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Posts Tagged ‘Science’

Large Hadron Collider bombed by carb-loaded bird

By Chris Davies on Friday, Nov 6th 2009 1 Comment

The Large Hadron Collider experienced overheating problems this week after – and we’re not making this up – a bird dropped a piece of bread onto part of the machinery. According to LHC Machine Coordinator Dr Mike Lamont, “a bit of baguette on the busbars” caused temperatures in portions of the system to rise from their regular 1.9 Kelvin to almost 8 Kelvin; the LHC is not currently operational, after previous – more serious – overheating issues back in September, but scientists working on the project claim it would have merely automatically shut down had the bird bombing occurred during actual testing.

cern lhc t2030shigh 480x312

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Liquid-OLED displays could allow non-standard shapes & longer lifespans

By Chris Davies on Monday, Aug 17th 2009 No Comments

Alright, as images go this one isn’t the most eye-catching we admit, but the technology it’s explaining is far more exciting. Researchers in Japan have developed what they’re calling a Liquid-OLED, and just like the gooey fruit-flavored chocolates your mother loves it has a liquid center rather than the traditional solid-state one you’d find in traditional OLEDs. The benefit, they claim, is that Liquid-OLED displays could be more easily curved, and even refilled should the organic layer degrade over time.

liquid oled 540x265

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BrainPort offers blind a chance to see with tongue

By Brenda Stokes on Friday, Aug 14th 2009 No Comments

Well this is just plain cool. BrainPort is a device first introduced in 2006 that would allow users to regain some vision by means of a camera and electrical impulses sent to the tongue. But now, this gadget might actually be available commercially.

14aug09 brainportreturns

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Earth and Venus may collide billions of years from now

By Brenda Stokes on Thursday, Jun 11th 2009 2 Comments

Well isn’t this a lovely thought? Apparently, a new study released in Nature shows that Earth and Venus could possibly smash into one another in the future due something called orbital chaos.

earth venus collide bbc

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Graphene may be used for 1,000GHz chips

By Brenda Stokes on Thursday, Mar 26th 2009 No Comments

graphenemit Graphene might be the next material of choice for making processor chips, according to an MIT report. In fact, Graphene, a substance discovered in 2004 that consists of pure carbon, could allow for faster speeds than ever thought possible.

The current research shows that a frequency multiplier could be created, which works to double a signal and likewise doubles a processor’s clocking speed. Color me impressed! This idea is not new, but it is certainly new when applied to Graphene, which possesses only an atom’s thickness.

So, what’s so exciting about this? Well, Graphene chips could make for processors that run between 500GHz and 1,000GHz. That’s quite a leap from the current 5GHz chips, wouldn’t you say? We should see a commercial version of this technology within two years, according to MIT.

[via PC Pro]

Sonic Nausea gadget makes people queasy

By Brenda Stokes on Wednesday, Dec 3rd 2008 No Comments

sonicnausea Pardon my ignorance, but I’m just not seeing the practical purpose of this gizmo. The Sonic Nausea device is an electronic gadget that can actually make people around it feel sick to their stomachs out of the blue.

The device is meant to be placed in a specific location and then it will send out high-frequency signals of all sorts, which can apparently make people that get within range feel nauseous. All of the varied soundwaves this thing outputs makes it difficult for a person to process directional source information, resulting in sweating, nausea, vomiting, headaches and irritability. Well, that’s just lovely. I mean, is it supposed to be a gag (pardon the pun) device, or what?

We’re thinking crowd control or something like that. Perhaps a Tazer alternative? Regardless of this thing’s purpose, the Sonic Nausea device will cost $29 and runs on a single 9-volt battery.

[via The Red Ferret Journal]

Emotiv Epoc Headset delayed due to functioning problems

By Brenda Stokes on Wednesday, Dec 3rd 2008 1 Comment

emotiv We talked about the Epoc Neuroheadset from Emotiv Systems before, and while it was slated to be released in time for the holidays, it seems to have now hit a roadblock. In fact, the gadget just doesn’t seem to work properly.

Originally announced at the Intel Developer’s Forum, the Epoc headset was supposed to be able to read your brainwaves and then you could think about moving an item on screen and it would move. Sounds pretty cool, right? But now, the device isn’t working as it should.

This is an even bigger problem now for Emotiv because competing devices are expected to make an appearance very soon. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens when this one finally makes it to market at an expected retail price of about $300.

NASA’s SOFIA flying telescope gets pictured

By Brenda Stokes on Friday, Nov 28th 2008 No Comments

Ah, science. How you intrigue me. Take for instance what NASA is up to. Their Stratospheric Observatory Infrared Astronomy or SOFIA airborne telescope is nearing its first day on the job (though that’s still three years away) and the device just got its picture taken for all to see.

picture 1 479x360

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Nanotechnology-infused material is completely water resistant

By Brenda Stokes on Monday, Nov 24th 2008 No Comments

dn16126 2 300 Now this is pretty interesting. If nanotechnology news gives you the warm fuzzies then you’ll be pleased to learn that some chemists at the University of Zurich have created a new fabric that can’t ever get wet. Ever. I mean, it was in water for two months and it’s still not wet!

This material is made from polyester which were covered with 40nm-wide silicone nanofilaments. Since these filaments are so tiny and so spiky, they make it so water actually sits above the material in a sort of pocket. This is a permanent state. The material won’t ever be made wet.

So what are the potential applications of this technology? Well, it reduces drag in water by up to 20%, for one. It can also serve as a self-cleaning cloth. Regardless of how it ends up being used, this is still pretty cool and presents numerous opportunities.

First pictures of planets outside our solar system surface

By Brenda Stokes on Friday, Nov 14th 2008 No Comments

Wow. This is just plain cool. Apparently, astronomers have successfully taken the first images of planets that fall outside of our solar system. In fact, these planets that orbit stars other than our own, were photographed using new imaging techniques.

other solar systems