UvRays
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Navy looks into UV cloak for stealth aircraft
The Navy's invested good money in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which obscures radar waves and redirects engine heat to evade recognition by infrared sensors. But that stealth flier is still vulnerable to another type of detection: UV sensors. The Pentagon recently began soliciting proposals to develop a device that cloaks aircraft from ultra-violet detection systems. The hope is that such a technology could shield aircraft from missile seekers that scan the sky for telltale "UV silhouettes." According to the call for research, the solution could involve a device that disperses a cloud of quantum dots or other materials to veil jet fighters in a shapeless mass of UV shadow. Given that this is a rather daunting task, it's not surprising that the development timeframe and projected cost are still up in the air.
AU Optronics' miraculous LCD Panels can read fingerprints or UV levels
Female? User of LCD panels? Have fingerprints that need read? Worried about skin cancer? If you answer "yes" to any or all of these questions, we have news that is sure to knock your sun-lovin' socks off. Among the items on display at this year's FPD International Exhibition in Yokohama are two exciting LCD panels: they're both 2.8 inches, and they're both manufactured by AU Optronics (a company that knows a thing or two about liquid crystal displays). The first panel functions as a fingerprint scanner -- it boasts a pixel count of 320 x 240, each pixel is equipped with four optical sensors, and sends its output to a 640 x 480 monitor. The other panel uses similar technology to measure the intensity of UV rays, numerically displaying the results on a scale of 0 to 11. According to the company, the UV reader "is targeted at female users who are concerned about the amount of UV light outdoors." There's no word yet on a UV reader for men, but you'll know as soon as we do.
