A monthly roundup of technological breakthroughs in energy, computing, nanotechnology, and biotechnology–and how these converging technologies are transforming our society, solving problems, and creating new ones.

1) (Nanotechnology/computing) Scientists create memory chip the size of a white blood cell. It is the densest such chip ever developed. It provides a possible path for circumventing the physical limits of silicone-based chips in the years ahead. Also, it is a potential milestone for creating machines that can operate at the nano level inside our bodies and such.

2) (Nanotechnology) Gut-crawling microrobot to debut in 2009. Think that the idea of robots crawling through your body to fix you is fanciful science fiction? Coming soon to a doctor near you in just two years: a robot the width of two human hairs that can travel through the arteries and organs of your body, penetrating far deeper than current methods. It will be able to provide images, and even perform non-invasive microsurgery.

3) (Computing) Military develops robotic insects. These nasty little bad boys will be remotely controlled, can fly into targets undetected, and will perform a variety of military operations from disabling computers to exploding. But can you imagine these little buggers in the hands of terrorists?

4) (Energy) Military unveils awesome projectile railgun. The military has been busy with futuristic technology. This nasty railgun, straight out of a Doom video game, can launch a small 7-pound projectile that can travel 250 nautical miles and hit its target with the force of a car at 380 mph. It can take down a building with one shot. Ouch! Who needs cruise missiles when you can lay down the smack with this nastiness?? (That goes for terrorists as well as us, of course–better not be finding this toy at the local Wal-Mart!)

5) (Energy) Military unveils new crowd-controlling ray gun. Isn’t it nice to know our military is putting our taxpayer dollars to good use with all this technology? Next up: a non-lethal ray gun it can point at people that can make them feel they are about to be burned alive, causing them to cease whatever rioting they may be doing and run away at top speed. The military says the gun is harmless, but critics claim they may have nasty side-effects.

6) (Computing) Researchers encode entire image onto a single photon. They essentially put a picture image onto a photon and were able to store it and retrieve it later. This could be a huge breakthrough in computer storage, as it would pave the way for society being able to store unimaginably large amounts of data using very little substrate.

7) (Energy) Company claims creation of new battery-ultracapacitor hybrid. EEStor claims to have created this new battery that has ten times the life of existing ones, and can be used on everything from laptops to cars. If true, it would transform our energy equation in a multitude of ways–from making intermittent solar/wind power much more reliable to allowing hybrid-electric cars to fully serve as stable backup for the power grid. Our iPod’s and laptops would run a hell of a lot longer too!

(Energy) New process makes ethanol out of trash. Forget corn, which we’d rather eat than shove down our gas tanks. A new process converts landfill and industrial trash into ethanol, with very little pollution created. We create enough trash to replace 25% of our gasoline if we used this process.

9) (Computing) Australia science agency demoes 6 gb/s wireless speeds. This new wireless peer-to-peer technology would let you download an entire DVD in six seconds. Researchers say this is just the beginning and will shortly be able to double these speeds.

10) (Computing) “Minority Report” style computer interface ready for prime time. Forget keyboards and mice, and take a cue from the (relatively primitive) iPhone. Direct manipulation of computer imagery, as shown in the “Minority Report” movie, is going to be a great new way to interact with our machines. There is a great video of the technology here, although it appears to be temporarily unavailable. Two videos showing the technology can be found on YouTube here and here.

11) (Computing) 65% of computer users spend more time with computer than with significant other. Lastly and sadly, this is not an innovation but a demonstration of a negative effect technology is having on society. Put down World of Warcraft and go cuddle your SO!

Tags: computing, Energy, nanotechnology, technology-roundup