Windows 8 New Features Sneak Peak

Microsoft unveiled their new operating system, Windows 8, earlier this month. This new OS comes with many new features. One of the most striking ones is the new interface that has been added alongside the traditional Windows 7 one. The Windows 7 interface is designed for mouse and keyboard use with small icons and what not. The new interface is designed for touch screen, with tiles instead of icons and an overall cleaner and simpler appearance, perfect for the finger.

You might be wondering what’s the difference between a ‘Tile’ and an ‘Icon’ so a tile is basically a larger icon in which the app can show some of its contents and function even before clicking on it. For example, a tile for a weather app might show the temperature, humidity, and weather of the day. This is great for a tablet as it looks good and is large enough for the bulky finger (compared to the mouse pointer).

Although the two different interfaces are designed for different control methods, the touch can be operated by mouse and keyboard and the classic Windows 7 interface can be operated by touch, as seen in the touch screen desktops they’re selling nowadays. Also, users can easily switch between the two.

Microsoft added this new feature to bridge the gap between a PC and a tablet. Windows 8 will be able to run on both a tablet and a PC, which means that apps designed for the PC will be able to run on a tablet as well. This will be great for laptops with detachable screens that will act as a tablet once detached, such as Dell Inspiron Duo. It is very likely that such laptops will be commonplace in the near future.

There are currently no solid dates for when the beta will be released or when Windows 8 will be

available in stores. However, it is rumoured that the the beta will be released sometime this fall and the full product, sometime next fall.

For a detailed list of Windows 8's new features, click here.

Giant Globe Made Of Over 10 000 OLED Panels

Tokyo's National Musuem of Emerging Science and Innovation recently unveiled a 20-foot globe made of exactly 10 362 OLED panels displaying the surface of our planet as seen from Space. The displays are constantly updated with satellite footage.

Built by Mitsubishi in commemoration of the musuem's 10th anniversary, this globe is in fact a replacement to the museum's earlier LED version. The new OLED "Geo-Cosmos" globe, as it is called, will provide 10 times the resolution (10 million pixels) compared to its predecessor.

The Geo-Cosmos globe currently hangs 60 feet (18 m) above the museum floor and is certainly an impressive sight to see.

Worm Can Regenerate Entire Body With One Cell

You might have heard of stem cells being the future for medicine. This is because certain types of stem cells, called pluripotent stem cells, can generate into an kind of cell in the body. However, these cells are only found in embryos and therefore, are extremely rare. Stem cells found on adults have more specificity. For example, blood stem cells can generate into any cell type that constitutes blood but cannot generate into, for example, a nerve cell.

In a recent discovery, scientists in MIT and Howard Hughes Medical Institute found that flat worms, or planarians, have pluripotent stem cells in adults. This is first time any such cells have been found in an adult animal.

Flat worms have been known to regenerate themselves from a just a chunk of tissue. This amazing regenerative ability resulted in a study by scientists to figure whether this is attributed to a bunch of specialized stem cells working together or just an "all purpose" cell. To do this, scientists exposed several worms to radiation that stops their cells from diving. A certain type of cell, called the cNeoblast, was spared of the radiation exposure to see if this is the cell responsible for regeneration. As the other cells slowly died out because they cannot reproduce, the scientists watched as the cNeoblasts took over and generated a new batch of healthy, replacement tissue.

However, even with this information in hand, it did not stop the scientists from doing something truly weird. They implanted a single cNeoblast cell from one type of planarian in another type which did not have its own cNeoblasts. The latter worm, was exposed to a lethal dose of radiation beforehand that stopped reproduction in all its cells. As the worm started to die, the cNeoblast cell started multiplying and specializing into different cells and "ultimately replaced all the host's tissues" with new healthy ones. The resulting worm was an exact genetic copy of the original cNeoblast donor.

Scientists hope that some day, they can figure out how these cells work and possibly study ways to use these cells for human tissue regeneration.

Reversing Marine Dead Zones

Marine dead zones are areas where little or no marine life reside. This is the result of overgrown algae from fertilizer and biowaste run offs enter the oceans. When the algae dies and decomposes, it takes up a lot of oxygen from the water and suffocates or asphyxiates marine life. This is a process called eutrophication. Today, there are up to 405 marine dead zones in the world. The good news is, marine dead zones are not permanent and can be reversed.

What we can do today to reduce eutrophication is by having improved wastewater treatment to reduce the amount of nitrogen and phosphorous entering the oceans. However, what would greatly help in reducing eutrophication is by farmers adopting "no-till" methods. These farming methods skip plowing altogether. Instead, farmers using this method plant new seeds using modern seed drills and deposit fertilizer beneath the soil using fertilizer injectors. This reduces fertilizer run off greatly as the fertilizer is beneath the surface instead of on the soil, which is easily washed off by rainwater.

Stats show that "no-till" methods can reduce phosphorous run off by 40%, half the amount of nitrogen released, as well as reduce overall erosion by 98%. The best part of "no-till" methods is that it produces the same yield while using half the energy.

Unfortunately, most of the world have not adopted this method yet. However, these methods are relatively new and involve advanced equipment that not every farmer has access to. Still, it is great to know that it is possible to reverse the hundreds of marine dead zones that exist in the world today.

Marine Dead Zones - Fertilizer's Effect On Marine Life

Our oceans nowadays are polluted with a myriad of harmful chemicals, as well as the crude oil from the oil spills. These pollutants are killing marine creatures as well as destroying their habitat. One kind of pollutant that I find surprising is fertilizer and biowaste from agricultural run off. These substances, which mainly consists of nitrogen and phosphorous, can actually boost algae growth. However, even though algae provides shelter and is a source of food for many marine creatures, they can also drastically harm marine ecosystems. This happens when large amounts of overgrown algae dies and decomposes. This takes up a lot of oxygen from the waters and suffocates or asphyxiates marine life. This process is called eutrophication.

Areas affected by eutrophication are called dead zones and at least 405 of such areas have been located. In first world nations, the main culprit for eutrophication is human sewage while in third world nations, where agriculture is prevalent, agricultural run off is the main culprit.

Dead zones, fortunately, are not permanent. They can be reversed by reducing the amount of waste entering the oceans. One example is in the Soviet Union in the 1980's. The Black Sea at that time contained the world's largest dead zone. However, when the Soviet Union collapsed, the farmers there could not obtain synthetic fertilizers and as a result, by 1996, the dead zone in the Black Sea is almost non-existent.

Click here to learn more about ways we can reduce marine dead zones.

All You Need to Know About Micro Pigs - Unique Pets

Micro pigs were first developed in Europe for medical research in organ transplant. In the 1980's, the pigs were introduced to the United States as pets. Micro pigs were originally bred from Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs that were sent to zoos in Western nations in the 1960's. These pigs were then bred for smaller for scientific research.

Miniature pigs generally weigh less than 150 pounds and stand less than 21 inches (53 cm) tall.

Pigs are considered quite intelligent animals. Like dogs, they can pick up tricks rather quickly and are quite loyal and social animals. An example of their intelligence is that micro pigs can open cupboards, which means that owners must make sure that their cupboards are "micro-pig proof". Pigs are also easily potty trained.

One of the reason pigs are not adopted as pets is because of their size. As adults, they can be quite unwieldy living in small houses. The micro pigs, with their smaller size, elegantly solves this problem.

The average price of a micro pig is $ 500 - 2000.

The Science in Losing Weight

Nowadays, many people are countering weight gain by eating less. However, weight loss from diets does not mean permanent weight loss. In fact, people who have undergone diets usually find that their weight springs back up right after the diet.

So why is this so?

First of all, fat is just a means for your body to store energy from the food you eat. When you eat less, you are slowing down your metabolism (rate your body uses up energy from your food), because frankly, you would be less active being hungry all day. The only positive thing is, with less food in your system, less fat will accumulate in the body. However, once the diet's over and your intake of food becomes normal again, fat will build up in your body a lot faster than before as you cannot metabolise fat as fast.

So, the way I recommend you to counter weight gain is to become more active and exercise more often. Not only will it burn up the energy reserves (fat) in your body, it will also make you stronger and give you a bit more confidence. Most importantly, fat will accumulate slower in your body as you will have a higher metabolism.

Some other great tips:

• Chew More, Eat Less
• Stand Up Straight

Leafy and Weedy Seadragons

Weedy Seadragon

There are many amazing animals out there with astonishing camouflage capabilities. The stick insect and the mimic octopus are great examples. Two animals that caught my attention are the Leafy and Weedy Seadragons.

The Leafy and Weedy Seadragons are found in reefs off the coasts Australia and are closely related to seahorses. They are elusive animals that feed on tiny crustaceans, zooplankton, and sometimes small fish and shrimp. The Leafy Seadragon can grow up to 24 cm while the larger Weedy Seadragon can grow up to 45 cm.

Leafy Seadragon

Perhaps what's most amazing about these creatures is their outwardly appearance, especially the Leafy Seadragon. With its many leaf-like outcroppings on its body, and its floating-like way of swimming, the Leafy Seadragon greatly resembles a floating piece of seaweed. Mixed in with a bunch of real seaweed, the Leafy Seadragon is almost indiscernible.

Like seahorses and pipefish, male seadragons nurture and protect the eggs until they hatch. Infant seadragons are completely independent afterwards. It is estimated that only about 5% of the infants survive.

3D without Glasses - How the Nintendo 3DS works

Nintendo's new 3DS is quite an impressive device. Unlike any of the other handheld gaming devices out on the market, the 3DS allows users to play games in 3D, without the glasses!

Nowadays, we know that to watch 3D, we have to wear those bulky glasses that sag over the face. However, the innovative 3DS uses a completely different technology to let the images burst out of the screen. The device uses what's called a parallax barrier LCD screen developed by Sharp. This technology has been around for a few years before but have never really been commercialised as the 3D effect is lost even at minutely differently viewing angles. However, on a small screen such as the DS where usually only one person is looking at the screen at a time, it does not pose a huge problem.

The 3D effect is achieved by the brain meshing up two different images sent to the left and right eye. Because the 3D glasses have different lenses for the left and right eyes, the 3D effect is achieved. What a 3D display does is that it uses an overlay over the LCD display that sends the different images to the different eyes. Thus, the screen acts as the 3D glasses.

Sharp's parallax display is basically a 3D display that can be turned off to display 2D images. For the more technical among us, here's a picture explaining further how the display works.

Goby helps Blind Shrimp

The shrimp goby and the pistol shrimp share a very special relationship. Biologists call it a symbiotic relationship where different species help each other to survive. In the case of the shrimp and the goby, it is an amazing one.

The pistol shrimp are very apt at creating and maintaining burrows in poor sand conditions where parts of the burrows often collapse. This provides a safe haven for the shrimp goby. In return, the goby acts as an early warning system for the almost blind pistol shrimp. This is achieved by a constant physical contact between the shrimp and the goby. The shrimp will always try to keep an antennae on the goby to receive signals from the goby if there is a threat. The goby also signals the shrimp when it's safe to go outside.

One puzzling aspect of the relationship is how the shrimp and goby choose their partners. There are much speculations and the best possible explanation right now is that the shrimp uses its more developed chemical senses while the goby uses its sight to seek out a partner when they are young.

Cabbage, Broccoli, and Brussels Sprouts the Same Species?

Brassica Plant

Did you know that cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts are the same species? They are derived from the Brassica plant that farmers in the past have grown for food. Broccoli and cauliflower was the result of breeding Brassica plants with thick clusters of flowers. Cabbage and Brussels sprouts are the result of breeding Brassica plants with thick clusters of leaves. The roots are also believed to be the ancestor of the modern tulip.

Don't believe me? A definition for what makes a species is that they cannot interbreed. However, as an example, broccoli and cauliflower can breed, resulting in broccoflower.

These plants are all examples of the result of artificial selection where farmers select for favourable traits in a population of organisms and the resulting population will eventually have more and more of that trait. This can also be seen in dogs and horses.

Another great example is the modern corn. Its ancestor is a wild plant called the teosinte that have only about ten or twenty kernels on one cob.

The World's Largest Flower - Rafflesia

The Rafflesia is the world's largest flowering plant. It resides in the rainforests of Bengkulu, Indonesia, Sumatra Island, Malaysia, Borneo, and Singapore. Being such a gigantic flower, you would think the scent it produces will be quite pleasant. However, the Rafflesia actually gives off a smell very similar to rotting flesh. It is believed that this scent attracts flies but other unwanted creatures.

The Rafflesia is a parasitic plant that mostly grows on the Tetrastigma grape vine. It does not produce any visible stem, roots, or leaves. The Rafflesia also does not have chlorophyll, feeding mainly off the nutrients of its host. Even so, the Rafflesia is still considered a vascular plant.

The many species of Rafflesia plants are currently considered endangered species. With tropical forests in SouthEast Asia dwindling, the plant is becoming extremely rare. There have been many conservation efforts by environmentalists such as attempts at preserving the forests of Borneo and Sumatra and also attempts to recreate the environment of the species in a bid to stimulate the recovery of the population. Since the flowering buds of the Rafflesia are used to help mothers who have recently given birth to recover, overcollection of this medicine are also harming the Rafflesia plants. To help counter this effect, farmers who have Rafflesia plants on their property are encouraged to save the flower and charge a small fee for tourists who would like to look at this rare plant.

Terror Bird - Dinosaur-like birds

The "Terror Birds" (Titanis walleri) were the predominant predators during the Miocene period. They were giant flight birds (up to 3 meters tall) that roamed South America for about 50 million years.

The Terror Birds distinct feature was its enormous beak. Some fossils of the bird show a beak size that is about 46 cm (18 inch). It had a curving hook at the end, much like a modern eagle's beak. At that time, this beak would have been the perfect biological weapon. According to some scientists, one well-aimed strike from this beak would have killed almost anything at the time.

The Terror Birds, being a predator, were also quite fast. It is estimated that they ran as fast as modern day giant birds like the emu and rhea.

The closest living relative of the Terror Birds is believed to be the 80-cm tall seriemas that also resides in South America.

The Secretive X-37 - Unmanned US Spacecraft

The Boeing X-37 OTV (Orbital Test Vehicle) is an unmanned spacecraft similar to the space shuttle in appearance that made its first flight on April 22 of last year. The flight lasted for 225 days and the OTV successfully landed on Vandenburg Air Force Base on December 3 of that year.

The OTV is powered by solar energy during its orbit. It features new thermal protection technology, avionics systems, and an autonomous guidance system.

The OTV has generated much controversy. Amateur astronomers have claimed that they have spotted the spacecraft in orbit and states that the course the spacecraft is on brings it over hotspots around the globe such as Iran, North Korea, and Afghanistan. The China Dailynewspaper picked up the story and stated that the X-37 is raising concerns of a space arms race.

Right now, the X-37 is already well on its way orbiting the planet on its second mission. It launched on March 5 this year in Cape Canaveral.

Physalia - A Floating Ecosystem

The Physalia is a gigantic ship dreamed up by world renowned Belgium architect Vincent Callebaut. Callebaut had this idea after the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen that shone some light on global water issues. The ship is meant to travel Europe's rivers cleansing the waters along the way. How it does this is through a special paint found on the hull. The paint is a solution of titanium hydroxide that neutralizes pollutants by absorbing ultraviolet rays, thus enabling a reaction that breaks down these harmful substances.

This ship will supply its own power. As it sails along the rivers, it draws power from water movement and sunlight. Solar panels on the roof capture the sun's rays while turbines under the hull transform water movement into electricity. The roof will also act as a garden of sorts with trees and other greenery.

The Physalia will also act as a floating museum and a tourism spot. Tourists can visit temporary exhibits of the museum and settle in a submerged lounge that, as Popular Science coined it, could easily pass as a London nightclub. Also, scientists studying aquatic ecosystems could live on the ship and work in the dedicated "Earth Garden" lab.

Two New Species of Stingray Discovered

Biologists have discovered two new species of stingray in the Amazon rainforest. The x-ray image seen above is of a preadult male of the Heliotrygon gomesi species. The other species found is the Heliotrygon rosai.

Because of their distinct round shape, the two new species are informally called "pancake stingrays". The specimens of the new species were mostly found in Rio Nanay, near Iquitos, Peru. This new discovery brings the count of the neotropical stingray genera from two to four.

The new stingrays are quite rare and according to biologist Nathan Lovejoy, a member of the team that discovered the species, it took quite a while to collect enough specimens of the species to accurately describe them.

The most important part of this discovery is that it shows we have not fully explored the vast Amazon forest and that there are many more secrets to uncover.

(Our Amazing Planet)

Scientists Create Memory Neurons, Early Victims of Alzheimer's

Led by researcher Christopher Bissonette, a team of researchers and scientists from Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago have successfully created brain cells associated with memory and learning with embryonic stem cells.

This is a major breakthrough for Alzheimer's research as the cells, scientifically known as basal forebrain chollinergic neurons, or BFC cells, are the first to succumb in a person afflicted with Alzheimer's. By implanting these cells in patients in the early stages of Alzheimer's, it helps to slow down memory loss as according to Telegraph Science correspondent Richard Alleyne, in early Alzheimer's, memory is not loss but the ability to retrieve those memories are lost as the BFC cells are killed.

Embryonic stem cells are the very first cells a baby developing in the mother's wound has and these cells can turn into any specialized cells. The stem cells the team worked with derived from embryos created for in-vitro fertilization. Under certain conditions, we can coax these cells into any kind of cell under certain specific conditions. According to Chicago Sun-Times, it took Christopher Bissonette's team six years to figure out the right conditions to change these cells into BFC cells.

The team has already implanted these new BFC cells into mice and they seem to work just like natural mice BFC cells.

Although this is a major breakthrough for Alzheimer's research, it is not a treatment or a cure for the deadly disease. Scientists still do not know what causes Alzheimer's. However, combined with other treatments, implanting BFC cells in Alzheimer's afflicted patients might help slow down the disease's impact. Also, according to Jack Kessler, chairman of neurology at the Feinberg School of Medicine, it puts scientists on a path to understanding and curing memory loss.

Video: SmartBird flight further explained

Festo's Smartbird - An Ultra Realistic Seagull Robot

A new robotic seagull called the SmartBird designed by the German company Festo that also created the autonomous robotic jellyfish and the elephant-trunk-inspired robotic arm is one of the most realistic animal inspired flying machines ever. To be specific, the robot is modelled after the herring gull and its flight motions and appearance is extremely similar to the real bird. Besides its startling similarities to a real bird, another amazing feature of the robot is that it can take off and land autonomously without any additional drive systems.

To achieve flight, Festo designed the robot with wings that not only beat up and down, but bend at specific spots just like what the wings of a normal bird do in flight. When flying, a lever mechanism increases the degree of deflection from the torso to the wing. The wings can also twist in such a way that during the upwards stroke, the leading edge of the wing is slightly upwards. This is called a positive angle of attack.

Direction can be changed by the opposing motion of the head and torso of the bird. This movement is synchronised by cables and two electric motors. The tail's movements also help change directions. It can tilt left or right to initiate turns or move left to right to generate yaw. The tail also acts as stabilizer and a pitch elevator.

The robot has a wing span of about 2 m (6.5 feet), which is much larger than an actual herring gull, and has a weight of about 400 g (1 pound). To achieve this weight, the company used lightweight carbon fibre in the body of the bird.

All these design features result in a robot that is light and agile with excellent aerodynamic qualities. In developing the Smartbird, the company says it has successfully deciphered bird flight, "one of the oldest dreams of humankind". They also say that the development of this technology with its functional integration of coupled drive units yields significant ideas and insights that the company can then apply to hybrid drive technology.

Fame from Commentating on a Video Game

Youtube, the Internet giant video sharing website has made many of its users a fortune. Famous users such as Nigahiga and Fred has millions of subscribers and hundreds of millions of video views. Their unique user content include hilarious skits and parodies.

Users have also found fame in a different kind of content. Video game commentating has gained the attention of many. Commentators such as Husky and HD Starcraft have about 300 000 - 400 000 subscribers, not as much as Nigahiga or Fred but still a formidable amount. The video game that they commentate on is Starcraft II, a real time strategy game that sold over 1.8 million copies on its first day. The games that their channels feature include their own played games as well as games from top players of Starcraft.

Broadcasting of professional Starcraft II matches is in fact not limited to the Internet. In Korea, where the video game is huge, professional Starcraft II matches are actually televised. A famous monthly tournament for the game called the GSL or Global Starcraft II League hosted by GOMTV and Blizzard Entertainment offers prize pools of over $ 100 000.

German Wind-Powered Car Sets Record Crossing Australia

Two German innovators, Dirk Gion and Stefan Simmerer, have created a very peculiar vehicle that traversed Australia from Albany in Southwestern Australia to Sydney in the East, all on about $ 15 worth of electricity. The vehicle is called the "Wind Explorer" and it is powered by a combination of kite, wind power turbine, and electric motor.

The vehicle is 441 pounds and has its own wind turbine to charge its electric motors at night. The wind turbine is a 20 foot bamboo mast fitted with a 9 foot diameter rotor. Also, if wind conditions are right, they could deploy a parachute-like kite to provide extra thrust.

Their journey was not totally powered by the wind turbine and kite alone. They did plug in a few times during technical adjustments and equipment tuning in the start of the journey. Also, unfavourable weather has caused them to rely on mainstream electricity such as during Cyclone Yasi when strong winds prevented them from erecting the wind turbine mast. However, the main goal for them to create the Wind Explorer was not to prove that they could cross an entire continent emissions and carbon footprint free but to show that there are energy alternatives to power our vehicles today besides the standard internal combustion engine.

Self-Assembling Solar Panel Cells Rebuild Themselves - Inspired by Plants

Sunlight is very damaging and one of the major problems today with solar panels is that the solar cells degrade overtime from sunlight and we all know solar panels do not come cheap. So, how does plants, who are constantly exposed to sunlight throughout the day, maintain its sunlight converting capabilities? The answer is, they are constantly recycling their proteins, or chloroplasts, as often as every 45 minutes.

So, researchers at MIT have set out to reproduce this regenerative ability of plants in their solar cells, and they succeeded. Normal solar panels generate electricity by using sunlight to shake electrons from molecules loose. The electrons then follow a path of least resistance and thus become electricity.

The system that MIT devised contains seven different compounds, such as carbon nanotubes that provide structure and also provide a path of least resistance away from the cells. These seven compounds, under certain conditions, assemble themselves into uniform structures that are capable of harnessing solar energy. However, in the presence of certain compounds called surfactants, the structures break down into the original compounds. To remove this surfactant, MIT researchers used a method that pushes the mixture through a membrane that filters the surfactant. Without the presence of the surfactant, the compounds assemble themselves again into the uniform structures that can convert sunlight into electricity as if they were new. So, basically these solar panels can be renewed by pouring the surfactant and then filtering it.

The solar panels right now work at 40 percent efficiency but the researchers believe that they can push this much higher.

This a big step forward for solar energy and future solar panels might very well use this technology.

Replacement for Internal Combustion Engines?

Norbert Müller and his team of researchers at Michigan State University have developed a prototype of a new auto engine that does not have the myriad of complicated parts (for me) such as the pistons, crankshafts and valves of the current internal combustion engine used in almost all cars. The new engine is a disk-shaped shock wave generator that uses the same fuel but is much smaller, about the size of a saucepot, and much lighter compared to the internal combustion engines. It can also reduce auto emissions by 90 percent.

The new motor consists of a rotor with a number of wavelike channels. There are two outlets at either side where exhaust can escape. As the rotor spins, a fuel-air mixture enters through central inlets into channels that are not facing the outlets so the mixture cannot escape. As the mixture continues to enter the channels, pressure builds up and a shockwave is generated. This compresses the mixture further and ignites it. At that moment the rotor is facing the outlets and the exhaust can escape. The escaping exhaust keeps the motor spinning as it pushes against the ridges of the wavelike channels. Keep in mind that this is a continuous process that happens at a very fast rate.

This disk-waved shockwave generator will use about 60 percent of fuel for forward movement, a dramatic improvement from the 15 percent of combustion engines today. The reduced size and mechanisms of the generator will also be able to cut the weight of a car by 20 percent. This in turn also improves fuel economy.

The University has already received a $ 2.5 million grant from the Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop the engine and Müller says he hopes to create a 25-kilowatt prototype of the engine by the end of 2011.

The U.S. Navy's Superlaser

Boeing is currently under a $ 163 million contract to develop a superlaser for the U.S. Navy that will be used on board ships to neutralize missiles. The Navy's Free Electron Laser (FEL) program uses supercharged electrons generated by an injector to focus light across multiple wavelengths. This versatility to be able to switch between a broad range wavelengths makes the FEL much better than other lasers that usually operate in only one fixed wavelength.

For the laser to be able to shoot down missiles, at least 100 kilowatts of power is required. Earlier this year, the Office of Naval Research announced a breakthrough in the development of the laser that put the program nine months ahead of schedule. The breakthrough is a new injector tested last December that yielded enough electrons to produce a megawatt class laser beam. This is a huge step forward from the 14 kilowatt prototype laser the Navy originally had.

However, even with this new breakthrough, the laser is still years from becoming operational. Researchers predict that a shipboard test will not happen until 2018. However, once operational, the FEL will give the Navy a definite edge in maritime warfare. Operating at the speed of light, the laser does not have to be reloaded and is quiet compared to other conventional weapons. Also, the laser can act as a sensor, tracker or guidance system for other weapons onboard the ship.

Brain Cells Wired to Computers?

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have created computer chips that are wired with nerve cells.

The cells that the researchers are working with are from mice and they have found that the nerve cells will connect with each other through thin tubes made of a semi conductor material. At this point, it is not sure how well they are communicating but what is certain is that the cells have an attraction to such tubes.

The tubes the researchers created are made of layered silicon and germanium that are large enough only for the nerve cell's tendrils to move through. When the cells are placed next to the tubes, they will quickly thread their tendrils through the tubes to connect with each other.

What the researchers aims to do next is to place sensors into the chips to test how the nerve cells are communicating with each other. This new technology opens up exciting possibilities such as creating artificial limbs that are wired directly to nerve cells. The hybrid computer/nerve cell also provides a platform to study nerve cells afflicted with neurological diseases or to test neurological drugs.

Zero Emissions Sports Car, Nissan`s new ESFLOW

Nissan's new concept ESFLOW sports car looks, feels and performs like a sports car. However, the twist is that it's going to have zero emissions. The ESFLOW is solely powered by two electric motors, just like the Nissan Leaf.

The ESFLOW not only has power (it can do 60 in under 5 seconds), it has a good range too. This sports car can go for 150 miles on a single charge, certainly not bad for an Electric Vehicle (EV). The vehicle has an RWD setup with each electric motor for each rear wheel. The motors are powered by laminated lithium-ion batteries.

Although the future of the ESFLOW is uncertain, Nissan has proved that being environmentally friendly does not mean being unattractive. The company is planning to reveal their new concept car in the 2011 Geneva Auto Show.

Super Computer Wins in Jeopardy

If you were watching Jeopardy on February 14, 15 or 16, you would realize that one of the contestants was not human. In fact, it is not even alive. The contestant is IBM's new artificial intelligence computer system named 'Watson'.

The two other competitors are Brad Rutter, the biggest all-time money winner on Jeopardy and Ken Jennings, the record holder for the longest championship streak.

Watson comes equipped with access to 200 million pages of content, which consumes 4 terabytes of space. This includes the entire Wikipedia. However, Watson was not connected to the Internet during the game.

Throughout the games, Rutter and Jennings put up a good fight but Watson eventually won. The first place prize was $ 1000 000 with IBM dividing Watson's winnings between 2 charities. Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter received $ 300 000 and $ 200 000 and pledged to donate half of the amount to a charity.

Cynthia - Bacteria Completely Designed By Scientists

Man has finally broken the frontier of creating man made life. A while ago, a team of scientists led by Craig Venter, who also one of the first to sequence the human genome, actually created DNA code by scratch and implanted it into a bacteria cell. The bacteria adopted the new DNA and started producing proteins according to its new genetic code. As a result, a new organism, completely designed by man, has emerged. This new bacteria was named Cynthia.

This research opens up many doors. However, it is not all positive. Human made life operates outside of nature and if we created a super organism and accidentally released it into nature, the organism might dominate all others, including us humans. On the other hand, we could use this technology to create organisms such as bacteria that cleans up oil spills or kills cancer cells. The possibilities are endless.

Spiderman teaches us a valuable lesson that “with great power, comes great responsibility” and this certainly holds true with the technology that we now possess. If not handled responsibly, we might endanger our natural world.