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Print E-mail del.icio.us 59 comment(s) - last by noblesville.. on May 2 at 11:29 PM
Princeton scientists create a new type of conductive matter.

The Hall effect is a well-known and understood material phenomenon. Passing a magnetic field through a conductor -- perpendicular to the flow of current -- forces the electrons to migrate to one side of the material rather than taking a typical straight line through it. This creates a surplus charge on one edge of the conductor, perpendicular to the direction of the current, while leaving the opposite edge empty. Sensors created to measure Hall effect are used by many electronic devices, from flow sensors to motion sensors to electric motor controls.

Delving into the atomic world, scientists found that by forcing electrons to move along a two-dimensional plane and subjecting them to powerful magnetic fields, the Hall effect became staggered, increasing in increments rather than steadily. This led to further work using superconducting materials where the scientists discovered that the electrons locked together in these conditions, creating a “quantum fluid.”

Working based on a model proposed by Duncan Haldane of Princeton, Charles Kane and his group of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania predicted that a material could exist or be created which displayed the quantum Hall effect without the use of an external magnetic field. Accelerated electrons in these materials would generate their own magnetic field thanks to the laws of relativity.

Princeton scientists have managed to create such a material. The group, led by Zahid Hasan used modern imaging techniques to observe the quantum Hall effect in their lab-grown bismuth-antimony crystal. Synchrotron photo-electron spectroscopy, which uses X-ray photons, was used to create an image of the electrons moving along the surface of the crystal.

While the Princeton group's work won't directly benefit electronics, the discovery of a material that exhibits the quantum Hall effect without external stimulus opens the doors to new ideas which might directly influence work in things like quantum computers as well as much more basic applications as seen in the myriad uses for Hall effect sensors today.

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If it sounds good, it is
By cyyc009 on 5/1/08, Rating: 0
RE: If it sounds good, it is
By Master Kenobi (blog) on 5/1/2008 9:42:41 AM , Rating: 4
The deteriorating economy is overblown. Otherwise R&D and the Tech markets are pushing ahead full steam.


RE: If it sounds good, it is
By emarston on 5/1/2008 10:08:24 AM , Rating: 5
Amen to that... gotta love the press trying to create or sensationalize news rather than report it these days.


RE: If it sounds good, it is
By MrBlastman on 5/1/2008 10:43:07 AM , Rating: 1
I disagree.

The economy is in fact deteriorating and getting worse in some areas. Why don't you try telling your idea to people that have perfect credit, stellar payment history, excellent liquidity and have just had their bank pull their line of credit (which was unused) out from under their feet overnight. It is happening more and more every day.

Home Equity loans fueled our economy for the last 5 - 6 years, and now they are gone. Disposable income has decreased through inflation in food (Thanks Ethanol! We love you for this one!), oil, and various consumer goods (as a direct result of oil rising in price creating higher shipping costs), raw materials etc. etc. With wages decreasing for most of Americans rather than increasing (though this has turned around slightly in recent months, with wages increasing ever so slightly), how do you explain off people being able to afford their daily costs going up while their income basically staying the same now, but was decreasing?

No, I think we're in this for the long haul. The news does sensationalize - most of the people on TV have no clue what is really happening. They aren't, however, far off base.


RE: If it sounds good, it is
By porkpie on 5/1/2008 11:00:37 AM , Rating: 5
quote:
Home Equity loans fueled our economy for the last 5 - 6 years, and now they are gone
Funny, I just got one less than 3 weeks ago. Those loans are gone for the people who bought $700K houses on a $60K salary. They should never have been given in the first place.


RE: If it sounds good, it is
By BBeltrami on 5/1/2008 11:29:07 AM , Rating: 5
quote:
They should never have been given in the first place.

Agreed. The lack of business ethics on the part of Real Estate and Mortgage Brokers in this whole fiasco is staggering.


RE: If it sounds good, it is
By MrBlastman on 5/1/2008 2:08:26 PM , Rating: 1
You're darned right they shouldn't have been given out to people like that.

However, my example refers to people making in excess of 6 figures, live in a modest home, never had any credit, payment, or other issues at all.

The bank just called up one day and was like - hey, that line of credit you have and don't use? Well guess what, it is gone because we have decided that home prices in your area have fallen (without ever doing an appraisal).

That is an eye opener. Sterling credit people are even being effected due to this disaster. The unscrupulous mortgage and real estate industry is indeed due for some regulation.

BUT - the blame doesn't go completely to them, it also goes to the buyer whom was naive and did not do the due diligence necessary to decide weather it was a financially sound decision or not. 3 parties all guilty. Something needs to be done.


RE: If it sounds good, it is
By masher2 (blog) on 5/1/2008 2:14:16 PM , Rating: 4
> "That is an eye opener."

Err, why? It doesn't matter what your income and credit history is -- a home equity line of credit requires equity .

If your home has decreased in value, and you don't have that equity, you don't have the credit.


RE: If it sounds good, it is
By MrBlastman on 5/1/2008 2:21:44 PM , Rating: 2
That is the key, and I agree :)

If you read further in my post, you will see they revoked it without ever doing an appraisal.... Appraisals are generally the acceptable means of figuring out a homes worth.

They instead just decided that home prices had dropped in the area via gut instinct. This is where the problem lies and alludes to the banks being scared.

They had no factual backing to suggest that THIS particular home had dropped.


RE: If it sounds good, it is
By masher2 (blog) on 5/1/2008 3:06:11 PM , Rating: 2
Appraisals are based on the average home price in the area. If the bank knows for a fact that average has dropped, they don't need "feet on the ground" at the actual home to document anything.


RE: If it sounds good, it is
By MrBlastman on 5/1/2008 3:16:37 PM , Rating: 2
If that were the case then why do banks hire an appraiser when you apply for a mortgage to appraise the home?

How do you know what the average home price is in an area and back that up with factual evidence without appraisals? Go to Zillow.com? Domania? MLS/FMLS listings? (now there's a REAL winner given anyone can list their home for whatever price they like without any data to back it up - the banks would be making fortunes - or losing them, if everyone took the listing prices as the REAL value of the home).

Are you saying there is a double standard? (perhaps alluding to my point in the first place)

I'm not a lender, but I have done many mortgages for clients as a side to what I really do for them. Every single one requires a physical appraisal WITHOUT exception.

Owner-done appraisals do not count. It is only the lenders appraisal which is valid.


RE: If it sounds good, it is
By masher2 (blog) on 5/1/2008 4:11:38 PM , Rating: 2
> "If that were the case then why do banks hire an appraiser when you apply for a mortgage to appraise the home?"

Two reasons. a) to prevent fraud, and b) to document the basic features of the house, so they know what "similar homes" in the area to which to compare it.

However, once they have that documentation, additional reappraisals do not in general need additional site visits.


RE: If it sounds good, it is
By MrBlastman on 5/1/2008 4:42:05 PM , Rating: 2
Ahh, but what if the owner has made substantial improvements to their property?

Added new bathrooms, bedrooms, done expansions on the home?

I would argue that the homeowner could contest with the bank that an appraisal would have to be done to validate the true position of the home.

You can't just make a blanket statement that they can get by with nearby property as we've both just pointed out.

This is what is wrong with the lending industry - too much assumption. It has gone on for far too long and now we are suffering as a result of this assumption, structured products and quants that think they can statistically work themselves out of any jam.

I believe we will see far less assumption in the future and more requirements for hard fact. In this case, the bank never asked the homeowner if they had made improvements on their property, they just assumed the status quo. Do you not see the danger in this?


RE: If it sounds good, it is
By masher2 (blog) on 5/1/2008 11:44:09 PM , Rating: 2
> "Ahh, but what if the owner has made substantial improvements to their property? Added new bathrooms, bedrooms, done expansions on the home?"

You're crawling far out on that hypothetical limb now. First of all, very few homeowners ever perform major construction on their homes that boosts property values by more than 20%...and home equity lines usually require at least a 20% margin in equity over the credit line.

Secondly, if they do very large imrovements, they usually finance them off an equity loan, rather than paying cash. And if they do that, their total equity doesn't increase, no matter how much the market value increases.

Third of all-- is any of this even relevant? So someone got their home equity line cancelled? If they truly have a a stellar credit rating and a pile of equity in their home, they can get another one. In about 15 minutes, in fact. None of this is hardly proof of serious economic trouble.


RE: If it sounds good, it is
By MrBlastman on 5/2/2008 11:19:52 AM , Rating: 2
You really don't get it, do you?

I happen to work around this stuff all day, I've seen loan pool schedules, I've seen tranches, I've seen default schedules, I've seen up to the minute data on what is really going on.

The banks are grasping at straws here. The larger banks ARE going to be o.k. (as long as there is not a panic which there should not be), the smaller banks are hurting. Many have either gone out of business already, or were largely headed that way until the Federal Reserve opened wide their doors, and even then many of them may be bought out or acquired.

The banks are desperately trying to increase liquidity on the inside. The auction rate preferred mess has not helped things at all, the bond market has dropped a great deal - heck you can get an insured bond with a HIGHER yield than an uninsured one right now.

No, it is not the end of the world, no, we aren't going into a depression, but I fail to see how you can even imagine there is not an economic slowdown (hence deterioration). I gather you work in some other industry than the financial industry.

The fact is, the banks are squeezed and they are continuing to follow the path of guess here, guess there without feasible data. To another poster: no, it was not my home but someone elses. Banks are upping the bar considerably to get a mortgage right now versus what they were doing (which is good in the long-term, but bad for the housing market currently).

You're right, most people DO finance improvements with an equity loan, but there happens to be many people out there that are cash-rich who don't need to do that.

What I pointed out in my example of the line of credit is a symptom of what is really going on. It is clear as day as to what we face. You can nitpick and try to argue little details but you are missing the big picture.

The banks need scruitiny, the lenders need scrutiny and regulation, as well as the real estate business. At the minimum, they need to begin to enroach upon SEC or NASD-level scruitiny. It was a veritable free-for-all for so long and now we are all paying for it.

We're also paying for the rediculous subsidies that went towards ethanol through our food bills rather than them doing something logical in our government - which would be to revive Nuclear Power.

The bulk of the mess is the housing market, and with equity lines drying up, it will further hinder things in the near term. This is reality and fact.

I could go on but apparently you need to read more and perhaps spend ever day of the week in the middle of economics to understand what really is the crux of everything.

In the end, America will get out of this just fine, it will just take time to sort it all out. The Federal Reserve has taken significant measures to free up the money supply. For the meantime, I wouldn't go racking up credit card bills or spending your money like nothing is wrong at all. Cash is king right now.

Since you're so convinced we aren't in a downturn nor having any problems, why don't you do us all a favor and list all the supporting facts and data which show us that in fact, America is fine and all of this is completely made up.


RE: If it sounds good, it is
By eman7613 on 5/1/2008 5:26:39 PM , Rating: 2
example: Harlem, the value of property there is skyrocketing, this is almost unquestionable. The bank does not need to spend time and money to send someone out, to confirm something they are 95% sure of, and 95% of the time that will save them money. The economy has CHANGED, dosen't mean its been shot in the knee cap and is utterly crippled.


RE: If it sounds good, it is
By MrBlastman on 5/1/2008 5:45:08 PM , Rating: 2
Saving money and screwing a loyal customer are two different things.

The banks have been doing both and now it is finally biting everyone in the behind. You can maintain the status quo and allow the mess to continue or acknowledge there is a problem with lending practices and make corrections.