PHOTO COUR TESY OF IQUA, LTD.
■ Diagram of a nuvoDisc flat, brushless
motor.
such as in portable respirators and
barcode scanners. The high-speed,
slotless version is said to reduce
vibration and eliminate cogging for
smoother operation and better
accuracy.
A slotted design is also
available for applications requiring
detent torque. With speeds of up
to 50,000 rpm and mechanical
power output of up to 30W ( 10
Nm of maximum continuous output torque), nuvoDisc claims to
deliver the highest efficiency
among all miniature DC motors.
Prototypes are now available
from regional sales offices or the
company website.
feature, Portescap (www.portescap.
com) has introduced the nuvoDisc™
family of flat, brushless DC motors.
The footprint is only 32 mm dia. by
11. 7 mm length (or 11. 8, if the
diagram is correct), making them
particularly well suited for tight spaces
WIRELESS STEREO
HEADSET FOR MUSIC,
PHONE
Anew offering for people who are
concerned about “keeping your
sense of style and class — everywhere
■ The Iqua BHS-702 pendant.
INDUSTRY AND
THE PROFESSION
FUTURE OF SCIENCE
OUTLOOK UPDATED
When it was published four years
ago, the US Department of
Energy’s Facilities for the Future of
Science: A 20-Year Outlook was the
first such forward-looking document
ever produced by a government
science funding agency. It’s not light
reading, but it does at least demonstrate that there is a method behind
the government’s madness, and it
furnished an overview of 28 new and
upgraded scientific facilities that were
to be supported in a variety of fields
for two decades, including fusion
energy, advanced scientific computation, materials science, biological
and environmental science, and high
energy and nuclear physics.
The DoE has now published an
interim report that provides an update
of the status of the original 28 facilities.
According to Under Secretary for
Science Dr. Raymond L. Orbach, “Our
purpose [in the interim report] is to
give our citizens, legislators, and
stakeholder communities a relatively
digestible summary of where our
Facilities Outlook stands today and a
flavor for the continual careful effort of
analysis, evaluation, and internal and
external review that goes into our facilities planning and decision-making.”
The best part is that you can get a
copy of both the original and interim
documents for free. As one might
expect when dealing with the government, direct links to the documents are
either well hidden or nonexistent on
the DoD website, and the actual URL is
virtually impossible to type. But never
fear. You now can just
log onto jkeckert.com/
future.html and drop
them onto your hard
drive. (The “Layla”
video mentioned in
the nanoradio section
is there, as well.)
■The DoE’s “Facilities for
the Future of Science,”
now updated.
PHOTO COURTESY OF US DEPARTMENT
OF ENERGY.
you go” is the Iqua BHS-702
Bluetooth® Pendant wireless stereo
headset from Finland’s Iqua Ltd.
( www.iqua.com). Established in 2004
largely by former Nokia employees, its
stated mission is to “create state-of-the-art design products that improve
the quality of life, enjoyment, and user
satisfaction.”
The BHS-702 features A2DP
(Advanced Audio Distribution Profile)
technology for wireless stereo listening, and it fades the music when a cell
call comes in and gives the wearer
the option of answering the call or
ignoring it via a single pushbutton.
A two-hour charge will give you
nine hours of talk, seven hours or
music, and 150 hours standby time.
Early reviews were generally positive,
although it has been
noted that the pendant
configuration puts the
microphone too far
from your mouth and
increases noise as the
device scrapes across
your clothing. But it is
trendy and colorful, so
not everyone will care.
You can pick one up
from the Iqua website
for 79 Euros (about
$116 at present). NV
12
January 2008