Selecting a pressure switch that is well suited for a particular application is a multi-faceted process. The trick is to know what questions to ask to optimize your application.

Choosing the right pressure transmitter for your application involves more than specifying the pressure range. Don't forget to consider the technologies available, the environmental stresses and strains that will be involved, and the lifetime cost.

The thing I like most about the June 2 announcement of American Sensor Technologies' purchase of Macro Sensors is the part about how the new, combined company will continue to accomplish all of its production in the United States. According to Karmjit S. Sidhu, VP of Business Development for AST, his company made a significant investment in "modern technologies to achieve maximum productivity." This, he explains, enables the small, New Jersey-based company to compete with larger firms that have moved their production operations overseas to take advantage of low-cost labor.

The classic stance for a very pregnant woman is with one hand—or both—pressed against the small of her back. She's wearing either slippers or her husband's shoes. And why? Her back hurts and her feet look like zeppelins. These afflictions have been thoroughly described in the medical literature. End of story.

Like the happy swimmers in the Beatles' "Octopus's Garden," scuba divers equipped with an Integrated Diver Display Mask (IDDM) from Oceanic Worldwide can have fun and feel safe while the mask minds little details like bottom time, oxygen supply, and depth of dive.

The summer of 2004 might not have set hurricane records, but hundreds of thousands of lives were disrupted by either a hurricane or the threat of one on its way. Improved knowledge of the paths these storms are most likely to take will lead to more accurate advisories and reduce the chances of unnecessary evacuations for hurricanes that don't strike where expected.

Strain gauges are fairly straightforward devices that output a voltage signal based on a change in resistance when the object to which they are attached to undergoes tension or compression. They are available in three basic types: full-, half-, and quarter-bridge, each with its own requirements.

Pumping crude oil tends to take place in some pretty inhospitable locales. Esso Exploration and Production Chad Inc. (operator of a consortium that also includes Petronas Carigali [Chad EP] Inc. and Chevron Petroleum Chad Co. Ltd.) uses a remote airstrip in Kome, Chad, to support its crude oil production operations there. To maintain safe operation of the airstrip, the company needed a better weather observation system to keep tabs on the local conditions.

Given Imaging (www.givenimaging.com) has introduced a new PillCam, the swallowable diagnostic device that takes photos as it passes through a patient's system; the device has received FDA approval and is available immediately. New CMOS sensors from Micron Technology (www.micron.com), embedded in the PillCam, feature a higher frame rate than the original PillCam SB design. With one sensor at either end, and a frame rate 7 × that of the SB version, the new PillCam ESO (for esophagus) transmits 14 pictures/s to a receiver worn by the patient. The added capabilities will let medical professionals diagnose throat disease and related ailments in the esophageal passage.

Geothermal researchers at Sandia are working on sensors and associated electronics that will be rugged enough to survive conditions deep in the Earth.