technology

New space race: Putin unveils $50 billion drive for Russian supremacy

"President Vladimir Putin on Friday unveiled a new $50 billion drive for Russia to preserve its status as a top space power, including the construction of a brand new cosmodrome from where humans will fly to space by the end of the decade. Fifty-two years to the day since Yuri Gagarin became the Soviet Union’s greatest hero by making the first human flight into space, Putin inspected the new Vostochny (Eastern) cosmodrome Russia is building in the Amur region of the Far East. Putin said that Russia hoped to have the first launches from Vostochny in 2015 and the first manned launches in 2018." Continue reading →

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Scientists create ‘superbrain’ by connecting thoughts of two rats

"Scientists on Thursday said they had enabled a rat to help a fellow rodent while the animals were a continent apart but connected through brain electrodes. With electrodes imbedded in its cortex, a rat in a research institute in Natal, Brazil sent signals via the Internet to a counterpart at a university lab in Durham, North Carolina, helping the second animal to get a reward. The exploit opens up the prospect of linking brains among animals to create an 'organic computer,' said Brazilian neurobiologist Miguel Nicolelis. It also helps the quest to empower patients stricken with paralysis or locked-in syndrome, he said." Continue reading →

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Peru’s engineers ‘make’ their own drinkable water in response to shortages outside of Lima

"The fresh, pure water on offer along a busy road in this dusty town some 90 kilometers (55 miles) south of Lima, has been extracted, as if by magic, from the humid air. Within the enormous, raised, double-paneled billboard inviting all takers is concealed a tube, wires and mechanical equipment that draws the water from the air and purifies it. Inhabitants from far and wide who flock here toting liter bottles and buckets say this purified water is a wonderful alternative to the stagnant well water that used to be the only water source for many in this town." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPeru’s engineers ‘make’ their own drinkable water in response to shortages outside of Lima

Artificial Leaf Generates 100 Watts of Power from Dirty Water

"This development all of a sudden makes it practical to bring this solution to places like Africa, where power is undependable. Each one of these artificial leaves is capable of producing 100 watts of power, enough to keep the lights on at night, and a few more will keep a small refrigerator running. In the first world, putting these at the waste water outflows on houses can help with a household’s power needs and ease up on the grid. We’re still a few years away from seeing this as a viable solution on large scales, but hey, but the time the artificial leaf does hit the market, you should be able to run 15 light bulbs from a single plate. Isn’t that something?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingArtificial Leaf Generates 100 Watts of Power from Dirty Water

Estonia launches national car-charging network

"Estonia’s reputation as one of the most wired-up countries in Europe has been boosted further with the opening of what is being billed as the world’s first nationwide electric car charging network. The network of charging points, which was opened officially on Wednesday but has been running for several months, uses direct current (DC) to charge cars in less than 30 minutes, rather than the alternating current (AC) technology used by most which can take up eight hours to recharge a car’s battery. There are believed to be around 650 electric cars in Estonia, more than 500 of which were Mitsubishi i-MiEVs given to social workers by the government in 2011." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEstonia launches national car-charging network

American teenager designs compact nuclear reactor

"The American teen, four years after designing a fusion reactor he planned to build in the garage of his family’s home, has designed a small reactor capable of generating 50-100 megawatts of electricity, enough to power as many as 100,000 homes. The reactor can be made assembly-line style and powered by molten radioactive material from nuclear weapons. The relatively small, modular reactor can be shipped sealed with enough fuel to last for 30 years. His reactors are designed to spin turbines using gas instead of steam, meaning they operate at temperatures lower than those of typical nuclear reactors and don’t spew anything if there is a breach." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAmerican teenager designs compact nuclear reactor

Flamboyant Australian tycoon unveils plan for Titanic replica

"Flamboyant Australian tycoon Clive Palmer unveiled his plan Tuesday for building a perfect replica of the Titanic — plus a lot of extra lifeboats. More than a century after the original, supposedly unsinkable ocean liner hit an iceberg and went down in the North Atlantic, Palmer thinks the time has come to complete the unfinished journey to New York. Featuring the same rigid divisions as in 1912 between first, second and third class, passengers will eat either in an ornate dining room or at a long common table. Passengers in the luxury section will enjoy the identical grand staircase and reproductions of the original Titanic’s Turkish bath and swimming pool." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFlamboyant Australian tycoon unveils plan for Titanic replica

How Inventor Paul Vo Created a Little Black Box That Could Change Guitars Forever

"The Vo-96 Acoustic Synthesizer is one of the most innovative musical instrument products created in years. Strap one onto any acoustic guitar and you can transform the way it sounds by breaking—or at least manipulating—the laws of physics. Here's the story of how inventor Paul Vo made a device that sounds like magic. The Vo-96 changes the very physics of how a guitar makes sound to begin with. How do you do that? The device has what Vo calls a 'two-way conversation' with the guitar strings. It listens to the strings and then applies a precisely calculated magnetic energy back to the strings to change how they sound." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow Inventor Paul Vo Created a Little Black Box That Could Change Guitars Forever

‘World’s greatest chef’ building massive recipe and gastronomic database

"Two years after closing the beachside Spanish restaurant — repeatedly lauded as the world’s best by those lucky enough to have dined there — Adria says he is now focused on preserving its legacy for future generations. Widely regarded as the world’s best chef and credited with having changed culinary history by reworking familiar ingredients into unfamiliar dining experiences, Adria, 50, is now turning his attention to cyberspace. He plans to impose a sense of chronology to food online with his 'La Bullipedia' project, a curated database into which he aims to incorporate every piece of gastronomic knowledge available." Continue reading →

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3D technology brings medieval books to life

"Precious mediaeval books, usually displayed in glass cases and touchable only with gloves, can now be read in glorious 3D, thanks to a system unveiled Tuesday at the world’s top tech fair. With the 3D interactive book explorer, users browse through the sinewy Latin text and colourful illustrations penned centuries ago but in a distinctly up-to-date manner. The text is scanned in and displayed on a flat-screen display and readers, standing a couple of metres (feet) back from the screen, scroll through the pages just by waving their hands in the air to operate motion sensor cameras. The reader can flip the book through 360 degrees and in 3D." Continue reading →

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