Walter Brattain took little apparent interest in the evolution or application of the transistor after inventing it but turned to other fields of basic research and serving on Bell Labs committees. He recalled that he first realised the importance of the invention in the 1960s on a trip to Egypt when he saw a camel driver listening to a pocket ...

LeoLabs has announced Australia as the site for two more of its space radars. The West Australian Space Radar site will add to its constellation of S-band, phased-array sensors. When the new radars are completed in 2022 it will expand LeoLabs’ total number of radar sites to six, and total number of space radars to ten. The Californian-based company is ...

Lead (Pb) halide perovskites, known for fledgling solar cell technology, can also emit light. The materials are generally unstable in the moisture of the atmosphere, deteriorating over hours or days. But researchers in Australia have maintained ~80% of emission despite 10,000 hours of water immersion. Although this was a photo-luminescence proof-of-concept – emitting light when illuminated by a laser in ...

The Thomas Pocklington Trust has once again updated it guide for lighting spaces in which partially-sighted people live, and has broadened its appeal to beyond its original intended audience. “Lighting makes such a difference for partially sighted people, often enabling them to maintain their independence,” the Trust told Electronics Weekly. Now at issue 3, ‘Lighting in and around the home: A ...

This unpromising-looking contraption had quite an effect on the world: Moral: Appearances can be deceptive

C&K has launched anti-vandal push buttons that need less space at the rear compared with its earlier 22mm offering. The ATPS22 series has a shorter bushing than its ATP19 or 22 series, and comes in solder lug or wire terminated versions. The solder version extends 21.15mm from the front of the panel to the tip of its lugs. Travel is ...

Vishay has introduced panel potentiometers that are stiffer to rotate, to reduce the chances of operation accidentally or though shock or vibration. Behind the panel, the bodies are 12.5 x 12.5mm, and they are modular, allowing up to seven potentiometers to be stacked on the back of a single shaft. Various switch modules can be included. Operating torque is typically ...

Hirose is aiming MIPI D automotive applications with a 40 position PCB connector for flat flexible PCBs. Called FH75, it supports MIPI D-PHY specifications at up to 1.5Gbit/s. Pads are on a 0.5mm pitch and the connectors are 2mm high. Inside is a “two-point contact design with two independent springs that provide a wiping action to prevent contact failure from ...

KIWI310 is a fan-less Celeron N3350 single-board computer from Axiomtek that supports supports Linux, Android and Windows. Measuring 85 x 56mm, it has Intel’s Gen9 graphic engine built-in, plus a M.2 Key E 2230 slot for adding Intel’s Movidius Myriad X vision processing unit – the M.2 Key E slot can also host a 5G module. It is intended for robotics, ...

CapEx is on track for strong growth in 2021, says Semiconductor Intelligence. For many companies the increase should continue into 2022. TSMC expects to spend $30 billion in CapEx in 2021, a 74% increase from 2020. TSMC announced in March it plans to invest $100 billion over the next three years, primarily for CapEx. Our Semiconductor Intelligence (SC-IQ) estimate is ...