Researchers have developed a diode that can read photons faster than ever before. [ + ]

To build the computer chips of the future, designers will need to understand how an electrical charge behaves when it is confined to metal wires only a few atom-widths in diameter. A team of physicists has shown that electrical current may be drastically reduced when wires from two dissimilar metals meet. [ + ]

Robotdalen is Sweden’s foremost robotics cluster; an initiative enabling commercial success of new ideas and research within robotics and automation. Robotdalen arranges the Robotics Innovation Challenge in Eskilstuna, Sweden, on 25 April 2013. [ + ]

Electronics distributor Premier Farnell and EnOcean have announced an expansion to their existing partnership. The announcement sees Premier Farnell now shipping small samples and low-volume quantities of EnOcean’s energy harvesting wireless sensor modules worldwide direct or via its online element14 community. [ + ]

Siemens PLM has expanded its portfolio of industry software by acquiring Belgian company LMS International NV, a leading provider of test and mechatronic simulation software. [ + ]

Wage premiums and demand continuing to outstrip supply are two of the focal points of a recent Royal Academy of Engineers report which also emphasises the need for more science, engineering, technology and mathematics uptake at school levels. [ + ]

DARPA has awarded a contract to RFMD to investigate how to enhance the thermal efficiency of gallium nitride (GaN) circuits used in high-power radar and other military systems. [ + ]

A new list of harmonised standards under the Low Voltage Directive 2006/95/EC was announced in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ C 245) last August. [ + ]

Robots could reduce their power consumption by as much as 10-fold by ‘stutter jumping’ - taking a short hop before a big jump. [ + ]

While you can’t yet pop them into your next electronics design project, the discovery of living cables is quite intriguing. [ + ]

Under this agreement, Braemac plans to offer the full range of Renesas products. [ + ]

The acquisition supports a strategy to build an electronic business with a portfolio of adjacent products and technologies. [ + ]

For the first time, scientists have observed how droplets within solids deform and burst under high electric voltages. [ + ]

The presentation outlines how low-frequency electromagnetic simulation software enables designers to improve the performance of motors and generators to meet specific economic, efficiency and operating environment targets. [ + ]

The e-car Electric Raceabout now is the fastest electric vehicle in the world on ice. [ + ]