Archive for February, 2012
Publication: msnbc.com Date: February 29, 2012 View Article
When we start to follow human-like robots wherever they choose to lead us, we’ll know the apocalypse has arrived. For fish, that moment is now.
Researchers have built a robot that sort of looks and swims like a fish and used it to lure real fish into schooling around it.
Tags: Fish, Ocean, Pollution, Robot
Posted in Marine Science, Technology
Publication: msnbc.com Date: February 28, 2012 View Article
Real-world computers that can speedily crack even the most secure codes are within grasp thanks to recent advances that will allow for so-called fault-tolerant quantum computers, according to an expert in the field.
Quantum computers differ from classical, or regular, computers at the most basic unit of information. In classical computing, the basic unit of information is a bit: either a 1 or 0.
Tags: Computer, Physics, Quantum, Speed
Posted in Technology
Publication: msnbc.com Date: February 23, 2012 View Article
The images of nearly every major stretch of road taken by Google’s Street View team and the snapshots we capture with our smartphones may soon be all we need to navigate the world, according to an Australian researcher.
That is, we can ditch the expensive satellite and computer technologies that power modern GPS systems and rely on low-resolution pictures instead, Michael Milford, an engineer at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, explained.
Tags: Photo, Rodent, Satellite, Vision
Posted in Animals, Technology
Publication: National Geographic News Date: February 22, 2012 View Article
Did it feel like time flew in November 2009? It turns out the days were actually going a wee bit faster for part of that month, according to a team of NASA and European scientists.
Earth spun about 0.1 millisecond faster for a two-week stretch, said study co-author Steven Marcus, a researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
The planet’s speedier spin appears to have been due to a slowdown in an ocean current that whips around Antarctica.
Tags: Current, Earth, El Nino, Ocean, Weather
Posted in Climate Change, Geology, Marine Science
Publication: msnbc.com Date: February 16, 2012 View Article
For several years, scientists have worked on real-world invisibility cloaks akin to the one that shields boy wizard Harry Potter from light waves. While that’s neat-o and all, a research group in Potter’s homeland thinks a similar trick can protect buildings from earthquakes.
The group, led by mathematician William Parnell at the University of Manchester, has shown that cloaking components or structures in pressurized rubber would make them invisible to the powerful waves produced during a temblor.
Tags: Earthquake, Material, Movie, Physics
Posted in Geology, Natural Disasters, Technology
Publication: msnbc.com Date: February 15, 2012 View Article
Banks of scorching hot batteries filled with molten metals may be the long-sought silver bullet to make large-scale adoption of wind and solar energy a practical, purely green reality.
Such a storage solution is needed because, as we know, the wind doesn’t always blow and the sun doesn’t always shine where and when it’s needed.
Tags: Alternative Energy, Battery, Metal, Solar, Wind
Posted in Climate Change, Energy
Publication: msnbc.com Date: February 8, 2012 View Article
This is a blog post about the sexy social media technology Twitter. It mentions Justin Bieber. You’ll want to tweet it. At least, my editors hope you do. My job might depend on it.
The Internet and social media have altered the face of journalism. Few media companies can survive selling ads in traditional newspapers and magazines that readers will see as they flip pages in search of content that tickles their fancy.
Tags: Computer, Internet, Media, Twitter
Posted in Culture, Finance, Technology