Porsche Reveals Cayenne S Hybrid Details – “Porsche recently shared more information about its upcoming Cayenne S (yes it really will be an “S”) hybrid. The hybrid system will be a full parallel design with the electric motor located between the engine and transmission. This will allow the vehicle to be driven at speeds of up to 86 mph using just the electric motor while, at the same time, improving acceleration…”
Brain Researchers Open Door to Editing Memory – “Suppose scientists could erase certain memories by tinkering with a single substance in the brain. Could make you forget a chronic fear, a traumatic loss, even a bad habit…”
Novel needle could cut medical complications – “Each year, hundreds of thousands of people suffer medical complications from hypodermic needles that penetrate too far under their skin. A new device developed by MIT engineers and colleagues aims to prevent this from happening by keeping needles on target…”
Late on a Car Loan? Meet the Disabler – “Jamie De Lisle’s Buick had been warning her for days, first with a flashing yellow light, then a flashing red light. But the 31-year-old mother of two from Collinsville, Ill., was too busy to heed the distress signals. It was only when Mrs. De Lisle began hearing an incessant beeping that she took notice: If she didn’t make her car payment that day, the vehicle wouldn’t start the next day…”
Are “buck-a-watt” solar panels on the horizon? – “British writer Richard Stevenson combines a journalist’s knack for investigation with the expertise of a solid-state physicist to piece together how First Solar has cracked the problem of low cost solar. In an article appearing in this month’s journal, IEEE Spectrum, Stevenson says First Solar’s approach is to shun the main ingredient used in everyone else’s solar panels–silicon–and use a scarce element tellurium, combined with cadmium…”
Power to the People: 7 Ways to Fix the Grid, Now – “A mish-mash of 9,200 generators streams vital electrons along 300,000 miles of aging, inefficient transmission lines and one untrimmed tree in the wrong place could plunge a quarter of the country into darkness. This is our electric grid. A whopping 40 percent of all the energy used in the US—be it oil, gas, wind, or solar—is converted into electrons that travel over these wires. Any attempt at energy reform must begin here…”
Next iPod Touch may be extremely wireless – “Accessory manufacturers such as Belkin, Griffin, and DLO, have been churning out iPod-compatible FM transmitters for years. If integrated FM transmission really does come to the iPod Touch (and perhaps other iPod models down the line), the effect could mean the end of stalwart products like the iTrip…”
Microsoft: 96% Of Netbooks Run Windows – “Citing figures from market research firm NPD, LeBlanc said Windows’ share of the U.S. netbook market has ballooned from less than 10% in the first half of 2008 to 96% as of February. “The growth of Windows on netbook PCs over the last year has been phenomenal,” wrote LeBlanc. NPD defines netbooks as devices that feature a screen that is 10.2 inches or smaller and sell for less than $500…”
T-Mobile to release Google Android tablet; have smartphone and computer converged? – “T-Mobile plans to sell a home phone early next year and soon after a tablet computer, both running Google’s Android operating system, according to confidential documents obtained from one of the company’s partners by The New York Times…”
NORAD and USNORTHCOM monitor North Korean launch – “Stage one of the missile fell into the Sea of Japan/East Sea. The remaining stages along with the payload itself landed in the Pacific Ocean…”
Web Trend Map – “The Web Trend Map is a yearly publication that maps the 333 most influential Web domains…”
Internet records to be stored for a year – “Details of every email sent and website visited by people in Britain are to be stored for use by the state from tomorrow as part of what campaigners claim is a massive assault on privacy…”
The toy that roared: Ars reviews the DSi – “Nintendo has launched a new entry into the Nintendo DS line, with two cameras, media functions, and a new, slimmer case. While the hardware additions may be used in upcoming games, the real draw is DSiWare, Nintendo’s new portable digital distribution service. Our review of the hardware, as well as the new features, is here…”
Dubai: How not to build a city – “The question is where to start. The main street, Sheikh Zayed Road, may be as good a place as any. It runs through the city and continues on to Abu Dhabi, Dubai’s quieter, richer cousin, and capital of the United Arab Emirates. This, the road where the accident occurred, reaches 14 lanes in places – and that’s in the heart of the city. Speed limits exist, but only to be ignored…”
PC Failures, PC Fixes: Troubleshooting Mysterious Problems – “The good news is that you don’t have to put up with them. Over time I’ve built up a repository of insights and strategies for dealing with these kinds of difficult-to-trace failures. They take time and effort to track down, but the effort is well-spent…”
Alaska’s Mount Redoubt – “Beginning March 22nd, 2009, Alaska’s Mount Redoubt, began a series of volcanic eruptions, and continues to be active to this date. Ash clouds produced by Redoubt have pushed 65,000 feet into the sky, disrupting air traffic, drifting across Cook Inlet, and depositing layers of gritty ash on populated areas of the Kenai Peninsula and Anchorage, about 180 km (110 miles) to the northeast. Mount Redoubt has erupted at least five times since 1900, with the most recent event taking place in 1989…”
Italy quake toll rises to 100 – “A powerful earthquake struck central Italy early today, killing more than 100 people, making up to 50,000 homeless and flattening entire medieval towns while residents slept…”
Facebook, YouTube at Work Make Better Employees: Study – “Caught Twittering or on Facebook at work? It’ll make you a better employee, according to an Australian study that shows surfing the Internet for fun during office hours increases productivity…”
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