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Overpriced HDMI cables – “When the signal went digital the ripoff reached absurdity…”
Is the End in Sight for The World’s Coral Reefs? – “It is a difficult idea to fathom. But the science is clear: Unless we change the way we live, the Earth’s coral reefs will be utterly destroyed within our children’s lifetimes….”
NASA Engineers Propose Combining a Rail Gun and a Scramjet to Fire Spacecraft Into Orbit – “NASA has been working on creating a new, cheaper method to launch spacecrafts. Their latest proposal involves train tracks, a rail gun and a scramjet. Here’s what they’re trying to do…”
PHYSICISTS READ DATA AFTER STORING IT IN ATOMIC NUCLEI – “University of Utah physicists stored information for 112 seconds in what may become the world’s tiniest computer memory: magnetic “spins” in the centers or nuclei of atoms. Then the physicists retrieved and read the data electronically – a big step toward using the new kind of memory for both faster conventional and superfast “quantum” computers….” See also: World’s tiniest computer memory – a big step towards quantum computing
Los Alamos Scientist: TSA Scanners Shred Human DNA – “THz waves are found between microwaves and infrared on the electromagnetic spectrum. This type of radiation was chosen for security devices because it can penetrate matter such as clothing, wood, paper and other porous material that’s non-conducting. This type of radiation seems less threatening because it doesn’t penetrate deeply into the body and is believed to be harmless to both people and animals…”
New hope for terahertz – “A laser that generates terahertz rays — which can detect explosives — operates at higher temperatures than some thought possible….”
A Holiday for Consumption? – “And plastic geegaws masquerading as toys help China to burn some 3 billion metric tons of coal a year—a large part of the reason they have become the world’s largest emitter of the heat-trapping gases causing climate change. Of course, that’s also helped them supplant Santa’s elves as the toy workshop of the world….”
How Connected Devices and Consoles Compare [INFOGRAPHIC]
The current war – the tale of an early tech rivalry
Infoporn: Unwrapping the Miraculous Logistics Behind Operation Christmas
Evidence suggests e-cigs safer than cigarettes, researcher claims – “In a new report that bucks the concerns raised by the Food and Drug Administration, a Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) (sph.bu.edu) researcher concludes that electronic cigarettes are much safer than real cigarettes and show promise in the fight against tobacco-related diseases and death….”
Big Brotheresque App Kills Your Automotive Anonymity – “DriveMeCrazy, developed by Shazam co-founder Philip Inghelbrecht, is a voice-activated app that encourages drivers to report bad behavior by reciting the offender’s license plate into a smartphone. The poor sap gets “flagged” and receives a virtual “ticket,” which may not sound like much until you realize all the information — along with date, time and location of the “offense” — is sent to the DMV and insurance companies….”
Ancient Maya Temples Were Giant Loudspeakers? – “Centuries before the first speakers and subwoofers, ancient Americans—intentionally or not—may have been turning buildings into giant sound amplifiers and distorters to enthrall or disorient audiences, archaeologists say….”
Why doing a PhD is often a waste of time – “In most countries a PhD is a basic requirement for a career in academia. It is an introduction to the world of independent research—a kind of intellectual masterpiece, created by an apprentice in close collaboration with a supervisor. The requirements to complete one vary enormously between countries, universities and even subjects. Some students will first have to spend two years working on a master’s degree or diploma. Some will receive a stipend; others will pay their own way. Some PhDs involve only research, some require classes and examinations and some require the student to teach undergraduates. A thesis can be dozens of pages in mathematics, or many hundreds in history. As a result, newly minted PhDs can be as young as their early 20s or world-weary forty-somethings….”
GM, Purdue University Working On Thermoelectric Energy Regeneratio – “Thermoelectric energy regeneration sounds like a complicated topic, but it’s really pretty straightforward: recapturing energy that would otherwise be wasted as heat and using it to power something. In the case of GM and Purdue University, that something is a car’s electrical system. The benefits? Reduced load on the engine, improving fuel economy….”
Science’s breakthrough of the year: The first quantum machine – “Until this year, all human-made objects have moved according to the laws of classical mechanics. Back in March, however, a group of researchers designed a gadget that moves in ways that can only be described by quantum mechanics — the set of rules that governs the behavior of tiny things like molecules, atoms, and subatomic particles. In recognition of the conceptual ground their experiment breaks, the ingenuity behind it and its many potential applications, Science has called this discovery the most significant scientific advance of 2010…”
Swarm satellite mission to try to sense ocean magnetism – “European scientists are going to try to measure the movement of the oceans by tracing their magnetism alone….”
I Hate Math! (Not After This, You Won’t) – “Vi Hart calls herself “a recreational mathemusician currently living on Long Island.” She talks faster than a machine gun, loves math, and draws like a dream. Her newest video: “Doodling in Math Class: Snakes + Graphs” is eye-popping….”
Microsoft’s Cracked Windows: How The World’s Technology Juggernaut Lost Its Buzz And Became The ‘Underdog’ – “Facebook’s chief executive Mark Zuckerberg recently took the stage at a joint press conference alongside another large technology company. He described his partner using a once-unthinkable designation. “The thing that makes Microsoft a great partner for us is that they really are the underdog,” Zuckerberg said. “Because of that, they’re in a structural position where they’re incentivized to just go all out and innovate.”..”
New Facebook Features Exposed in Accidental Update – “Facebook accidentally went live with a handful of prototype features earlier today, including a site-wide yet short-lived overhaul of Pages. Roughly 45 minutes after the mistaken update, Facebook disabled the site, reverted back to its previous state and then tweeted apologetically about the downtime. But that brief span of time was enough for Facebook members and Page admins to get a sneak peek at new features in the works….”
Limited Government versus Obamacare (Roger Pilon)
‘Plasma Antennas’ could beam gigabytes per second – “Plasma Antennas, a UK based company, believes that they have solved the slow speeds of wireless internet with the help of The Plasma Silicon Antenna (PSiAN). These plasma antennas would allow mobile devices, such as smart phones and tablets, to achieve high-data-rate transfers….”
Firefox backs ‘Do Not Track’ with online stealth – “As concern about online privacy grows, Mozilla is promising to let people cloak Internet activity in free Firefox Web browsing software being released early next year….”
Former Yahoo Engineers Shed Light On Why Delicious And Other Acquisitions Failed – “As we’ve written a number of times over the past few days, Yahoo appears to be in complete disarray. Following layoffs at the company this week, a leaked memo revealed that Yahoo is “sunsetting” a number of products includes Delicious (bought by Yahoo in 2005), MyBlogLog (bought by Yahoo in 2007), Yahoo! Bookmarks, Yahoo! Picks. Other products are planning to be “merged” such as Upcoming (bought by Yahoo in 2005), Fire Eagle, and others. A day later, Yahoo announced that it would be finding a new home for Delicious, passively aggressively blaming the press for the way that users found out about the news….”
Is the U.S. Falling Behind in the Clean Energy Race? – “In the 1970s, refrigerators were growing in size—and energy consumption. In one of the more successful government-supported programs for energy-efficient technology, research and development of better compressors now have provided refrigerators that are larger still—but use roughly the same amount of energy as the smaller iceboxes of the past….”
A reversal on carbs – “Most people can count calories. Many have a clue about where fat lurks in their diets. However, fewer give carbohydrates much thought, or know why they should. Most people can count calories. Many have a clue about where fat lurks in their diets. However, fewer give carbohydrates much thought, or know why they should….”
World’s first quantum device takes ‘Breakthrough of the Year’ title – “A device that exists in two different states at the same time, and coincidentally proves that Albert Einstein was right when he thought he was wrong, has been named as the scientific breakthrough of the year…”
David Attenborough and the mystery of the elephant bird – “The largest bird to ever live on the planet was driven to extinction by humans eating its massive eggs, according to a new television documentary by Sir David Attenborough…”
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