There is always something interesting going on at Ministry of Tech. As 2007 comes to a close, let’s go back and take a look at some of the popular posts over the last year.

Popular Science Innovation of the Year: Nanosolar Powersheet

Silicon Valley-based Nanosolar’s Powersheet was named innovation of the year by Popular Science. The Powersheet is a solar cell made with printing-press style machines that set down a layer of nanoparticle ink onto metal sheets as thin as aluminum foil.

Upcoming Video Games for 2008 [Part 1]
The 5 Hottest Video Games in 2008 (Plus a Bonus) [Part 2]

Here’s a quick look into some upcoming video games set to be released in 2008.

Low-cost Wireless Power Supply for all of your Gadgets?

On December 10th at the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting in Washington, D.C., University of Tokyo researchers presented a large-area smart sheet that could provide wireless power to devices placed on it.

The 5 Hottest Phones for Linux Fanatics

An overview of some of the phones that run Linux as the operating system.

Gibson Creates First Robot Guitar - Rock On!

Gibson Guitar continues their reign as the leader in guitar and music technology when they announced their newest guitar, a self tuning and adjusting guitar, aptly named the Robot Guitar.

Nissan Develops Color Changing Vehicle Paint

Nissan has developed a new paint coating that it calls “paramagnetic”, which can change colors instantly. This technology applies an electric current to an iron oxide polymer layer of paint that changes color based on the level of the current and number of iron oxide particles.

Wouldn’t it be great to get rid of the last rat’s nest of wires? That is, the various power cords powering our devices or charging their batteries. Researchers from the University of Tokyo are on the case.

On December 10th at the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting in Washington, D.C., University of Tokyo researchers presented a large-area smart sheet that could provide wireless power to devices placed on it. Additionally, the sheet is capable of allowing the devices to communicate with each other.

The image below is of a miniature house with wireless power sheets embedded in the floor and covering the desk and wall. The sheets power various devices symbolized by LED lights

While further development is needed, the researchers believe that the sheets could be formed into table covers, desk covers, wallpaper, or embedded into the floor, allowing hundreds of devices to communicate with each other in a more secure manner than today’s wireless technologies.

The communications sheet is essentially a mixture of wired and wireless communications where communication is carried out over wires except for the last 1 millimeter, which is done wirelessly. “If the wireless connection is this short, the power does not dissipate, and it does not require a direct contact. So no cable or plug is needed.”, explains Takao Someya, associate professor at the University of Tokyo’s Quantum Phase Electronics Center.

By combining the communications sheet with a power-transmission sheet and feeding in power from an outside source, power can also be transmitted to devices. So far, the researchers have achieved a power transfer of more than 40 watts - enough to power a small notebook computer.

Read the IEEE article…

Source: IEEE
Photos: Takao Someya

Glow-in-the-dark transgenic pets are the latest exploit from genetic scientists.

South Korean scientists at Gyeongsang National University have created glow-in-the-dark cats. By introducing green fluorescent protein genes into the cloning process, scientists were able to breed white Turkish Angora cats that glow in the dark and are visibly red when viewed under ultraviolet light. Green flourescent protiens are originally isolated and extracted from jellyfish and are what cause jellyfish to glow. You’re cat will never be able to sneak up on you in the night again.

Credit: Gyeongsang National University

The 2 cats, cloned from an altered skin cell of their mother, are nearly a year old. Funded by the Korean government, this research is more than just trying to create colorful creatures. It may provide insight into genetic diseases of both animals and humans. One notable product of animal gentics research is hypoallergenic kittens and dogs.

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AT&T announced the availability of an RFID and GPS based resource management system for K-12 education institutions. This system will allow schools to track assets, both alive and inanimate. The idea is that every object that the school wants to track will have an RFID tag, be it book, computer, school bus, or child. The RFID tags would most likely be on an ID card that the child carries with them at all times. The school will be able to determine if they are in class, off the property, or riding the bus, as long as they are with their ID card. It definitely makes sense for a school to track all their equipment, like computers and tvs, but keeping tabs on children in this method seems way too “big brother”-ish. Shouldn’t the teachers, bus drivers, and school employees be keeping a watchful eye instead?

Some of the capabilities of the AT&T tracking system include:

— Asset tracking. Minimize theft of high-value equipment and assets, including computers, projectors, laptop carts and lab equipment. Also, because many of these assets are mobile, locating them can be difficult in a large school building. Active RFID allows the teachers and staff to easily locate these assets, saving time and optimizing inventory.
– Daily attendance tracking. Automate the tracking of average daily attendance, as well as notify administrators when students are not in school by importing information in the student-information databases.
– School-visitor tracking. Monitor the location of visitors and even alert school administrators when visitors enter unauthorized areas.
– Disaster response. Provide the location of school staff in the event of a man-made or natural emergency or disaster situation.

Source: CNN
Image: Flickr

“By bridging the gap between privy full-featured camcorders and single-use cameras, Glide makes it easy to capture high-quality footage anywhere from a wedding to a rafting trip and bring it home for sharing on standard DVDs.” Yanko

Photo: TSA

In an effort to make air travel easier, passengers at the Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport will soon be able to use their cellphones and PDAs to board flights. Continental Airlines is running a 3 month test allowing digital versions of boarding passes to be presented instead of their paper counterparts. A boarding pass containing a bar code encrypted with flight and passenger details will be emailed to passengers participating in the program. They can then present this bar code via a cellphone or PDA at the airport security checkpoints and gates, where the bar code will be scanned with a handheld scanner.

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Ghostbusters - Fall 2008

 
Assassin’s Creed - Out Now

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