Peter J Lennartsson | Sighenz

NASA’s Kepler telescope finds 26 additional planets

NASA Kepler Misson, Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt

The Kepler space telescope have discovered 11 new planetary systems, hosting 26 confirmed planets. The discoveries adds to the list of confirmed planets outside the Earth’s solar system to 729, of these 60 has been found by the Kepler team

The Kepler telescope was successfully launched into space from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II at 10:49 p.m. EST March 6, 2009. Kepler is designed to find the first Earth-size planets orbiting stars at distances where water could pool on the planet’s surface. Liquid water is believed to be essential for the formation of life. The mission is focused on discovery and as the mission progresses, Kepler will drift farther and farther behind Earth in its orbit around the sun. NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, which was launched into the same orbit more than five years ago, is now more than 62 million miles behind Earth.

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Nokia present Lumia 900 at CES

Nokia Lumia 900 Black — Nokia Lumia 900 in black

Today Nokia presented the rumored Nokia Lumia 900. It’s a LTE device with a 4.3-inch ClearBlack AMOLED display, and with 2 cameras. The back camera has an f/2.2 apeture lens, and the front camera an f/2.4 apeture lens. Maybe there is videocall support through Skype on the horizon?

It’s using a 1.4GHz processor just as in the Lumia 800, and the memory specifications seems to be the same as well. The body is made of the same slick polycarbonate material used on the Nokia N9 and the Lumia 800, and the Lumia 900 uses the same beautiful design features as well. The device is also sporting a 1830mAh battery to provide good battery life even with the increased screen size.

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Samsung might rethink ICS plans for Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab

Galaxy S and ICS — Is Samsung Galaxy S getting ICS?

In recent weeks Samsung confirmed that Galaxy S II would receive an upgrade to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), but could at that time not confirm a release date. The joy of these news was unfortunately then dampened among some of the Galaxy fans when an update list concerning ICS and the Galaxy line was presented last week, giving indications that Galaxy S and P1000 Galaxy Tab 7.0 would not receive the ICS update at all. A lot of users was understandably infuriated and contacted Samsung to show their displeasure and disappointment. Many of them naturally also tried find out the reason for this decision.

Turns out Samsung actually seem to be listening, and have now promised to look into the matter, and reevaluate if there is a possibility for both Galaxy S and P1000 Galaxy Tab to get the Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich update. They are of course not making any promises that the devices in the end will get the update, but it is nice to know that Samsung is paying attention and is open to feedback from their customers.

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London gets new Hybrid buses early 2012

New hybrid bus in London — Image © Heatherwick Studio

On the 16 December a new, next generation double decker bus, was presented in London. Transport for London that commissioned the buses, claims the hybrid double-decker bus “will be the most environmentally friendly bus of its kind when it enters passenger service.” The engineering test vehicle uses a hybrid drivetrain developed by Volvo and emits only 640 grams of CO₂ per kilometer. This is less than half of that of current diesel buses emits. During testing fuel economy was also better than twice that of a standard diesel bus, clocking in at 11.6 mpg.

Transport for London awarded the contract for engineering design early 2010 to Wrightbus, a company based in Northern Ireland. Wrightbus in collaboration with London’s Heatherwick Studio have now have finished the first prototype, and is ready to show it off. London Mayor Boris Johnson proudly proclaimed at the unveil that “It is the latest, greatest masterpiece of British engineering and design, and I am certain it will become a much-loved and iconic vehicle akin to the legendary Routemaster from which it draws so much inspiration”. The first bus is planned to begin carrying passengers on the busy Route 38 (Victoria station to Hackney) on February 20, 2012.

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Green data center cooled by a Norwegian fjord

Green Mountain Data Centre in Norway, cooled by the Rennesøy fjord

Hidden inside a Norwegian mountain a new data center is under construction. When completed it will provide an estimated 21.000 square meters (226,000 square feet) of space, naturally cooled by water in a adjacent fjord, making it the worlds most environmentally-friendly data center. The Rennesøy fjord supplies water at a around 8 degrees Celsius, a temperature ideal for a data center, witch makes the placement of this new construction a stroke of genius. It benefits both the environment and the data centers financial department at the same time.

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Car seat of near future ID’s drivers seating position

Car Seat with sensor ID — Intelligent Car Seat from AIIT, in Tokyo

A group of engineers at the Advanced Institute of Industrial Technology has developed a system that can recognize an individual by analyzing the seating position and how the body applies pressure on the seat when a person is sitting down. The group of engineers, led by professor Shigeomi Koshimizu at the public graduate school in Tokyo, will seek commercialization of the system for use as a highly reliable anti-theft system in two to three years, through collaboration with different automakers.

The seat works by using a system of 360 pressure sensors attached under the driver’s seat.Through their combined efforts they remember and create a “pressure map” that is then stored and can later be used for identification purposes.

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Solar charger that lets you earn points as you use it

More and more gadgets are coming that lets you power your devices with solar energy, and now you can even earn points while doing so. A charger from the new German startup called Changers, doesn’t just give you a great power source in the sun, but it also earns you credits that you can use to both compete in green credentials with your friends, and also buy items with.

The charger consists of a solar panel and a battery. It takes about four hours to reach a full charge, and this gives you enough juice to charge an iPhone, twice. It also comes with an array of adapters for devices from the most common manufacturers like Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Sony PSP or Nintendo. Anything that charges over USB will basically work.

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European Commission wants to help develop environmental technologies

The 15 December 2011, the European Commission announced on their webpage that they’re launching a new instrument to help companies that are developing innovative environmental technologies. The Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) pilot program will provide independent verification of the performance of new environmental technologies, and this is intended to help manufacturers prove the reliability of performance claims, and help technology purchasers identify innovations that suit their needs.

“The Environmental Technology Verification pilot programme is the first, practical fruit of the Eco-Innovation Action Plan. Investors need objective and credible information about the performance of new technologies, so this initiative will have an important role to play. It should help companies at the cutting edge of environmental technologies make the most of the opportunities in the European Single Market.” said Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik

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Russian Mars probe will crash back to Earth next month

Russian Phobos-Grunt — Electrical testing of the spacecraft "Phobos-Grunt".

The Russian Phobos-Ground probe was intended to land on the Martian moon Phobos, and bring back soil samples to Earth in a 2,5 year mission. The craft started it’s journey from Site 45 in Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, on November. 8, 2011, when it was launched with a two-stage Zenit rocket (Zenit-2SB41.1). After a flawless liftoff, the first separation of the rocket went according to plan. Unfortunenaly issues occurred during the second separation of the two-stage rocket, leaving the Phobos-Grunt in an elliptical orbit with a perigee (lowest point) of 207 kilometers above the Earth surface and an apogee (highest point) of 347 kilometers.

Even after several attempt to salvage the mission, Roscosmos, the Russian space agency finally had to admit defeat and the Phobos-Ground probe was left stuck in an orbit around earth. The €129m ($170m) Phobos-Ground probe is now expected to fall back to Earth between 6 and 19 January. The craft weighs 13.2 tonne, including 11 tonnes of highly toxic fuel. But Roscosmos expect that only 20 to 30 fragments weighing a total of up to 200kg (440lb) will survive the fiery plunge and shower the Earth’s surface. Where they will land can only be calculated a few days beforehand, Roscosmos said in a statement.

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