Stories by Sharon Gaudin

New exercise machine targets office workers

Wish you were working a little less and working out a whole lot more?

Intel's 45nm Penryn desktop expected to pack a big wallop

Intel's new 45-nanometer chip for the desktop, part of the newly released Penryn family, should give gamers, researchers and serious multitaskers a significant performance boost, according to analysts.

Intel's transistor redesign ushers in 'new era'

To make the jump from 65 nanometer to 45 nanometer processor technology, Intel redesigned the transistor, an advancement that one analyst said will usher in a new era in technology.

Is a flying car about to take off?

It might sound like a scene straight out of the Jetsons, but a Massachusetts company is developing a small airplane that can land, fold up its wings and drive down the highway.

AMD charged with exposing worker to hazardous chemicals

A former employee has sued Advanced Micro Devices for allegedly exposing her to chemicals that caused severe birth defects in her son.

Analysts: Sony's backing off 32nm chip research a smart move

If Sony is pulling out of plans to do 32-nanometer chip research, it's a smart move for a company plagued by financial troubles and it won't affect the industry's march toward smaller microprocessors, analysts say.

MIT reinvents the wheel with foldable, stackable car

Ever wish you could drive around the city but not worry about parking?

Former US DOD employee pleads guilty to defrauding government

A one-time civilian employee with the US Department of Defense (DOD) pleaded guilty to conspiring in a scheme that defrauded the government of US$700,000.

Robocar race winner: Aging drivers may get self-guided autos

In the not-too-distant future, aging baby boomers may have self-guided vehicles to drive them around when they get too old to get behind the wheel themselves, according to one of the leaders of the team that won DARPA's Urban Challenge race over the ...

Researchers use nanotube to build world's tiniest radio

Physicists at the University of California, Berkeley, have built the world's smallest radio out of single carbon nanotube one ten-thousandth the width of a human hair.

Carnegie Mellon's robocar navigates big win

A robot racing team from Carnegie Mellon University beat out a rival from Stanford University over the weekend to win DARPA's Urban Challenge, a 60-mile race involving self-guided vehicles that were judged on both time and how well they performed.

AMD shakes up list of top 10 semiconductor makers

For the first time, Advanced Micro Devices made the top 10 list of worldwide chip suppliers because of strong semiconductor sales in the third quarter of this year.

Green500 list ranks most energy-efficient supercomputers

The world's top supercomputers may be performance powerhouses, but they're also energy hogs, often using enough power to light up a small city.

DARPA brings robotic race cars to city streets for US$2M prize

The US government is hoping that a 60-mile race among up to 20 driverless, self-guided vehicles will yield technological advances that can save lives on the battlefield.