10 Emerging Technologies

Epigenetics, Cognitive Radio, Nuclear Reprogramming, Diffusion Tensor Imaging, Universal Authentication, Nanobiomechanics, Pervasive Wireless, Stretchable Silicon, Comparative Interactomics, Nanomedicine.

 

10 Emerging Technologies

 

AjaxWrite to "Compete" with MS Word

Michael Robertson (of MP3.com, Linspire, SIPPhone, GizmoProject and MP3Tunes.com fame) is launching a Web-only competitor to Microsoft Office by creating a suite of applications replicating Microsoft Office look and feel.

 

From the posting: "But ajaxWrite is just the start. We have a library of applications we have been working on to replace most of the standard PC software titles. Every week we will launch a new sophisticated program on Wednesday at 12:00 PST on ajaxlaunch.com. These programs will push the boundaries of what people believe is possible today with web-delivered software. These programs look and operate much like their traditional software cousins, but are cross-platform, loaded dynamically, and are available to users at no charge. I'm convinced if you try a few of these products you will understand how the software business will fundamentally change." ajaxWrite is the first launched product

 

Is this the future for applications?

Seven Career Killers

As someone just starting out in the work world, you probably don't have a reputation yet. Take advantage of this blank slate. "You want to be seen as an up-and-comer, not the stereotypical young slacker," says Marty Nemko, a job coach in Oakland, Cal., and columnist for Kiplinger's Personal Finance. Avoiding these seven career killers will help you craft a stellar reputation and keep your career on track.

 

Excellent read for every one, especially freshers.

 

http://www.kiplinger.com/personalfinance/columns/starting/archive/2006/st0223.htm

How to Think Like a Genius?

From the article:

 

Somebody asked me the other day how I can be endlessly coming up with ideas for products, that they would in my situation be worrying about their ideas running out one day. This got me thinking as I believe it is possible for anyone and everyone to be creative - we all get given a box of crayons in Kindergarten, yet some of us make it our job and others go for something different. Yes, I suppose you could say that there are special skills required to be a designer or a creative person, but ultimately I believe it is down to how we think about stuff and how much we open ourselves up to making odd links between seemingly unrelated things. For this to be effective you need to be constantly feeding your mind with information, films, books, good stuff that makes you always learn more. However, I also think that the following eight ways of approaching problems encourage you to think productively, rather than reproductively, in order to arrive at solutions.

 

http://www.digitaldigressions.net/digital_digressions/2006/03/how_to_think_li.html

Scientists Finally uncover what causes Asthma

Medical experts have been baffled by what causes asthma. Most of them favor the idea that it stems from "helper" cells that have gone awry. But researchers at Harvard Medical School (HMS) have come up with convincing evidence that the answer lies in a special type of natural "killer" cell.

 

http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2006/03.16/01-asthma.html

Diabetes breakthrough may end insulin injections

Bioengineers at the University of Calgary have successfully grown insulin producing cells in a lab, marking a major breakthrough in diabetes research.

The team of scientists hope to eventually transplant lab grown, insulin producing cells directly into the bodies of patients with Type 1 diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes makes the body unable to produce enough insulin, requiring those suffering from the disease to inject themselves with the hormone.

In theory, the transplant would eliminate the need for daily insulin injections by patients who suffer from the disease.

"This transplant procedure, developed in Edmonton, is the best thing to come in 20 years to treat type one diabetes," Dr. Leo Behie, the professor of chemical engineering in charge of the research project, told CTV Thursday.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060316/diabetes_break_060316/20060317?hub=Health

Jay Ingram's new book questions consciousness

From the article:

Have you ever been driving down the highway and suddenly noticed you have no memory of the last few kilometres? In his new book, author and co-host of Daily Planet on CTV's Discovery Channel Jay Ingram tries to figure out why things like that happen.

In Theatre of the Mind: Raising the Curtain on Consciousness, Ingram tries to unravel some of the mysteries of our minds. How is it that most of what goes on in our brains is actually unconscious? How much influence does our unconscious mind have on our conscious mind? What is consciousness?

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20051104/ingram_theatre_051104/20051104/

World's First Completely Transparent IC

DeviceForge is reporting that researchers at Oregon State University claim to have created the worlds first 'completely transparent' ICs (integrated circuit) from inorganic compounds. From the article: 'The technology can enable extremely inexpensive electronics for use in "throw away" devices, and is expected to be used in automobile windshields, cell phones, TVs, games, and toys, among other applications, OSU said. OSU also believes that the technology might result in more efficient solar cells or improvements and LCD displays (liquid crystal displays), it said

Octomatics

The octomatics-project is about a new number system
which has a lot of advantages over our old decimal system.
the name comes from the mixture of 'octal' and 'mathematics'.

what do you think: why do we have the decimal system
in our western world? because of our 10 fingers? why
do we have 7 days a week? why are 60 seconds 1 minute
and 60 minutes 1 hour? why do we have 24 hours a day?
and 31 or 30 days a month? do you think thats a really
good solution? well, here is another one:

...welcome to octomatics

 

Is Cloaking Technology for U.S. Infantry Warfighters Finally Possible?

Well, maybe now we can. It's possible that a company out of Fullerton, California called Advanced American Enterprises (AAE) has achieved the holy grail--tactical invisibility. That's what they're claiming, anyway.  It's called the Stealth Technology System (STS), and AAE claims that the technology really works and is ready for prime time. According to the company, STS is more effective, less expensive, and lighter-weight than any known active camouflage/cloaking tech that's previously been under development in the past.  AAE states that STS can be applied to ground vehicles, boats, infantry warfighters, and UGVs/ground robots. Any object to which STS is applied will, according to AAE, become virtually invisible, even from as little as 20-25 feet away. Wow. The STS adaptive camouflage technology is apparently still undergoing T&E for application to manned and unmanned aircraft.

The actual inventor of the Stealth Technology System is Dr. Rashid Zeineh, who already reportedly has a number of previous inventions under his belt, including the first laser scanner ever (1968) and its software that "also reads DNA identity", and anti-hijacking tech, a.k.a. a "Counter-Terrorism Device for Airplanes". BTW, Zeineh's laser scanner also reportedly reads bar codes. 

Round-up of 30 AJAX Tutorials

Good collection of 30 AJAX tutorials.

 

http://www.maxkiesler.com/index.php/weblog/comments/round_up_of_30_ajax_tutorials/

RFID Virus?

Everyone thought that the RFID memory is too small to write a VIRUS. But it has been proved wrong.

 

Student Melanie Rieback and others, part of a Tannenbaum research group in Amsterdam, have proven that RFID-tags are vulnerable for infection with viruses. In a research paper titled "Is Your Cat Infected with a Computer Virus?" is shown how an altered RFID tag can be used to send a SQL injection attack or a buffer overflow. They describe on the rfidvirus.org website possible exploits of this types of viruses: from altering the backoffice of a supermarket to spreading RFID viruses by infected bags on airports.

 

Read the article from Conputer World

Supercomputer Performs Simulation of Virus

Red Herring is reporting that researchers from the University of California at Irvine and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have announced that they created a computer simulation of a virus. From the article: "Using one of the world's fastest computers at the U.S. National Center for Supercomputing Applications, located at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the researchers ran a computer program devised to reverse engineer the dynamics of all atoms making up the virus particle and a tiny drop of water containing it." Nature also has an interesting write up on the research surrounding this project.

Seven-ounce "wrist PC" runs Linux or Windows

A European research and development firm has announced a seven-ounce, wrist-worn wearable computer with a 2.2 x 2.8-inch color touchscreen. Eurotech's WWPC (wrist-worn PC) runs Linux or Windows, offers a wealth of standard PC interfaces (WLAN, Bluetooth, IrDA, USB, SD-card, etc), and has patented technology that puts the device to sleep when the user drops their arm. It can detect motionless user states, and serve as a location-transmitting beacon, thanks to a built-in GPS receiver and 'dead reckoning' technology. The company also claims six hours of battery life under 'fully operational' conditions."

http://linuxdevices.com/news/NS5812502455.html

Does the inventionof artificial light affect human evolution?

Does the invention of artificial light (bulbs) affect human evolution? Continue reading

 

From the article:

 

Before the incandescent bulb began to proliferate in the early twentieth century, human sleep schedules were largely governed by the Earth's day and night cycle. But once humans possessed the technology to ward off an appreciable chunk of nighttime, we soon extended our usable waking hours by an average of 13%. Some researchers believe that this modern convenience, credited with bringing the human race in from the dark, may also be responsible for numerous ills.

http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=416

Your Next PC Will Cost $159

A PC for $159? Unbelievable isn't it? Believe it. Frys is selling a PC for $159, with a Keyboard, mouse sans monitor. You can get a 17'' CRT monitor for $119 (again a offer from Frys). Looks like the PC is a decent with 4 USB slots, an empty AGP if you want upgrade video card, comes with built-in 6 channel sound system and speakers thats not good. The memory is just 128MB which you need to upgrade for sure (512MB sells for less than $40 if you need buy one). And you guessed it right, the system doesn't run on Micro$oft. It runs on Linspire (formerly Lindows). Read the review here.

Someday we might get a PC for just under $99 :)

Next Gen Contact Lenses During Night Only

The concept of OrthoKeratology dates back to ancient China where it was discovered that sleeping with small bags of sand on your eyes improved your vision the following day.

OrthoKeratology (Ortho-K) is a non-surgical process which reshapes (flattens) the cornea of the eye using custom made contact lenses during the night to reduce refractive errors (nearsightedness and astigmatism). The patient would take the lenses out in the morning and they are able to see the rest of the day without any glasses or contact lenses.

Accelerated Ortho-K uses reverse geometry contact lenses. Flattening the cornea reduces the focusing power of the eye. If the amount of corneal flattening is accurately controlled, it is possible to bring the eye into correct focus and compensate for myopia (nearsightedness). After the contact lens is removed, the cornea retains its flattened shape for part or all of the remainder of the day. A retainer lens must be used each night to maintain the corneal flattening, or the myopia will revert to the pre-treatment level. Ortho-K is also successful for some degrees of farsightness by steepening the central cornea.

Hot Wheel

Take a look at this future of segway called Embrio. It only has a single wheel, balanced by a sets of gyroscopes, has active suspension, infrared night vision and it runs on fuel cells. What more can you ask?

From the article:

The Embrio also borrows several other advanced technologies from cars, like infrared night vision and an active suspension, which can vary its damping rates based on road conditions. Its riding position resembles that of a motorcycle, and it balances one or more passengers with a network of sensors and gyroscopes. To move the Embrio, you use an accelerator trigger on the left handlebar and a brake trigger on the right

http://www.forbes.com/execpicks/2003/11/04/cx_dl_1104vow.html

How To Improve Your Study Habits and Remember Better

From the article:

If you're a student attending classes, you have probably experienced many moments when it was hard to make yourself settle down and study, even when an important exam was coming up.

If you're like most students, you put off studying until the very last minute. The night before the exam, you'll stay up all night cramming, getting little or no sleep. In the morning, you'll drag yourself out of bed, psych yourself up with lots of coffee and some cigarettes, and go into the exam feeling exhausted, drained and jittery all at the same time. You'll find it hard to focus or think, and you'll be cursing yourself for not starting to study sooner.

And not surprisingly, unless you're blessed with natural brilliance, or you happen to know the subject matter extremely well, you'll probably do terribly on the test

http://www.aboutitworld.com/college-university/13313.php

Here are Five excellent mind habits to develop Interesting read.

Mice with glowing hearts shed light on living cells

There is the heart of gold, and then there is the heart that glows. Literally.

Cornell researchers have genetically engineered mice whose hearts glow with a green light every time they beat. The development gives researchers insights into how hearts develop in living mouse embryos and could improve our understanding of irregular heartbeats, known as arrhythmias, as well as open doors to observing cellular processes to better understand basic physiology and disease.

The technique for making living, functional cells fluoresce, or glow, when the concentration of calcium ions rise within cells, is described online at http://www.pnas.org/papbyrecent.shtml and is to be published in a future issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/March06/MouseSensor.kr.html

Discovery of life in Solar system other than Earth?

Cassini spacecraft recently discovered hot geysers spewing out liquid (mostly water). This could mean that there is a good evidence of life thriving out near and around the geyser.

 

From the article:

 

NASA's Cassini spacecraft may have found evidence of liquid water reservoirs that erupt in Yellowstone-like geysers on Saturn's moon Enceladus. The rare occurrence of liquid water so near the surface raises many new questions about the mysterious moon.

"We realize that this is a radical conclusion - that we may have evidence for liquid water within a body so small and so cold," said Carolyn Porco, Cassini imaging team leader at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. "However, if we are right, we have significantly broadened the diversity of solar system environments where we might possibly have conditions suitable for living organisms."

 

http://www.drudgereport.com/flash8na.htm

Debit card thieves get around PIN obstacle

With consumers around the country reporting mysterious fraudulent account withdrawals, and multiple banks announcing problems with stolen account information, it appears thieves have unleashed a powerful new way to steal money from cash machines.

Criminals have stolen bank account data from a third-party company, several banks have said, and then used the data to steal money from related accounts using counterfeit cards at ATM machines.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11731365/

Here is an article on how they do it.
http://redtape.msnbc.com/2006/03/how_can_someone.html

Research Warps into Hyperdrive

From the article:

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico - Take one part high-frequency gravitational wave generation, then add in a quantum vacuum field.

Now whip wildly via a gravitomagnetic force in a rotating superconductor while standing by for Alcubierre warp drive in higher dimensional space-time.

So you're looking for the latest in faster-than-light interstellar travel via traversable wormholes? That's one theme among many discussed at Space Technology & Applications International Forum (STAIF), a meeting held in, ALBUQUERQUE - New Mexico, Feb. 12-16 that brought together more than 600 experts to thrash out a range of space exploration issues

http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/060308_exotic_drive.html

Ten of the Biggest Mistakes Developers Make With Databases

From the article:

Although fashions come and go in software development, some things stay remarkably constant. One of these is the use of databases. You may be wonderfully up-to-date with an AJAX Web interface or the latest whizbang Windows user interface, but under the covers, you're probably still pumping data in and out of a database, just as we all did a decade or more ago. That makes it all the more surprising that developers are still making the same database mistakes that date back to those good old days of Windows 95 and before. Perhaps it's just that most of us learn to use databases on the side, rather than really studying them. In any case, here are my nominations for the biggest mistakes that I see over and over again.

http://www.developer.com/db/article.php/3589351

Good collection of free ware utilities

Nice categorized collection freeware that are available on net

http://121space.com/index.php?showtopic=886

A good javascript tutorial

And you thought you know everything about javascript? Not until you go through this tutorial. Nicely compiled.

http://simon.incutio.com/slides/2006/etech/javascript/js-tutorial.001.html

There are some good javascript libraries out there, if dont want to write everything from scratch

Dojo - dojotoolkit.org
Yahoo - developer.yahoo.net/yui
Mochikit = mochikit.com
Prototype - prototype.conio.net
script.aculo.us - script.aculo.us

9 Top Secrets of Naturally Born Organizers

This article is written by Barbara Wood

No doubt about it, some people have a gift for organization. Me? I was behind the door when that gift was handed out. Be that as it may, even the organization-challenged can learn new habits and organizational skills for a greater degree of order and efficiency. While home organization comes to mind, organizational skills for college students are also a necessity. What are nine organizational skills?

One very popular system for improving organization in the home is that of 'Messies Anonymous', founded by Sandra Felton. Felton was once a disorganized 'Messie.' She rated her friends on a scale of 1 to 10 according to how neat their homes were, then grilled the 9's to find their tips. (She found that the 10's were so extreme they had traded off some of the joy of living for the sake of a clean home!)

Marla Cilley, author of Sink Reflections has helped many homemakers overcome disorganized habits, too. She refers to people as either BO's (born organized), or SHE's (sidetracked home executives.) SHE's exhibit some of the characteristics of people who have been diagnosed with adult ADHD. These people feel on the go constantly and avoid routine tasks. They have a hard time finishing projects, too. Even a person with ADHD can learn the techniques of the naturally organized, and become more organized themselves.

1. Do it now. Procrastination leads to getting snowed under a pile of work.

2. Use your trash can liberally. Born organized people don't think twice about throwing things away. They aren't tempted to keep old worn out appliances around just in case. They don't worry about whether they can recycle that mayonnaise jar or not. They just toss things.

3. Get into a routine. B.O.'s don't wait for time to clean the whole bathroom. They wipe off the sink every time they notice it's splashed. They shine the mirror every day while brushing their teeth. They run sudsy water to use while cooking, so stirring spoons and saute pans are washed before the meal even goes on the table.

4. Put it where it goes. Disorganized people tend to stash things until they can figure out a better place for it or decide whether to even keep it or not. B.O.'s go ahead and toss it, file it, or otherwise deal with it before it becomes clutter.

5. Write dates on your calendar, and then remember to check the calendar every day. B.O.'s don't have to be told.

6. Pick up after yourself. (How embarrassing that we adults need to be reminded to do this!) Periodically look around for things you've left out of place a used coffee cup, the mail, or a book you're reading. Put them away before the mess gets out of hand.

7. Invest in organizing gadgets and then use them. Office organization is one area that benefits from file drawers, in/out boxes, and desk organizers. However, if the system is unrealistic or unhandy, you won't use it.

8. Don't be afraid of a little expenditure of energy. Many times the small tasks of putting things away and keeping things clean take much less time and energy than we think they will. I find that if I push myself a bit, these tasks are much simpler done more frequently, while the job is still small.

9. Get yourself a daily planner, and use it. Cilley points out that B.O.'s don't have to be told how to use a calendar or a planner, but on her website, she gives directions for gaining these organizational skills. Her directions for creating a control journal in effect fix readers up with free organizing planners.

Anyone, whether naturally inclined to organization or not, can benefit from implementing these suggestions. For those of us who struggle with disorganization, a few simple tips like these can give us a real boost in efficiency.

Barbara Wood is a writer and educator living with her family in the Missouri Ozarks.

Find the original article: http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/9-top-secrets-of-naturally-born-organizers.html

Simple ways to make yourself far cleverer

Doing 'brain exercises' such as watching Countdown, playing Sudoku or taking a shower with your eyes closed can make us all up to 40 per cent cleverer within seven days, according to research by a BBC programme this week

From the article:

It is not an intelligence-boosting formula likely to impress an Oxbridge don: watching Countdown, playing Sudoku, remembering telephone numbers and taking a shower with your eyes closed.

Yet doing 'brain exercises' such as these can make us all up to 40 per cent cleverer within seven days, according to research by a BBC programme this week.

The tests conducted for Get Smarter in a Week appear to bear out the growing belief among scientists that making simple changes to our lifestyle can lead to significant improvements in how well our brains function.

The programme found that a combination of techniques based on healthy eating, physical activity, sound sleep and stimulating your mind through solving puzzles and remembering lists makes people sharper, more confident and better at making decisions.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1723801,00.html

Soft drinks found to have high levels of carcinogens

Traces of a carcinogenic chemical have been found in soft drinks at eight times the level permitted in drinking water, it was revealed last night. There is a legal limit of one part per billion of benzene in British drinking water. The latest tests revealed levels of up to eight parts per billion in some soft drinks

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2065539,00.html

Caller ID Spoofing Becomes Easy

According to an article in USA Today, Caller ID spoofing has become much easier in the last few years. Millions of people have Internet telephone equipment that can be set to make any number appear on a Caller ID system. And several websites have sprung up to provide Caller ID spoofing services, eliminating the need for any special hardware. For instance, Spoofcard.com sells a virtual 'calling card' for $10 that provides 60 minutes of talk time. The user dials a toll-free number, then keys in the destination number and the Caller ID number to display. The service also provides optional voice scrambling, to make the caller sound like someone of the opposite sex."

Groundbased telescopes are worthless by 2050?

Ground-based astronomy could be impossible in 40 years because of pollution from aircraft exhaust trails and climate change, an expert says.

Aircraft condensation trails - known as contrails - can dissipate, becoming indistinguishable from other clouds.

If trends in cheap air travel continue, says Professor Gerry Gilmore, the era of ground astronomy may come to an end much earlier than most had predicted.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4755996.stm

Artificial limbs that walk naturally

A key element of any leg prosthesis is the prosthetic foot. Some models currently available are capable of rotating around three axes and accommodating to uneven terrain. "However, no prosthetic foot has yet been produced that can imitate the natural sequence of movements during walking," Schneider points out.

He and his team have developed a prosthetic foot that can do this by purely mechanical means, entirely without elaborate electronics. A human foot performs a tiny and almost imperceptible rotation with every step that it takes. After the heel strikes the ground, the foot first tilts inward and then rotates across its central position to the outer edge as the weight is transferred to the ball of the foot, while the hip pushes forward in preparation for the next step

http://www.gizmag.co.uk/go/5298/

Kids Build Soybean-Fueled Car

The star at last week's Philadelphia Auto Show wasn't a sports car or an economy car. It was a sports-economy - car one that combines performance and practicality under one hood.

A car that can go from zero to 60 in four seconds and get more than 50 miles to the gallon would be enough to pique any driver's interest. So who do we have to thank for it. Ford? GM? Toyota? No, its just Victor, David, Cheeseborough, Bruce, and Kosi, five kids from the auto shop program at West Philadelphia High School