[H]ardNews - Blair's Tech Ed.

Instant Manufacturing:

Machines that create products directly from digital files can save hours of painstaking human labor, compress production schedules, and eliminate costly overstock. A boundary line of manufacturing history cuts across the factory floor of Siemens Hearing Instruments in Piscataway, NJ. On one side, skilled technicians use casting techniques, precision tools, and years of experience to craft the acrylic shells of hearing aids modeled from silicone impressions of actual ear canals.

How The Hemi Works:

If you like cars, then you have probably heard of the HEMI engine. If you were born in the 1960s or before, you remember the phenomenon created by Chrysler's HEMI engines in the 1950s, '60s and '70s. If you follow muscle cars or drag racing, you know that the 426 HEMI engine is a popular engine because of its performance. You've probably also heard of the new HEMI engines that Chrysler is used in 2003 Dodge trucks.

Pocket PC:

A full-featured PC that is small enough to slip into a shirt pocket is being hailed by its makers as the world's first modular computer. The machine can perform as both a PC and a handheld computer, but it remains to be seen if consumers are willing to pay for such a hybrid device. Inside the MCC is a 1GHz microprocessor, 256 MB of RAM and a 10 or 15 GB hard drive. It will also run a full version of Microsoft's XP operating system.

Cheap Gold Plating:

Researchers in the UK and Sweden have created a new material that could cut costs in the electronics industry. Lidija Siller at the University of Newcastle and colleagues in Durham and Göteborg have developed a simple method to mass-produce thin films of gold nitride. In addition to being cheaper than the gold-plating methods that are currently used to make electronic components, gold nitride also offers improved performance.