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Rooms with a changing view: Introducing A new type of swirling skyscraper is set to change city skylines forever. An Italian architect has revealed his ambitious plans to create 'dynamic towers', in which each floor fully rotates up to once an hour. |
Tech World Gathers for CES
It’s that time again -- time for people from all facets and corners of the electronics business to come together for the cozy little trade show now known simply as CES. (Its full name is the 2005 International Consumer Electronics Show.) Hundreds of thousands of buyers, sellers, executives and even people like me (with press credentials hanging from their necks) will descend upon Las Vegas this week for this year’s edition of the world’s largest annual consumer technology exhibition. Hotels have raised their prices, the really good restaurants are almost completely booked and try to get a ticket for one of the hot shows in town. Just try! |
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Father of the Internet: 'Web is running out of addresses' From Times Online
The world is about to run out of the internet addresses that allow computers to identify each other and communicate, the man who invented the system has told The Times. Vint Cerf, the “father of the internet” and one of the world’s leading computer scientists, said that businesses and consumers needed to act now to switch to the next generation of net addresses. Unless preparations were made now, he said, some computers might not be able to go online and the connectivity of the internet might be damaged. Mr Cerf said that internet service providers in particular needed to prepare and that time was running out for a smooth transition. Every computer and online device is assigned a unique IP address, but the pool of unallocated numbers is about to dry up. IP address timebomb When Mr Cerf and others founded the internet system in 1977, he set in place "internet protocol version four" (IPv4) which provided 4.2 billion addresses. With the number of internet-enabled devices, particularly mobile phones, soaring, less than 14 per cent of those addresses remain vacant. It is estimated that IPv4 addresses, each of which is a series of 32 binary digits, will run out in 2010 and possibly as early as next year. A new system, called IPv6, has been ready for implementation for more than a decade. Under IPv6, each address has 128 bits and so provides 340 trillion, trillion, trillion different addresses - that is 340,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. It is assumed that this will meet humanity’s needs for decades to come. The two protocol systems will run in tandem and IPv4 addresses will still work as normal. But if the IPv6 is not widely adopted, then those using it may find themselves unable to connect across the whole internet. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has warned that shifting to the new addressing scheme was “critical for the future of the internet economy” and was likely to affect “all businesses that require IP addresses for their growth". It has urged governments to mount extensive education campaigns and encourage its adoption by specifying it in tenders for work.
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Homeland Security Detects Terrorist Threats by Reading Your Mind A computer screens displays input from Homeland Security's FAST body scanner during a demonstration. Most preventive screening looks for explosives or metals that pose a threat. But a new system called MALINTENT turns the old school approach on its head. This Orwellian-sounding machine detects the person — not the device — set to wreak havoc and terror. MALINTENT, the brainchild of the cutting-edge Human Factors division in Homeland Security's directorate for Science and Technology, searches your body for non-verbal cues that predict whether you mean harm to your fellow passengers. It has a series of sensors and imagers that read your body temperature, heart rate and respiration for unconscious tells invisible to the naked eye — signals terrorists and criminals may display in advance of an attack. But this is no polygraph test. Subjects do not get hooked up or strapped down for a careful reading; those sensors do all the work without any actual physical contact. It's like an X-ray for bad intentions. Currently, all the sensors and equipment are packaged inside a mobile screening laboratory about the size of a trailer or large truck bed, and just last week, Homeland Security put it to a field test in Maryland, scanning 144 mostly unwitting human subjects. While I'd love to give you the full scoop on the unusual experiment, testing is ongoing and full disclosure would compromise future tests. |
IN OUR EVERYDAY COMMUNICATION, we are constantly monitoring other people's facial and body cues to discern whether we are enrapturing them, boring them, or confusing them—such that we can maintain or change our social tactics accordingly. But people are born with different degrees of this ability, and some need a little help. People with autism spectrum disorders like Asperger's—a social disorder that some scientists believe has afflicted the world's greatest geniuses, including Einstein—often have trouble deciphering what other people are thinking or feeling. As a result, they frequently make poor social judgments. |
Revolutionary Paper is Stronger Than Steel TALLAHASSEE, Florida (AP) -- It's called "buckypaper" and looks a lot like ordinary carbon paper, but don't be fooled by the cute name or flimsy appearance. It could revolutionize the way everything from airplanes to TVs are made. Florida State University researcher Ben Wang, whose computer screen shows a microscopic view of buckypaper. Buckypaper is 10 times lighter but potentially 500 times stronger than steel when sheets of it are stacked and pressed together to form a composite. Unlike conventional composite materials, though, it conducts electricity like copper or silicon and disperses heat like steel or brass. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15 STUNNING CUTTING EDGE TECHNOLOGIES
We live in a spectacular time. The pace of technology steadily increases, new fields of science are heavily explored and innovative concepts emerge almost every day, resulting in stunning and overwhelming products. The impact of these products can be tremendous: in fact, new technology can completely revolutionize the way we play, communicate, work and live our lives. Some of these products are just eye-candy, some are useful, some are visionary and some may become revolutionary in the next year
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Mankind to Experience Grand Revolution in Scientific Achievements During the Next 5 Years
IBM specialists presented their Next Five in Five Report. The document gives a scientific forecast for the development of five achievements that may show great influence on how common people live, work and spend their free time. The fantastic changes are slated to happen very soon, during the upcoming five years, 3DNews.ru reports. - technologies to transform solar power into electricity; The technologies to transform the solar power are expected to enter a whole new level. It will be possible to use solar batteries in paint, house blocks and house roofs, windows and even clothes. Experts say that photovoltaic modules will become 100 times thinner, and it will be possible to use them everywhere. Doctors will learn to predict health risks during the next five years to protect patients against the development of diseases and ailments. Medicine will reach such a level owing to new discoveries in the human DNA structure. In addition, the breakthrough will let pharmaceutical companies create more effective medications. The typical web surfing which people practice nowadays will become history. It will be possible to surf the web without the keyboard and the mouse - they will be replaced with human voice. New technologies will make a fundamental change in the perception of information and its creation. Digital sales assistants will oust humans from grocery and clothing stores. Fitting rooms will be outfitted with sensor displays that will help customers make quick decisions about the size and the model of a new jacket, a new pair of shoes, etc. Most likely, the development of such assistants will be based on mobile communication technologies. It will also be very easy to remember many phone numbers at once. Technologies will allow to record, save and analyze important details in the human memory.
Jet Man A Swiss man has become the first person to fly solo across the English Channel using a single jet-propelled wing.
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From The Sunday Times Mark Harris
If it survives its first test flight, the Terrafugia Transition, which can transform itself from a two-seater road car to a plane in 15 seconds, is expected to land in showrooms in about 18 months’ time. Its manufacturer says it is easy to keep and run since it uses normal unleaded fuel and will fit into a garage. Carl Dietrich, who runs the Massachusetts-based Terrafugia, said: “This is the first really integrated design where the wings fold up automatically and all the parts are in one vehicle.” RELATED LINKS Terrafugia claims it will be able to fly up to 500 miles on a single tank of petrol at a cruising speed of 115mph. Up to now, however, it has been tested only on roads at up to 90mph. Dietrich said he had already received 40 orders, despite an expected retail price of $200,000 (£132,000). “For an airplane that’s very reasonable, but for a car that’s very much at the high end,” he conceded. There are still one or two drawbacks. Getting insurance may be a little tricky and finding somewhere to take off may not be straightforward: the only place in the US in which it is legal to take off from a road is Alaska. Dietrich is optimistic. He said: “In the long term we have the potential to make air travel practical for individuals at a price that would meet or beat driving, with huge time savings.”
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