I write a Tech Universe column for the NZ Herald. This is a fun assignment: Tech Universe brings 5 headlines each day about what’s up in the world of technology. Here are the links from last week.
Tech universe: Monday, 16 August 2010
Largest Turbine.
- POWER HEAVY: 1300 tonnes, 22.5 meters tall, and with a rotor 18 meters in diameter — a tidal power turbine will soon be installed in Orkney, Scotland to power more than 1000 homes. Its makers say it’s the largest and most powerful tidal turbine ever built. That should tide them over for a while.
- STAR STRIKE: Have you ever wondered what’s new as you look at the night sky? As part of a school project to comb through NASA data files two Delhi students found an asteroid. Now they comb through name files.
- WRIT LARGE: If you use a GPS to log where you go, then you can upload your route to Google Earth. One man in the US drove almost 20,000 Km across 30 states in 30 days to promote his philosophy, creating a message so large it is only visible on Google Earth. It’s a big medium; let’s hope it’s a big message.
- PROTEIN BAR: Nexagon is a new gel that blocks a protein that inflames wounds to let healing cells get to work more quickly. Tests so far show it’s very promising in healing ulcers and other chronic wounds that resist standard treatments. That’s something good coming out of the blocks.
- MECCA TIME: Each face of a new clock on Mecca’s Royal Clock Hotel Tower measures 46 metres across. 2 million LEDs light the clock, while 21,000 white and green coloured lights, visible for 30 Km, will signal worship 5 times a day. The tardy don’t have a prayer.
Tech universe: Tuesday 17 August 2010
- DRIVE BY WIRE: Safety sensors in your car may send data to your car’s computer wirelessly. The bad news is that wrongdoers could send false readings to make you you stop the car, leaving you vulnerable to attack. Sigh, it’ll be spam next.
- TV GIANTS: Pining for a TV screen the size of a house? A new method of making huge screens uses cheaper, lower-resistance wires in a screen that could be rolled up for transport. Prices could plummet as a result. Sports larger than life soon.
- TECHY TEABAG: Fill a teabag with nanoscale fibres to filter out contaminants and active carbon to kill bacteria and you have a cheap but effective water filter. Stellenbosch University have invented filters and reusable water bottles to help the hundreds of millions of people around the world who rely on unsafe water. Add them to the aid packages now.
- WIND BENEATH YOUR FEET: Hot air balloons have been around for a long time now, but never before with a 2 inch thick glass floor in the basket. The glass is for spectacular views over the alps. Even the pilot admitted to being terrified. What good are the views if you’re too scared to look?
- CRACKER’S DOZEN: Georgia Tech Research Institute has been checking out passwords. They say modern computers are so powerful that 7 characters just aren’t enough to keep us safe from brute force attacks. We need 12 characters or more. Start writing your novel now: you’ll need it soon to be your password.
Tech universe: Wednesday 18 August 2010
- INSIDE INTEL: US researchers used a new technique called scanned probe FMRI to see inside a 40 nanometer thick magnet. They were studying how the magnetic properties vary. Their findings could lead to new types of computers, where storage is on the chip itself. Can it tell me how long the computer has to live?
- PULSAR PALS: Einstein@Home is a distributed astronomy project that uses spare capacity on home computers to analyse data collected by the Arecibo radio Observatory. 3 participants have jointly discovered a rare disrupted binary pulsar catchily named PSR J2007+2722. ‘Discovered a rare pulsar’ should look good on the CV.
- FAB IN GREEN: Net Zero homes are designed to produce as much energy as they need. Michelle Kaufmann Studios in the US makes prefabricated green homes, while the Danes have an “Active House” prototype
- PEAK SPEED: Beware on Pikes Peak road in Colorado next month: a driverless Audi TTS will speed to the top at up to 100 kph. The car will be operated by 2 computers, and use a differential GPS system to keep it within 1.5 centimeters of its course. A computer doesn’t drink and drive, fall asleep at the wheel or get distracted by cellphones. This could be a winner.
- TWEETIE BIKE: Precious is the name of a bicycle being ridden across the USA for charity. Nothing much new there, but the bike itself is equipped with a load of sensors, and sends out tweets with updates on location, distance, conditions, humidity, gradient and so on. Yes, that’s 2 rims to rule them all.
Tech universe: Thursday 19 August 2010
- KILLER PAINT: MRSA ‘superbugs’ don’t stand a chance against a new paint. The paint binds carbon nanotubes to an enzyme called lysostaphin that slices open cell walls and within 20 minutes destroys only staph bacteria. This mix isn’t an antibiotic, and is safe in the environment. It sounds too good to be true.
- HAND IN GLOVE: It’s very hard to hear or see in a smoke-filled room, as firefighters know only too well. Frontline gloves include sensors to capture the wearer’s hand signals, while another person’s glove receives the signals and displays them on ultra-bright LEDs. Two thumbs up for these gloves.
- WATCH HEAR: Video calls via cellphone could be perfect for deaf people who use Sign Language. But video often means reduced battery life and higher costs. University of Washington’s MobileASL optimises the video and also conserves battery by detecting whether a person is signing or not. Signups coming soon.
- RAT POWER: If oxygen and sugar can generate electricity, and our bodies contain both, can we make electricity from our own cells? French researchers implanted glucose biofuel cells in rats and found they successfully generated power. Such biofuel cells could power pacemakers and insulin pumps. Glucose biofuel cells: surely another name for energy drinks.
- CLOTHES SOURCE: The University of Southampton are researching how to capture the energy we create in our clothes or in carpets as we move around. The team aim to add energy harvesting inks to textiles, in hopes of doing away with the batteries we normally use to power devices. Batteries be gone!
Tech universe: Friday 20 August 2010
- EYE SPY: In Mexico the City of Leon is installing real time iris scanners in train and bus stations to stop crime and fraud. Scans go to a database that tracks people across the city. It’s OK: your irises change as you age, as we mentioned in Tech Universe a few days ago.
- POINT AND FLICK: Who left the cap off the toothpaste? Who cares? A prototype toothbrush contains a titanium dioxide rod. Light shining on a solar panel in the base makes the rod release electrons that react with acid in the mouth and break down plaque. This toothbrush doesn’t need toothpaste, so you’ll never lose the cap again.
- THIN SKIN: Displax Skin is a transparent polymer film with a grid of nanowires embedded in it. A touch or a puff of air creates an electrical disturbance that can be turned into an action. The film turns any non-metal surface into an interactive touchscreen. Hmm, keylogger potential abounds.
- DOTTY DRIVES: 4 trillion bits per square inch: that’s a lot of data being written onto a ferroelectric drive. These drives are all-electric, rather than magnetic or flash drives. A stylus changes electrical polarisation on individual dots to store data as ones or zeroes, packing the dots in at about 12.8 nanometers apart. How many zeroes in a trillion again?
- PLUG AND POWER: Solar power isn’t easy: you need to spend a ton of money and hire professionals to install panels. Or do you? Clarian Power in Seattle aim to provide inexpensive plug-in panels next year. Grab a panel, plug it into the wall socket and it sends its power to your devices. It’s a snap.
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