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.

Read the rest of this entry »

A new study says massive use could overload the Internet and lead to brownouts by 2010 unless backbone service providers an estimated $137 billion in new infrastructure. The predicted ‘Exaflood’ is being attributed to video and other heavy Web content according to the70-page report by Nemertes Research Group. From the study: “Our findings indicate that although core fiber and switching/routing resources will scale nicely to support virtually any conceivable user demand, Internet access infrastructure, specifically in North America, will likely cease to be adequate for supporting demand within the next three to five years.” Service providers already plan on spending about $72 billion on upgrades, but this report claims it’s not enough. Is this just more ‘Y2K-like’ paranoia, or is this a genuine problem? Via Macworld;Press release

It’s no secret that the current traffic control light system is severly antiquated. We’ve all sat at a traffic light of an empty intersection and wondered why the light didn’t turn green. Or have been at an extremely congested intersection and scratched our heads in disbelief as only a few cars made it through each cycle. We waste hours sitting in traffic because the current traffic systems and infrastructure simply can’t handle current traffic levels. Or can they?

Most of the existing traffic systems were built in the 1960s and ’70s, when traffic levels were just a small percentage of what they are today. Computers didn’t have enough computing power to calculate complex systems to speed traffic along according to levels at that moment, so they were simply programmed to repeat in cycles. At the time they worked efficiently. With some changes to the current systems, traffic flow could be improved by as much as 95%.

Read the rest of this entry »

What’s usually the most important detail when purchasing a new car? Performance? Sometimes. Airbags and safety ratings? Nah, I live in the edge. Cupholders? I hope not. Paint color? Bingo. Auto companies spend millions of dollars determining what color consumers want and will sell the best. Research groups and customer surveys help determine auto paint colors that can, ultimately, make or break a new vehicle model.

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. Theoretically, almost any color could be produced in this manner. The one downfall is that the electric current needs to remain on to keep that color. Once the car is turned off the paint will revert back to white.

Read the rest of this entry »

The U.K. army begain testing technology that can make a tank nearly invisible. In trials last week, the army was able to make a tank completely disapear.

This invisible technology works by projecting images of the surrounding landscape onto the surface of the tank (or any object to be hidden). This gives the effect of looking through the object as the landscape that would normally be obscured by the tank is now visible. The weakest point of this intricate and delicate system of cameras and projectors is that it would have to be able to handle intense conditions.



The invisible tank is expected to be battle ready by 2012. I think we will see invisibility technology in use with other military machinery by that time as well.

Source: DailyMail.co.uk

Computers aren’t very good at random numbers. The problem is that they’re too predictable, and will eventually repeat themselves. If you call a random number in a line of code, then with the same seed value every time that program runs you will get the same order of numbers. Sometimes this is a problem, and sometimes it’s not.

In some academic applications it’s vital to get true random numbers, and there have been some interesting solutions. Now though, there is an online resource that can provide true random numbers by measuring the quantum process of photon emission. The Quantum Random Bit Generator Service (QRBGS) was developed by computer scientists from the Ruder Boškovic Institute (RBI) in Zagreb, Croatia. ::Press Esc

Some new Apple patents are showing no sign of a slow down in innovation at Apple. The fresh patents show a hold switch that auto-activates in the dark, short-range info exchange for wireless payment methods or device detection. And a patent on the notorius iChat “speech bubble interface”, with a three-way conversation (shown above). Not stopping there, how about a touch-sensitive scroll wheel showing a visual path of motion? Very cool.

They’re also looking into new interactive multi-touch mice, possibly integrated some of the same gestures you can do on an iPhone.

Slightly random news here, but too unusual to skip over. Fifeteen years ago, 29,000 plastic yellow ducks, blue turtles and green frogs fell off of a cargo ship. They’ve been floating around since then, covering 17,000 miles and seeing most of the world’s oceans. Currently they are making an appearance in the UK media because they’re on their way to our shores. Some time in the next few months they are expected to start washing up on South-West England.

The toys have been used by scientists in the last 15 years to track ocean currents, and have been a really valuable resource. Oceanographer, Curtis Ebbesmeyer, who has been tracking the toys, said, “We’re getting reports of ducks being washed up on America’s eastern seaboard. It is now inevitable that they will get caught up in the Atlantic currents and will turn up on English beaches. Cornwall and the South-West will probably get the first wave of them.”

They’re easy to spot, because they will be quite faded and have the makers name, The First Years, stamped on them. If you can find one, then it’s good news for three reasons; you can help science by letting them know where you found it, you’re cleaning some junk from the sea and you can claim a £50 bounty from the makers for finding one. ::Daily Mail

At the Apple Store in Seattle a few Microsoft employees were found stand in line awaiting the iPhone. Adrian, who didn’t want his last name used, said there were also two other Microsoft peeps from the Windows Mobile division in line, but wouldn’t point them out. According to PC World, “Adrian’s friend Anna, also a Microsoft employee, agreed to come along to buy two additional phones for him. Apple set a two-phones-per-person limit Friday.”

There has already been buzz about a possible Microsoft phone, like a Zune phone or similar. So this is really just another piece of hard evidence that Microsoft is really working on a super phone, and I think it’s inevitable.