Professional Computer Worx - Web Design

Liquid Metal Capsules Used To Make Self-Healing Electronics

Karl — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 13:34:25 +0000

“A crack team of engineers at the University of Illinois has developed an electronic circuit that autonomously self-heals when its metal wires are broken. This self-healing system restores conductivity within ‘mere microseconds,’ which is apparently fast enough that operation can continue without interruption. The self-healing mechanism is delightfully simple: The engineers place a bunch of 10-micron (0.01mm) microcapsules along the length of a circuit. The microcapsules are full of liquid metal, a gallium-indium alloy, and if the circuit underneath cracks, so do the microcapsules (90% of the time, anyway — the tech isn’t perfect yet!). The liquid metal oozes into the circuit board, restoring up to 99% conductivity, and everything continues as normal. This even works with multi-layer printed circuit boards (PCBs), such the motherboard in your computer, too. There’s no word on whether this same technology could one day be used by Terminators to self-heal shotgun blasts to the face, but it certainly sounds quite similar. The immediate use-cases are in extreme environments (aerospace), and batteries (which can’t be taken apart to fix), but long term we might one day buy motherboards with these self-healing microcapsules built in.”

Troops In Afghanistan Supplied By Robot Helicopter

Karl — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 13:33:44 +0000

“Pakistan is still blockading NATO war supplies passing through the port of Karachi in response to last month’s killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers by an alliance air strike. But inside Afghanistan, supply lines are about to get a lot safer for NATO’s logisticians as an unmanned helicopter just delivered a sling-load of beans, bullets, and band-aids to Marines at an undisclosed base in Afghanistan marking the first time a drone has been used to resupply a unit at war. The 2.5-ton, GPS-guided K-MAX can heft 3.5 tons of cargo about 250 miles up and over the rugged and mountainous terrain of Afghanistan across which NATO troops are scattered and can fly around the clock. ‘Most of the [K-MAX] missions will be conducted at night and at higher altitudes,’ says Marine Capt. Caleb Joiner, a K-MAX operator. ‘This will allow us to keep out of small-arms range.’ K-MAX will soon be joined in Afghanistan by Lockheed’s robo jeep that can carry a half a ton of supplies for up to 125 miles after being delivered to the field in a CH-47 or CH-53 helo.”

Exoplanets Spotted Orbiting Dead Star

Karl — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 13:33:17 +0000

“Scientists have found a system of planets that appears to have survived being engulfed by their dying parent star . The discovery raises questions about the ultimate fate of our solar system when the sun runs out of hydrogen gas in about 5 billion years and violently transform into an expanding red giant star. Scientists believe all the planets from Earth inward will be destroyed when the sun expands, but new research suggests that if planets are large enough, they may outlast their parent star’s death, even if they are engulfed.”

Average Web Page Approaches 1MB

Karl — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 13:30:08 +0000

“According to new research from HTTP Archive, which regularly scans the internet’s most popular destinations, the average size of a single web page is now 965 kilobytes, up more than 30% from last year’s average of 702KB. This rapid growth is fairly normal for the internet — the average web page was 14KB in 1995, 93KB by 2003, and 300KB in 2008 — but by burrowing a little deeper into HTTP Archive’s recent data, we can discern some interesting trends. Between 2010 and 2011, the average amount of Flash content downloaded stayed exactly the same — 90KB — but JavaScript experienced massive growth from 113KB to 172KB. The amount of HTML, CSS, and images on websites also showed a significant increase year over year. There is absolutely no doubt that these trends are attributable to the death throes of Flash and emergence of HTML5 and its open web cohorts.”

A 3D Display You Can Touch

Karl — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:41:42 +0000

“Are we getting closer to really effective volumetric 3D display technology? A new display, designed in Russia, uses cold fog and a laser projector to create a volumetric 3D image that you can touch. A tracking device, and no it’s not a Kinect, is used to detect the users hand and moves the virtual objects in response . There have been cold fog 3D displays before this but this one has a reasonable resolution and looks near to being a finished product that could be on sale soon. Estimated price? Between $4000 and $30,000.”

Scientists Cryo-Freeze Coral Reef

Karl — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:40:53 +0000

“Due to rising ocean temperatures, scientists from the United States and Australia are attempting to freeze coral eggs and sperm in cryogenic suspension so that the endangered species can be preserved. Once frozen, the species may later be grown in a lab and implanted in reefs. This could be the only way to ensure the survival of certain endangered species at The Great Barrier Reef .”

EU Targets Facebook’s Ad System

Karl — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:34:40 +0000

“The European Commission plans to put a stop to the way Facebook gathers information about its users , including their political opinions, religious beliefs, whereabouts and sexual preferences, and how the social network sells that information for commercial purposes. A new EC Directive aims to ban targeted advertising unless users specifically allow it , and to amend the current European data protection laws to ensure consistency in how offending sites are dealt with across the EU. If the European Commission has its way, Facebook would suffer big losses in advertising dollars that fund its site, which would further damage the company’s plans to go public next year. Facebook has defended itself, claiming its advertisers target wide demographics like age and location, rather than specific individuals. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company denies outright that it misuses or mishandles user information.”

Internet Monitoring: Who Watches the Watchers?

Karl — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:34:01 +0000

“Here’s an interesting take on the IT security industry and tools being sold and used by to monitor internet users. It’s no secret that many states and nations are censoring and monitoring the Internet. Many of these governments are considered authoritarian regimes, often times with trade restrictions and other sanctions against them. Most of these censorship systems are based on proprietary, enterprise hardware and solutions. Unfortunately, those who decide where these tools end up are often torn between conflicting interests. How many services and devices are actually being used by people whom we prefer would not have access to them? How long until they are used against us, even if indirectly? At which point do we have to stop looking at Information Security as a market, and begin viewing it as a matter of defense and (inter)national security?”

New Jersey DMV Employees Caught Selling Identities

Karl — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:33:32 +0000

“Ars has an article about two New Jersey DMV employees who have been accused of selling personal information they routinely had access to. The NJ prosecutor’s office claims (PDF) their investigation ‘uncovered that two employees of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission were providing the names, addresses, dates of birth and social security numbers of unsuspecting residents that they obtained through their employment. They were charging as little as $200 per identity.’”

Earthscraper Takes Sustainable Design Underground

Karl — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:32:28 +0000

“The ‘Earthscraper,’ a 65-story, 82,000-square-foot inverted pyramid beneath Mexico City takes a new approach to escalating megacity problems like population growth, urban sprawl, preserving open space, and conserving energy and water, promising to turn the modern high-rise, quite literally, on its head. The proposed building will be located at the Zocalo, Mexico City’s major public plaza one of the few sizable open spaces left in the city of 9 million. ‘It’s a massive empty plot, which makes it the ideal site for our program,’ says architect Esteban Suarez. The Earthscraper concept begins with a glass roof replacing the opaque stone surface of the Zocalo preserving the open space and civic uses of the Zocalo, while allowing natural lighting to flow downward into all floors of the tapering structure through clear or translucent core walls. The first 10 stories would hold a museum dedicated to the city’s history and its artifacts. ‘We’d almost certainly find plenty of interesting relics during the dig — dating right back to the Aztecs who built their own pyramids here,’ says Suarez adding that the design incorporates a system of gardens occurring roughly every 10 stories , to help generate fresh air. One thing working in Earthscraper’s favor is there are strict laws that prevent building upwards in this part of Mexico City, but no laws for building down. ‘They will have to develop new laws to stop this from happening,’ says Chief Design Officer Emilio Barja. ‘I hope they don’t [find the] time to do that.’”