-riding robots to complete the research.

The wave-riding robots are veterans of ocean-going science and helped monitor the spread of oil during the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Before now the longest single journey they have undertaken was over a distance of 2,500 miles.

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Data spies raid Norwegian firms

18 November 2011 Last updated at 06:24 ET

Oil, gas and defence firms in Norway have been hit by a series of sophisticated hack attacks.

Industrial secrets and information about contract negotiations had been stolen, said Norway's National Security Agency (NSM).

It said 10 firms, and perhaps many more, had been targeted in the biggest wave of attacks to hit the country.

Norway is the latest in a growing list of nations that have lost secrets and intellectual property to cyber thieves.

The attackers won access to corporate networks using customised emails with viruses attached which did not trigger anti-malware detection systems.

Targeted attacks

The NSM said the email messages had been sent to specific named individuals in the target firms and had been carefully crafted to look like they had come from legitimate sources.

Many of the virus-laden emails were sent while the companies were in the middle of negotiations over big contracts.

It said user names, passwords, industrial drawings, contracts and documents had been stolen and taken out of the country.

The NSM believes the attacks are the work of one group, based on its analysis of the methods used to target individuals, code inside the viruses and how the data was extracted.

The agency said it was publishing information about the attacks to serve as a warning and to encourage other targeted firms to come forward.

"This is the first time Norway has revealed extensive and wide computer espionage attacks," the NSM said in a statement.

Singled out

It said it found out about the attacks when "vigilant users" told internal IT security staff, who then informed the agency.

However, the NSM said, it was likely that many of the companies that had been hit did not know that hackers had penetrated their systems and stolen documents.

Security firms report that many other nations and industrial sectors have been targeted by data thieves in recent months.

The chemical industry, hi-tech firms and utilities appear to have been singled out.

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Smartphone data tariff warning

By Dan Whitworth
Newsbeat technology reporter <!-- Empty - Wide embedded hyper -->

Mobile phone operators must do more to help people avoid getting unexpectedly large bills after going online, says the Communications Ombudsman.

The complaints watchdog says so-called data download bill shock is a serious and growing problem.

Chief Ombudsman Lewis Shand Smith says that is because it is becoming more common for people to download big files, like videos, onto mobiles.

He says that has led to a rise in the number of customers being affected.

Adam Barclay-Faulkner, who's 27, runs his own small business selling big, inflatable adverts in Staffordshire.

He says he makes the most of his mobile's unlimited data deal.

He said: "Mainly I use my mobile for Facebook to keep in touch with family and friends.

"I also send and receive a lot of work emails and watch the occasional video as well."

Big bills

Like many people Adam thought he was on an unlimited data deal with his mobile operator.

As can often be the case though, there was a limit which was in the small print of the contract.

Adam says he got a bill for �160 more than he was expecting

When he went over that limit Adam started getting charged extra.

Adam says that led to a bill of around �200 instead of his regular monthly one for �38.

"We're in a recession and I don't have the money to just throw at things like this," said Adam.

The unintended overspend led to him being cut off until he could pay his bill.

He says that meant missed emails and lost work.

"I'm the main point of call in my business," he said. "It's really difficult to not have something for a few days before they decided to reconnect me after I'd paid it."

Advice

As technology improves it is becoming more coommon for people download bigger files.

Those inlcude songs, videos and emails with large attachments.

Communications Ombudsman Lewis Shand Smith thinks phone companies could do more to warn people but says they are doing nothing wrong under the current regulations.

He said: "Most mobile operators are playing by the rules, so that then begs the question are the rules what they ought to be?"

Continue reading the main story

Customer satisfaction is always a priority and there are several ways people can keep track of exactly how much data they use

Big five mobile phone operators

He's calling on mobile phone operators to do three things.

"First of all, be very clear about what they mean by unlimited in the advertisements," he advised.

"Secondly, give advice to consumers so they know when they're reaching their limit.

"And thirdly, give advice on the amount of data that's being downloading."

In a series of statements the big five mobile phone operators said: "There are a variety of different tariffs and deals that let customers manage their bills effectively.

"Customer satisfaction is always a priority and there are several ways people can keep track of exactly how much data they use."

Depending on your download connection the amount of data you use for one song is roughly 3 megabytes, for a three-minute video it's 15 megabytes and for a half hour TV show it's around 350 megbytes.

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