The Cutting Edge: Computing / Technology / Innovation : New Chips Could Usher in the Video CD Era
Vinyl records long ago took a back seat to the compact disc. Now it looks as if videotapes may go the same route. Texas Instruments has introduced a set of chips that could make video compact discs as common as audio CDs. The company’s three-chip set produces VHS-quality video and CD-quality sound for the emerging Video CD standard developed by JVC, Matsushita, Philips and Sony.
Video CD builds on the popularity of audio CDs and adds full-motion video and VCR-like features, such as fast forward, freeze frame and reverse. The Texas Instruments chip set uses compression technology that delivers video images comparable to videotape but with better sound quality.
Full-length movies or music videos can be played from one or two five-inch CDs, giving video enthusiasts the same digital quality, ease of use and greater durability provided by audio CDs. Because of the random-access nature of the digital technology, music video albums would seem a natural for the first Video CDs.
While Video CD does not provide as sharp an image as laser disc, the CDs will cost considerably less. That’s because Video CD can take advantage of the major manufacturing cost reductions achieved for audio CDs. Movie companies, including MGM, Paramount and Columbia, as well as major record labels have announced plans to offer Video CD products. Texas Instruments says production quantities of its chip set will be available sometime late this year.
The first hardware, which could be in the stores by year’s end, will be audio CD players with Video CD as a premium feature. Early reports suggest that the players could sell for less than $500. Conventional audio CDs will be playable on Video CD.
*
Softening the Blow: Children think that games involving falling down are fun. But for anyone over age 65, falls are no laughing matter. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that a third of all people over 65 fall at least once a year, with the annual cost of medical care for hip fractures (the most common fall-related injury) estimated at $7 billion.
As a result, researchers at Pennsylvania State University are working on flooring that would be softer on older bones. The design involves two layers of urethane elastomer, a highly elastic material, separated by small columns of the same material. The floor can withstand someone walking or rolling a wheelchair on it. But when someone falls on it, the columns between layers buckle momentarily, cutting the impact by as much as 40%.
*
Building Blood: One of the worst side effects of intensive chemotherapy is the sometimes fatal drop in blood platelets the treatment can cause. Since platelets are the blood cells responsible for clotting, low platelet counts can lead to excessive internal bleeding. This condition, known as thrombocytopenia, is currently treated through platelet transfusion or by lowering chemotherapy doses. But transfusion carries the risk of the immune system building up defenses against what it perceives to be foreign objects and rejecting the platelets. Lower chemotherapy doses might not be as effective.
But researchers at ZymoGenetics, a Seattle-based subsidiary of the Danish firm Novo Nordisk, in collaboration with the University of Washington, have cloned a hormone called thrombopoietin, or TPO. TPO belongs to a group of proteins known as cytokines, which stimulate the production of certain blood cells. While the TPO clone is a long way from commercialization, researchers report that it has stimulated the production of platelet levels in laboratory mice by more than 400%.
*
Eye Control: For most of us, the mouse was a big step forward when it came to controlling our computers. But if you think voice recognition will mean a great leap forward, guess again. Three Boston College faculty members think that maybe the eyes have it when it comes to making computers simpler to use.
Researchers attach a series of electrodes around the user’s eyes, where muscle movements generate electrical signals. The electrodes measure eye movements; the potential difference measured between the electrodes indicates the vertical and horizontal position of the retina. Focusing on the cursor causes it to move to wherever the eye moves. In one application, a person could sort through a large data bank by simply “looking” the cursor to the right entry. An auto in a simulated road race video game would move when you moved your eyes. People with limited use of arms, hands or fingers could benefit. But forget word processing for the moment: A single sentence requires moving the cursor around on an alphabet pad. It takes three minutes to write “It is working.”
*
Pressure-Cooking Toxic Chemicals: One of the techniques the U.S. military uses to render toxic materials and stockpiled chemical weapons harmless is to heat them in what amounts to a high-tech pressure cooker. This method, called the super-critical water technique, heats the chemicals and water in a reactor at temperatures of 400 degrees to 500 degrees Celsius and at a pressure of more than 5,000 pounds per square inch.
Trouble is, chlorine and sulfur, common ingredients in several chemical warfare substances such as mustard gas, react strongly with the metal reactor walls and cause serious damage.
Thomas Houser, a Western Michigan University chemist, thinks a glass lining is the answer. Only the purest forms of glass can be used, because materials such as Pyrex react with super-critical water. The trick will be to balance the pressure inside and outside the glass container. While incineration is still the most common method to destroy toxic substances, including hazardous waste in landfills, super-critical water could clean up what’s left even after incineration.
*
Machines on a Chip: Silicon-based semiconductors have found their way into almost every kind of machine. But now machines are finding their way onto silicon chips.
The same etching process that is used to put transistors on a silicon wafer can be used to etch tiny diaphragms, beams and other structures measuring only a few thousandths of an inch or smaller. While much of the work on micro-machines is still being done in the laboratory, one area has shown commercial potential: sensors.
Boston-based Analog Devices, which recently received a $3.4-million grant under the federal Technology Reinvestment Project, has been providing micro-machined accelerometers for air bag deployment. But the company sees future automotive uses in sensors for anti-skid braking, yaw control and active suspension, among other things.
