New research can give mobile devices that see through walls

UT Dallas Reasearchers
Dr. Kenneth O, left, worked with a team including Dae Yeon Kim, who was among the authors of the research report.

Researchers at UT Dallas have designed a new imaging chip that in the future could let mobile devices see through walls, wood, plastics, paper and other objects. The research team have linked two existing scientific breakthroughs into one. The first involves looking at the terahertz range, a previously unused range in the electromagnetic spectrum. The second utilize advancements in new microchip technology.

Infrared wavelengths have been used for years, making night vision devices among other things possible. The terahertz band, one of the wavelength ranges that falls between microwave and infrared, has however up till now not been accessible for most consumer devices.

“We’ve created approaches that open a previously untapped portion of the electromagnetic spectrum for consumer use and life-saving medical applications”, said Dr. Kenneth O, professor of electrical engineering at UT Dallas and director of the Texas Analog Center of Excellence(TxACE). “The terahertz range is full of unlimited potential that could benefit us all.”

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IBM adds new partners to lithium-air battery 500 project.

IBM Battery 500 Project
IBM Battery 500 Project, © IBM Research

Today IBM announced that two industry leaders, Asahi Kasei and Central Glass, will join and collaborate on their Battery 500 Project. Back in 2009, IBM Research pioneered a sustainable mobility project to develop lithium-air battery technology, capable of powering a family-sized electric car for approximately 500 miles (800 km) on a single charge. With these new partners there is a great potential to accelerate the switch from gasoline to electricity as the primary power source for vehicles.

“These new partners share our vision of electric cars being critical components of building a cleaner, better world, which is far less dependent on oil”, said Dr. Winfried Wilcke, IBM’s Principle Investigator who initiated the Battery 500 Project. “Their compatible experience, knowledge and commitment to bold innovation in electric vehicle battery technology can help us transfer this research from the lab onto the road.”

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New power-optimized 2GHz Cortex-A15 quad-core chip from ARM

ARM Cortex-A15 MPCore
ARM Cortex-A15 MPCore (© ARM Ltd.)

ARM has just unveiled a new ARM Cortex-A15 MPCore quad-core chip, clocked at up to 2.0GHz, built using the TSMC 28-nanometer HPM process. It includes ARM’s NEON and Floating Point Unit technology, EEC for L1 and L2 RAM, as well as the ability to address more than 4GB of RAM.

Even if the new chip brings more processing power, it is very energy efficient as well, offering similar power consumption ratings to existing Cortex-A9 products. As if that was not enough, it also supports virtualization which makes it suitable for a wide variety of applications.

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SpaceX to launch April 30 after NASA gives it all-clear

Space X Dragon Capsule
SpaceX Dragon Capsule (© SpaceX)

A private spaceship, built by the company Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, California, is soon heading for the International Space Station. The launch is planned for April 30, and if successful will mark a historic event, making SpaceX’s Dragon the first commercial American robotic spacecraft to have ever flown and dock with the International Space Station.

The unmanned capsule, named Dragon, will be the first of a new fleet of commercial spacecraft being developed to deliver cargo to the station. The spacecraft will on this first test-run rendezvous with the space station and then be captured by astronauts, operating a robotic arm and offload some cargo. If SpaceX’s April test flight goes according to plans, another Dragon capsule will make the first official cargo delivery run in August.

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Eole Water makes water out of wind in the desert

Eole Water
Eole Water Wind turbine (© Eole Water)

A new concept has since October been tested in the Abu Dhabi desert, that uses a wind turbine to condense water from the air. After the water has been collected, it’s then pumped in into storage tanks for filtration and purification to deliver fresh drinking water that is up to WHO standards.

With it’s innovative technology, Eole Water can create water in almost any place on earth by using the power of wind energy, and the natural humidity in the air around us. Earth atmosphere is filled with humidity at an estimated capacity of 13000km3 natural water. By using wind power Eole Water is able to liquefy the air steam, and humidity is sucked up and then condensate.

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Facebook buys Instagram for approximately $1 billion

Facebook buying Instagram
Facebook buying Instagram for approx. $1 billion

Facebook have just announced that they are buying Instagram. Mark Zuckerberg posted the announcement on his Facebook page, and Kevin Systrom, CEO of Instagram soon after wrote his own post on the Instagram blog trying to reassure concerned fans of the service. “It’s important to be clear that Instagram is not going away. We’ll be working with Facebook to evolve Instagram and build the network. We’ll continue to add new features to the product and find new ways to create a better mobile photos experience”, he wrote.

What this will mean for the Instagram services to to early to tell. It could possibly be like with Facebook‘s deal with Spotify earlier, that forces new users of the music service to have an Facebook account to be able to subscribe or join. This might put some people off from using Instagram in the future, just like it did Spotify fans in the beginning, but then again it could be benificial for both Facebook and Instagram users in the end.

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Atmel unveils new revolutionary flexible touch sensors

Atmel XSense
XSense Flexible Touch Sensor from Atmel

This Wednesday in San Jose, CA, Atmel Corporation announced that it is sampling, to select customers, it’s revolutionary, highly flexible film-based touch sensor called XSense. Based on a proprietary roll-to-roll metal mesh technology, XSense Touch Sensors provide a high-performance alternative to existing touch sensors and its features make it possible to develop larger, lighter, sleeker, curved and edgeless designs for smartphones, tablets and a host of new touch-enabled products. It can also extend touch capabilities into a wider array of new consumer and industrial products.

“Our groundbreaking XSense technology transforms the touch experience for users of new smartphones, tablets and other touch-enabled products”, said Atmel President and CEO Steve Laub. “XSense launches a new era of touch design, enabling our customers to redefine touch and to create a new class of products that were previously only imaginable. Combined with Atmel maXTouch® controllers, Atmel provides a completely optimized, unparalleled touch experience, extending its product portfolio deeper into the touch eco-system.”

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New wallpaper stabilize and may protect against earthquakes

Earthquake secure wallpaper
Earthquake secure fiber glass wallpaper

German researchers at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed a new thin wallpaper based on glass fibers, that stabilizes walls and may protect from the devastating effect of an earthquake.

The wallpaper consists of a fine glass fiber fabric, designed to support walls and distribute the powerful lateral forces produced by earthquakes across their entire surfaces and therefore also protect them from collapsing.

Since the material covers the entire wall it also protects against falling debris, much like how a laminated windscreen in a modern car works. If the integrity of the wall gets compromised by forces greater then the material can handle, the eventual debris would be constrained and held back by the wallpaper glass fiber skin.

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Nokia Lumia 900 launch party in Time Square NYC on Friday

Lumia 900 Launch Party
Nokia Lumia 900 Launch Party

Since the big launch party for the Nokia Lumia 800 in London at the end of last year, Nokia has been traveling around the world throwing big events for most mayor markets. The launch for the Nokia Lumia 900 in the U.S. seems to be no exception.

AT&T have promised to bring the biggest launch campaign ever for Lumia 900, and both Microsoft and Nokia have hinted for a while that they have something big planned. Today on Twitter a post made by @WPRetailInsider mentioned that on Friday Nokia will take over Times Square for massive Windows Phone launch event. Not many details regarding the event is known at this time, but if previous launch party’s is anything to go by, it is going to be something big.

The event will take place on Friday (March 6th) at 7pm EST, feature live entertainment and a special guest

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New lighting concept draws energy from home plumbing

Lighting Concept
Lighting Concept by Hierve

A new lighting concept intended for domestic application, use an untapped (no pun intended) energy reserve located in every modern home. Applying basic hydroelectricity principles the system creates energy with the help of micro turbines placed in already existing plumbing. The turbines will move every time water gushes through the pipes and harvest energy that otherwise literary just goes down the drain.

This system uses a low cost method of generating renewable energy, and shows that there is still a lot of things we can do to stop the energy waste in our every day lives. Well known principles and existing systems can often be used, adapted and applied in a different way. And even though some ideas might seem simple at first, the results can be pure genius.

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