Two Planets

Amazing Event - Two Planets Collided

                                                                                                                                                                                      

                                  Astronomers at UCLA, Tennessee State University and the California Institute of Technology have reported that two terrestrial planets orbiting a mature sun-like star some 300 light-years from Earth recently suffered a violent collision."

Astronomer are now writing a report on this event in December issue of the Astrophysical Journal.




ACCORDING TO ASTRONOMERS:

According to Benjamin Zuckerman, (Professor of physics and astronomy in UCLA), this collision was just like if Earth and Venus collided with each other,". It is the first time that Astronomers have seen such collision.
Co-author of the report and astronomer in Tennessee State University, Dr. Gregory Henry says, "If any life was present on either planet, the massive collision would have wiped out everything in a matter of minutes - the ultimate extinction event." After that collision a massive disk of infrared-emitting dust has encircled the star.

HOW THE REASEARCH CAME OUT:

Zuckerman, Henry and Michael Muno, were studying a star BD+20307 located in the constellation Aries and surrounded by a 1 million times more dust than is orbiting our sun. These astronomers gathered X-ray data using the orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory and brightness data from one of TSU's automated telescopes in southern Arizona, hoping to measure the age of the star.

They thought that BD+20 307 was relatively young, a few hundred million years old , with the massive dust ring which signals the final stages in the formation of the star's planetary system. But Alycia Weinberger of Carnegie Institution of Washington announced that BD+20 307 is actually a close binary star means two stars orbiting around their common center of mass.

The new spectroscopic data collected after this announcement confirmed that BD+20 307 is composed of two stars, both very similar in mass, temperature and size to our own sun and they orbit about their common center of mass every 3.42 days. Further research also shown that these stars are much more older than estimated before. Instead of few hundred million years these stars are several billion years old.

The planetary collision in BD+20 307 was not observed directly but rather was inferred from the extraordinary quantity of dust particles that orbit the binary pair at about the same distance as Earth and Venus are from our sun. Henry said. "If this dust does indeed point to the presence of terrestrial planets, then this represents the first known example of planets of any mass in orbit around a close binary star."

BD+20 307: THE EARLIER THOUGHTS

Zuckerman and colleagues first reported in the journal Nature in July 2005 that BD+20 307, then still thought to be a single star, was surrounded by more warm orbiting dust than any other sun-like star known to astronomers. The dust is orbiting the binary system very closely, where Earth-like planets are most likely to be and where dust typically cannot survive long. Small dust particles get pushed away by stellar radiation, while larger pieces get reduced to dust in collisions within the disk and are then whisked away.

Thus, the dust-forming collision near BD+20 307 must have taken place rather recently, probably within the past few hundred thousand years and perhaps much more recently, the astronomers said.

NOW THE TWO IMPORTANT QUESTION IS:

After this all research the two most important questions before astronomers are:

1.) How do planetary orbits become destabilized in such an old, mature system?

2) Could such a collision happen in our own solar system?

According to some esteemed astronomers, there is small probability for collisions of Mercury with Earth or Venus sometime in the next billion years or more.




According to Zuckerman, major collisions have occurred in our solar system's in past. It is believed by many astronomers that our moon was formed from the collision of two planetary embryos - the young Earth and a body about the size of Mars - a crash which created tremendous debris, some of which condensed to form the moon and some of which went into orbit around the young sun. The collision of an asteroid with Earth 65 million years ago, which ultimately resulted in the demise of dinosaurs is also an example of such collision.

FUNDING

This research is federally funded by the National Science Foundation and NASA and also by Tennessee State University and the state of Tennessee, through its Centers of Excellence program.

3D Processor

3-Dimensional Computer Processor

                 Scientist at University of Rochesterb have developed a new generation of Computer Processors. These processors are based on 3-Dimensional Circuits in contrary to 2-Dimensional Circuits of today.

This can be said as the next major advance in computer processors technology. The latest 3-D processor is running at 1.4 gigahertz in the labs of University.

PAST ATTEMPTS VS LATEST RESEARCH

In the past attempts of making 3-D chips, scientist were just making a stack of regular processors. But at University of Rochesterb it was designed and built specifically to optimize all key processing functions vertically, through multiple layers of processors, the same way ordinary chips optimize functions horizontally.

This design means that every tasks such as Synchronicity, Power Distribution, and Long-Distance Signaling are all fully functioning in three dimensions for the first time.

EBY FRIEDMAN: THE MAN BEHIND 3-D CHIPS

Eby Friedman and his students has designed this chip, which uses many of the tricks of regular processors, but also accounts for different impedances that might occur from chip to chip, different operating speeds, and different power requirements. According to Eby Friedman, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rochester and faculty director of the pro of the processor says:- "I call it a cube now, because it's not just a chip anymore. This is the way computing is going to have to be done in the future. When the chips are flush against each other, they can do things you could never do with a regular 2D chip"




TODAYS INTEGRATED CHIPS AND PROBLEMS

The problem with today's technology of integrated circuits is that, beyond a limit it is impossible to pack more chips next to each other which limits the capabilities of future processors. So number of integrated circuit designers anticipate someday expanding into the third dimension, stacking transistors on top of each other.

IMPORTANCE

Vertical Expansion of chips has lots of technical difficulties and the only solution to this is to design a 3-D chip where all the layers interact like a single system. According to Friedman: Getting all three levels of the 3-D chip to act in harmony is like trying to devise a traffic control system for the entire United States-and then layering two more United States above the first and somehow getting every bit of traffic from any point on any level to its destination on any other level-while simultaneously coordinating the traffic of millions of other drivers.
Now if we replace the two United States layers to something more complicated like China and India where the driving laws and roads are quite different, and the complexity and challenge of designing a single control system to work in any chip begins to become apparent.

The 3-D Chip is essentially an entire circuit board folded up into a tiny package. With this technology the chips inside something like an iPod could be compacted to a tenth their current size with ten times the speed.

white spaces

“White Spaces” Wi-Fi

Hidden between individual television channels is a small but valuable collection of airwaves that will allow for a kind of “super Wi-Fi” network.
The Federal Communications Commission recently opened up the spectrum that sits between television channels numbered 1 through 51. Wireless communications in those “white spaces” have been permitted since Jan. 26 in Wilmington, N.C., the FCC’s designated testbed location. After the bugs are worked out, the spaces will be opened up nationally in the coming months.
The FCC designated the white spaces as “unlicensed” band, meaning anyone can broadcast in it for free. It‘s a primo band that sits lower than today’s Wi-Fi, allowing signals to travel over significantly longer distances and through buildings and walls.
It’ll take time for all the necessary infrastructure — including new chipsets for smartphones and other devices — to roll out, but FCC expects the expansion to lead to innovative new kinds of wireless networks, including connected highways, schools, parks and towns. Wireless carriers scrounging for more spectrum could also begin to broadcast Wi-Fi to customer-dense areas to reduce stress on their 3G and 4G networks.

windows 8

Microsoft Windows 8

Windows 8 has a completely new visual interface that‘s unlike anything you’ve seen on a PC before. It’s optimized for touch screens on mobile devices like tablets, but it will also work for those with a traditional mouse and keyboard setup.
The result is a computer that operates as a hybrid, with all the functions of a standard PC operating system but the user experience of a tablet

light-field camera

Lytro’s Light-Field Camera

Ever snapped a picture in a hurry, looked back and realized you forgot to focus? The much-hyped Lytro has the solution, with a light-field camera that lets you adjust a picture after it’s been snapped.
“What‘s often been said about us is that we’re camera 3.0,” says Kira Wampler, Lytro’s vice president of marketing. “You can do things that you’ve never been able to do before.”
Lytro CEO Ren Ng worked for six years to commercialize the technology, which he pioneered as part of his Ph.D. research at Stanford University. [...] It comes in two models: a $399 8 GB camera in Graphite or Electric Blue that takes 350 pictures, or a 16 GB “Red Hot” model for $499 that holds 750 pictures.

apple

Anything released by Apple (hear us out)

Let’s face it, the most talked-about tech product (or products) this year will probably come from Apple.
The company is widely rumored to be prepping a television for release in 2012 that will run its Apple TV software. Though Apple TV set-top box sales haven’t been impressive, the late Steve Jobs told biographer Walter Isaacson that he had “finally cracked” the code for success. Jobs said that the device Apple is creating will have a simple user interface and will sync easily with other devices in the home.
[...]
Some Apple believe Apple had a more significantly overhauled iPhone in the works that just wasn’t quite ready to launch last fall. It could make an appearance this year.

google's googgles

Google’s virtual reality goggles

Augmented reality may end up being one of the hottest fashion accessories of 2012. Google is secretly working on Android-powered virtual reality glasses that it plans to begin selling by the end of the year, according to reports in the New York Times and the blog 9 to 5 Google.
Details are scant about the rumored glasses, but the basic idea is to beam contextually relevant information straight to your eyeballs. Like augmented reality apps, the glasses could deliver an added layer of information about, say, a landmark you’re looking at, or offer up a discount to a restaurant that catches your gaze.
“If facial recognition software becomes accurate enough, the glasses could remind a wearer of when and how he met the vaguely familiar person standing in front of him at a party,” the New York Times’ Nick Bilton theorizes. “They might also be used for virtual reality games that use the real world as the playground.”

nanotechnology

Latest Invention: Tea Bag that Uses Nanotechnology to Clean Drinking Water

One of the latest inventions developed by researchers from Stellenbosch University in South Africa is a one of a kind "tea bag" that makes use of nanotechnology to clean drinking water, making it free from contaminants and bacteria.
It would be interesting to note that the "tea bag" is made of the same material that is used to make the actual tea bags. The only difference is that in the Stellenbosch researchers' invention the ingredients are nanoscale fibers and grains of carbon, reports io9.
Both fibers and grains of carbon filter water from all hazardous contaminants. In order to purify the water, the user needs to place the tea bag in the neck of a water bottle. The tea bag filters the water when the person drinks from the bottle.
One bag can be used to filter up to 1 liter of water and it costs less than a half of an American cent.

tongue drive system

Tongue Drive System to Operate Computers

Scientists developed a new revolutionary system to help individuals with disabilities to control wheelchairs, computers and other devices simply by using their tongue.
Engineers at the Georgia Institute of Technology say that a new technology called Tongue Drive system will be helpful to individuals with serious disabilities, such as those with severe spinal cord injuries and will allow them to lead more active and independent lives.
Individuals using a tongue-based system should only be able to move their tongue, which is especially important if a person has paralyzed limbs. A tiny magnet, only a size of a grain of rice, is attached to an individual's tongue using implantation, piercing or adhesive. This technology allows a disabled person to use tongue when moving a computer mouse or a powered wheelchair.
Scientists chose the tongue to control the system because unlike the feet and the hands, which are connected by brain through spinal cord, the tongue and the brain has a direct connection through cranial nerve. In case when a person has a severe spinal cord injure or other damage, the tongue will remain mobile to activate the system. "Tongue movements are also fast, accurate and do not require much thinking, concentration or effort." said Maysam Ghovanloo, an assistant professor in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
The motions of the magnet attached to the tongue are spotted by a number of magnetic field sensors installed on a headset worn outside or an orthodontic brace inside the mouth. The signals coming from the sensors are wirelessly sent to a portable computer that placed on a wheelchair or attached to an individual's clothing.
The Tongue system is developed to recognize a wide array of tongue movements and to apply specific movements to certain commands, taking into account user's oral anatomy, abilities and lifestyle."The ability to train our system with as many commands as an individual can comfortably remember is a significant advantage over the common sip-n-puff device that acts as a simple switch controlled by sucking or blowing through a straw," said Ghovanloo.
The Tongue Drive system is touch-free, wireless and non-invasive technology that needs no surgery for its operation.
During the trials of the system, six able-bodied participants were trained to use tongue commands to control the computer mouse. The individuals repeated several motions left, right, up and down, single- and double-click to perform computer mouse tasks.
The results of the trials showed 100 percent of commands were accurate with the response time less than one second, which equals to an information transfer rate of approximately 150 bits per minute.
Scientists also plan to test the ability of the system to operate by people with severe disabilities. The next step of the research is to develop software to connect the Tongue Drive system to great number of devices such as text generators, speech synthesizers and readers. Also the researchers plan to upgrade the system by introducing the standby mode to allow the individual to eat, sleep or talk, while prolonging the battery life.

4G Technology

4G Technology

Fourth Generation (4G) mobiles

4G also called as Fourth-Generation Communications System, is a term used to describe the next step in wireless communications. A 4G system can provide a comprehensive IP solution where voice, data and streamed multimedia can be provided to users on an "Anytime, Anywhere" basis. The data transfer rates are also much higher than previous generations.

The main objectives of 4G are:

1)4G will be a fully IP-based integrated system.

2)This will be capable of providing 100 Mbit/s and 1 Gbit/s speeds both indoors and outdoors.

3)It can provide premium quality and high security.

4)4G offer all types of services at an affordable cost.

4G is developed to provide high quality of service (QoS) and rate requirements set by forthcoming applications such as wireless broadband access, Multimedia Messaging, Video Chat, Mobile TV, High definition TV content, DVB, minimal service like voice and data, and other streaming services.

4G technology allow high-quality smooth video transmission. It will enable fast downloading of full-length songs or music pieces in real time.

The business and popularity of 4Gmobiles is predicted to be very vast. On an average, by 2009, this 4Gmobile market will be over $400B and it will dominate the wireless communications, and its converged system will replace most conventional wireless infrastructure.

Data Rates For 4G:

The downloading speed for mobile Internet connections is from 9.6 kbit/s for 2G cellular at present. However, in actual use the data rates are usually slower, especially in crowded areas, or when there is congestion in network.

4G mobile data transmission rates are planned to be up to 20 megabits per second which means that it will be about 10-20 times faster than standard ASDL services.

In terms of connection seeds, 4G will be about 200 times faster than present 2G mobile data rates, and about 10 times faster than 3G broadband mobile. 3G data rates are currently 2Mbit/sec, which is very fast compared to 2G's 9.6Kbit/sec.