IEEE Spectrum February, 2013 - 3

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Online

the Big Melt
Airborne altimeters and other sensors
see dangerous declines in the Arctic.
By dave Levitan

hands On
Quickly create a custom
USB game controller with the
Arduino Leonardo.
By Stephen cass

Spectral Lines
Why there's consternation over
DARPA's hackerspace initiative.
By david Schneider

For Love or Money: the Age
of diy Book Publishing
In this "Techwise
Conversations" podcast
special, hear from one man
who uses Amazon.com to
publish books he loves and
another whose software
remixes existing books in
20 minutes.

News

11 Quicker Coal Power
14 Electricity From Plant Roots
15 Graphene Goes the Distance
in Spintronics
18 The Big Picture

Resources

23
24
25
72

Tools: A Bluetooth Toothbrush
Profile: Supermechanical
Q&A: Windows 8's Usability
Dataflow: The Solar Economy

Opinion

Spectrum.ieee.org

04 Back Story
06 Contributors
28 Technically Speaking: Weisure

AdditiOnAL reSOurceS

from left: environment images/getty images; jakob nielsen; istockphoto

Tech
Insider / Webinars
Available at spectrum.ieee.org/webinar
Transformer and Inductor Modeling With COMSOL Multiphysics-7 February
Real-Time Simulation of Grid-Tied Switched-Mode Power Systems
LTE Components Drive Multimode Mobile Broadband
Best Practices in Delivery of Next-Generation Automotive
Infotainment Systems
Smarter Product Development Needs Effective Systems Engineering:
Get Greater Visibility Across Your Systems Engineering Data
Master of Engineering Degree Programs From Boston University
EMC Simulation of Consumer Electronic Devices
Modeling Electromagnetic Phenomena in Vorpal With the VSimEM Package
IBM WhITE PAPER LIBRARY
http://spectrum.ieee.org/static/ibm-whitepaper-library
NEW PRODUCT RELEASE LIBRARY
http://spectrum.ieee.org/static/new-product-release-library

The
Institute
Available 4 February at theinstitute.ieee.org
RAPID DNA ANALYSIS IS ON THE HORIZON Today, DNA analysis takes
weeks to produce results and must be done in a lab. With a new system,
analysis takes less than 2 hours and can be done in the field. The system
was presented at the IEEE homeland Security Conference in November.
IEEE SIGHT GETS OFF THE GROUND Members are working on dozens
of projects to help underserved populations through sustainable technologies
that are tailored to those communities. IEEE has launched a program that will
be able to provide the groups with the support and tools they need to succeed.
RADARCON TO FOCUS ON THE ARCTIC As the Arctic becomes more
accessible, radar's role in the region's development is growing. This year's
IEEE Radar Conference will focus on that role, the technical challenges
involved, and the emerging technologies that will support it.

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FEb 2013

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum February, 2013