Say Hello to the Iranian Caterpillar Your Grandchildren Will Be Driving

Say Hello to the Iranian Caterpillar Your Grandchildren Will Be Driving

 ranian designer envisions replacing cars with futuristic solar-powered multipedes. We run in terror.
In Mohammad Ghezel's vision of the future, humans will inhabit mega-cities and utilize safe, eco-friendly, solar-powered magnetic cars to travel from one place to another. The Iraian designer's latest project involves two designs under the label "BioThink" that incorporates those ideas in a geometrid form. The BioThink Type A utilizes "rotary-crawling wheels" which look more like a novel take on a caterpillar's mandibles. They employ solar-powered magnets to run without ever having to refuel.
Ghezel's Type B utilizes the same basic design, however gyroscopic wheels replace the creepy-crawler legs of the Type A. In addition to the BioThink model's futuristic drivetrains, they both envision (theoretically) utilizing technologies such as a "holographic crystal system" as a form of infotainment system with an exorbitant amount of storage space, a DNA Security Key to make sure you really are the owner of the car and more. The Iranian caterpillar cars seem to both fit the bill of safety and eco-friendliness, so long as they don't involve any form of Human Centipede.

Samsung Galaxy S4′s Display Will Put the iPhone 5′s

Samsung Galaxy S4′s Display Will Put the iPhone 5′s

In the past few weeks, we have watched (and read) the good news roll in for Samsung; proof positive that their Galaxy Series has really paid off. Reports are flooding in about the tech giants last quarter, and their bold predictions about 2013 and the mobile market. Apple on the other hand, has some serious soul searching to do, with the future of their device line. Apple stocks seem to be taking a tumble, while many see smooth sailing ahead for Samsung.

Even though Samsung has kept the details on their next flagship device tightly wrapped, it has been known for quite sometime that the Galaxy S4 will at the very least come with a Super AMOLED display, with a pixel density of 440ppi. Although, newer reports are claiming the Korean giant will ditch the traditional side by side pixel layout for the latest hexagonal diamond layout.  This allows more pixels to be stuffed into a smaller space. This would definitely be a bigger step from the current Galaxy S3’s 306ppi display and even the iPhone 5’s 326ppi Retina display.
Samsung Flexible Mobile Phone

The Samsung Galaxy S line-up has been the most popular smartphone franchise and has managed to capture a large market share. Even though the Korean manufacturer has been quite mum on the details about the Galaxy S4, we are almost sure a better display is on the list. At CES in Las Vegas, Samsung showed us a prototype of a bendable display and it looks brilliant. But, we are still not sure if Samsung is going to introduce it with the next flagship Galaxy S phone. We’ll keep you posted as soon as we get any more info about the matter.

Researchers create robot exoskeleton that is controlled by a moth running on a trackball

Researchers create robot exoskeleton that is controlled by a moth running on a trackball

If you’re terrified of the possibility that humanity will be dismembered by an insectoid master race, equipped with robotic exoskeletons (or would that be exo-exoskeletons?), look away now. Researchers at the University of Tokyo have strapped a moth into a robotic exoskeleton, with the moth successfully controlling the robot to reach a specific location inside a wind tunnel.

In all, fourteen male silkmoths were tested, and they all showed a scary aptitude for steering a robot. In the tests, the moths had to guide the robot towards a source of female sex pheromone. The researchers even introduced a turning bias — where one of the robot’s motors is stronger than the other, causing it to veer to one side — and yet the moths still reached the target.

As you can see in the photo above, the actual moth-robot setup is one of the most disturbing and/or awesome things you’ll ever see. In essence, the polystyrene (styrofoam) ball acts like a trackball mouse. As the silkmoth walks towards the female pheromone, the ball rolls around. Sensors detect these movements and fire off signals to the robot’s drive motors. At this point you should watch the video below — and also not think too much about what happens to the moth when it’s time to remove the glued-on stick from its back.

Fortunately, the Japanese researchers aren’t actually trying to construct a moth master race: In reality, it’s all about the moth’s antennae and sensory-motor system. The researchers are trying to improve the performance of autonomous robots that are tasked with tracking the source of chemical leaks and spills. “Most chemical sensors, such as semiconductor sensors, have a slow recovery time and are not able to detect the temporal dynamics of odours as insects do,” says Noriyasu Ando, the lead author of the research. “Our results will be an important indication for the selection of sensors and models when we apply the insect sensory-motor system to artificial systems.”

A close-up of a silkmoth attached to its robotic exoskeletonOf course, another possibility is that we simply keep the moths. After all, why should we spend time and money on an artificial system when mother nature, as always, has already done the hard work for us? In much the same way that miners used canaries and border police use sniffer dogs, why shouldn’t robots be controlled by insects? The silkmoth is graced with perhaps the most sensitive olfactory system in the world. For now it might only be sensitive to not-so-useful scents like the female sex pheromone, but who’s to say that genetic engineering won’t allow for silkmoths that can sniff out bombs or drugs or chemical spills?

Who nose: Maybe genetically modified insects with robotic exoskeletons are merely an intermediary step towards real nanobots that fly around, fixing, cleaning, and constructing our environment.

Meet Windows 8

 Meet Windows 8

More beautiful, more flexible, more you.
And very, very fast.

 What's new
The Start screen

Everything you care about most is on the new Start screen. Tiles on the Start screen are connected to people, apps, folders, photos, or websites, and are alive with the latest info, so you're up to date at a glance.
Mouse, keyboard—and now touch

Windows 8 is perfect for PCs with only a mouse and keyboard, those with touchscreens, and those with both. Whatever kind of PC you have, you'll discover fast and fluid ways to switch between apps, move things around, and go smoothly from one place to another.
New PCs

There are amazing new PCs of all kinds, including sleek and lightweight tablets, convertibles, and laptops.

Apps from the Windows Store

Windows 8 comes with a new store for apps, the Windows Store. Open the Store right from your Start screen to browse and download apps for cooking, photos, sports, news, and a lot more—many of them free.
Millions of streaming songs

Windows 8 also includes the Xbox Music app, which gives you access to a whole world of music.
Your Windows, everywhere

Sign in with your Microsoft account to any of your PCs running Windows 8 and you'll immediately see your own background, display preferences, and settings.

The familiar made better
   
The desktop

The desktop that you're used to—with its taskbar, folders, and icons—is still here and better than ever, with a new taskbar and streamlined file management.
Security

Stay up to date and more secure with Windows Defender, Windows Firewall, and Windows Update.
Speed

Windows 8 starts up faster, switches between apps faster, and uses power more efficiently than Windows 7

Why download Windows 8?

It goes where you go

Your pictures, files, and settings are easily synced through the cloud, so you can get to what you need almost anywhere.
It plays as hard as it works

Windows 8 gives you the power to quickly browse, watch movies, play games, polish your resume, and pull together a killer presentation—all on a single PC.
You keep all your files

If your PC is running Windows 7, your files, apps, and settings will easily transfer to Windows 8.
You keep familiar programs
Programs that run on Windows 7 will run on Windows 8.

Meet Windows RT

Exclusively on new PCs

In addition to Windows 8, there's a version of Windows called Windows RT that runs on some tablets and PCs. These lightweight PCs have fantastic battery life, and are a great option for doing stuff on the go. You can't install Windows RT on your current PC. You can only get it by buying a Windows RT PC.
Includes a special version of Office

Windows RT comes with Microsoft Office Home & Student 2013 RT Preview. This version of Office is optimized for touchscreens and automatically updates so you always have the latest version.
Exclusively runs Windows Store apps

Windows RT only runs apps that you download from the Windows Store, and also has great built-in apps like Mail, People, Messaging, Photos, SkyDrive, Music, and Video, so you can stay in touch and have fun.

Killing silicon: Inside IBM’s carbon nanotube computer chip lab

Killing silicon: Inside IBM’s carbon nanotube computer chip lab

At IBM’s Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York, some of the world’s best physicists, chemists, and nanoengineers are trying to create the first high-density, self-assembling carbon nanotube computer chip process. In much the same way that Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments discovered the monolithic VLSI process for making silicon chips in 1958, IBM desperately wants to find the process that enables the creation of carbon nanotube chips.

 In the next decade — or thereabouts; the goalposts keep shifting — silicon is expected to reach a miniaturization roadblock. At some point, we simply won’t be able to make silicon transistors any smaller. When this happens, there will be a few materials jostling to fill the void, most notably silicon-germanium, galium arsenide, and various forms of carbon (nanotubes, nanowires, graphene). In theory, computer chips made from carbon nanotubes are massively desirable — they would be many times faster than silicon, use less power, and can scale down to just a couple of nanometers. In practice, working with carbon nanotubes — just like graphene — is proving to be rather difficult. It’s sometimes easy to forget that we have decades of experience and billions of R&D dollars plowed into silicon; expertise with new materials won’t come easy.

 Metal pads, covering some carbon nanotubes

Progress is being made, however. Case in point: IBM has now managed to create a 10,000 carbon nanotube transistor chip, on top of a standard silicon wafer (pictured top). This is significant for two reasons. First, the process used is very similar to existing silicon chip fabrication processes — and when you’re talking about a trillion-dollar industry with stupendous amounts of capital investment in silicon tech, this is a very good thing. Second, IBM is reporting that its density of individually positioned carbon nanotubes is two orders of magnitude higher than any other research group’s efforts.

 There’s still a lot of work to be done, though. The nanotube transistors are currently spaced 150nm apart, which is much farther than in silicon chips and will need to be reduced to reach the required feature density. The other problem is that the entire chip of 10,000 transistors currently only has one gate — the silicon wafer itself. Every transistor turns on and off at the same time. To fix this, the IBMers need to add electrodes to each of the carbon nanotubes — a step that also hinders graphene-based transistors. This is one of the key steps that IBM, and probably Intel and other silicon juggernauts, are currently working on.

 Below are a few more pictures of IBM’s carbon nanotube computer chip, and the process behind its manufacture.
Carbon nanotubes are produced by burning carbon with an electric arc. About one quarter of the soot is nanotubes.

Carbon nanotubes are produced by burning carbon with an electric arc. About one quarter of the soot is nanotubes.
After the wafer is etched with trenches, it receives two liquid baths to deposit the carbon nanotubes

After the wafer is etched with trenches, it receives two liquid baths to deposit the carbon nanotubes
An IBMer, sliding the carbon nanotube transistor wafer into a testing machine

An IBMer, sliding the carbon nanotube transistor wafer into a testing machine
Black electrical probes, testing the carbon nanotube transistors

Intel reportedly prepping soldered desktop chips after all

Intel reportedly prepping soldered desktop chips after all

There’s been a bit of he-said/she-said going on with regards to Intel’s future desktop roadmaps. Last year, news broke that the company was planning to move to soldered ball grid array (BGA) mounts for its desktop processors. This didn’t sit well with enthusiasts or computer repair businesses, both of whom value the ability to swap CPUs. Intel denied that it was planning any such shift and affirmed its commitment to socketed processors “for the foreseeable future.”

 New evidence (a “trusted source,” according to Tech Report) suggests Intel is actually planning a bifurcated strategy. Starting with Broadwell, certain motherboards will be available with soldered processors — presumably those intended for small set-top boxes or other diminutive form factors.

Traditional desktop processors won’t vanish, they just won’t be the only option anymore. As an enthusiast, that’s fine with me — I’ve done CPU upgrades to most of the computers that I own (and some of the ones I’ve built for other people), but statistically, most people don’t

As a person who has done a great deal of troubleshooting on various systems, I’m still less-than enthused about the switch. It’s not that CPUs fail particularly often — in fifteen years, I’ve seen fewer CPU failures than any other type of hardware — but being able to swap out a processor is a useful way to confirm what a problem isn’t. It’s typically easier (and faster) to pull a CPU than to swap an entire motherboard.

These aren’t insurmountable obstacles; laptops have been using BGA sockets for years and RMA costs haven’t driven major vendors out of business. Repairing a desktop, even with a BGA-mounted CPU, would remain an order of magnitude easier than cracking open a laptop to replace components. Still, the move could put pressure on small shops with fewer resources to handle the task, and it raises the question of who pays for the RMA on a dead CPU — the motherboard vendor or Intel?

AMD has previously responded to this topic by reaffirming its commitment to CPU sockets. The company has no plans to move to BGA products for desktops and its upcoming Richland APUs (demonstrated at CES 2013) will be compatible with existing FM2 motherboards that support Trinity.

According to Gary Silcott, “AMD has a long history of supporting the DIY and enthusiast desktop market with socketed CPUs & APUs that are compatible with a wide range of motherboard products from our partners. That will continue through 2013 and 2014 with the “Kaveri” APU and FX CPU lines. We have no plans at this time to move to BGA only packaging and look forward to continuing to support this critical segment of the market.”

The first 3D-printed human stem cells

The first 3D-printed human stem cells

 The shortage of transplantable organs has spawned a fascinating science and market. A liver, for example, is often split among two recipients, while for a cystic fibrosis patient in need of two lungs, it is technically preferable to just swap out both the heart and lungs as a
combo unit. The extra heart can then be domino donated to a third party. Bioprinting complete organs en masse is a tough proposition because the identity expressed by each component cell must be individually programmed. Then the cells need to be knitted together in a developmentally sound fashion. Researchers in Scotland, land of Dolly, the first cloned mammal, have recently demonstrated the ability to print human embryonic stem cells. Stem cells, of course, are known for a unique feature — they can program themselves.

 The shortage of transplantable organs has spawned a fascinating science and market. A liver, for example, is often split among two recipients, while for a cystic fibrosis patient in need of two lungs, it is technically preferable to just swap out both the heart and lungs as a
combo unit. The extra heart can then be domino donated to a third party. Bioprinting complete organs en masse is a tough proposition because the identity expressed by each component cell must be individually programmed. Then the cells need to be knitted together in a developmentally sound fashion. Researchers in Scotland, land of Dolly, the first cloned mammal, have recently demonstrated the ability to print human embryonic stem cells. Stem cells, of course, are known for a unique feature — they can program themselves.

It was announced at the end of last year, that Autodesk, the makers of CAD software like AutoCAD, would be partnering with a new startup by the name of Organovo to make 3D organ printing a reality. While it is encouraging to see engineering tools rigorously applied to the life sciences, it should be recognized that printing something that looks like an organ does not mean it will actually be an organ. In the short term at least, the main goal of the startup is to produce some tissues which may be able to serve as a testbed for pharmaceuticals. The new stem cell study, published this week in the journal Biofabrication, looks to create tissues pregnant with real organ-producing power, and may prove to be just what the doctor ordered.

So, in 20 years, will replacement organs be printed, grown, or built?

PrintedStemCellsWhile stem cells from a mouse have been printed before, human stem cells have proven to be a bit more fragile and generally more difficult to work with. Part of the problem is due to subtle differences in the required cellular nutrient environments (think about some dogs getting pancreatitis from eating bacon), and part is also due to the fact that researchers are simply more familiar with the mouse cells. For the specific needs of the Scotland researchers, commercial 3D printers were far too crude, so they built their own by modifying a precision CNC machine that was capable of micron step resolution. Using dual extrusion heads to deliver cells and media, they could deposit cells with just right amount of personal space to make them feel at home and comfortable.

By fine manipulation of the dispensing aperture, extrusion pressure, and viscosity of the bioink, the researchers could print spheroids of cells that varied between five and 140 cells. When a bank of spheroids was complete, they were inverted and the cells could coalesce at the bottom under the influence of gravity. One new technique that would be of great benefit here would be to feed the cells a few ferrite beads and position them instead with maglev manipulation.

Before getting too carried away, there are many important checks that need to be run to make sure the stem cells retain pluripotence after having been traumatically birthed through the extruder. In other words, they may still be alive, but if they have lost the ability to turn into any kind of cell, organs are not going to happen. The researchers did a partial check on this, finding that the cells continued to manufacture a particular control protein that helps keep them in a youthful state. The real test will be how the cells respond when they must compete for oxygen and fuel in a proto-organ matrix that more closely mimics conditions in the body.

All too often with cancers, several organs have been infiltrated by tumors but the organs themselves are still functional. When the cancer doesn’t respond to drugs anymore, and traditional surgery is impossible because the critical vasculature has become so gnarled with disease and previous radiation treatments, the patient has typically reached the end of the line. The inevitable merging of 3D print systems with surgical robots will enable in situ repairs that surgeons would never even dream about doing by hand in the span of a single shift, extending the life of these patients. At the extreme, we can imagine an ingenious solution to the cell identity programming problem — the organ is printed inside the patient from a real prototype that is first deconstructed by enzyme, then reconstituted cell-by-cell with the proper local and connections. This is the technology of the future that so many in hospitals wait for today.

Google: Self-driving cars in 3-5 years.

Google: Self-driving cars in 3-5 years.

 The self-driving car could be available to consumers in 3-5 years, the head of Google’s autonomous driving project says. That’s the most optimistic timeframe yet. Other projections have been for 2020 and beyond, which still beats “probably not in our lifetime.” The timeline came from Anthony Levandowski, Google’s product manager for autonomous driving, speaking at a Society for Automotive Engineers conference in Washington last week. “I can’t tell you you’ll be able to have a Google car in your garage next year,” Levandowski said. But he added, “We expect to release the technology in the next five years. In what form it gets released is still to be determined.” Releasing technology is different than announcing a self-driving car going on sale in 3-5 years. The real challenge could be getting the self-driving car approved for use of public highways everywhere, not just the handful of states that allow self-driving cars for test purposes.

 It’s a free country and if you want to mount a soap box and speak out in a public park, you can do it today. If you want to sell a motor vehicle, you have to meet an array of fuel-economy, stability, and crash safety tests, and those take time. Years sometimes. Self-driving cars would have to prove they can drive themselves, deal with jaywalking pedestrians, stop or at least slow when a crossing vehicle runs a red light, and deal with software glitches. Performance metrics for self-driving cars don’t exist yet and the Department of Transportation, which doesn’t offer bonuses for working at internet speed, may be more deliberate and methodical than Google.
“How will the government come up with a performance standard?”

Google 300,000 miles, Lexus self-driving carDan Smith, senior associate director for vehicle safety at the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration ,also spoke at the Jan. 31 SAE panel, Safer & Cleaner Transportation in a Digital Age. According to a report by Bloomberg News, Smith noted, “It gets to be a massive challenge to figure out how will the government come up with a performance standard that is objective and testable for so many different scenarios where failure could possibly occur. Part of that has to do with if we should be looking at the underlying electronics.”

When it comes to regulating auto safety, NHTSA is more tortoise than hare, partly because government moves methodically, partly because it may not be up-to-speed on technology. Last year, the National Academy of Sciences issued a report that took issue with NHTSA’s tech savvy, saying it needed to be more knowledgeable about current car electronics and take the lead in setting car electronics standards proactively. For what it’s worth, the guy Google sent to the forum  founded a company before joining Google and has two degrees in industrial engineering and operations research. NHTSA’s man on the scene has a law degree and two political science degrees; his employer does not offer stock incentives. The National Academies report was looking back at how NHTSA lacked expertise to deal effectively with unintended acceleration issues. It said NHTSA needs an outside board of experts it can call on to assist NHTSA’s engineers.

How to insure the self-driving car may also be an issue. Google’s Levandowski and others have said self-driving cars should be safer and cut accidents, reducing insurance rates. Insurers commonly offer discounts for high-tech safety gear such as stability control. But sometimes they balk. Anti-lock braking systems (ABS), which reduces skidding, might actually cause more accidents if it leads drivers to think they can drive at speed on snowy roads and ABS will stop them in time. So it’s not clear if the insurance on self-driving cars would be lower or higher.
Is the 3-5 year timeframe realistic?

When Levandowski described scenarios where Google would be ready to release the autonomous-driving technology in three years or five years (reports say it was described both ways), that’s not the same as dealer-ready cars. Google creates software technology. Ford, Toyota and Audi build cars. To create a car from the ground up, a new model (not an all-new-for-2013 refresh) takes 3-7 years. (The Chevrolet Corvette that was the hit of the recent Detroit auto show will be nine years between models.) The Department of Transportation will have to come up with tests to make sure self-driving cars don’t crash; the toughest part will be testing that shows the software doesn’t crash. Suppliers will have to bring down the cost of autonomous driving sensors. Currently the sensors and hardware (pictured below) cost more than the car they’re mounted on. All that suggests 2020 would be a more reasonable time to think about a completely self-driving vehicle.

In the meantime, look for assisted-driving cars that self-drive (loosely defined) under certain limited conditions. On limited access highways, they’ll maintain a safe following distance and keep pace with traffic ahead and they’ll center themselves in the driving lane, as long as the lane markings are clearly defined. If a driver were to nod off, the car would probably be able to drive safely for miles and miles. Most likely the car would need a drowsy driver alert (a camera watching for flickering eyelids or a movement sensor tracking minor corrections to the steering wheel), since the act of not driving while behind the wheel may be a little too restful.

Global Data On The Rise, But 4G Adoption Slow

Global Data On The Rise, But 4G Adoption Slow

Mobile continues to grow as a web-browsing platform. A new report, the Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update, part of the comprehensive Cisco VNI Forecast from Cisco Networks, offers some insight into trends happening in mobile.

In 2012, Cisco tracked several activities on mobile networks to tabulate data and identify trends. Top among the trends was the fact global mobile data traffic grew 70 percent last year. Global mobile data traffic reached 885 petabytes per month. In 2011, data traffic reached 520 petabytes a month. Growth in mobile traffic comes with increased proliferation of smartphones and tablets on 3G and 4G networks.

Mobile data traffic is surpassing the global Internet use of the early days in a big way. Cisco compared mobile data traffic to Internet traffic in 2000, the early days of the Internet compared to a similar timeframe in mobile, and found mobile data traffic was nearly twelve times the size of global Internet usage in 2000. Global mobile data traffic for 2012 reached 885 petabytes per month, compared to 75 petabytes per month. It is likely there are more users on the mobile web than there were users on the Internet in 2000. Those users are also used to the Internet, compared to 2000 when the Internet was still relatively new and those who had access weren’t as entrenched in the Internet. In 2000, there was also less content and fewer online services.

The surprising finding in the VNI Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast might be 4G has been around for roughly two years in many regions, yet adoption remains slow. Connections using 4G represent 0.9 percent of mobile connections today, however they account for 14 percent of mobile data traffic. Users of 4G phones and devices generated 19 times more traffic on average, compared to non-4G connections.

Even with sluggish 4G adoption, mobile connection speeds are getting faster. In fact, mobile connection speeds doubled in 2012. “Globally, the average mobile network downstream speed in 2012 was 526 kilobits per second (kbps), up from 248 kbps in 2011. The average mobile network connection speed for smartphones in 2012 was 2,064 kbps, up from 1,211 kbps in 2011,” the report stated.

Cisco identified heavy users in the VNI Global Mobile Data Traffic report. The top 1 percent of mobile data subscribers generate 16 percent of mobile data traffic. In the beginning of 2012, 1 percent of mobile data subscribers generated 52 percent of mobile data traffic. “Mobile data traffic has evened out over the last year and is now lower than 1:20 ratio that has been true of fixed networks for several years,” said the report.

Smartphone usage grew 81 percent in 2012, on average. In 2012, the average amount of traffic per smartphone was 342 MB per month, which is up from 189 MB per month a year before.

While one might think everyone has a smartphone these days — or should have a smartphone — proliferation is actually low. Globally, smartphones represented 18 percent of total handsets in use in 2011. However, smartphones represented 92 percent of total global handset traffic. Smartphones generated 50 times more mobile data traffic — roughly 342 MB per month — than the typical basic-feature cell phone. Feature phones generated 6.8 MB per month of mobile data traffic this past year.

Among smartphones, Android is dominant. By the end of 2012, average Android consumption exceeded average iPhone consumption in the United States and Western Europe. That means Android phones outnumbered iPhones, or users consumed more global data traffic in 2012.

Filterless camera sensor tech from Panasonic might be a low-light breakthrough

Filterless camera sensor tech from Panasonic might be a low-light breakthrough

The Achilles heel of modern camera sensors based on the Bayer color filter array (CFA) is their loss of light. Because each photosite is filtered to only receive either red, green, or blue, over half of the light hitting the sensor is thrown away. For low-light situations, that represents the loss of at least a stop of light — meaning cutting the camera’s shutter speed in half.

 Panasonic claims it has come up with a radical new way to redirect the light coming into a sensor so that nearly all of it can be used by the sensor. Instead of using an array of tiny microfilters in a traditional CFA, the new approach uses what Panasonic calls “micro color splitters” that diffract the light so that various combinations of wavelengths hit different photosites. In their paper in Nature Photonics, Panasonics researchers claim their solution allows the sensor to gather 1.85 times more light than traditional Bayer-array-based sensors.

Panasonic diffraction sensor versus Bayer color filter array
Pioneers get the arrows

Panasonic is not the first company to attempt to throw off the yoke of the Bayer array. Foveon became famous for its unique technology that used all the light hitting its sensor by layering the three color receptors on top of one another. Each layer essentially stripped off the color of light to which it was receptive, passing along the rest. Unfortunately for Foveon, they were alone in using this technique, so all the hard work of developing the sophisticated algorithms (and hardware) for processing the resulting uniquely coded raw images was up to them. As a result, it was years before Foveon had effective noise reduction and powerful enough chips to produce JPEGs in the camera.

Similarly, photosites in the Panasonic sensors will not simply register red, green, or blue. They’ll be receiving combinations of colors: white+red, white-red, white+blue, and white-blue, that come out of the two deflectors in use. Camera firmware will need to demosaic the results — calculating color values from those composites. Unlike with Bayer-array demosaicing — an active field of research with decades of science behind it — Panasonic will need to pave the way for decoding images from its unique sensors. While it is possible to generate RGB values with a simple matrix multiplication of the four color combinations received by diffraction-based sensors, doing it without noise is much more complex.

Panasonic claims that it has been able to use the very powerful FDTD method to compute the final image by simplifying it to be fast enough to compute in real time. This provides a more accurate image than easier to calculate algorithms like B-BPM (Babinet beam propogation method). Like Foveon, Panasonic has protected its invention with a thicket of patents. It has received or filed for 21 Japanese and 16 overseas patents on the technology so far.
Panasonic sample image from diffraction sensor versus Bayer CFA image, showing brighter result from diffraction-based sensor
Not the only attack on the Bayer CFA

In a less-radical attack on the Bayer array, Fujifilm’s high-end X-Pro 1 relies on a clever 6×6 arrangement of differently colored photosites to reduce the image artifacts found in Bayer array cameras. Unlike Panasonic, though, Fujifilm’s approach doesn’t help address the loss of light issue. It still uses microfilters over each photosite which only allow one color to be recorded at each site.

Panasonic is reticent on some of the key attributes of its new technology. It doesn’t say what resolution can be achieved in its press release — although its researchers have claimed that there is no loss of resolution compared to traditional solutions — or how much noise is introduced by the diffraction process. Those details will determine whether Panasonic’s approach will be successful in replacing Bayer arrays in cameras and smartphones or be relegated to specialized market niches like surveillance that require the latest in low-light performance.

earth

earth

in late 2012, scientists based in Germany and Norway published new results about a geophysical theory known as true polar wander. That is a drifting of Earth’s solid exterior – an actual change in latitude for some land masses – relative to our planet’s rotation axis. These scientists used hotspots in Earth’s mantle as part of a computer model, which they say is accurate for the past 120 million years, to identify four possible instances of true polar wander in the past. And, they say, true polar wander is happening now. These scientists published their results in the Journal for Geophysical Research.

 The scientists – including Pavel V. Doubrovine and Trond H. Torsvik of the University of Oslo, and Bernhard Steinberger of the Helmholtz Center in Potsdam, Germany – established what they believe is a stable reference frame for tracking true polar wander. Based on this reference frame, they say that twice – from 90 to 40 million years ago – the solid Earth traveled back and forth by nearly 9 degrees with respect to our planet’s axis of rotation. What’s more, for the past 40 million years, the Earth’s solid outer layers have been slowly rotating at a rate of 0.2 degrees every million years, according to these scientists.

Diagram showing solid-body rotation of the Earth with respect to a stationary spin axis due to true polar wander. This diagram is greatly exaggerated. According to Doubrovine and his team, Earth’s solid outer layers have been slowly rotating at a rate of 0.2 degrees every million years. Diagram via Wikimedia Commons.

True polar wander is not:

    A geomagnetic reversal, or reversal of Earth’s magnetic field, known to have happened before in Earth history.
    Plate tectonics, which describes the large-scale motions of great land plates on Earth and is thought to be driven by the circulation of Earth’s mantle.
    Precession of the Earth, whereby our world’s axis of rotation slowly moves, tracing out a circle among the stars, causing the identity of our North Star changes over time.

True polar wander is a geophysical theory, a way of thinking about Earth processes that might happen and that these scientists believe do happen. The theory suggests that if an object of sufficient weight on Earth – for example, a supersized volcano or other weighty land mass – formed far from Earth’s equator, the force of Earth’s rotation would gradually pull the object away from the axis around which Earth spins. A supersized volcano far from Earth’s equator would create an imbalance, in other words. As explained at Princeton.edu:

    If the volcanoes, land and other masses that exist within the spinning Earth ever became sufficiently imbalanced, the planet would tilt and rotate itself until this extra weight was relocated to a point along the equator.

That’s the theory of true polar wander. It would cause a movement of Earth’s land masses, but for a different reason than the reason the continents drift in the theory of plate tectonics (formerly called “continental drift”). In the theory of plate tectonics, the continents drift because the layer of Earth underlying our planet’s crust, called the mantle, is convective. That is, it circulates, slowly – like water about to boil. In true polar wander, on the other hand, a similar-seeming movement of land masses on Earth’s crust happens in order to correct an imbalance of weight with respect to Earth’s spin.

 Scientists’ understanding of true polar wander overlaps with their understanding of plate tectonics in various ways. That’s understandable, since it’s all the same Earth.

Scientists delving into true polar wander want to know when, in which direction, and at what rate the Earth’s solid exterior might be rotating due to true polar wander. To sort it out, they say, you would need a stable frame of reference to which observations of relative motion might be compared. Doubrovine and his team say they found one: volcanic hotspots.

Hotspot forming an island chain. As land plates drift, a successive of volcanoes form over the hotspot. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

In geology, hotspots are volcanic regions fed by Earth’s underlying mantle. For example, the Hawaiian islands are believed to have formed over a hotspot in the mantle. The hotspot created a volcano, but then – as that land plate drifted over time, as described by the theory of plate tectonics – the volcano drifted, too, and was eventually cut off from the hotspot. Gradually, another volcano begins to form over the hotspot, right next to the first one. And then it moves on … and another one forms … and so on … and so on. Earth’s crust produces first one, then another volcano over the hotspot until a long chain of volcanoes forms, such as in Hawaii. Hotspots have long been used to understand the motion of tectonic plates.

Doubrovine and colleagues went a step further in order to understand true polar wander. Instead of treating the hot spots as static – frozen in place at one spot above Earth’s mantle – their computer model let the hotspots’ positions drift slowly. According to these scientists, this drifting is what produced a model of a stable reference frame, which in turn let them draw conclusions about true polar wander.

They say their model does a good job of matching observations of real hotspot tracks on Earth – the path drawn by each hotspot’s island chain – which gives them confidence their results about true polar wander are accurate.

The Hawaiian islands are believed to have formed over a hotspot – a particularly hot place in Earth’s underlying mantle. Scientists expanded on previous thinking about hotspots to suggest that Earth’s solid surface is drifting, minutely, with respect to our planet’s rotation axis.

Bottom line: German and Norwegian scientists have incorporated hotspots in Earth’s mantle into a computer model being used to study true polar wander. They say their work established a stable reference frame for this study that lets them conclude Earth is undergoing true polar wander today.

car airbags that could save a cyclist's life

car airbags that could save a cyclist's life

In the United States, only 1 percent of trips are made by bicycle. In the Netherlands, which has only 1/18 of the U.S.’s population, that number is close to 26 percent. With so many bikes on the road, Dutch company TNO is working on a car airbag that deploys outside the vehicle to reduce bicyclist injuries. Upon impact, the airbag, housed under the hood, inflates to cover parts of the windshield and cushion a biker. In tests last November, engineers drove a track-guided car into a dummy on a bike at 25 mph, the average speed of a crash. Accelerometers in the dummy’s head and neck and pressure sensors embedded in its limbs indicated brain damage and broken bones. Dummies in collisions with the airbag had fewer and less severe injuries up to 45 percent of the time.

Bionic Man Shows That Most Human Body Parts Could Be Replaced

Bionic Man Shows That Most Human Body Parts Could Be Replaced

He’s not quite Steve Austin, but with prosthetic hands, hips, knees and even a face, Rex is the closest thing to a bionic man that science has yet to produce.

Built by scientists from the Shadow robotics team, Rex is being shown off more as proof that medical science is getting closer to being able to synthesize and stitch together human body parts.

The Shadow team recently unveiled Rex at the Science Museum in London to announce the opening of a new exhibit which will investigate the perception of human identity.

“We were surprised how many of the parts of the body can be replaced,” explained Rich Walker, the managing director of team Shadow, speaking to The Independent.

“There are some vital organs missing, like the stomach, but 60 to 70 percent of a human has effectively been rebuilt.”

For Swiss social psychologist Bertholt Meyer, Rex is the product of a personal journey. Having been born without a left hand, Meyer says medical science is finally at a point where a bionic human is on the horizon.

“I have looked for new bionic technologies out of personal interest for a long time and I think that until five or six years ago nothing much was happening,” Meyer told The Independent. “Suddenly we are at a point where we can build a body that is great and beautiful in its own special way.”

Meyer shares a few characteristics with Rex, namely a prosthetic left hand and a face. The Shadow team had asked Meyer if they could model Rex’s face after his own, resulting in a resemblance which Meyer called “awkward” as he presented Rex to the Science Museum in London.

Though Rex was assembled as a part of a documentary to be aired on BBC’s Channel 4, his internal body parts hail from Australia, the UK and the US. His eyes and kidneys were developed at the University of California. Rex’s eyes are essentially cameras which send images to a microchip located inside the “retina.” These images are then sent to his “brain” by way of electronic pulses, much like the way a human eye perceives things. Rex’s ear was developed at the Macquarie University in Sydney, and sends vibrations via signals to the electronic brain. Rex even has blood pulsing through artificial veins. This blood, developed at Sheffield University, is made from plastic and is completely infection free.

While Rex is the closest any team has ever gotten to building an entirely bionic man, many believe medical science still has a long way to go.

“We have motors which can lift things but, if you want to mimic the dexterity of a hand, we are not there yet,” said professor Steven Hsiao of the John Hopkins University in Baltimore, speaking to the Independent.

“What we are beginning to achieve is building prostheses which look like human body parts, but we are a long way away from making ones which relay sensory information the way the human body does.”

Once medical science improves, as it inevitably will, Meyer says the next step will be tackling the sticky ethical issues which will arise.

“Should I be allowed to cut off my real hand and replace it with something, does that give me an unfair advantage over people who cannot afford this?” asks Meyer.

“I’m not saying that is going to happen but these are questions that should be on the table before that technology becomes available.”

apple imac

apple imac

The ultimate all-in-one. Honed to the cutting edge.

The first iMac was a revolution: An all-in-one computer that put everything — display, processor, graphics, storage, memory, and more — inside one simple, stylish enclosure. Countless innovations later, we’ve raised the bar yet again. The new iMac includes the most advanced, most brilliant desktop display we’ve ever built, and it’s filled with the latest high-performance technologies. Yet it’s just 5 mm thin at its edge with up to 40 percent less volume than the previous generation. To do all that required unprecedented feats of engineering — and imagination. We invented new technologies, pioneered new manufacturing techniques, and devised all-new ways to do more in less space.

 Innovations at the molecular level.

One of the biggest challenges our engineers faced was how to join the front and back of the new iMac. The enclosure is so thin, it’s not possible to weld the pieces using traditional methods. So we searched far and wide for other ideas, and we found one in a process called friction-stir welding. It’s commonly used on airplane wings, rocket booster tanks, and other parts that simply can’t fail. This process uses a combination of intense friction-generated heat and pressure to intermix the molecules of the two aluminum surfaces — creating a seamless, precise, and superstrong join. You may not see it, but the new iMac wouldn’t be possible without it.

 

 Now you’re closer to the action.

The new iMac display is not set behind the cover glass — it’s right up against it. The LCD itself is 5 mm thinner than before, and we used an advanced process called full lamination to eliminate a 2-mm gap between the LCD and the glass, something that has never been done on a display this large. Although it may not seem like much, those few millimeters are enough to make images look as if they’re leaping off the glass.

    Eliminated 2-mm gap
    Antireflective coating
    5-mm-thinner LCD

75 percent less reflection.

Full lamination has a second major benefit: It eliminates the reflection of light off the LCD panel and off the back of the display’s cover glass. But we also figured out how to reduce reflection off the front of the glass without compromising color quality. Instead of applying an antireflective coating to the glass in a conventional way, we adapted a process used on smaller surfaces like camera lenses and fighter pilots’ helmets. It’s called plasma deposition, and it involves coating the glass with layers of silicon dioxide and niobium pentoxide so precise and so thin they’re measured in atoms. The result: an astounding 75 percent reduction in reflectivity — and vibrant, accurate colors.

 Individually calibrated for true-to-life color.

None of these innovations would matter much if the iMac display didn’t deliver vivid, true-to-life color. Which is why we put every single display through an exacting color-calibration process using three state-of-the-art spectroradiometers: one to measure gamma, one to measure white point, and one to check the work of the other two. This equipment is tuned to meet color standards recognized around the world for precision and accuracy.

More energy efficient.

Not only does the new iMac offer higher performance than any previous iMac, it’s also more energy efficient, using up to 50 percent less energy in the idle state with the display on. And its hardware components work hand in hand with the operating system to conserve even more power.
Friendly to the environment.

The environmentally friendly iMac design is free of many harmful toxins, including mercury, arsenic, BFRs, and PVC. It’s also made from materials such as aluminum and glass, which are more likely to be recycled and reused.
Highly rated designs.

What Makes Nova Launcher Better Than the Default Android 4.0 Launcher?

What Makes Nova Launcher Better Than the Default Android 4.0 Launcher?

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich earned rave reviews for its visually appealing Holo theme which also accompanied a default launcher. As it turns out, a significant number of users demanded for a separate, alternative launcher. The demand was justified for the users who would use the OS on devices other than Nexus for which the default launcher worked absolutely fine. Soon, Teslacoil Software reacted by introducing Nova Launcher. Over time, the launcher has become the most polished application, even better than the default launcher. Below, I will try to point out why I consider Nova Launcher to be better.

 Nova Launcher allows for a high degree of customization, letting the users use multiple features on their devices in any way they desire. With features like customizable grid and scrollable dock, the launcher allows the user to place more than 4 icons on the dock. If you haven’t used the application till now, you will be happy to know that you can place 7 icons per page, with maximum of 3 pages allowed.
Nova Launcher – Placing Folders on the Dock

Another good feature is the option to place folders on the dock. Rather than keeping icons for similar applications separately, you can place them in a single folder that can be instantly opened to launch a particular application. For example, store icons for different browsers in a folder and access any of them as and when required. A per-icon swipe gesture is another notable feature that lets a single icon  launch two different applications, one through tap and the second through swipe. A great way to save space, enhance performance and utilize time!
Nova Launcher

Next is another interesting feature of multi-touch gestures that allows you to perform different things through actions like Pinch In, Pinch Out, Swipe In, Swipe Out, Double Tap, Two Fingers Swipe Up and Two Fingers Swipe Down. App Drawer will let you store more number of icons (more than what you can store on the dock). Notable is the choice to scroll the drawer either vertically or horizontally.

From resizing widgets to customizing animations and adding themes, Nova Launcher can help you do many more useful things. Nova Launcher 2.0 has been recently launched with many new features and fixes for the issues faced in the previous versions. While the free version of the application is quite capable, buying the paid version called Nova Launcher Prime only for $4 can extend the functionality further. Say no to the manufacturers’ default launcher and invest in a customizable launcher for improved experience.

2013 Lamborghini Aventador

2013 Lamborghini Aventador

 A new Roadster model joins the Lamborghini Aventador lineup for 2013, along with stop-start technology and cylinder deactivation to improve fuel economy. Improved suspension components and optional carbon-fiber body elements are also new.
Introduction

 There is a certain point at which monumental wealth allows some to shrug off the concerns of mere mortals. It's the sort of riches that elicit no more than a raised eyebrow when throwing down half a million dollars on a vehicle that, by all accounts, is a model of impracticality and waste. The 2013 Lamborghini Aventador is a full realization of this kind of decadence, but don't get us wrong. This supercar is also very much an object of desire.

Let's start with what makes a supercar so super: power. With a 6.5-liter V12 producing an astounding 690 horsepower, there are only a handful of cars available in the U.S. that produce more. With lightweight carbon-fiber construction, that power is put to good use as all four wheels spin wildly to get the top-dog Lamborghini up to 60 mph in under 3 seconds, with a top speed of 217 mph. The Aventador also corners with similar aggression, giving racecars a run for their considerable money.

But stunning performance is only half of the Aventador's equation; it's also a stunner when stationary. The sharp faceted bodywork evokes images of stealth fighter planes, as does a cockpit that is equally evocative. But all of this flash has a considerable non-monetary cost, too. Visibility in any direction is hampered by a steeply raked windshield, huge mirrors that dominate the view out the side windows and a rear window that shows but a sliver of what's behind you. Combine this with the car's wide footprint and even basic tasks like parking become nerve-wracking exercises.

 Then there's the Aventador's punishing ride quality that transmits every minute flaw in the road directly into your spine. This year, Lamborghini claims to have improved the ride, but we have our doubts, as it has included even stiffer springs as part of the "upgrades." In all likelihood, the ride changes would have as much effect as the new fuel-saving measures (stop-start technology and cylinder deactivation) that resulted in only 1 mpg more on the highway. As it stands, the most important news for 2013 is the debut of the convertible Aventador Roadster, which comes with its own unique set of drawbacks.

But even with these flaws readily apparent, the 2013 Lamborghini Aventador remains one of the epically effective ways to make a statement. The closest competitor understandably comes from Lamborghini's arch rival in the form of the forthcoming 2013 Ferrari F12 Berlinetta. Of course, when you have monumental wealth at hand, we see no reason not to simply buy both.
Body Styles, Trim Levels, and Options

 The 2013 Lamborghini Aventador is a two-passenger exotic supercar available as either a coupe or roadster.

Standard coupe features include 19-inch front wheels, 20-inch rear wheels, high-performance tires, carbon-ceramic brakes, a deployable rear spoiler, an adjustable-height suspension, hill-start assist, automatic bi-xenon headlights, LED running lights, heated and power-folding mirrors, automatic climate control, leather upholstery, a tilt steering wheel, LCD gauge cluster, the Lamborghini version of Audi's Multi Media Interface, a navigation system, real-time traffic, Bluetooth, an iPod interface and a sound system.

The Roadster adds a power rear window, a wind deflector and an engine cover with sectioned hexagonal glass plates.

Optional equipment includes numerous carbon-fiber body parts and interior trim, a transparent engine cover, a carbon-fiber engine cover, the Parking Assist package (front and rear parking sensors and a rearview camera), heated power seats, a multifunction steering wheel (in smooth leather, perforated leather or suede) and an upgraded sound system. There is also an extensive customization program available.
Powertrains and Performance

 Powering the 2013 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 is an outrageous 6.5-liter V12 that produces 690 hp and 509 pound-feet of torque. All-wheel drive is standard, along with a seven-speed automated manual gearbox that features five different operating modes: three manual (Strada, Sport and Corsa) and two automatic (Strada-auto and Sport-auto). Launch control and hill-start assist are also standard.

Lamborghini estimates that the Aventador will go from zero to 60 mph in about 2.9 seconds as it accelerates to its 217 mph top speed. It doesn't get much quicker or faster than that. This year, fuel consumption is slightly improved thanks to the addition of stop-start technology and cylinder deactivation, which shuts down six cylinders when cruising on the highway. Still, EPA-estimated fuel economy is only 11 mpg city/18 mpg highway and 13 mpg combined. You'd be hard-pressed to find something much thirstier than that.
Safety

Standard safety equipment includes traction and stability control, antilock carbon-ceramic disc brakes, knee airbags and side airbags that cover the head and thorax.
Interior Design and Special Features

Echoing the Aventador's aggressive faceted exterior styling, the interior features angular shapes and controls that would look more at home in a stealth fighter jet. Just starting the engine involves a sort of missile-launch ceremony, as you have to lift a red anodized safety cover to access the start button.

To complement the styling and flourish, the Aventador's cabin also features a decent amount of up-to-date electronics. Pulling from parent company Audi's parts bin, the Lamborghini uses a slightly revised MMI infotainment interface to control the audio and navigation systems via a centrally mounted dial. It works just as well as the Audi system, but considering the amount of concentration required to pilot the Aventador, even the simplest tasks may prove too complicated.

Space in the Aventador is what you'd expect in today's generation of supercars. Drivers taller than 6 feet should still have sufficient headroom and just enough legroom, though there's certainly a claustrophobic feel that goes along with its low-slung roof line and limited visibility. Storage is also practically nonexistent, making the prospects of a road trip rather remote.

Opting for the open-air experience of the Roadster reduces practicality even further, but Lamborghini owners are seldom fazed by such trifles. Rather than employ a folding fabric roof or retractable hardtop, the roof comprises two removable lightweight carbon-fiber panels that fit perfectly into the front trunk. And by perfectly, we mean that they leave room for nothing else. The good news is that the Roadster looks devastatingly beautiful with the top stowed, and the power rear window can be lowered so you can enjoy the full V12 orchestra performing behind your head.
Driving Impressions

At low speeds, the 2013 Lamborghini Aventador is pretty disappointing. The transmission is jerky, the ride borders on intolerable and the engine emits a rather unimpressive, whiny mechanical drone. But this is a Lamborghini -- what on Earth are you doing driving it slowly?

Lay into the throttle and the V12 comes alive with a raucous symphony. When the road starts throwing you curves, the Aventador eagerly dive bombs into corners thanks to its quick, precise steering and composed chassis. Unlike some other big exotic cars, however, the Aventador never feels smaller than it actually is. Due to the car's wide girth and poor outward visibility, it can be hard for the driver to build up confidence on a demanding road or racetrack.