Cool Science

This generation has been characterized by massive technological advancement and development. These rapid changes have been brought about by institutions and companies which have ventured out in research and innovation. Terrafugia is a Massachusetts company which has been recognized for playing a crucial role in promoting innovative and creative ideas in this generation. Terrafugia as a company has become recognized for the flying vehicle concept dubbed, the Transition. Transition is an innovative idea which embodies the concept of a flying vehicle. That is, it is a form of a plane which can be driven. This has been embraced as a great concept for the pilots who would like to fly in the air and at the same time get an opportunity to have fun on the road. The question which lingers in this regard is, if this innovative idea is great for the pilots, what about the rest of the people? Continue Reading

The 29th of April saw the unveiling of prototype mobile devices which have the ability to change shapes. The unveiling of the devices also known as morphees is likely to lay the foundation for future high resolution shape devices. A research paper to be presented during a conference on human computer interface will introduce a new term “shape resolution” that will describe the display and resolution of the new device. Dr. Anne Roudaut, Professor Surinam Subramanian of Bristol’s Computer Science, the lead researchers of the project used the technology to compare resolutions of 6 prototypes built by the team using new technologies in shape material technology like electroactive alloy and shape memory alloy. Continue Reading

The AECOM and its consultants have produced a report for the Infrastructure Department of the Government of Australia, that explores the creation of a high speed railway network. This railway network will cover a 1748 kilometers and will connect major Australian cities. It will be a phased project ensuring high speed connectivity between Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Gold Coast and New castle.This will not only make transport by railway within Australia incredibly convenient and efficient, but is also expected to convert air travelers to the railways. The report studies the feasibility of creating such a network, and estimates costs and revenues. The report anticipates the final phases of the project to be completed by 2058.

The report estimates the railroad network construction costs at close to around $114 billion. It is a project that will take considerable time to complete (nearly half a century) and also requires considerable resources and comes at a very high cost. In this context views of certain exports who have examined the report has been sought on the report and the idea of a high speed railway network for Australia. Continue Reading

Akin to how open source designs have helped to drastically bring down the costs of software applications to very comfortable levels so that they can now be accessed by a large cross section of the society, open-source hardware designs are now aiding the expansion of science by offering experimental opportunities to almost everyone in the scientific community. In this context, it is interesting to note that the laboratory at Michigan Technological University has published an entire library of open-source optic components (3-D printable) in the scientific journal PLoS ONE. Continue Reading

Facebook being the most popular social network has been implementing new upgrades to make the site more user-friendly. In the last few years, Facebook has experienced an unmatched growing popularity since its development. It has continually been upgrading its layouts and features to ensure that its users get the best out of it. This has been a key trait of retaining its competitiveness and relevance in the social networks despite encountering stiff competition from other social networking sites. Its latest upgrade last Wednesday focused on the development of new profile pages. The reason behind the redesigning was to eliminate clutter from its “timelines” which register postings made by members. Rose Yao, a Facebook official had explained in a blog posting that the redesigning had been done as a result of comments from Facebook users that the timeline layout was difficult to read. Continue Reading

Facebook is one of the world’s most profitable companies. The reason for this is related to the fact that the company is always trying to adapt by introducing changes its web page design. Since its inception, the company has hit the headlines more than a dozen times of its intention to introduce new changes to its web page. Recently, the company hit the headlines as it introduced new changes to the look of its News Feed, user settings, and advertisements on the site. With currently over a billion active users, talks of a “Facebook fatigue” are rife in many circles.

The company hosted an event at its headquarters in Melon Park, California to unveil the new changes to its News Feed. This is the second time the company is hosting the media at the same venue to unveil new changes to its web page. Previously, the company hosted an event to unveil a new search feature. In the recent event, it was not apparent whether new changes will be following soon. Sources close to the company are silent on the issue. Continue Reading

People who illegally upload and share online digital media like music, movies and TV shows may very soon start receiving warning signals from their service providers for copyright infringement. Those who simply turn a deaf ear to the warning notices may even risk penalties with the simplest being a 48 hour internet shutdown though other penalties could be imposed if the culprit fails to heed to the constant notices. The alert system was created by the Center for Copyright Information which is still working out the methods that companies will be allowed to use in order to catch pirates.

This though is not the first time that the stakeholders in the music, movie and TV industries have tried to fight copyright infringement. The first attempt was through law suits that were common a decade or so ago but this did very little to stop people from illegally swapping digital files online. However, the major players in these industries are now taking a different approach to try and reduce rate at which files are illegally exchanged by internet users. The new system aims at educating internet pirates about the dangers and encouraging them to stop the practice. Continue Reading

With dwindling gasoline reserves, the search for more renewable energy sources has been ongoing for quite some time, with scientists looking at the possibility of heavy alcohols like isobutanol as alternative sources of energy. Apart from being more compatible with current gasoline based infrastructure, they also provide more energy when compared to ethanol. However, before the use of isobutanol becomes practical, there is a need for scientists to figure out a way of producing it from renewable resources on large scale.

Biologists and chemical engineers from MIT have come up with a way to drastically increase isobutanol production in yeast. The scientists engineered the yeast such that isobutanol synthesis occurs entirely in mitochondria (the cell structures which produce energy and host numerous biosynthetic pathways). Through the use of this approach, the scientists achieved a 260% boost in isobutanol production. Continue Reading

Gravitational force influences how living organisms respond to one another, their physical and chemical environment as well as how they develop and diversify. It is clear in general how plants respond to the force of gravity. The roots respond by growing towards the force of gravity while the stems grow upwards against gravity to get exposure to the sunlight. Botanists have in the past tried to explain exactly how plant cells are able to sense gravity, communicate with other cells and respond accordingly. However, a recent review of the current knowledge by the American Journal of Botany shows that there is much more we need to know on the mechanisms involved. There is a better molecular explanation of what actually happens. Continue Reading

Research is constantly being carried out to find methods of digital data storage that will have limitless capacities of holding data and one of the most recent techniques being researched on involves storing data in form of DNA molecules. For many years, DNA has been used by biological systems to store information but until recently, this technique had not been explored extensively to find out whether it could be used to store other kinds of data as well.

A team of researchers at the European Bio informatics Institute of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory have come up with proof to show that DNA molecules could hold more data than previously imagined. Headed by Nick Goldman and Ewan Birley, this team has demonstrated the potential that DNA molecules possess for storing and transporting man made data. Continue Reading

With the advent of the internet, websites have become a very significant vehicle through which a business can advertise and sell its products and services. The benefits of using such an approach are becoming obvious and numerous. It is therefore important to understand that there are different hosting (see http://awoip.com/) needs for different site types. Obviously the hosting needs for a music site (see http://musicricket.com/) will vary from those of a video (see http://videotide.com/) or charity type (see http://caritasvukovar.com/) auction site which still may be different to those needed for a blog. Continue Reading