Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/303586731?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Sunday, May 5, 2013
Rubio seeks to boost border language in new bill
FILE - In this Jan. 28, 2013 file photo, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., right, accompanied by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., gestures as he speaks during a bipartisan group of leading senators to announce that they have reached agreement on the principles of sweeping legislation to rewrite the nation's immigration laws, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Rubio says a new immigration bill he helped write needs stronger border security provisions or it will fail in the House and may even have trouble getting through the Senate. Rubio, who is the chief emissary to conservatives on the contentious legislation, said he?s been hearing concerns in recent days that more work is needed to boost the bill?s language on the border and he said he?s committed to trying to make those changes. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
FILE - In this Jan. 28, 2013 file photo, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., right, accompanied by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., gestures as he speaks during a bipartisan group of leading senators to announce that they have reached agreement on the principles of sweeping legislation to rewrite the nation's immigration laws, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Rubio says a new immigration bill he helped write needs stronger border security provisions or it will fail in the House and may even have trouble getting through the Senate. Rubio, who is the chief emissary to conservatives on the contentious legislation, said he?s been hearing concerns in recent days that more work is needed to boost the bill?s language on the border and he said he?s committed to trying to make those changes. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio says a new immigration bill he helped write needs stronger border security provisions or it will fail in the House and may even have trouble getting through the Senate.
Rubio, who is the chief emissary to conservatives on the contentious legislation, said in a radio interview and in an opinion piece being published in Friday's Wall Street Journal that he's been hearing concerns in recent days that more work is needed to boost the bill's language on the border and he said he's committed to trying to make those changes.
In his Wall Street Journal piece, Rubio cited "triggers" in the bill that aim to make new citizenship provisions contingent on border security accomplishments. Critics say those provisions are too weak, because in some cases the Homeland Security secretary is tasked with undertaking studies ? but not with delivering results ? before millions in the U.S. illegally can obtain legal status.
Rubio also mentioned revisiting "waivers" in the bill that give federal officials discretion in applying the law, another flashpoint for conservative critics; concerns about the bill's cost; and the possibility of making legalization provisions for immigrants already here "tougher, yet still realistic." He didn't offer details.
"Clearly what we have in there now is not good enough for too many people and so we've got to make it better. And that's what I'm asking for and that's what we're working on," Rubio said separately this week in an interview with "The Sean Hannity Show" radio program.
"This bill will not pass the House and, quite frankly, I think, may struggle to pass the Senate if it doesn't deal with that issue, so we've got some work to do on that front," he said.
Rubio's comments came during Congress' one-week recess. Back home, lawmakers are hearing feedback about the 844-page bill. Rubio and seven Democratic and Republican senators ? the so-called Gang of Eight ? introduced the legislation April 17. The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to begin voting on it next week.
In addition to improving border security, the bill would create new visa programs to bring many more foreign workers into the U.S., require employers to check their workers' legal status, and create a new pathway to citizenship for the 11 million immigrants living here illegally.
The bill faces a tough road in the Democratic-led Senate and an even tougher one in the GOP-controlled House, and some supporters say it will only be successful if Republicans believe it does enough on the border.
The bill allocates $5.5 billion for border measures aimed at achieving 100 percent surveillance of the entire border and blocking 90 percent of border crossers and would-be crossers in high-entrance areas.
The Homeland Security Department would have six months to create a new border security plan to achieve the 90 percent effectiveness rate. Also within six months, the department would have to create a plan to identify where new fencing is needed. Once that happens, people living here illegally could begin to apply for a provisional legal status.
If the 90 percent rate isn't achieved within five years, a commission made of border state officials would make recommendations on how to do it.
After 10 years, people with provisional legal status could apply for permanent residency if the new security and fencing plans are operating, a new mandatory employment verification system is in place, and a new electronic exit system is tracking who leaves the country.
Critics say these triggers don't do enough.
"The triggers aren't triggers at all," Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said in a statement. "The day the bill passes, there will be an effective amnesty for the vast majority of illegal immigrants ? abandoning the Gang of Eight's public promise of enforcement first."
But changes aimed at strengthening the border security provisions could cause heartburn among Democrats. Advocates and the Obama administration have been reluctant to see citizenship made contingent on border security. Immigrants here illegally already face a 13-year path to citizenship under the bill ? which Rubio said actually could stretch to as many as 20 years for some, given how long it takes to undertake certain steps ? and anything that could make it more onerous raises concerns with supporters on the left.
The border security agreement is "a very fragile and delicately worded part of the bill," said Angela Kelley, vice president for immigration policy at the liberal Center for American Progress. "To me it really goes to the fundamental question of workability."
Border security is just one issue that's likely to provoke a fight. There's also a brewing dispute over whether the bill should recognize gay unions so that gays could sponsor their partners to come to the U.S. Gay groups are pushing for an amendment in the Judiciary Committee to allow that, but Rubio and other Republicans have made clear it would cost their support.
White House press secretary Jay Carney was asked about the gay immigration issue on Air Force One en route to Mexico City on Thursday. "We have said that we support that provision, but we also think it's very important to recognize that the overall bill here accomplishes what the president believes needs to be accomplished," Carney said.
___
Follow Erica Werner on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ericawerner
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Acer unveils Aspire P3 Ultrabook convertible (update: hands-on video)
Acer brought a whole bunch of folks out to NYC for a global press conference and made sure the attending press got their money's worth. In addition to outing the unique convertible R7, the company unveiled the Aspire P3 -- its first convertible Windows 8 Ultrabook. The screen can be angled forward to use as a traditional (ish) laptop or completely folded down in slate mode. As you can see in the image, there's even a place to clip on a stylus. Acer wasn't too forthcoming with specs during the presentation, but we'll be sure to dig up those specifics when we get our hands-on (which should be coming shortly).
Update: You'll find impressions and specs after the break.
Filed under: Acer
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Friday, May 3, 2013
Photos: Wildfire rages in California
Firefighters work to protect homes from a fast-moving brush fire in the Newbury Park area of Ventura County May 2, 2013. A wind-driven brush fire raging northwest of Los Angeles prompted the ... more?Firefighters work to protect homes from a fast-moving brush fire in the Newbury Park area of Ventura County May 2, 2013. A wind-driven brush fire raging northwest of Los Angeles prompted the evacuation of hundreds of homes and a university campus on Thursday as flames engulfed several farm buildings and recreational vehicles at the fringe of threatened neighborhoods. REUTER/Patrick T. Fallon (UNITED STATES - Tags: DISASTER) less?
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lightbox/calif-homes-evacuated-in-brush-fire-threat-slideshow/
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Gray hair and vitiligo reversed at the root
May 3, 2013 ? Hair dye manufacturers are on notice: The cure for gray hair is coming. That's right, the need to cover up one of the classic signs of aging with chemical pigments will be a thing of the past thanks to a team of European researchers. In a new research report published online in The FASEB Journal people who are going gray develop massive oxidative stress via accumulation of hydrogen peroxide in the hair follicle, which causes our hair to bleach itself from the inside out, and most importantly, the report shows that this massive accumulation of hydrogen peroxide can be remedied with a proprietary treatment developed by the researchers described as a topical, UVB-activated compound called PC-KUS (a modified pseudocatalase). What's more, the study also shows that the same treatment works for the skin condition, vitiligo.
"To date, it is beyond any doubt that the sudden loss of the inherited skin and localized hair color can affect those individuals in many fundamental ways," said Karin U. Schallreuter, M.D., study author from the Institute for Pigmentary Disorders in association with E.M. Arndt University of Greifswald, Germany and the Centre for Skin Sciences, School of Life Sciences at the University of Bradford, United Kingdom. "The improvement of quality of life after total and even partial successful repigmentation has been documented."
To achieve this breakthrough, Schallreuter and colleagues analyzed an international group of 2,411 patients with vitiligo. Of that group, 57 or 2.4 percent were diagnosed with strictly segmental vitiligo (SSV), and 76 or 3.2 percent were diagnosed with mixed vitiligo, which is SSV plus non-segmental vitiligo (NSV). They found that for the first time, patients who have SSV within a certain nerval distribution involving skin and eyelashes show the same oxidative stress as observed in the much more frequent general NSV, which is associated with decreased antioxidant capacities including catalase, thioredoxin reductase, and the repair mechanisms methionine sulfoxide reductases. These findings are based on basic science and clinical observations, which led to successful patient outcomes regarding repigmentation of skin and eyelashes.
"For generations, numerous remedies have been concocted to hide gray hair," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal, "but now, for the first time, an actual treatment that gets to the root of the problem has been developed. While this is exciting news, what's even more exciting is that this also works for vitiligo. This condition, while technically cosmetic, can have serious socio-emotional effects of people. Developing an effective treatment for this condition has the potential to radically improve many people's lives."
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- K. U. Schallreuter, M. A. E. L. Salem, S. Holtz, A. Panske. Basic evidence for epidermal H2O2/ONOO--mediated oxidation/nitration in segmental vitiligo is supported by repigmentation of skin and eyelashes after reduction of epidermal H2O2 with topical NB-UVB-activated pseudocatalase PC-KUS. The FASEB Journal, 2013; DOI: 10.1096/fj.12-226779
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/sKpMQ44myiE/130503132958.htm
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Valcke: Qatar can host World Cup in 8 stadiums
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke says Qatar can stage the 2022 World Cup in eight stadiums, despite the 12-venue plan required when bidding.
Valcke tells The Associated Press that ongoing talks with Qatar "will be pragmatic and we will find the right number."
Last month, an American investment bank revealed after meeting Qatar's organizing committee that fewer stadiums were being considered. Bank of America Merrill Lynch told investors that 12 could push World Cup-linked construction costs over its $95 billion estimate.
Valcke says he doesn't "see the interest for Qatar to have 12" given the country's size.
FIFA requires at least eight for the 64-match tournament, and future hosts Brazil and Russia opted for 12.
Valcke expects the 2022 World Cup will be played in "between eight to 10."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/valcke-qatar-host-world-cup-155135249.html
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Samsung NX2000: A Fancy Camera That's Dumb Like a Smartphone
Don't let the Samsung NX2000's big 'ol interchangeable lens and APS-C image sensor fool you?its touchscreen UI is designed for the jabs of the simplest operators.
At first, you'd think the NX2000 fits right in with other more advanced touchscreen cameras coming out these days. You see, even if a $650 mirrorless camera like the NX2000 succeeds in cramming DSLR image quality worthy of its 20.3-megapixel APS-C sensor into that little, lightweight body, it won't ever?ever?handle like a DSLR. Button-rich operability doesn't scale down, and addding touchscreen can help. It's a logical design improvement.
But on Samsung's other mirrorless cameras, touchscreens have been auxiliary tools?because while ditching button controls altogether might work on a tiny point-and-shoot, a more expensive, more powerful camera like the NX2000 sort of implies that its users are going to want more control.
Well what you're getting with the NX2000 is less control. Werid right? Check out the camera's back panel, which is almost completely consumed by a 3.7-inch touchscreen. Only a few buttons remain. The standard-issue mode dial on top by the shutter release is missing, and even the "Home" button on the back doesn't do anything but take the touch UI back to square one. You know, like the home button on an Android phone.
Indeed, from behind, the NX2000 looks more like the Samsung Galaxy Camera (left) than the $750 (including lens) mirrorless Samsung NX300
Besides using the Galaxy Camera's entirely touch-based camera UI, plastic build, andfixed touchscreen, the NX2000 doesn't have much in common with Galaxy Camera at all. Actually, it inherits the NX300's important features, including its overhauled Wi-Fi sharing and new image processor. The two NX cameras even sport APS-C image sensors from the same family, though, the NX2000's is a generation older and has slower autofocus potential.
Which is all a long way of saying that the touchscreen UI is an odd choice for an NX-series mirrorless shooter. It seems that like the Galaxy Camera?and let's face it, a lot of Samsung products these days?the NX2000 is a test product. In this case, we'll find out if there are folks out there willing to pay a premium for simplicity. [Samsung
Source: http://gizmodo.com/samsung-nx2000-a-fancy-camera-thats-dumb-like-a-sma-486112769
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Thursday, May 2, 2013
For 3, bomb suspect's friendship leads to charges
This courtroom sketch signed by artist Jane Flavell Collins shows defendants Dias Kadyrbayev, left, and Azamat Tazhayakov appearing in front of Federal Magistrate Marianne Bowler at the Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston, Mass., Wednesday, May 1, 2013. The two college friends of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and another man, were arrested and charged with removing a backpack containing hollowed-out fireworks from Tsarnaev's dorm room. (AP Photo/Jane Flavell Collins)
This courtroom sketch signed by artist Jane Flavell Collins shows defendants Dias Kadyrbayev, left, and Azamat Tazhayakov appearing in front of Federal Magistrate Marianne Bowler at the Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston, Mass., Wednesday, May 1, 2013. The two college friends of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and another man, were arrested and charged with removing a backpack containing hollowed-out fireworks from Tsarnaev's dorm room. (AP Photo/Jane Flavell Collins)
This courtroom sketch shows signed by artist Jane Flavell Collins defendant Robel Phillipos appearing in front of Federal Magistrate Marianne Bowler at the Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston, Mass., Wednesday, May 1, 2013. The Phillipos, and two other college friends of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, were arrested and charged with removing a backpack containing hollowed-out fireworks from Tsarnaev's dorm room. (AP Photo/Jane Flavell Collins)
This photo released May 1, 2013 by the U.S. Attorney's office in a federal criminal complaint, shows fireworks, which the complaint said federal agents recovered from inside a backpack belonging to Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaeva, found in a landfill in New Bedford, Mass. Three men who attended the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth with Tsarnaeva, were charged Wednesday, May 1, 2013, in connection with the case. (AP Photo/U.S. Attorney's Office)
FILE - This combination of undated file photos shows Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, left, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19. The FBI says the two brothers are the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing, and are also responsible for killing an MIT police officer, critically injuring a transit officer in a firefight and throwing explosive devices at police during a getaway attempt in a long night of violence that left Tamerlan dead and Dzhokhar captured, late Friday, April 19, 2013. The ethnic Chechen brothers lived in Dagestan, which borders the Chechnya region in southern Russia. They lived near Boston and had been in the U.S. for about a decade, one of their uncles reported said. Since Monday, Boston has experienced five days of fear, beginning with the marathon bombing attack, an intense manhunt and much uncertainty ending in the death of one suspect and the capture of the other. (AP Photo/The Lowell Sun & Robin Young, File)
Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Boston Field Office Richard DesLauriers departs after the arraignment of three college friends of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev at the Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston, Mass., Wednesday, May 1, 2013. Dias Kadyrbayev, Azamat Tazhayakov and Robel Phillipos were arrested and charged with removing a backpack containing hollowed-out fireworks from Tsarnaev's dorm room. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
BOSTON (AP) ? Just hours before one of the Boston Marathon suspects and his brother allegedly gunned down a campus police officer, authorities say he exchanged a series of text messages with a friend who'd become suspicious after seeing what looked like a familiar face being flashed on television.
Dias Kadyrbayev, a student at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, texted his college buddy Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, saying he looked like one of the bombing suspects.
"Tsarnaev's return texts contained 'lol' and other things Kadyrbayev interpreted as jokes such as 'you better not text me' and 'come to my room and take whatever you want,'" an FBI agent wrote in an affidavit.
Those texts set off a series of events that on Wednesday led to Kadyrbayev and his roommate Azamat Tazhayakov, natives of Kazhakstan, being charged with conspiring to destroy emptied fireworks and other evidence linking their friend to the deadly April 15 blasts. Robel Phillipos, who graduated from Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School with Tsarnaev in 2011, was charged with lying to investigators about the April 18 visit to his friend's dorm room to retrieve the items.
Tazhayakov also told authorities that during a meal about a month before the terror attacks, Tsarnaev informed him and Kadyrbayev "that he knew how to make a bomb." That is significant because, before he was advised of his rights not to speak with authorities, the 19-year-old bombing suspect allegedly said that his older brother had only recently recruited him to be part of the attack.
Three people were killed and more than 260 wounded on April 15 when two bombs exploded near the marathon's finish line. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died after a gunfight with police days later. Younger brother Dzhokhar was captured and remains in a prison hospital.
According to the FBI account, just hours after surveillance camera photos of the two suspects were flashed around the world April 18, Tsnarnaev's friends suspected he was one of the bombers and removed the backpack along with a laptop from Tsarnaev's room at UMass Dartmouth.
One of them later threw the backpack in the garbage, and it wound up in a landfill, where it was discovered by law enforcement officers last week, authorities said. In the backpack were fireworks that had been emptied of their gunpowder.
Investigators have not said whether the pressure cooker bombs used in the attacks were made with gunpowder extracted from fireworks.
The lawyers for the Kazakh students said their clients had nothing to do with the bombing and were just as shocked by the crime as everyone else. Phillipos' attorney, Derege Demissie, said outside court: "The only allegation is he made a misrepresentation."
The Kazakh students did not request bail at a court hearing and will be held for another hearing May 14. Phillipos was held for a hearing on Monday. If convicted, Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov could get up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Phillipos faces a maximum of eight years behind bars and a $250,000 fine.
The mother of the Tsarnaev brothers has said the allegations against her sons are lies.
Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov have been in jail for more than a week on allegations they were in violation of their student visas, one because he was skipping classes, the other because he was no longer enrolled.
Tazhayakov was allowed to return to the U.S. from Kazakhstan in January despite not having a valid student visa, a federal law enforcement official told The Associated Press. His student visa status had been terminated because he was academically dismissed from the university, said the official, who was not authorized to discuss the case and spoke on condition of anonymity.
All three men charged Wednesday began attending UMass with Tsarnaev in 2011, according to the FBI.
Kadyrbayev, an engineering major, said he and Tazhayakov hung out with Tsarnaev on and off campus. The three often spoke Russian among themselves.
He told authorities he became "better friends" with Tsarnaev, an ethnic Chechan, in spring 2012, and that he was a frequent visitor to the Tsarnaev home in Cambridge.
The FBI said that before Tsarnaev's roommate let the three friends into the room, Kadyrbayev received a text message from Tsarnaev that read: "I'm about to leave if you need something in my room take it," according to the FBI. When Tazhayakov learned of the message, "he believed he would never see Tsarnaev alive again," the FBI said in the affidavit.
It was unclear from the court papers whether authorities believe that was an instruction from Tsarnaev to destroy evidence.
Once inside Tsarnaev's room, the men watched a movie. At some point, they noticed a backpack containing more than a half-dozen fireworks, each about 8 inches long, according to the affidavit. The black powder had been scooped out.
The FBI said that Kadyrbayev knew when he saw the fireworks that Tsarnaev was involved in the bombings and decided to remove the backpack "to help his friend Tsarnaev avoid trouble."
Kadyrbayev also decided to remove Tsarnaev's laptop "because he did not want Tsarnaev's roommate to think he was stealing or behaving suspiciously by just taking the backpack," the FBI said.
After the three returned to Kadyrbayev's and Tazhayakov's apartment with the backpack and computer, they watched news reports featuring photographs of Tsarnaev. The FBI said Kadyrbayev told authorities the three men then "collectively decided to throw the backpack and fireworks into the trash because they did not want Tsarnaev to get into trouble."
Kadyrbayev said he placed the backpack and fireworks along with trash from the apartment into a large trash bag and threw it into a garbage bin near the men's apartment, according to court papers.
When the backpack was later found, inside it was a UMass-Dartmouth homework assignment sheet from a class Tsarnaev was taking, the FBI said.
The court papers do not say what happened to the laptop.
In a footnote, the FBI said: "Tazhayakov also informed the FBI agents that while eating a meal with Dzhokhar and Kadrybayev approximately one month prior to the marathon bombing, Dzhokhar had explained to Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov that he knew how to make a bomb."
Robert Stahl, an attorney for Kadyrbayev, said his client "absolutely denies the charges" and didn't know that the backpack and fireworks were part of the bombing case. Kadyrbayev is "just as shocked and horrified by the violence in Boston that took place as the rest of the community is," the lawyer said.
He also denied that Kadyrbayev instantly recognized Tsarnaev's photo and said Kadyrbayev didn't know Tsarnaev was involved in the bombing: "His first inkling came much later," he said.
Tazhayakov's lawyer, Harlan Protass, said Tazhayakov "feels horrible and was shocked to hear that someone he knew at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth was involved with the Boston Marathon bombing."
Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov lived at an off-campus apartment in New Bedford, about 60 miles south of Boston, and got around in a car registered to Kadyrbayev with a souvenir plate that read "Terrorista (hash)1." The car was pictured on Tsarnaev's Twitter feed in March.
The plate was a gag gift from some of Kadyrbayev's friends, meant to invoke his penchant for late-night partying rather than his political sentiments, Kadyrbayev's lawyer said last week.
___
Breed reported from Raleigh, N.C. Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Bridget Murphy and Rodrique Ngowi in Boston and Michelle R. Smith in Providence, R.I.
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Video: HBT Daily: Is Hudson a Hall of Famer?
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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/21134540/vp/51734308#51734308
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Wednesday, May 1, 2013
New measurement tool is on target for the fast-growing MEMS industry
May 1, 2013 ? As markets for miniature, hybrid machines known as MEMS grow and diversify, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has introduced a long-awaited measurement tool that will help growing numbers of device designers, manufacturers and customers to see eye to eye on eight dimensional and material property measurements that are key to device performance.
The NIST-developed test chips (Reference Materials 8096 and 8097) are quality assurance tools that enable accurate, reliable comparisons of measurements on MEMS (MicroElectroMechanical Systems) devices made with different equipment and by different labs or companies. These capabilities will make it easier to characterize and troubleshoot processes, calibrate instruments and communicate among partners.
MEMS were once considered a stepchild of the semiconductor industry and largely confined to automotive uses -- primarily as accelerometers in airbag systems. But the devices have branched out into an array of applications, especially in consumer electronics markets. A high-end smart phone, for example, contains about 10 such devices, including microphones, accelerometers and gyroscopes. MEMS devices also are important components of tablet computers, game consoles, lab-on-a-chip diagnostic systems, displays and implantable medical devices.
Global MEMS industry revenues are projected to grow from about $10 billion in 2011 to $21 billion in 2017, according to the June 2012 forecast by the technology consulting firm Yole D?veloppement.
Widely used reference materials and standardized measurement methods can help to improve process efficiency and to reduce the cost and time devoted to testing and inspecting MEMS devices. Industry-accepted measurements also can promote greater interoperability among devices made by different manufacturers.
The new NIST reference materials are micromachined and further processed to contain miniature cantilevers, beams, stair-like step heights, microscale rulers and test structures for measuring surface-layer thickness. Specifically, the NIST test chips can be used to check customer conformity with internationally established standards for measuring elasticity (Young's modulus), residual strain (and stress), strain (and stress) gradient, as well as thickness, step height and length. All dimensional and material-property measurements that NIST used to characterize the reference devices conform with SEMI and ASTM International standard test methods. These standard methods are consensus best practices developed by industry committees.
"Reference materials and best-practice test methods provide industry-wide benefits," explains NIST electronics engineer Janet Cassard. "Typically, these tools are prohibitively expensive for a single company to develop on its own. We will work with the MEMS community to facilitate widespread adoption and consistent usage of these standard test methods and reference materials."
One test chip (RM 8096) is manufactured in an integrated circuit (IC) process; the other (RM 8097) in a MEMS process. The test chips are supported by a user's guide, data analysis sheets for each measurement, and other materials accessible via the NIST Data Gateway with the keyword "MEMS Calculator."
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
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Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/HPkwQzr8GNc/130501145148.htm
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