ANS TechGlance

RIKEN has announced that its researchers have   successfully developed a revolutionary new polymer film that changes shape upon irradiation with UV and visible light.  The announcement continues, " Described in  Science , the film is the largest-ever example of a material whose molecular elements are ordered in three dimensions on a macroscopic length scale, marking a breakthrough in techniques for molecular design and processing." When this technology becomes popular, the direct conversion of light energy into a mechanical force may enable us to obtain a highly efficient energy conversion method from the solar light energy. Source: RIKEN News Release 11/17/10

New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) announced that  a team of  Ritsumeikan University, Admatechs, Crystal Optics, and Kokonoe Electric working on a NEDO's project of  "Development of alternative materials for rare metals" ( a part of rare earth) has successfully developed new materials and technologies to reduce the consumption of cerium. Cerium, which is mostly produced in China, is critical abrasive material in the process of manufacturing glass for LCD TV display panels. The new abrasive material  is expected to free the glass panel manufacturers from dependency of the rare earth material of cerium. Source: NEDO's press release (in Japanese) 9/20/10