::Server and Website Upgrades.

Server and website upgrades are being done, so new posts will be delayed for some time, tc till we get back.
admin II.
Juan Flores.

::Antimatter Trapped for the First Time, Warp Drives Here We Come...!!!

Get ready for that warp drive spaceship, because we are now one step closer to it. After creating antihydrogen in their antiproton decelerator, scientists at CERN have been able to trap antimatter for the first time in history.

This a big step. First, it gets humanity closer to understand one of the biggest mysteries of the Universe: What happened to all the antimatter that was created during the Big Bang? In theory, matter and antimatter were created in equal parts during the Big Bang. However, the latter disappeared shortly thereafter. Or at least, we can't seem to find it. The spokesman for CERN's ALPHA experiment—Jeffrey Hangst of Aarhus University, Denmark—says that trapping these atoms was a bit of an overwhelming experience:

What's new about Alpha is that now we've managed to hold on to those atoms. We have a magnetic bowl, kind of a bottle, that holds the antihydrogen [...] For reasons that no one yet understands, nature ruled out antimatter. It is thus very rewarding, and a bit overwhelming, to look at the ALPHA device and know that it contains stable, neutral atoms of antimatter.

CERN created the first nine atoms of antihydrogen in 1995, and then started to produce atoms in large quantities in 2002, as part of the ATHENA and ATRAP experiments. This is the first time that scientists have been able to trap antihydrogen atoms for a long enough time to study them, keeping them at 9 degrees kelvin (-443.47 degrees Fahrenheit, -264.15 degrees Celsius), suspended in a magnetic field inside this Ghostbusters-style machine.

The other reason why this is an important step is its potential to solve our need for unlimited energy. When antihydrogen touches matter—as shown in the image above—it releases a huge amount of energy. Many scientists speculate that antimatter may be the key to provide unlimited power capable of driving machines that are unthinkable right now. Eventually, it could be the stuff that could power new engines capable of taking us to the stars at near-light speed.

The energy per unit mass (9×1016 J/kg) is about 10 orders of magnitude greater than chemical energy, about 4 orders of magnitude greater than nuclear energy that can be liberated today using nuclear fission, and about 2 orders of magnitude greater than the best possible from fusion.

The reaction of 1 kilogram of antimatter with 1 kilogram of matter would produce 180 petajoules of energy or the rough equivalent of 43 megatons of TNT. For comparison, Tsar Bomba, the largest nuclear weapon ever detonated, reacted an estimated yield of 50 megatons, which required the use of hundreds of kilograms of fissile material.Wikipedia

Or maybe we will just manage to destroy the world in a explosion of strawberry and cherry goo. It can go either way.

But fear not, we are not there yet. At this stage, scientists are still trying to comprehend how antimatter works. This is one more—although very important—step in this quest. 

Further Reading and Information Courtesy: My Brain, CERN.

::Artificial Retina.

Scientists have been working on artificial retinas for years, and while the main focus of research has been to increase the amount of light captured, a study led by Sheila Nirenberg, PhD, has taken a different tack. The new system being devised at Weill Cornell Medical College better mimics frontline photoreceptor cells, making it easier for the ganglion cells to output a more accurate image. "If you want to really restore normal vision, you have to know the retina's code," Nirenberg said. "Once you have that, the door is open to the possibility of restoring normal vision." When researchers performed tests with mice, they found that those with the new system reconstructed more details (the second image, above) than those without (image three, above). "Incorporating the [more accurate] code jumped the system's performance up to normal levels - that is, there was enough information to reconstruct faces, newsprint, landscapes, essentially anything," Nirenberg said. The next step? Coordinating with other researchers to test the technology on human participants.
(testing new font + image sizes for Knowledge Database 3.0).


Further Reading and Information Courtesy: My Brain, PhysOrg.

::Youngest Ever Black Hole Discovered.

Astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have found evidence of the youngest black hole known to exist in our cosmic neighborhood. The 30-year-old object provides a unique opportunity to watch a black hole develop from infancy.

The black hole is a remnant of SN 1979C, a supernova in the galaxy M100 approximately 50 million light years from Earth. Data from Chandra, NASA’s Swift satellite, the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton and the German ROSAT observatory revealed a bright source of X-rays that has remained steady during observation from 1995 to 2007.

This suggests the object is a black hole being fed either by material falling into it from the supernova or a binary companion.

Scientists think SN 1979C, first discovered by an amateur astronomer in 1979, formed when a star about 20 times more massive than the sun collapsed. Many new black holes in the distant universe previously have been detected in the form of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). However, SN 1979C is different. Not only is it closer, but also it belongs a class of supernovas unlikely to produce gamma-ray bursts. According to theory, most new black holes are not announced by a bright GRB.

Although the evidence points to a newly formed black hole in SN 1979C, another intriguing possibility exists: A young, rapidly spinning neutron star with a powerful wind of high energy particles could be responsible for the X-ray emission. This would make the object in SN 1979C the youngest and brightest example of such a “pulsar wind nebula” and the youngest known neutron star.

Further Reading and Information Courtesy: My Brain, NASA.

::Light Emitting Trees.

Taiwanese researchers have stumbled onto something truly magical. When gold nanoparticles were introduced into Bacopa caroliniana plants they caused the chlorophyll to produce reddish light. Bye-bye street lights? But wait, there's more:

While lit, the glowing vegetation consumed more carbon from the atmosphere than normal (i.e. the luminescence causes the cells to undergo photosynthesis).

PopSci calls this a "triple threat," in that the trees could cut energy costs, reduce global warming and keep streets safely lit at night. I'm more than inclined to agree. 

Further Reading and Information Courtesy: My Brain, PopSci.

::Japan's Flying Surveillance Drone.

It may not be quite as menacing as some other surveillance drones, but this new flying contraption recently unveiled by Japan's Ministry of Defense should at least get the job done for what seems like a somewhat limited purpose. That seems to be primarily for short treks of less than 30 minutes into dangerous areas, where the drone can take advantage of its GPS tracking and "high power" cameras to relay information back to the pilots on the ground. Unlike plane-style drones, this one can also move up and down and in every direction, much like a quadrocopter. Video embed.


Further Reading and Information Courtesy: My Brain, Crave.

::SRI's Electroadhesion Tech.

When the inevitable Robot Apocalypse goes down, you can credit SRI International for helping the forces assimilate. The aforesaid entity has apparently been toiling around the clock on a technology it's calling compliant electroadhesion, and to put things simply, it gives robotic climbers the ability to scale all sorts of walls made of all sorts of materials. Tests have shown wall-gripping robots climb surfaces made of steel, brick, concrete, glass, wood and drywall, which effectively eliminates any hope of you surviving the fallout based on the construction choice of your bunker. Thankfully, it does seems as if this could also be applied to human footwear, giving Earthlings at least a fighting chance of standing toe-to-toe with these guys on the side of the Menara Kuala Lumpur. Head on past the break if you're looking for a horror film. Or a demonstrative video... same difference. 


Further Reading and Information Courtesy: My Brain, Switched.

::Electrical Brain Stimulation Improves Math Skills.

Applying transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a way of enhancing brain activity using an electric current, to the right parietal cortex while simultaneously using the opposite current to subdue activity in the left parietal cortex improved the brain’s arithmetical abilities, Oxford University scientists have found.

In 2007, Roi Cohen Kadosh at the University of Oxford and colleagues pinned down the area of the brain responsible for mathematical ability to the right parietal lobe, just above the right ear.

The paper “Modulating neuronal activity produces specific and long lasting changes in numerical competence” by Roi Cohen Kadosh and colleagues was published in Current Biology November 4, 2010. The work was carried out by a team of scientists from Oxford University and University College London.

Further Reading and Information Courtesy: My Brain, UCL.

::Finland's All-Knowing 3D Speed Camera.

In Finland there are cameras. Automated cameras. They observe the roads, watching for speeders. Nothing new, right? Wrong. These silent watchers can ding drivers for pretty much everything else too.

Items like insurance, taxes, seat belt usage and tailgating—all checked in the blink of an eye!

Called ASSET (Advanced Safety and Driver Support for Essential Road Transport), the effective range is about 150 feet, and you really can have as many as four or five tickets issued to you, simultaneously:

It is the first to detect multiple offences at the same time and is connected to police computers via satellite, so that prosecutions can be started within seconds of any offence.

 Further Reading and Information Courtesy: My Brain, Daily Mail.

::Diamond Busting Graphite.

Are the diamond's days as an indestructible substance numbered? Possibly. At about 170,000 atmospheres, scientists managed to use super-hard graphite to crack one in 2003, but the exact reason why was somewhat of a mystery. Now maybe it's not.

There's still much work to be done, of course—as there usually is with breakthroughs and articles that include the phrases "scientists" and "researchers"—but computer simulations show inklings that the diamond's days as an indestructible force are coming to an end.

[...] Hui-Tian Wang at Nankai University in Tianjin, China, and colleagues have shown that the compressed material could be at least partly made of bct-carbon, which is built up from rings of four carbon atoms. Bct-carbon has attributes of both diamond, which has a cubic structure, and graphite, composed of loosely linked sheets of carbon atoms in a hexagonal lattice. In bct-carbon, layers of carbon rings are linked by strong vertical bonds.

The new technique is also theorized to require far less heating than other super-hard materials, which would be a boon to anyone in the near future who requires large amounts of the stuff...

Coming soon, in 2030! Real geeks get their brides-to-be engagement rings made from bct-carbon! Diamonds were cool, for a time, but if you really want to show her never-ending love, get the girl something truly indestructible! Billy Mays would be so proud. 

Further Reading and Information Courtesy: My Brain, New Scientist.

::Scheduled Server Maintenance.

Blogger system is down as admin is on leave and server maintenance is going on as per schedule

::New 3D Hologram Technology.

Nasser Peyghambarian of the University of Arizona and his cool gang of colleagues reported today that their new holographic tech can project nearly 360 degree images from one location to another, that image updating every 2 seconds. It’s called three-dimensional telepresence, and it aims to take care of the no-rear-view issue 3D projections leave out today. “If you look at the 3-D object, we show it is very much like if you look around you. It’s the closest to what you see compared to any other technology,” he said to Rueters today.

This 3D telepresence tech differs from what we know as 3D tech in the following ways: with 3D, one perspective is shot to one eye, while another is sent to the other eye. With telepresence, no special glasses are needed to attain this effect, and the number of perspectives is limited only by the number of cameras used in capturing the object being projected.

This technology builds on similar technology made by the same group in 2008, which at that time projected a black-and-white image and updated every 4 minutes instead of 2 seconds. Once developed, this technology could potentially be employed on everything from surgery performed by doctors around the world to simple video conferencing ala Star Wars.

Further Reading and Information Courtesy: My Brain, Ubergizmo.

::Robocam Mimics Human Eye Movement.

Even the smallest of creations can create some pretty significant results. This small robotic device was created by a team at the Technical University of Munich, and it’s designed specifically to pan and tilt a small robotic camera. The interesting part is the design process, in which the researchers and scientists made it so that the small robo-cam follows the same movements as the human eye. The small robot is meant to keep up with the human eye in gaze-tracking studies.

The final result is a robo-cam that features a three degrees movement, and manages to flick around at a rapid pace, which was clocked at 2500 degrees per second. To put that into some perspective, the human eye maxes out at a clocked 1000 degrees per second. The creators of the robo-cam utilized ultrasonic piezo-actuators which are used to drive prismatic joints. Those joints drive the spherically-jointed rods that are attached to the camera.

The mini robo-cam manages to weigh in less than 100 grams, and the whole thing is designed to move soft enough that it doesn’t actually bother the person that it is situated upon. A small invention, but one that manages to bring in big results.

Further Reading and Information Courtesy: My Brain, Ubergizmo.

::The World's First 3D-Printed Car

If clothes can be made by 3D printers, it only figures that cars can be, too. The same company that teamed up with HP for their "affordable" 3D printer has made the world's first 3D-printed car, Urbee.

Dripping each layer of material bit by bit in the additive manufacturing process, the Urbee is a two-seat car made by 3D printing guys Stratasys and engineering company Kor Ecologic. All of the body parts were made using 3D printers, including the glass panels.

One day it'll hopefully be put on the production line and do its bit for the environment, if Kor Ecologic follows through on its hybrid promise. For now though, it runs on gasoline and ethanol (getting up to 200 miles to the gallon). The design is pretty sleek and space-age like, and can be seen at Las Vegas' SEMA Show this week.

Further Reading and Information Courtesy: My Brain, Urbee.