Researchers isolate bacteria protein that may help miniaturize computers

Article Abstract:

Researchers at Syracuse University have accomplished three-dimensional storage, applying laser beams to molecules of the protein bacteriorhodapsin. Previously, data could only be stored in two dimensions. According to Robert Birge, leader of the research team at Syracuse, bacteriorhodapsin is especially suited to the research group's purpose because it quickly and efficiently converts light into chemical and electrical signals. Birge's research is a part of a new field called molecular electronics, which promises techniques and methodologies to miniaturize computers. Birge foresees a technology that stores the Library of Congress on six one-centimeter cubes made of protein molecules. Separately, researchers from Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, and the Max Planck Institute in Munich, Germany, report genetic mutations to the bacteria, yielding a protein that is five times more responsive to light, which translates into a capability to store images five times faster. The protein is said to be suitable for storing holographic images.

Colleges and universities, Research, Universities and colleges, Molecular electronics, Photochemical research, Information storage and retrieval, Bacteriorhodopsin, Holography, Memory management, Miniaturization, Storage Capacity, Syracuse University, Wayne State University

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Product failure; how U.S. robots lost the market to Japan in factory automation; Westinghouse put hydraulics ahead of electric units, which Japanese stressed; the need for custom design

Article Abstract:

The US robotics industry loses out to Japanese competition, a story that illustrates why US companies often fail while Japanese companies succeed in a technologies market. The failure of Westinghouse Electric Corp's Unimation unit points out how an entrepreneurial company under the shield of a slow-moving corporate structure fails. The Unimate industrial robot consisted of a series of electronically manipulated hydraulic pumps and pistons that were prone to leakage and high maintenance costs. Westinghouse neglected to make the change to a fully electronic robot and eventually was beat out of the marketplace by Japanese competitors. The US robot industry was expected to reach $2 billion by 1990, but it has only reached $437 million.

General industrial machinery, not elsewhere classified, United States, Japan, International aspects, United States economic conditions, Technology application, Robots, Industrial, Industrial robots, Robotics industry, Competition

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BP unit enters hard-to-crack market for ceramic casings on electronic chips

Article Abstract:

British Petroleum Co's US unit Carborundum Co is entering the growing $1.5 billion ceramic casing market and hopes to begin shipping samples by the end of 1990. Carborundum plans on building at least two full-scale production plants by 1992 and is attempting to forge strategic alliances with major computer and electronic makers. Japan dominates the worldwide market for ceramic casings, which are used around electronic chips, and controls 94 percent of the market share. US companies have tried to enter the market before but have been unsuccessful.

Management, Microprocessor, CPUs (Central processing units), British Petroleum Company PLC, Market share, Electronics industry, Ceramics, Microelectronics, Carborundum Co.

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