Better Electronics Tomorrow and Plague Insects To Save Lives

Better Electronics Tomorrow

http://mobileredirect.com/2010/11/01/mim-diode-new-technology-that-may-change-electronics-performance-and-cost-this-is-a-big-deal/

This article talks about an advancement in Diode technology.  Studies and tests have been going on since the 1960's trying to bring a theory to life, but have only recently achieved success. 

Like most of these advancements we start with a University.  Oregon State University to be exact.  What they achieved was a "metal-insulator-metal" diode that can accept a much larger electrical load then current technologies.  The best part is, it is a cheaper process, as well.  This technological advancement could make computer parts cheaper, run faster, and require less parts, like transistors. 

Last couple of paragraphs are especially interesting so check it out.

Plague Insects To Save Lives

http://mobileredirect.com/2010/11/01/mim-diode-new-technology-that-may-change-electronics-performance-and-cost-this-is-a-big-deal/

I had a bit of a laugh from this one but the University that is studying this is getting a nice hefty check for studies so maybe I am the idiot here.  University of Newcastle in England has a biologist by the name of Claire Rind studying Locusts to help prevent car crashes.  The idea is in the Locusts' head.

A specific neuron found in the head of a Locust is called the Locust Giant Movement Detector (LGMD).  And like it sounds, this neuron is responsible for detecting movement and providing incredibly fast response time to the body of the Locust to avoid collisions.  This works with both avoiding other Locusts and predators.  This happens to be the concept in study by Claire Rind.

In short, the idea is to create a Crash-Avoidance system that can detect objects coming at the vehicle.  Automatic response systems will kick in to ensure safety.  Not sure why this idea was inspired by bugs, to me I thought this was a natural next step in vehicular evolution next to energy sources.  However, if you read this article, it will probably  make you laugh and you will find out some interesting facts about the locust.

That's it for today.  Follow, comment, and enjoy!

Straight Flying Balls and WELCOME BACK VW!

Straight Flying Balls

http://www.houstongolfnut.com/golf-balls-that-fly-straight/

So we have golf balls that fly straight as an arrow and at low altitudes for a cleaner longer shot.  Looking at the science, the dimples in this ball are arranged to move the air around in a way to produce less fluctuation in flight.  It is quite the amazing feat, however, I doubt this ball is anything but legal in tournaments.  Not to mention the use of it kind of takes away from you developing your own skill, doesn't it?  A short read but something I found interesting none the less.  If you're a golfer and want to place bets on your shots, go for this ball! 

WELCOME BACK VW!

http://www.insideline.com/volkswagen/polo/vw-polo-r-wrc-to-contest-world-rally-championship-in-2013.html

Ok, so what if the VW company was produced by Adolf Hitler?  The brand is pretty darn good.  And with college financing options, the company actually tries to help people out rather than just shark a sale.  So when the brand practically disappeared from the WRC it was a bit upsetting for rally enthusiast, like myself, who always liked the styling of the Golf series. 

But it's back as Volkswagen enters the 2013 WRC rally with its new Polo R WRC model.  With a sweet turbocharged 1.6L TSI four banger, it will produce a regulation approved 300 horsepower.  With slick new styling and a rekindled enthusiasm from the Dakar winnings over the last three years, they really seem to be coming out strong.  Can't wait to watch the stages.

That's it for today.  Follow, comment, and enjoy!

Hurry! Before they disappear! and Long Life, Do You Want One?

Hurry! Before they disappear!

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/05/10/natural.wonders.to.see/index.html

Here's one for the wealthy vacationers, or those who like to dream.  Due to "global warming" and environmental damage from the (insert random number here) of environmentalist research surveys, there are many places around the world that could be disappearing soon.

But either way you look at it, people need to take time off from time to time.  And what better place to visit then one remote and environmentally fragile?  I'm just kidding.  It is actually noted that process of tourism is adding to the destruction of some of these locations, but the financial income from tourism is also benefiting the eco protection services.  Kind of a catch 22 if you ask me, but either way the places are very nice to visit. 

Checking out the sites like the Dead Sea, Madagascar, and even the Poles is not only a nice relaxation experience, but good for the dose of foreign education.  It is easy to read about something in a book, but experiencing it is a very much different thing. 

Google is your friend if you don't know all these locations and don't forget to think about the impact your visit could have.  I especially like the subliminal hint towards China on the last one of the article.  It made me LOL. 

Long Life, Do You Want One?

http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2011_05_06/caredit.a1100040

This article talks about the study of "Centenarians," which is a scientific name for those who live past 100 years of age.  It's an "ok" article briefly talking about genetics.  It doesn't go into as much detail as I would have liked.  After the brief notes you then read more about a woman by the name of Elizabeth Cirulli, and her adviser David Goldstein, and how they are doing research with Centenarians. 

The article then goes on about her past life and possible futures and studies.  And in all honesty, it was a boring read.  However, it did bring up an interesting discussion topic to conclude today's post.  Would you rather live a long life with the last couple decades of it stuck inside a house, possibly even on some sort of life support system.  Or would you rather die young doing something active and "living" your life?  Why or why not and what things could you do in your lifetime that you would feel "completed" by?

Hope you enjoyed today's topics.  Don't forget to take a break every now and then, and don't forget to discuss your thoughts.  Follow, Comment, Enjoy!

Garbage to Fuel Garbage Trucks and NYC Taxi Upgrade... Eventually

Garbage to Fuel Garbage Trucks
http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Living-Green/2010/0107/California-garbage-trucks-fueled-by-garbage

Going to do another "green" post today.  And to start it off, we have California, again, finding alternate ways to reduce green house gasses; Garbage Trucks fueled by garbage... sorta. 

California has harnessed the many landfills around San Francisco (and a couple other smaller areas) to farm methane gas from them.  Bacteria deep inside the landfill produces this gas when breaking down organic matter.  The gas is then sucked up and processed to form a liquid fuel, which goes into garbage trucks to produce an alternate fuel source. 

This method isn't as "green" as finding an alternative energy source that doesn't require combustion power, however, this does greatly reduce pollution produced with conventional fuel burning.  Methane is considered a natural gas.  This gas burns much cleaner than fossil fuels which means less CO2 build up in our atmosphere.  Even though the trucks aren't powered by 100% pollution less energy sources, this does kill two birds with one stone by reducing the methane released into the atmosphere via landfills, AND by switching to a cleaner burning fuel for trucks already in use. 

There is a bit more info about politics and money regarding this method but I am never fond of the "I don't want to diminish my yearly returns for an upgrade" excuse.  Read the whole article for all the details.

NYC Taxi Upgrade...  Eventually
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110503/ap_on_re_us/us_nyc_s_new_taxi

Now this article seemed really interesting to me for a number of reasons.  New York City is planning on replacing more than 13,000 taxi cabs (eventually) with electric vehicles.  That is a very positive step towards a better cleaner tomorrow.  Something very few states are really even bothering with. 

The new taxi is going to be a Nissan NV200, still powered by fuel, and will be phased into use at the beginning of 2013 replacing the current Crown Victorias.  The platform is eventually going to be replaced with an electric engine as part of a plan to convert over to electric powered transportation.  Although this isn't going to happen for a while, it is good to know this new version is getting twice the amount of city fuel mileage as the Crown Vics.  This reduces pollution, fuel costs, and probably even the cost per trip to those using the public transportation system.  Great news for those paying $1500 for a studio apartment.

A number of other benefits for this replacement includes sliding doors for easy in and out of tight spaces, increased passenger accessibility, and glass roofs to allow tourists to get a new look of New York.  This is also the first vehicle used for public transportation that will come standard with passenger airbag safety equipment. 

There is more to the article talking about the other vehicles that were almost chosen for use.  Read the full article for all the info. 

Hope you enjoyed today's articles.  Follow, comment, and enjoy!

Artist Rendering on OLED

Artist Rendering on OLED

http://www.indylabs.net/next-generation-sony-nextep-ultra-portable-computer

Ever since I saw this video here back in 2007 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcAm3KihFho I was just waiting for the technology to hit the shelves.  Obviously it wasn't going to happen over night so I had to be satisfied with the anime-influenced artist renderings.  Strangely enough, however, most of them were designed to be simple concepts and nothing more.  Almost 4 years later I've found the first one to actually be designed with potential use in mind. 

So here we look at the first link where you see a simple wrist design using OLED as the screen.  This isn't just a watch or typical cell phone, however.  This is designed to be a full on computer with full internet access, email capability, and all of you OS program needs.  Equipped with a pull out keyboard (half from both sides of the device) you are able to easily utilize the device with both key strokes and touch screen access.  They even designed a holographic projector inside the device so that you can project a monitor anywhere you are, rather than looking at the screen itself.

That being said I do have a few issues with it.  First off is the holographic projector.  Even the most advanced holographics today is contained within a bulky casing that is both too large and too heavy to carry on your wrist.  The smallest I know of would just look like you are carrying a small box around.  On top of this, we still have yet to surpass the need to project ONTO something rather than into thin air.  There was a design I saw last year where they developed a tri-projector system where it would cast images onto itself, but that was significantly larger than the smallest one I just mentioned.  Even in 9 years, I am not fully convinced we will have fully functional holographics yet.  I think it would be much easier and even more attractive to have a pull out screen on the opposite end, just like the keyboard, that you can tilt up, down, around, etc. 

The 2nd thing I find missing is the functionality of a camera.  My last blog talked about the Nintendo 3DS and its use of not 1, but 2 cameras to encourage 3D photography.  For a design made to be sold in 2020, the lack of a camera seems quite primitive. 

The 3rd issue I have is that a majority of the concept designs I read talk about how the device is made and what it is made out of to promote "water proof" awesomeness and such things like that.  The design for the Nokia Morph, for example (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp9G3WFOgdg which is by far my favorite concept design for future PDA's), did all this and damn near offer you a bag of chips.  I personally think this device is far superior to this SONY OLED design.  I know this is just an artist rendering to build hype for the OLED technology, but the artist, Hiromi Kiriki, still works for SONY, and that alone should have excuse enough to design like he was in the year 2020. 

I have a few more issues with it but I just realized the wall of text I have already written.  So now I ask for your input.  What do you feel would be a good advancement for future PDA's?  How would you market them?  Many designs today don't even mention 3D television technology (aside from the Nintendo 3DS), why do you think that is? 

Hope you enjoyed the look into future style.  Comment, follow, and enjoy. 

Not Another LotR Joke... and Another Nintendo Handheld

Sorry guys, for not posting sooner.  I have been participating in the 48 Hour Film Festival and boy was that tiring.  Either way I am back to bring you some more cool things to read about. 

Not Another LotR Joke...

http://dvice.com/archives/2011/04/nokia-wants-one.php

Here is an interesting concept.  A ring to control electronics.  Nokia has created a magnetic ring called Nenya (Lord of the Ring reference) that is able to control your cell phone.  By using a bracelet that detects the magnetic field changes, you can move the ring in many ways to send commands to your cell phone. 

I am not sure on testing yet or any demonstrational videos, but this concept seems to be on the right track for how we will be controlling many electronic devices in the near future.  I personally don't think this is the best of methods for "slight-o-hand" cell phone control.  That, and I don't wear bracelets...  And it is really ugly.  But it is a solid start.  I am looking forward to the days of "Minority Report" where we can control an entire screen and all the functionality with similar input methods. 

Other than cell phones what do you think we be great to have control of at the slightest movement of your hand? 

Another Nintendo Handheld

http://www.nintendo.com/3ds

So I am browsing the web and I stumble across this new concept of 3D Holographic technology.  The article was short and rather difficult to understand where they were going with it.  From what I got, it is a new form of holographic technology that could have great potential, BUT it still hasn't passed from it's still image application.  But that isn't what caught my eye.  Instead I noticed a referral link to Nintendo 3DS. 

Now, I used to be a big gamer fan, and I still accept any challenge for any of the Halo series, however, in the last few years I guess you could say I have been growing up.  The only games I play tend to be for storylines and concepts.  But the fact this slipped by me without me knowing just perplexed me.  I had no clue this came out. 

So I am going over what I have researched so far.  It's freakin awesome.  As a photographer the applications for the 3D photo device built into this is amazing.  I don't know the quality, and can't imagine it being super great by my own standards, but the fact it is 3D and on a $250 handheld is just a huge leap forward.  What is SONY going to do?  This thing came with a ton of features that I can only tell you to sit through the rather lengthy intro video they have on their homepage. 

In short, it has a 3D screen with a new stylus detection system.  It can detect movement, browse internet connections, and has backwards capability with the DS.  It now even comes with a 2 gig SD card for additional application use.  I wasn't big on the newer Nintendo handhelds because I felt like they just reinvented the wheel with a 5% stronger rubber.  Not that the dual screens weren't a leap forward either, it just seemed unnecessary.  But I guess you could just call me old school.  This one, however, I will be getting my hands on for sure.  I hate to admit this, but I am now curious to see what the next Pokemon game is going to be like. 

China Smoking Ban... Again and Synthetic Skin

It has been a while since I posted due to my participation int he 48 Hour Film Festival in Las Vegas, NV.  But I am back and bringing you some interesting news on China and some great new technology for Hospitals.

China Smoking Ban...  Again
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21028063.100-china-tries-again-to-stop-smoking.html

China is banning smoking in many enclosed public areas in hopes to encourage people to stop smoking.  Simon Chapman, some Australian I never heard of before, says that past bans in other countries has helped reduce smoking by as much as 20%.  People tend to smoke more before or after going into the public areas, but the over all effect prevents them from smoking during their normal activities, effectively cutting down cigarette consumption. 

This is not the first time they tried banning cigarette consumption, and in past years there were surveys taken showing a vast majority ignored the ban, anyway.  Chapman again claims raising cost on cigarettes would be a more effective way to fight the dirty habit. 

America and Europe has already taken many of these actions in the past and it has worked quite a bit.  I personally couldn't stand eating at restaurants with smokers sitting next to you because it just ruined the taste of food.  Not that I'm bashing any of you dirty smokers out there :P  I am interested to see how this turns out.

Synthetic Skin
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21028063.600-stretchy-patch-could-help-repair-skin-and-arteries.html

From destroying the body to repairing it our next topic involves the next step in medical advancement.  Until now people have been getting skin grafts to repair damaged skin.  However, recent research has shown a new artificial skin to be a potential replacement for grafts.  Tony Weiss, another Australian but this time I've heard of him before, notes to the public that similar attempts have been made in the past using animal fibrin and collagen.  Other than the fibrin, which doesn't help the healing process, none of the animal collagen is found in human skin, so it doesn't encourage healing as well as expected. 

Weiss suggested a new protein to be used called tropoelastin which is found in skin and arteries.  Through a process called electrospinning they create this new artificial skin.  Study in rabbits show improved healing, and studies on 12 healthy people show no negative reactions to the process.  A very positive conclusion.  And with Weiss already receiving financial backing for up scaling production, he expects you to see this new healing band aid in your hospital in the next 3 years. 

This is wonderful news to me because we are nearing the age of advanced medicine where we can treat sever wounds in the field producing less losses of life.  This would be great for military applications and many dangerous jobs involving high risk activities.  Very good step forward.