World’s smallest FM receiver built with graphene, ruined by Psy

Researchers have been using graphene to develop an assortment of technologically advanced things for a while, from camera sensors and contact lenses all the way to frickin’ lasers. That’s why it’s not a surprise to see a group of engineers from Columbia University create the world’s smallest FM transmitter using the atom-thick material. The end product isn’t just for show, either, as it can pump tunes over the airwaves to a regular FM radio — the team even used Gangnam Style to prove that it works. As interesting as the teensy transmitter is, the engineers have no plans to build a radio for ants, and this is merely part of a larger study into nano-electromechanical systems. Now all we need is for someone to make a tiny violin and a pair of tweezers small enough for us to play.

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Via: IEEE

Source: Columbia University, Nature

Logitec – The world’s first Lightning connector compliant FM transmitter “LAT-FMIB03″

Logitec - The world's first Lightning connector compliant FM transmitter "LAT-FMIB03"

The world’s first lightning connector compliant FM transmitter “LAT-FMIB03″ will be out in the beginning of June from Logitec.

By simply connecting it to the Lightning port of an iPhone5/iPod touch/iPod nano and then inserting it into the cigarette lighter socket of your car, the music you play will be broadcast through the transmitter, and play through an FM broadcast band frequency on your car radio or stereo.

You can choose a transmit frequency out of 6 channels: (88.2/88.4/88.6/88.8/89.0/89.2MHz).

There is a “Deep bass boost” function which you can control through an on/off button.

Price: 4,870 yen
Color: Black, Silver
Size: 40.9 × 70.3mm
Weight: 6.5g

A Cellphone Base Station in the Palm of Your Hand

How will the billion people who still use older 2G cellphones use them to pay for goods, just like people with smartphones equipped with near-field communications (NFC) wireless links? One answer is to place a tiny 2G base station at the point of sale so that those older non-NFC phones can also make a short-range transaction securely. More »

MIT ear-powered wireless sensor sustains its charge through sound

MIT earpowered wireless sensor sustains its charge through sound

You wouldn’t immediately think of the ear’s cochlea as an energy source, but MIT knows that every mammal effectively has a pair of very small power plants because of the ionized environment. School researchers are trying to harness that energy through a new sensor that exploits the whole ear canal system. As eardrum vibrations naturally create a usable voltage from brain signals, the prototype can build enough charge in a capacitor to drive a very low-power wireless transmitter that relays the electrochemical properties of the ear and potentially diagnoses balance or hearing problems. The beauty of the system is its true self-sustainability: once the transmitter has been been jumpstarted with radio waves, it powers itself through the resulting transmissions. Energy use is also sufficiently miserly that the sensor doesn’t interrupt hearing. Work is still early enough that there’s a long way to go before such implants are part of any treatments, but there’s hope that future chip iterations could help fix inner ear maladies, not just report on them. Something tells us, however, that the doctor won’t ask us to take two dubstep tracks and call back in the morning.

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MIT ear-powered wireless sensor sustains its charge through sound originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Nov 2012 11:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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