Hitachi, Panasonic and Toshiba to deliver 60GHz wireless products in 2H 2010 – “Hitachi, Panasonic and Toshiba are reported to be delivering products donning 60GHz wireless chips — which sip little juice but churn out 7GHz of colossal bandwidth and 1.5Gbps of data rate…”

Intel, Micron Unveil New 25nm NAND Flash Chip – “The smaller size allows multiple 8GB chips to be packaged more economically to increase storage capacity. The new 25nm 8GB device reduces chip count by 50 percent compared to previous process generations, allowing for smaller, yet higher-density, designs and greater cost efficiencies, Winslow said…” See also: Intel, Micron Introduce 25nm NAND Flash Production

What to get the man who has everything? An underwater plane of course – “The £415,000 prototype submersible is called the Necker Nymph and can dive to depths of up to 130ft. Sir Richard hopes to one day explore depths of 35,000ft – which is far more than the height of Mount Everest…”

The Trouble With 3D: Why Hollywood’s Savior Could Be Bad For Movies – “So what’s the issue? 3D’s better right? We beg to differ. This gimmick has problems. There’s a time and place for it, not every movie deserves or needs to be in 3D. Before you throw yourself into the third dimension, imagine what it’ll be like putting up with these irritants every time you buy a ticket…”

‘Super-fast broadband’ in UK homes by 2017 – Tories – “Shadow chancellor George Osborne said a Tory government would deliver speeds of 100 megabits per second (Mbps) to the “majority” of homes by 2017…”

THE VIRTUAL PIANO

Silicone Implants Harvest Human Energy For Later Use – “Princeton University engineers have found a way to harvest the energy from human movement such as walking, talking or breathing. Creepy? Well, yes, but it’s also very cool – they’ve created a way to turn silicone sheets into “piezoelectric” materials that generate electricity when flexed. In other words, silicon implants – or giant sheets of silicon fashioned into cloth – will be able to store the energy produced by every single thing we do, like the stillsuits from Dune, or some even nerdier sci-fi reference….”

This is Your Brain on Football – “Researchers study the effects of CTE, a brain disorder resulting from head trauma — more and more common in football players — that can have lifelong repercussions, including dementia…”

Organic transistor mimics brain synapse – “Researchers in France claim to have made the first transistor that mimics connections in the human brain. The device, which is based on pentacene and gold nanoparticles, could lead to a new generation of neuro-inspired computers as well as help connect artificial structures to biological tissue…”

Is this the death of the kettle? – “The electric kettle has been a mainstay of kitchens for over 50 years, but its future could be under threat from a gizmo that produces instant boiling water, without the wait…”

Get Naked: It’s Good for Your Brain – “Clothing is crushing us! Trapped in tomb-like textiles, we exile our flesh from experiencing the environment. We atrophy the majority of our epidermis. If you put a plaster cast on a broken arm, the skin starves for Vitamin D; muscles weaken due to strangled range of motion; nerve synapses depress to a whimper of their former joy. Twenty-first century hominids shroud the entire skin palette, obliterating symbiosis with the planet except via face, neck and hands. (Burqa-clad Muslim women lose nearly 100%.) We hide in cocoons, when we could be free as butterflies…”

Chinese company pre-emptively clones iPad – “The touchscreen iPad look-alike marks a new milestone by Chinese manufacturers: cloning a product before it had even been announced, mused Shanghaiist.com, a Shanghai city blog, and Shanzhai.com, a tech blog dedicated to Chinese copies…”

Roll-to-Roll Printed Plastic Displays – “Engineers and technophiles have long dreamt of plastic-based displays that are flexible, lightweight, and rugged compared to their glass-backed counterparts. But plastic screens still aren’t widely available, partly because they’re so hard to manufacture reliably in large numbers…”

Google mystery server runs 13% of active websites – “The Google Web Server – custom-built server software used only by Google – now runs nearly 13 per cent of all active web sites, according to the latest survey data from the web-server-tracking UK research outfit Netcraft….”

Machines May Replace Journalists, Bloggers – “I always thought the takeover by robots would be bloody or fiery, I never thought they would put me in the breadline though. NewsScope or its next incarnation could end the “manual process” of journalism…”

Google’s ‘Don’t Be Evil’ Mantra – “After a big public announcement of the sort Apple had this week for the iPad CEO Steve Jobs often takes time in the day or two afterwards to have a Town Hall at One Infinite Loop, making himself available for questions from employees bold enough to stand up and take one right between the eyes…”

Tesla Is Going Public – “The announcement, widely anticipated and frequently rumored, comes just a week after the Department of Energy closed a $465 million loan to help the Silicon Valley automaker build the Model S sedan (pictured). The company has put 937 Roadsters in driveways since starting production two years ago, but that hasn’t kept it from losing money…”

Nasa mission to unravel sun’s threat to Earth – “A new probe could help scientists predict the solar storms that cause chaos for us…”

Chinese ‘iPad’ Maker Threatens to Sue Apple for Plagiarism – “A Chinese company is claiming that its iPad knockoff is in fact an original design that has been copied by Apple. The P88 has been on the market in China for six months. It’s easy to recognize: It looks just like a big iPhone…”

Why Generation Y is broke – “When Wallace graduated with a student-loan debt of $60,000, she found herself overwhelmed to the point of financial paralysis. She tore through a $5,000 loan from her dad as bills stacked up. She had no idea where her money was going — despite making what she defines as a good salary. The sense of powerlessness crippled her…”

5 Top Industry Sectors Predicted To Show Growth In Employment – “What will the new decade bring for employment and career prospects? An interesting set of statistics posted by the Bureau of Labour offers some insight into trends and provides information on where career and business opportunities might lie…”

How will we recharge all the electric cars? – “One thing the new plug-ins and pure electrics have in common is a beefy lithium-ion battery pack that needs a lot of heavy charging. At the very least, that involves installing 220-volt wiring in the home. Trying to recharge a modern electric car with a standard American 110-volt supply takes too long to be practical (up to 18 hours in the case of the Leaf)…”

Bill Watterson, creator of beloved ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ comic strip looks back with no regrets – “With almost 15 years of separation and reflection, what do you think it was about “Calvin and Hobbes” that went beyond just capturing readers’ attention, but their hearts as well? “

Barefoot Running: How Humans Ran Comfortably and Safely Before the Invention of Shoes – “Scientists have found that those who run barefoot, or in minimal footwear, tend to avoid “heel-striking,” and instead land on the ball of the foot or the middle of the foot. In so doing, these runners use the architecture of the foot and leg and some clever Newtonian physics to avoid hurtful and potentially damaging impacts, equivalent to two to three times body weight, that shod heel-strikers repeatedly experience…”

US raises stakes on Iran by sending in ships and missiles – “Tension between the US and Iran heightened dramatically today with the disclosure that Barack Obama is deploying a missile shield to protect American allies in the Gulf from attack by Tehran…” See also: ‘Iran will deliver telling blow to global powers on Feb. 11′

Game Changer: China Plans to Open Military Bases Worldwide – “It has been speculated upon in open-source intelligence circles for years. So, there is little surprise for the rest of the world when it hears of China’s first major foray in its new role as a Superpower. Although Americans might be surprised. That is, if they even hear about it before the Juarez, Mexico base goes live….”

Target Employee Explains Discounter’s Apparent Craziness – “A mysterious Target employee has come forward to share a closely guarded secret with the readers of Consumerist. The secret of why Target is so freaking crazy…”

The Best Google Chrome Extensions – “Google Chrome finally has an answer to Firefox’s add-ons; we recommend eleven of our favorite Google Chrome extensions….”

Teenager invents low-frequency radio for underground communications – “Meet Alexander Kendrick, the 16-year old inventor of a new low-frequency radio that allows for cave-texting, which isn’t some fresh new euphemism, it just means people can finally text while deep underground…”

Comcast sees end of IPv4 tunnel, beginning IPv6 trial – “Comcast is asking for volunteers to participate in its upcoming IPv6 trials. The cable ISP has been participating in IPv6 circles for a long time and with its huge subscriber base, it is experiencing the IPv4 address scarcity first-hand. So far, it has been able to get addresses for its customers—but not for those customers’ cable modems and set-top-boxes. These also need addresses to function or to be managed. No problem, right? Just use private IPv4 addresses, such as the 10 network, which holds 16.8 million addresses. But with 25 million TV, 15 million ISP, and 6 million Comcast Digital Voice subscribers, 16.8 million private addresses isn’t enough for a regular management system in which a management station can directly connect to each managed device. So Comcast needs IPv6 just to run its internal network effectively now…” See also: Youtube over IPv6!

16 games that are going to blow you visually in 2010 – “2009 was an amazing year with jaw dropping games like Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, but it looks like 2010 is going to be another graphically rich year with some stunning games coming out for each console. Here we take a look at sixteen games that are going to blow you away visually in 2010, in no particular order…”

The Apple iPad, explained to geeks – “Sure, some of them will adapt, but a lot won’t. Think about how many times you’ve had a tech-support call from a relative, usually older, who is utterly lost. “Click on the Start Menu. … No, it’s in the lower left. … Yes, I know it says ‘Start’ and you want to change printer settings, but …. No, I don’t know why it doesn’t say ‘printer’ in that case. … Yes, just click on it. … With the left button. … No, there’s no button on the keyboard marked ‘left,’ I meant the left mouse button. … Yeah. Right. .. No, left!”"

Amazing U1 Hybrid iPad from Lenovo:

Big Blue’s big adventure – “In this, the first of a two-part series, Electronic Business offers a look at the behind-the-scenes struggles during the design of IBM’s ThinkPad and the key marketing decisions that established the notebook as a powerful brand…”

South Pole Foucault Pendulum – “A Foucault Pendulum appears to rotate in time with respect to the floor it is swinging above. However, because of the way it is suspended it will not twist so any rotating is being done by the floor and the floor is attached to the Earth so it is the rotation of the Earth that is being observed…”

Hands-On: Ray Flash For Shadow-Free (Almost) Flash Photos – “Flash photos produce distinct, harsh shadows. The ExpoImaging Ray Flash ($200 direct) solves that by turning your Canon or Nikon flash into a ring flash, providing a circle of light around the lens…”

Change in space for NASA: Renting the Right Stuff – “The Obama administration on Monday will propose in its new budget spending billions of dollars to encourage private companies to build, launch and operate spacecraft for NASA and others. Uncle Sam would buy its astronauts a ride into space just like hopping in a taxi…”

[[[Jump to - Interesting Reading #407 – Hybrid Ferrari, high-tech weapons, rock climbing robots, the color of dinosaurs, disgusting human parasites and much more...]]]