tagged w/ Technology News
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Quick restart of Big Bang machine stuns scientists
---ALEXANDER G. HIGGINS, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 25 mins ago
GENEVA – Scientists moved Saturday to prepare the world's largest atom smasher for exploring the depths of matter after successfully restarting the $10 billion machine following more than a year of repairs.
The nuclear physicists working on the Large Hadron Collider were surprised that they could so quickly get beams of protons whizzing near the speed of light during the restart late Friday, said James Gillies, spokesman for the European Organization for Nuclear Research.
The machine was heavily damaged by a simple electrical fault in September last year.
Some scientists had gone home early Friday and had to be called back as the project jumped ahead, Gillies said.
At a meeting early Saturday "they basically had to tear up the first few pages of their PowerPoint presentation which had outlined the procedures that they were planning to follow," he said. "That was all wrapped up by midnight. They are going through the paces really very fast."
The European Organization for Nuclear Research has taken the restart of the collider step by step to avoid further setbacks as it moves toward new scientific experiments — probably starting in January — regarding the makeup of matter and the universe.
CERN, as it is known, had hoped by 7 a.m. (0600 GMT) Saturday to get the beams to travel the 27-kilometer (17-mile) circular tunnel under the Swiss-French border, but things went so well Friday evening that they had achieved the operation seven hours earlier.
Praise from scientists around the world was quick. "First beam through the Atlas!" whooped an Internet message from Adam Yurkewicz, an American scientist working on the massive Atlas detector on the machine.
"I congratulate the scientists and engineers that have worked to get the LHC back up and running," said Dennis Kovar of the U.S. Department of Energy, which participates in the project.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091121/ap_on_sc/eu_sci_big_bang_machine
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/io9/2009/11/lhccrazytunnel.jpgQuick restart of Big Bang machine stuns scientists
---ALEXANDER G. HIGGINS,... more
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Matrix 3D can use new or recycled paper and using colored paper gets users a color model. The printer laminates the paper and then cuts it with a blade as it builds solid structures one layer at a time. The finished model has a consistency similar to carved wood. Mcor notes that the operating costs of the Matrix 3D are fifty times less than other existing rapid prototype machines.
http://www.whitespace.bz/ws/web/forms/pulse/PulseMainArticle.aspx?id=325Matrix 3D can use new or recycled paper and using colored paper gets users a color... more
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Quantum processing units are fundamentally different in a number of ways. First, where a regular bit can be only 1 or 0, a quantum bit (or qubit) only assumes a value of 1 or 0 when it is observed. Additionally, Quantum computers aren’t bound by Boolean operators like ‘and, ‘or’ and ‘not’...Quantum processing units are fundamentally different in a number of ways. First, where... more
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great technology-click on the link http://www.wimp.com/gunshotdetection/
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Last Wednesday, Germany's Max Plank Institute for Solar System Research released amazing, detailed video footage of the sun's surface, captured in incredible detail not visible with the naked human eye.
The video was captured by SUNRISE, the largest solar telescope ever to have left Earth, which was tethered to an enormous helium balloon and flew to the edge of the Earth's stratosphere, reaching a cruising altitude of 37 kilometers above the Earth's surface.
There's two videos, check them out:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/13/telescope-captures-close_n_355903.htmlLast Wednesday, Germany's Max Plank Institute for Solar System Research released... more
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Apligraf is a matrix of cow collagen, human fibroblasts and keratinocyte stem cells (the kind found in skin), that, when applied to chronic wounds (particularly nasty problems like diabetic sores), can seed healing and regeneration.
http://gizmodo.com/5401477Apligraf is a matrix of cow collagen, human fibroblasts and keratinocyte stem cells... more
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The heavy punishment of illegal file sharers on the web will be counter-productive in the global fight against Internet piracy and copyright infringement, the director-general of a United Nations agency said on Thursday.
http://in.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idINIndia-43894120091112The heavy punishment of illegal file sharers on the web will be counter-productive in... more
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Facebook groups are under attack. But the attackers say they come in peace and insist they want only to highlight a flaw in the way Facebook handles group administration.
An organization called Control Your Info has taken control of hundreds of Facebook groups.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10394058-2.htmlFacebook groups are under attack. But the attackers say they come in peace and insist... more
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Every phone call, text message, email and website visit made by british citizens is to be stored for a year - and made available to 653 public bodies
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/6
534319/State-to-spy-on-every-phone-call-email-and-web-search.htmlEvery phone call, text message, email and website visit made by british citizens is to... more
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For many women, a $1,000 dress is something they admire in the pages of a glossy magazine or see draped on the frame of a celebrity -- not an item hanging in their closet.
But a nascent Web site called Rent the Runway is hoping to make high-end fashions much more accessible and almost as easy as renting a movie from Netflix.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/09/technology/09runway.html?_r=2&ref=businessFor many women, a $1,000 dress is something they admire in the pages of a glossy... more
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Millionaires down on their luck now have a place to sell their mega-yachts, super-cars and family jewels without having to resort to the pawn shop.
An Internet auction site devoted to millionaires launches officially on Monday and is likely to profit from the worst recession in decades, which has extended its reach to the rich and famous in the United States, BillionaireXchange said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091109/lf_nm_life/us_online_auctions_richMillionaires down on their luck now have a place to sell their mega-yachts, super-cars... more
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Among the 100,000-plus applications for the iPhone is one that allows users to "kill" bankers.
The TARP-inspired Bailout Wars app lets iPhone users "take revenge on bankers" by "throwing them into the air, blowing them up, shooting them down and shaking them so hard their clothes fall off, writes American Banker.
The point of the game, made by Gameloft and selling for $.99 on iTunes, is to destroy bankers in order to save both the White House (and US taxpayers' money) from greedy day traders, high risk investors, and finance CEOs.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/09/bailout-wars-app-kill-ban_n_350699.htmlAmong the 100,000-plus applications for the iPhone is one that allows users to "kill"... more
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We all have friends that post inane or annoying comments, photos, or videos on Facebook. Sure, we can hide their content, but more and more Facebookers are looking for a dislike option to visually show their disapproval.
http://mashable.com/2009/11/05/facebook-dislike-firefox-plugin/We all have friends that post inane or annoying comments, photos, or videos on... more
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Looks like the US wasn't so wrong about Iran developing nuclear weapons...now multiple sources are leading to more unanswered questions...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/05/iran-tested-nuclear-warhead-design
excerpt below :
The UN's nuclear watchdog has asked Iran to explain evidence suggesting that Iranian scientists have experimented with an advanced nuclear warhead design, the Guardian has learned.
The very existence of the technology, known as a "two-point implosion" device, is officially secret in both the US and Britain, but according to previously unpublished documentation in a dossier compiled by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iranian scientists may have tested high-explosive components of the design. The development was today described by nuclear experts as "breathtaking" and has added urgency to the effort to find a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis.
The sophisticated technology, once mastered, allows for the production of smaller and simpler warheads than older models. It reduces the diameter of a warhead and makes it easier to put a nuclear warhead on a missile.
Documentation referring to experiments testing a two-point detonation design are part of the evidence of nuclear weaponisation gathered by the IAEA and presented to Iran for its response.Looks like the US wasn't so wrong about Iran developing nuclear weapons...now multiple... more
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By Clara Moskowitz
updated 1:31 a.m. CT, Sat., Nov . 7, 2009
A Seattle-based team has won $900,000 in this year's Space Elevator Games, a NASA-sponsored contest to build machines powered by laser beams that can climb a cable in the sky.
The homemade cable-climber built by the LaserMotive team climbed a 3,000-foot (900-meter) tether suspended by a helicopter at a speed of 8 mph (3.7 meters per second or 13 kilometers per hour) during a Wednesday attempt.
LaserMotive's robot climber managed to get all the way up the cable four times in two days, with a best time of about 3 minutes and 48 seconds (translating to a speed of 3.9 meters per second).
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33737313/ns/technology_and_science-space/
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g16r_7B0VfVH_rWZF0kcnkPQbvGwD9BQNNGG0
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/media/ALeqM5gkBLrncVOnvUD2g-I4KbhdeCC6bg?size=lBy Clara Moskowitz
updated 1:31 a.m. CT, Sat., Nov . 7, 2009
A Seattle-based team... more
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It's the stuff of science fiction: robots that can hunt down and kill humans, powerful lasers that can destroy targets without leaving a trace, and a weapon that can supposedly knock you down without even touching you - all of these, and more, came one step closer to reality in 2008.
The developers of these technologies say that they will help to ensure that modern warfare is as efficient and humane as possible. Their critics say the weapons are just the latest in a long line of lethal inventions that have increased man's brutality to man - successors to the Maxim automatic machine gun, the flame thrower, and mustard gas. Whichever view you take, they introduce new ethical and practical questions.
In this review, we have gathered the 10 most important stories that New Scientist published on this subject this year, so you can make up your own mind.
Airborne Laser lets rip on first target
Laser dogfights in the sky may not be such a long way off, after a megawatt laser weapon was fired from an aircraft for the first time. The plan is to target "rogue" missiles - but it could also be used against other planes or targets on the ground.
US boasts of laser weapon's 'plausible deniability'
The US military is developing a "long-range blowtorch" that could allow it to incinerate targets silently, invisibly, and without leaving any trace - allowing its users to deny involvement.
Pentagon wants laser attack warnings for satellites
Are spy satellites being "blinded" by ground-based lasers? No-one knows for sure, but the Pentagon wants to develop sensors that could detect such attacks.
US considers nuclear-powered assault ships
The Bush administration is pressing ahead with a plan - first revealed here - to make assault ships nuclear so they will not have to pull into hostile ports for fuel. But putting nuclear reactors into craft that will be in the line of fire is crazy, say critics.
Anti-landmine campaigners turn sights on war robots
Should robots be allowed to make their own decisions about killing people? No, says a major pressure group, which thinks that autonomous offensive weapons should be banned under treaties like those against landmines and cluster weapons.
Packs of robots will hunt down uncooperative humans
Another item on the Pentagon's wish list is a "multi-robot pursuit system" that will let packs of robots search for and detect a non-cooperative human - a vision that prompted one of the most spirited comment threads of the year.
'Pre-crime' detector shows promise
Technology developed to monitor soldiers' vital signs on the battlefield is being reworked to detect people who might be harbouring hostile thoughts. But will it really help to prevent terrorist attacks, or is it just "security theatre" that invades travellers' privacy?
Planned cluster bomb hunts targets down
A smart weapon being developed by the US would feature bomblets that could pursue targets for kilometres - but how good will they be at telling friend from foe?
Flickering light could replace rubber bullets
US security forces are backing the development of a new breed of non-lethal weapon that will knock you flat with flickering light. But will it work? And how should it be used if it does?
Fifty years of DARPA: Hits, misses and ones to watch
And finally... it pioneered the internet and driverless cars, but DARPA's spectacular successes have been matched by some equally spectacular failures during the course of its 50-year historyIt's the stuff of science fiction: robots that can hunt down and kill humans, powerful... more
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