Showing posts with label Tech - science. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tech - science. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Are solar panels worth the cost?
Felicity Hannah
The most effective way to save money on energy bills is to change habits and cut back on the power used in the home. The second most effective way is to ensure your property is properly insulated.
But if you've already done what you can, it might be time to consider installing technology that lets you generate your own renewable energy.
Probably the most obvious option for private homes is generating electricity through solar panels. If I'm honest, I've always had a suspicion that these aren't that effective and that they're more to do with out-greening the Joneses than saving the planet.
But the Energy Saving Trust (EST) reckons that if you're eligible for the Feed-In Tariff Scheme - where you get paid for the energy you generate - you could be saving and earning a total of almost £1,200 a year.
That's a compelling figure for any penny pincher. So I've been looking into whether solar panels do more than impress the neighbours…
Costing the earth
Greening our homes is undeniably important but it needs to be affordable if people are going to do it. So far, around 45,000 UK homes have fitted solar photovoltaic (PV) panels in order to generate some of their own power. With feed-in tariffs, they can also sell any surplus energy back to the grid.
But there are in excess of 26 million homes in the UK, so that's not exactly a green revolution.
The cost of this technology could have something to do with that. According to the EST, an average 2.9kWp system will cost £11,700, including reduced rate VAT at 5%.
It would take some pretty compelling savings for most people to consider that kind of outlay.
Sunny side up
Is solar energy even possible for everyone? What if you live in Scotland? (Where I lived for six soggy years)
The good news is that you can generate power even on cloudy days, as long as you have an unshaded roof that doesn't face north.
If you want to know whether or not your home is suitable, there's a handy checklist on the British Gas website. Admittedly, one of the points is that your home isn't suitable if it's a basement flat, but most of it is useful stuff.
Eco win or eco bling?
But how much can you save or earn with your panels? There's a Solar Energy Calculator available from the Energy Saving Trust, which can give you a rough idea.
For example, I know that my roof is suitable, if not ideal, for PV panels: it has an east and west-facing roof, and it's not listed.
According to the trust's calculator, I could generate 57% of my home's annual electricity through PV panels. It reports that I could make £803 in my first year and £18,323 over 25 years.
However, the likely initial cost for my small roof would be £8,640. So I could make a total of £9,683 profit over a quarter of a century. But that's many years before I recoup my outlay.
In environmental terms, the calculator concludes that 19.7 tonnes of CO2 would be saved thanks to my panels, which would generate 1,659kWh a year. The environmental savings seem more compelling than the financial.
Priceless panels
If you can't quite lay your hands on nearly £12 grand, you're not alone. But there are schemes that could help.
Some companies will install panels on your roof for free — and you get to keep all the energy you generate and use. However, any profits made by selling power back to the grid go to the company that installed your panels. These are sometimes called 'rent-a-roof schemes' and most last for up to 25 years.
But some of these schemes have been criticised for not being in the homeowner's best interests, so if you're considering one, make sure you read all the small print.
I've decided this isn't suitable for the Hannah household, as we want to sell our home in the next year. I'm worried that tying the house to 25-year commitment like that will make that even harder.
ECOwboys
Reading about other people's experiences with solar panels, I'm alarmed at how many cowboys and con artists operate within the environmental sphere.
Some people have been defrauded out of thousands of pounds, others have had shoddy work completed. Most common though are people being told their homes are suitable when they are not, and having inappropriate panels fitted.
Make sure you're using a reputable, recommended company and read reviews before you hand over any money. It's also worth getting several quotes to make sure you're being given reliable information.
Be aware that only panels fitted by companies certified under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme will qualify for a feed-in tariff.
Eco on credit
I do believe that solar panels can save you money but only if you're looking at the long game. For many hard-up penny pinchers, finding that kind of money simply won't be possible, no matter how much they want to help the planet.
That's why I'm interested to see what's offered under the coalition's Green Deal. This will eventually see households given the chance to fit their homes with green technology and pay back the cost gradually through their energy bills.
In the meantime, are solar panels worth the cost? Yes, but only if you're able to wait years to recover your outlay.
The most effective way to save money on energy bills is to change habits and cut back on the power used in the home. The second most effective way is to ensure your property is properly insulated.
But if you've already done what you can, it might be time to consider installing technology that lets you generate your own renewable energy.
Probably the most obvious option for private homes is generating electricity through solar panels. If I'm honest, I've always had a suspicion that these aren't that effective and that they're more to do with out-greening the Joneses than saving the planet.
But the Energy Saving Trust (EST) reckons that if you're eligible for the Feed-In Tariff Scheme - where you get paid for the energy you generate - you could be saving and earning a total of almost £1,200 a year.
That's a compelling figure for any penny pincher. So I've been looking into whether solar panels do more than impress the neighbours…
Costing the earth
Greening our homes is undeniably important but it needs to be affordable if people are going to do it. So far, around 45,000 UK homes have fitted solar photovoltaic (PV) panels in order to generate some of their own power. With feed-in tariffs, they can also sell any surplus energy back to the grid.
But there are in excess of 26 million homes in the UK, so that's not exactly a green revolution.
The cost of this technology could have something to do with that. According to the EST, an average 2.9kWp system will cost £11,700, including reduced rate VAT at 5%.
It would take some pretty compelling savings for most people to consider that kind of outlay.
Sunny side up
Is solar energy even possible for everyone? What if you live in Scotland? (Where I lived for six soggy years)
The good news is that you can generate power even on cloudy days, as long as you have an unshaded roof that doesn't face north.
If you want to know whether or not your home is suitable, there's a handy checklist on the British Gas website. Admittedly, one of the points is that your home isn't suitable if it's a basement flat, but most of it is useful stuff.
Eco win or eco bling?
But how much can you save or earn with your panels? There's a Solar Energy Calculator available from the Energy Saving Trust, which can give you a rough idea.
For example, I know that my roof is suitable, if not ideal, for PV panels: it has an east and west-facing roof, and it's not listed.
According to the trust's calculator, I could generate 57% of my home's annual electricity through PV panels. It reports that I could make £803 in my first year and £18,323 over 25 years.
However, the likely initial cost for my small roof would be £8,640. So I could make a total of £9,683 profit over a quarter of a century. But that's many years before I recoup my outlay.
In environmental terms, the calculator concludes that 19.7 tonnes of CO2 would be saved thanks to my panels, which would generate 1,659kWh a year. The environmental savings seem more compelling than the financial.
Priceless panels
If you can't quite lay your hands on nearly £12 grand, you're not alone. But there are schemes that could help.
Some companies will install panels on your roof for free — and you get to keep all the energy you generate and use. However, any profits made by selling power back to the grid go to the company that installed your panels. These are sometimes called 'rent-a-roof schemes' and most last for up to 25 years.
But some of these schemes have been criticised for not being in the homeowner's best interests, so if you're considering one, make sure you read all the small print.
I've decided this isn't suitable for the Hannah household, as we want to sell our home in the next year. I'm worried that tying the house to 25-year commitment like that will make that even harder.
ECOwboys
Reading about other people's experiences with solar panels, I'm alarmed at how many cowboys and con artists operate within the environmental sphere.
Some people have been defrauded out of thousands of pounds, others have had shoddy work completed. Most common though are people being told their homes are suitable when they are not, and having inappropriate panels fitted.
Make sure you're using a reputable, recommended company and read reviews before you hand over any money. It's also worth getting several quotes to make sure you're being given reliable information.
Be aware that only panels fitted by companies certified under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme will qualify for a feed-in tariff.
Eco on credit
I do believe that solar panels can save you money but only if you're looking at the long game. For many hard-up penny pinchers, finding that kind of money simply won't be possible, no matter how much they want to help the planet.
That's why I'm interested to see what's offered under the coalition's Green Deal. This will eventually see households given the chance to fit their homes with green technology and pay back the cost gradually through their energy bills.
In the meantime, are solar panels worth the cost? Yes, but only if you're able to wait years to recover your outlay.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Mobile phones don’t hike cancer risk: Danish study
Mobile phones do not increase the risk of cancer, according to a large study involving more than 350,000 people by Danish researchers published on Friday.
The results, released on the British Medical Journal’s website, chime with a series of other studies that have reached similar conclusions.
Scientists from the Institute of Cancer Epidemiology in Copenhagen looked at people aged at least 30 who subscribed to mobile phone contracts and compared their rates of brain tumors with non-subscribers between 1990 and 2007.
Outside experts said the large scale of the trial was impressive.
“This paper supports most other reports which do not find any detrimental effects of phone use under normal exposures,” said Malcolm Sperrin, director of Medical Physics at Britain’s Royal Berkshire Hospital and Fellow of the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine.
At the end of May, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer decided cellphone use should be classified as “possibly carcinogenic to humans”, putting then in the same category as lead, chloroform and coffee.
But just over a month later the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection’s committee on epidemiology said the scientific evidence increasingly pointed away from a link between mobile phone use and brain tumors.
The number of mobile phones has risen hugely since the early 1980s, with nearly 5 billion handsets in use today, prompting lengthy debate about their potential link to the main types of brain tumor, glioma and meningioma.
The results, released on the British Medical Journal’s website, chime with a series of other studies that have reached similar conclusions.
Scientists from the Institute of Cancer Epidemiology in Copenhagen looked at people aged at least 30 who subscribed to mobile phone contracts and compared their rates of brain tumors with non-subscribers between 1990 and 2007.
Outside experts said the large scale of the trial was impressive.
“This paper supports most other reports which do not find any detrimental effects of phone use under normal exposures,” said Malcolm Sperrin, director of Medical Physics at Britain’s Royal Berkshire Hospital and Fellow of the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine.
At the end of May, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer decided cellphone use should be classified as “possibly carcinogenic to humans”, putting then in the same category as lead, chloroform and coffee.
But just over a month later the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection’s committee on epidemiology said the scientific evidence increasingly pointed away from a link between mobile phone use and brain tumors.
The number of mobile phones has risen hugely since the early 1980s, with nearly 5 billion handsets in use today, prompting lengthy debate about their potential link to the main types of brain tumor, glioma and meningioma.
MC Hammer Launching Google Competitor
*knock knock*
Who's there? Hello -- HELLO?! I dunno, I think it's Google but all I can hear is laughing.
So MC Hammer is launching his own search engine. Is it gonna suck? Do I really need to answer that? But wait -- it's got deep searching. WTF is a deep search? No clue, but I did jump off a neighbor's roof clutching a friend's parachute pants one time. I dropped like a rock. Get it? He was still in them!
The project, called WireDoo, has been two years in the making, said Hammer (real name Stanley Burrell) Wednesday at the Web 2.0 summit in San Francisco.
"It's about relationships beyond just the keywords," he said, according to Mashable, a CNN.com content partner.
The rapper-turned-entrepreneur (after some late-90s difficulties) said a search would render not just direct results, but also information on possibly related topics. Its tagline is: "Search once and see what's related."
Oh man, this is going to suck so hard. Almost as bad as the search engine I developed that gave you results for THE OPPOSITE of whatever you searched. I thought, what better way to find out about something than to learn about its opposite. Plus there's penis pics on every page. My investors bailed.
Who's there? Hello -- HELLO?! I dunno, I think it's Google but all I can hear is laughing.
So MC Hammer is launching his own search engine. Is it gonna suck? Do I really need to answer that? But wait -- it's got deep searching. WTF is a deep search? No clue, but I did jump off a neighbor's roof clutching a friend's parachute pants one time. I dropped like a rock. Get it? He was still in them!
The project, called WireDoo, has been two years in the making, said Hammer (real name Stanley Burrell) Wednesday at the Web 2.0 summit in San Francisco.
"It's about relationships beyond just the keywords," he said, according to Mashable, a CNN.com content partner.
The rapper-turned-entrepreneur (after some late-90s difficulties) said a search would render not just direct results, but also information on possibly related topics. Its tagline is: "Search once and see what's related."
Oh man, this is going to suck so hard. Almost as bad as the search engine I developed that gave you results for THE OPPOSITE of whatever you searched. I thought, what better way to find out about something than to learn about its opposite. Plus there's penis pics on every page. My investors bailed.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Galaxy Nexus to take on the iPhone
The iPhone 4S only went on sale on Friday but already it's no longer the latest super smartphone on the block.
And Apple could have a battle on its hands after technology giants Google and Samsung joined forces Wednesday to announce two massive steps forward in the rival Android landscape.
With the launch of the Android 4.0 operating system, coolly-named Ice Cream Sandwich, comes Samsung's latest top-of-the-range mobile handset, the Galaxy Nexus.
It will be the only device to launch in the UK this year sporting 4.0, and alongside the phone's top spec hardware, it brings a totally different look and feel to the Android experience.
Look and feel
With its massive 4.65 inch HD screen, the Galaxy Nexus display is a third bigger than the one on the iPhone 4S. It could also prove to be a lot brighter and clearer with Samsung's AMOLED technology over Apple's Retina display.
The Galaxy Nexus also does away with all hardware buttons on the front and just uses touchscreen controls instead.
It is also only 8.94mm thick compared to the 9.3mm body of the iPhone 4 and is HSPA+ enabled so data works faster on compatible networks such as Three. This is not yet a true leap to 4G connectivity though.
The Camera
The Nexus does feature a speedy 1.2Ghz dual core processor but in the camera stakes, Apple has for once inched ahead in the battle for picture quality.
Its eight megapixel snapper on the iPhone 4S trumps the five megapixel stills camera on this Google and Samsung handset.
Innovation
So what is actually innovative about the Galaxy Nexus? From the specs it sports it will certainly put up a good fight against the iPhone 4S but there's no knockout blow.
Not even the addition of Near Field Communication (NFC) can provide that punch because the technology is still in its infancy, especially in the UK. Using NFC to turn your mobile into a wallet to pay for goods and services is likely to be slow to catch-on.
And embedding the Google+ service is simply a move by Google to try and gain more traction and popularity for its social sharing software. It has so far struggled to win over the mainstream in the same way as Facebook and Twitter.
You will be able to use it though to hold a video call with up to nine other friends through the Hangout feature in Google+, and that's certainly a neat addition.
There is some innovation in Ice Cream Sandwich though, whether or not you feel the name is fun or just a silly gimmick. Face Unlock uses facial recognition as security to unlock your phone rather than with a password or code and Android Beam lets you share information, web pages, apps and videos with other Android NFC phones just with a tap.
There's also voice control to turn your speech into text but this doesn't go anywhere near as far as the iPhone 4S's Siri voice-controlled personal assistant technology.
On top of that you get all the usual features of Android such as a seamless Google experience, now known as "pure Google" including the Android Market for apps, Gmail, Google Maps with 3D maps and navigation and Google Earth.
Due out in November, pricing details are yet to be announced by Samsung and UK mobile phone networks.
But coming ahead of this weekend - which marks the third birthday of the G1, the first-ever Android phone - now it has been unwrapped, the Galaxy Nexus certainly looks a decent present to bring to the smartphone party
And Apple could have a battle on its hands after technology giants Google and Samsung joined forces Wednesday to announce two massive steps forward in the rival Android landscape.
With the launch of the Android 4.0 operating system, coolly-named Ice Cream Sandwich, comes Samsung's latest top-of-the-range mobile handset, the Galaxy Nexus.
It will be the only device to launch in the UK this year sporting 4.0, and alongside the phone's top spec hardware, it brings a totally different look and feel to the Android experience.
Look and feel
With its massive 4.65 inch HD screen, the Galaxy Nexus display is a third bigger than the one on the iPhone 4S. It could also prove to be a lot brighter and clearer with Samsung's AMOLED technology over Apple's Retina display.
The Galaxy Nexus also does away with all hardware buttons on the front and just uses touchscreen controls instead.
It is also only 8.94mm thick compared to the 9.3mm body of the iPhone 4 and is HSPA+ enabled so data works faster on compatible networks such as Three. This is not yet a true leap to 4G connectivity though.
The Camera
The Nexus does feature a speedy 1.2Ghz dual core processor but in the camera stakes, Apple has for once inched ahead in the battle for picture quality.
Its eight megapixel snapper on the iPhone 4S trumps the five megapixel stills camera on this Google and Samsung handset.
Innovation
So what is actually innovative about the Galaxy Nexus? From the specs it sports it will certainly put up a good fight against the iPhone 4S but there's no knockout blow.
Not even the addition of Near Field Communication (NFC) can provide that punch because the technology is still in its infancy, especially in the UK. Using NFC to turn your mobile into a wallet to pay for goods and services is likely to be slow to catch-on.
And embedding the Google+ service is simply a move by Google to try and gain more traction and popularity for its social sharing software. It has so far struggled to win over the mainstream in the same way as Facebook and Twitter.
You will be able to use it though to hold a video call with up to nine other friends through the Hangout feature in Google+, and that's certainly a neat addition.
There is some innovation in Ice Cream Sandwich though, whether or not you feel the name is fun or just a silly gimmick. Face Unlock uses facial recognition as security to unlock your phone rather than with a password or code and Android Beam lets you share information, web pages, apps and videos with other Android NFC phones just with a tap.
There's also voice control to turn your speech into text but this doesn't go anywhere near as far as the iPhone 4S's Siri voice-controlled personal assistant technology.
On top of that you get all the usual features of Android such as a seamless Google experience, now known as "pure Google" including the Android Market for apps, Gmail, Google Maps with 3D maps and navigation and Google Earth.
Due out in November, pricing details are yet to be announced by Samsung and UK mobile phone networks.
But coming ahead of this weekend - which marks the third birthday of the G1, the first-ever Android phone - now it has been unwrapped, the Galaxy Nexus certainly looks a decent present to bring to the smartphone party
The world's 10 best universities
By Anita Narayan, US News and World Report
Harvard University may be America's top-ranked national university, along with Princeton University, in U.S.News & World Report's latest Best Colleges rankings, but a competitor across the pond is now stealing some of that thunder.
For the second year in a row, the United Kingdom's University of Cambridge topped Harvard in the U.S. News World's Best Universities rankings, released today and based on data from the 2011 QS World University Rankings. Developed by QS Quacquarelli Symonds, a leading global career and education network, the World's Best rankings showcase the top international universities, from North and South America to Europe and Asia and beyond.
Six distinct indicators were evaluated to rank the top 400 universities worldwide: academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty-student ratio, proportion of international faculty, proportion of international students, and citations per faculty. The gap between Cambridge and Harvard was incredibly small--a difference of about 0.7 points in their overall scores--and can be attributed to Cambridge's more impressive faculty-student ratio.
Despite Harvard falling slightly behind a U.K. university, U.S. schools dominated the top 400 list, with six American institutions appearing in the top 10 (Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale University, University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, and Columbia University). The highest showing by a non-American or non-British university was Canada's McGill University, at No. 17. Asia's highest ranking came via University of Hong Kong (HKU), at No. 22.
A separate ranking of the top 100 Asian universities highlights the dynamism of the Asian region, where countries such as China, South Korea, and India are investing heavily in higher education to cater to both domestic and international students. This year, to better reflect the region's unique character, a distinct methodology from the top 400 global rankings was used, with indicators such as Asian academic reputation and Asian employer review.
The leaders of the pack came from Hong Kong, with Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and HKU taking the first and second spots, respectively. The gap between the two was very narrow--a difference of 0.2 points in their overall scores--with HKUST's research productivity giving it the edge. Japan, whose economy is slowly recovering from the devastating March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, was nonetheless dominant in the Asian rankings, with five Japanese schools in the top 10.
Meanwhile, China, the world's largest source for international students at U.S. universities, made strides with its own schools. Peking University and Tsinghua University were both among the top 20 best Asian universities, performing very well in the academic and employer reputation indicators. India didn't fare as well, due to low citations scores; its highest entries were three Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT Kanpur, Delhi, and Bombay) at No. 36, No. 37, and No. 38, respectively.
Like Asia, Latin America is undergoing significant development, propelled by rising economic powerhouse Brazil. The country's Universidad de S?o Paulo took the No. 1 spot in the top 100 Latin American universities rankings, beating Chile's Pontificia Universidad Cat?lica de Chile by 0.4 points in its overall score. The new Latin rankings use a distinct methodology, evaluating indicators such as Latin American academic reputation, Latin American employer review, and proportion of staff with Ph.D.'s.
Brazil was the clear leader, fielding three institutions in the top 10 and eight in the top 20. The country's huge investments in higher education to fuel economic growth, and its prioritization of research, have paid off: Brazilian universities performed particularly well in measures such as papers per faculty and proportion of academics with Ph.D.'s.
Meanwhile, Mexico--with two institutions in the top 10 of the Latin rankings--showcased strong reputations across the region, despite lower performance in research measures for most of its universities. The fifth-ranked Universidad Nacional Aut?noma de México (UNAM) had the highest academic reputation, while seventh-ranked Tecnol?gico de Monterrey (ITESM) had the second-highest employer reputation.
Going beyond global and regional comparisons, the new World's Best Universities subject rankings examine the top schools worldwide in 24 subjects (top 30 for chemical engineering and top 50 for all other subjects). Divided into five broad categories--arts and humanities; engineering and technology; life sciences; natural sciences; and social sciences--the individual subject rankings are based on academic reputation, employer reputation, and citations per paper.
MIT dominated all engineering and technology rankings, taking the top spot in the computer science; civil engineering; chemical engineering; electrical engineering; and mechanical, aeronautical, and manufacturing engineering fields. Other American institutions that had strong showings in that category include Stanford University, University of California--Berkeley, and California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
U.S. universities similarly led the pack in two other broad categories: life sciences and social sciences. In the former, Harvard took the lead in biological sciences and psychology; in the latter, while Harvard took the No. 1 spot atop the accounting and finance; economics and econometrics; politics and international studies; and sociology rankings, Stanford topped the statistics and operational research rankings.
Only the arts and humanities and natural sciences categories showed some variety at the top. Although Harvard once again took the top spots in the majority of the specific subject disciplines, the U.K.'s University of Oxford was ranked No. 1 for geography and area studies, and Cambridge dominated both the linguistics and physics and astronomy subject rankings.
1. University of Cambridge (United Kingdom)
2. Harvard University (United States)
3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (United States)
4. Yale University (United States)
5. University of Oxford (United Kingdom)
6. Imperial College London (United Kingdom)
7. UCL (University College London) (United Kingdom)
8. University of Chicago (United States)
9. University of Pennsylvania (United States)
10. Columbia University (United States)
Harvard University may be America's top-ranked national university, along with Princeton University, in U.S.News & World Report's latest Best Colleges rankings, but a competitor across the pond is now stealing some of that thunder.
For the second year in a row, the United Kingdom's University of Cambridge topped Harvard in the U.S. News World's Best Universities rankings, released today and based on data from the 2011 QS World University Rankings. Developed by QS Quacquarelli Symonds, a leading global career and education network, the World's Best rankings showcase the top international universities, from North and South America to Europe and Asia and beyond.
Six distinct indicators were evaluated to rank the top 400 universities worldwide: academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty-student ratio, proportion of international faculty, proportion of international students, and citations per faculty. The gap between Cambridge and Harvard was incredibly small--a difference of about 0.7 points in their overall scores--and can be attributed to Cambridge's more impressive faculty-student ratio.
Despite Harvard falling slightly behind a U.K. university, U.S. schools dominated the top 400 list, with six American institutions appearing in the top 10 (Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale University, University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, and Columbia University). The highest showing by a non-American or non-British university was Canada's McGill University, at No. 17. Asia's highest ranking came via University of Hong Kong (HKU), at No. 22.
A separate ranking of the top 100 Asian universities highlights the dynamism of the Asian region, where countries such as China, South Korea, and India are investing heavily in higher education to cater to both domestic and international students. This year, to better reflect the region's unique character, a distinct methodology from the top 400 global rankings was used, with indicators such as Asian academic reputation and Asian employer review.
The leaders of the pack came from Hong Kong, with Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and HKU taking the first and second spots, respectively. The gap between the two was very narrow--a difference of 0.2 points in their overall scores--with HKUST's research productivity giving it the edge. Japan, whose economy is slowly recovering from the devastating March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, was nonetheless dominant in the Asian rankings, with five Japanese schools in the top 10.
Meanwhile, China, the world's largest source for international students at U.S. universities, made strides with its own schools. Peking University and Tsinghua University were both among the top 20 best Asian universities, performing very well in the academic and employer reputation indicators. India didn't fare as well, due to low citations scores; its highest entries were three Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT Kanpur, Delhi, and Bombay) at No. 36, No. 37, and No. 38, respectively.
Like Asia, Latin America is undergoing significant development, propelled by rising economic powerhouse Brazil. The country's Universidad de S?o Paulo took the No. 1 spot in the top 100 Latin American universities rankings, beating Chile's Pontificia Universidad Cat?lica de Chile by 0.4 points in its overall score. The new Latin rankings use a distinct methodology, evaluating indicators such as Latin American academic reputation, Latin American employer review, and proportion of staff with Ph.D.'s.
Brazil was the clear leader, fielding three institutions in the top 10 and eight in the top 20. The country's huge investments in higher education to fuel economic growth, and its prioritization of research, have paid off: Brazilian universities performed particularly well in measures such as papers per faculty and proportion of academics with Ph.D.'s.
Meanwhile, Mexico--with two institutions in the top 10 of the Latin rankings--showcased strong reputations across the region, despite lower performance in research measures for most of its universities. The fifth-ranked Universidad Nacional Aut?noma de México (UNAM) had the highest academic reputation, while seventh-ranked Tecnol?gico de Monterrey (ITESM) had the second-highest employer reputation.
Going beyond global and regional comparisons, the new World's Best Universities subject rankings examine the top schools worldwide in 24 subjects (top 30 for chemical engineering and top 50 for all other subjects). Divided into five broad categories--arts and humanities; engineering and technology; life sciences; natural sciences; and social sciences--the individual subject rankings are based on academic reputation, employer reputation, and citations per paper.
MIT dominated all engineering and technology rankings, taking the top spot in the computer science; civil engineering; chemical engineering; electrical engineering; and mechanical, aeronautical, and manufacturing engineering fields. Other American institutions that had strong showings in that category include Stanford University, University of California--Berkeley, and California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
U.S. universities similarly led the pack in two other broad categories: life sciences and social sciences. In the former, Harvard took the lead in biological sciences and psychology; in the latter, while Harvard took the No. 1 spot atop the accounting and finance; economics and econometrics; politics and international studies; and sociology rankings, Stanford topped the statistics and operational research rankings.
Only the arts and humanities and natural sciences categories showed some variety at the top. Although Harvard once again took the top spots in the majority of the specific subject disciplines, the U.K.'s University of Oxford was ranked No. 1 for geography and area studies, and Cambridge dominated both the linguistics and physics and astronomy subject rankings.
1. University of Cambridge (United Kingdom)
2. Harvard University (United States)
3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (United States)
4. Yale University (United States)
5. University of Oxford (United Kingdom)
6. Imperial College London (United Kingdom)
7. UCL (University College London) (United Kingdom)
8. University of Chicago (United States)
9. University of Pennsylvania (United States)
10. Columbia University (United States)
Thursday, October 6, 2011
India launches world's cheapest computing device
By Indo Asian News Service, IANS
New Delhi, Oct 5 (IANS) Aiming to bridge the digital divide in the country, India Wednesday launched the world's cheapest tablet computing device Akash costing Rs.2,250.
'It is a milestone in history. It will bring a paradigm shift in education delivery,' Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal said while launching the product which is a result of five years of research.
'The device is not only for Indian students but for those of the world. We aim to bring the cost down to less than $10,' he added.
Sibal said the device would allow students in the rural areas to have access to technology that will define the 21st century.
A seven-inch screen HCL tablet sells for around Rs.11,000 in the Indian market.
As part of a government project, the device would be made available to higher education students at Rs.1,125 with the HRD ministry bearing 50 percent of the cost.
The technology for the low cost access device was developed and manufactured jointly by Indian Institute of Technology, Rajasthan at Jodhpur and DataWind Ltd.
The government will initially buy 1 lakh units.
New Delhi, Oct 5 (IANS) Aiming to bridge the digital divide in the country, India Wednesday launched the world's cheapest tablet computing device Akash costing Rs.2,250.
'It is a milestone in history. It will bring a paradigm shift in education delivery,' Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal said while launching the product which is a result of five years of research.
'The device is not only for Indian students but for those of the world. We aim to bring the cost down to less than $10,' he added.
Sibal said the device would allow students in the rural areas to have access to technology that will define the 21st century.
A seven-inch screen HCL tablet sells for around Rs.11,000 in the Indian market.
As part of a government project, the device would be made available to higher education students at Rs.1,125 with the HRD ministry bearing 50 percent of the cost.
The technology for the low cost access device was developed and manufactured jointly by Indian Institute of Technology, Rajasthan at Jodhpur and DataWind Ltd.
The government will initially buy 1 lakh units.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
New iPhone expected from Apple on Tuesday
By RACHEL METZ, AP
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple Inc. is unveiling a new, more powerful version of its wildly popular smartphone — more than a year after it launched the iPhone 4.
Last week, Apple Inc. e-mailed invitations to a media event at its headquarters in Cupertino on Tuesday morning. The invite says "let's talk iPhone," implying the secretive company intends to show off the latest version of the device.
The first iPhone came out in 2007, and the phone's signature slick looks, high-resolution screen and intuitive software has gained millions of fans over the years. There were 39 million iPhones sold just between January and the end of June.
Beyond the iPhone itself, the Tuesday event is anticipated as Apple's first major product unveiling in years that won't be led by Steve Jobs, who resigned from the CEO post in August after being out on indefinite medical leave since January. The Apple co-founder is now its executive chairman. And though Jobs did emerge from medical leave twice this year to present Apple's innovations — most recently in June to show off its new mobile software and iCloud content storage service — his successor, Tim Cook, is expected to take the lead this time.
Though not nearly as recognizable as Jobs, Cook, formerly Apple's chief operating officer, has been running Apple since January. For years, he has been in charge of Apple's day-to-day operations, and he has long been seen as the natural successor. He also served as Apple's leader for two months in 2004 while Jobs battled cancer and again for five-and-a-half months in 2009 when Jobs received a liver transplant.
Perhaps more important to Apple fans than who is presenting is what the company will reveal on Tuesday. A new iPhone is expected to have a number of changes, the biggest of which will likely be under the hood: the inclusion of Apple's latest iOS mobile software, iOS 5, which has been slated for release this fall.
IOS 5 will include things such as wireless device setup and content syncing, and beefed-up camera, email and Web-browsing apps. A new service called iMessage will allow iOS 5 users to send text messages to each other over Wi-Fi or wireless carriers' data networks, while a folder called Newsstand will corral newspaper and magazine app subscriptions in one place to make it easier to find them. When it comes out, the software will also be available for Apple's iPad, iPhone 4 and 3GS and the two most recent generations of the iPod Touch.
A new iPhone is also expected to include Apple's forthcoming iCloud service, which will store content such as music, documents, apps and photos on Apple's servers and let you access them wirelessly on numerous devices.
As for hardware, a new iPhone isn't expected to look that much different from the iPhone 4, though it could be thinner and have a bigger screen. The existing iPhone is 0.37 inches thick and has a display measuring 3.5 inches at the diagonal.
An improved rear camera is anticipated, too. The existing iPhone has a 5-megapixel camera on its rear. A number of recently released smartphones have moved to 8-megapixel cameras.
One of the most notable hardware changes many industry watchers are predicting is the inclusion of a more powerful chip: Apple's dual-core A5 processor, which is the same chip it uses in its current iPad. The iPhone 4 runs on Apple's older A4 chip, and the move to a more capable chip should improve things such as multitasking, opening apps and gaming.
Analysts also believe Apple could also use the event to trot out new iPods and updates to its iTunes music software, which it usually does in the fall anyway. Last September, Apple announced updates to iTunes and a line of revamped iPods, which included a version of the iPod Nano with a touch screen.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple Inc. is unveiling a new, more powerful version of its wildly popular smartphone — more than a year after it launched the iPhone 4.
Last week, Apple Inc. e-mailed invitations to a media event at its headquarters in Cupertino on Tuesday morning. The invite says "let's talk iPhone," implying the secretive company intends to show off the latest version of the device.
The first iPhone came out in 2007, and the phone's signature slick looks, high-resolution screen and intuitive software has gained millions of fans over the years. There were 39 million iPhones sold just between January and the end of June.
Beyond the iPhone itself, the Tuesday event is anticipated as Apple's first major product unveiling in years that won't be led by Steve Jobs, who resigned from the CEO post in August after being out on indefinite medical leave since January. The Apple co-founder is now its executive chairman. And though Jobs did emerge from medical leave twice this year to present Apple's innovations — most recently in June to show off its new mobile software and iCloud content storage service — his successor, Tim Cook, is expected to take the lead this time.
Though not nearly as recognizable as Jobs, Cook, formerly Apple's chief operating officer, has been running Apple since January. For years, he has been in charge of Apple's day-to-day operations, and he has long been seen as the natural successor. He also served as Apple's leader for two months in 2004 while Jobs battled cancer and again for five-and-a-half months in 2009 when Jobs received a liver transplant.
Perhaps more important to Apple fans than who is presenting is what the company will reveal on Tuesday. A new iPhone is expected to have a number of changes, the biggest of which will likely be under the hood: the inclusion of Apple's latest iOS mobile software, iOS 5, which has been slated for release this fall.
IOS 5 will include things such as wireless device setup and content syncing, and beefed-up camera, email and Web-browsing apps. A new service called iMessage will allow iOS 5 users to send text messages to each other over Wi-Fi or wireless carriers' data networks, while a folder called Newsstand will corral newspaper and magazine app subscriptions in one place to make it easier to find them. When it comes out, the software will also be available for Apple's iPad, iPhone 4 and 3GS and the two most recent generations of the iPod Touch.
A new iPhone is also expected to include Apple's forthcoming iCloud service, which will store content such as music, documents, apps and photos on Apple's servers and let you access them wirelessly on numerous devices.
As for hardware, a new iPhone isn't expected to look that much different from the iPhone 4, though it could be thinner and have a bigger screen. The existing iPhone is 0.37 inches thick and has a display measuring 3.5 inches at the diagonal.
An improved rear camera is anticipated, too. The existing iPhone has a 5-megapixel camera on its rear. A number of recently released smartphones have moved to 8-megapixel cameras.
One of the most notable hardware changes many industry watchers are predicting is the inclusion of a more powerful chip: Apple's dual-core A5 processor, which is the same chip it uses in its current iPad. The iPhone 4 runs on Apple's older A4 chip, and the move to a more capable chip should improve things such as multitasking, opening apps and gaming.
Analysts also believe Apple could also use the event to trot out new iPods and updates to its iTunes music software, which it usually does in the fall anyway. Last September, Apple announced updates to iTunes and a line of revamped iPods, which included a version of the iPod Nano with a touch screen.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
World's 1st Wireless Power-Assisted Bike
Shadow eBike is an electric bike that appeals with its aesthetic looks and wireless technology. Powered by a 250W – 350W motor and a 36V 10Ah lithium-ion battery, the bike can cover 20-25km on motor power alone and 35-40km with pedal-assist before it requires a 4-5 hours’ full charge.
The motor, battery and cables are all packed inside the front wheel to give the bike a neat and elegant look. Toronto-based Daymak Inc. has dubbed the Shadow Ebike “the world’s first wireless power-assist electric bicycle.”
The bike’s electric motor, regenerative brakes, throttle and pedals are wirelessly controlled by the Daymak Drive controller packed inside the front wheel. The wheel also includes a USB port, charging port and an LED battery power display.
When brakes are applied, the regenerative braking system sends power back to the batteries.
The wheel also doubles as a generator to recharge electronic devices via its USB port. The Daymak wireless technology has potential for future integration with Smartphones and PCs.
The motor, battery and cables are all packed inside the front wheel to give the bike a neat and elegant look. Toronto-based Daymak Inc. has dubbed the Shadow Ebike “the world’s first wireless power-assist electric bicycle.”
The bike’s electric motor, regenerative brakes, throttle and pedals are wirelessly controlled by the Daymak Drive controller packed inside the front wheel. The wheel also includes a USB port, charging port and an LED battery power display.
When brakes are applied, the regenerative braking system sends power back to the batteries.
The wheel also doubles as a generator to recharge electronic devices via its USB port. The Daymak wireless technology has potential for future integration with Smartphones and PCs.
Google's Flight Search launched for Travellers
Google has started its new flight search service which helps users to find out more about flight times and availability and to book them in the rivalry of other onlinetravel search engines like Bing, Orbitz etc.
Google started this flight search service in association with ITA software. Flight search by google quite faster as compared to the flight search service provided by other service providers.
You can get facilitate of Google flight search by visiting www.google.com/flights/ or simply type a travel search right into the Google search.
Presently this facility only available for some U.S. cities, whereas company said it will be extended worldwide in future.
Google started this flight search service in association with ITA software. Flight search by google quite faster as compared to the flight search service provided by other service providers.
You can get facilitate of Google flight search by visiting www.google.com/flights/ or simply type a travel search right into the Google search.
Presently this facility only available for some U.S. cities, whereas company said it will be extended worldwide in future.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Global investment in clean energy hits $243 billion, U.N. says
By AFP
UNITED NATIONS
Global investment in clean energy rose to a record $243 billion dollars last year with the vast majority concentrated in the world’s top 20 economies, the United Nations said Wednesday.
Many countries are struggling with the breakneck increase in climate change financing, however, according to a new U.N. Development Program (UNDP) guide to one of the world's fastest growing industries.
Over the past two years more than 50 national public climate funds have been created. There are 45 carbon markets and more than 6,000 private equity funds providing billions of dollars for climate change action, the guide said.
The European Union, Japan and the United States are already providing $30 billion a year to help poorer nations combat global warming and this Green Climate Fund will be channeling $100 billion a year by 2020.
Cassie Flynn, lead author of the U.N. guide, said that climate financing is now hitting “historic” levels.
“There is really only a small group of countries that are accessing the funds as easily as we would hope and this is where national climate funds come in,” Flynn said, highlighting the concentration of clean energy financing in the Group of 20 major economies.
Poorer nations are predicted to bear the brunt of rising seas, drought and the fierce storms that are being blamed on global warming.
Brazil and China have two of the most successful national climate funds, according to Flynn.
Brazil taxes its oil industry to pay for climate projects, and China expects to have $1.5 billion a year from 2012 paid for from its own business operations and international grants, according to the U.N. guide.
National funds help individual countries to access and use the varied financing, said Flynn. Countries have to prepare for initiatives such as the Green Climate Fund and the huge sums it will be handling.
“How can they better put in place systems on their side, domestically, to better access these funds, to get results out of those funds,” Flynn said.
“I think we will see many more national climate funds in coming years. These are the best way to attract and channel resources.”
UNITED NATIONS
Global investment in clean energy rose to a record $243 billion dollars last year with the vast majority concentrated in the world’s top 20 economies, the United Nations said Wednesday.
Many countries are struggling with the breakneck increase in climate change financing, however, according to a new U.N. Development Program (UNDP) guide to one of the world's fastest growing industries.
Over the past two years more than 50 national public climate funds have been created. There are 45 carbon markets and more than 6,000 private equity funds providing billions of dollars for climate change action, the guide said.
The European Union, Japan and the United States are already providing $30 billion a year to help poorer nations combat global warming and this Green Climate Fund will be channeling $100 billion a year by 2020.
Cassie Flynn, lead author of the U.N. guide, said that climate financing is now hitting “historic” levels.
“There is really only a small group of countries that are accessing the funds as easily as we would hope and this is where national climate funds come in,” Flynn said, highlighting the concentration of clean energy financing in the Group of 20 major economies.
Poorer nations are predicted to bear the brunt of rising seas, drought and the fierce storms that are being blamed on global warming.
Brazil and China have two of the most successful national climate funds, according to Flynn.
Brazil taxes its oil industry to pay for climate projects, and China expects to have $1.5 billion a year from 2012 paid for from its own business operations and international grants, according to the U.N. guide.
National funds help individual countries to access and use the varied financing, said Flynn. Countries have to prepare for initiatives such as the Green Climate Fund and the huge sums it will be handling.
“How can they better put in place systems on their side, domestically, to better access these funds, to get results out of those funds,” Flynn said.
“I think we will see many more national climate funds in coming years. These are the best way to attract and channel resources.”
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Superstrong spider skin: Bulletproof art or medical miracle?
What started as a work of art and science fiction may become a medical miracle that benefits burn patients, aids bone regeneration and one day may even make us bulletproof.
Dutch artist Jalila Essaïdi and cell biologist Abdoelwaheb El Ghalbzouri blended synthetic spider silk with human skin to produce a superstrong material that can stop a rifle bullet shot at half its regular speed.
Time to move over Kevlar? Not quite yet, but the new weave could turn out to have various medical uses.
Essaïdi's original art work is a lab sample of skin tissue stored in a refrigerator and accompanied by a video showing a gunshot test on the material.
The special skin will soon become part of Belgian art collector Geert Verbeke's unusual portfolio: he plans to graft part of the artist's creation into his arm later this year.
"It connects nature, science and art. If I put the art that Jalila has made on my arm, then I will always have it with me," said Verbeke, who has a particular interest in marrying arts and life sciences.
However, such grafted skin is still far from being truly bulletproof.
El Ghalbzouri said that spider silk is three times stronger than Kevlar, which is used in bulletproof vests worn by the military and others in conflict zones. Since bulletproof vests are made from 33 layers of Kevlar, using more layers of spider silk could prove more effective in stopping a bullet, he said.
He and Essaïdi see more potential for the blended skin and silk when it comes to developing skin grafts for burn patients.
"This skin is much stronger and tougher than regular skin ... you can also make much larger pieces of skin" this way, the artist told Reuters. The layers of spider silk embedded in the skin allow the cultivation of larger sheets of tissue which literally outgrow their petri dishes, she added.
Some studies show that incorporating regular silk in burn wounds encourages faster healing and less scarring, she said, so now she wants to see whether incorporating spider silk in the treatment of burn wounds has similar results.
While human cells appear to adhere well to spider silk, more research is needed, El Ghalbzouri said.
"Next to skin, spider silk could be a very good scaffold for bone regeneration, cartilage, tendons, ligaments," he told Reuters in an interview, while other applications for the silk alone include surgical stitches, thanks to its strength and elasticity, as well as parachutes and parachute cords
Dutch artist Jalila Essaïdi and cell biologist Abdoelwaheb El Ghalbzouri blended synthetic spider silk with human skin to produce a superstrong material that can stop a rifle bullet shot at half its regular speed.
Time to move over Kevlar? Not quite yet, but the new weave could turn out to have various medical uses.
Essaïdi's original art work is a lab sample of skin tissue stored in a refrigerator and accompanied by a video showing a gunshot test on the material.
The special skin will soon become part of Belgian art collector Geert Verbeke's unusual portfolio: he plans to graft part of the artist's creation into his arm later this year.
"It connects nature, science and art. If I put the art that Jalila has made on my arm, then I will always have it with me," said Verbeke, who has a particular interest in marrying arts and life sciences.
However, such grafted skin is still far from being truly bulletproof.
El Ghalbzouri said that spider silk is three times stronger than Kevlar, which is used in bulletproof vests worn by the military and others in conflict zones. Since bulletproof vests are made from 33 layers of Kevlar, using more layers of spider silk could prove more effective in stopping a bullet, he said.
He and Essaïdi see more potential for the blended skin and silk when it comes to developing skin grafts for burn patients.
"This skin is much stronger and tougher than regular skin ... you can also make much larger pieces of skin" this way, the artist told Reuters. The layers of spider silk embedded in the skin allow the cultivation of larger sheets of tissue which literally outgrow their petri dishes, she added.
Some studies show that incorporating regular silk in burn wounds encourages faster healing and less scarring, she said, so now she wants to see whether incorporating spider silk in the treatment of burn wounds has similar results.
While human cells appear to adhere well to spider silk, more research is needed, El Ghalbzouri said.
"Next to skin, spider silk could be a very good scaffold for bone regeneration, cartilage, tendons, ligaments," he told Reuters in an interview, while other applications for the silk alone include surgical stitches, thanks to its strength and elasticity, as well as parachutes and parachute cords
Friday, September 9, 2011
Best astronomy photos of the year
Runner-up (Earth & Space), 'Divine Presence' by Ole C. Salomonsen (Norway).
Display of the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, taken over ponds near Hillesøy in Norway, 11 March 2011. The aurorae are caused by the interaction between the Earth’s atmosphere and a stream of particles from the Sun known as the solar wind.
The Earth’s magnetic field funnels these particles down over the planet’s poles giving rise to the glowing curtains of coloured light.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
NASA twin unmanned spacecraft to map the inner moon
By AFP
WASHINGTON
The US space agency plans to launch two unmanned spacecraft Thursday that will chase each other around the Moon as they use gravity measurements to draw an unprecedented map of its inner workings.
Known as the GRAIL mission, or Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory, the satellites will launch together on a single Delta II rocket as early as 8:37 am Thursday (1237 GMT), when the launch window opens.
Researchers hope GRAIL will answer some of the mysteries about the far side of the moon, which humans have never explored, and also shed light on how other rocky planets like Earth, Venus, Mars, and Mercury may have formed.
“GRAIL is a mission that will study the inside of the Moon from crust to core,” said the 500-million-dollar project's principal investigator Maria Zuber.
The project is part of NASA’s Discovery program, which has launched 10 spacecraft since 1992 to study the solar system.
Zuber noted that the Moon has been amply studied since the dawn of the space age in 1959, with a total of 109 missions of various kinds.
Twelve humans have stepped foot on the lunar surface, and 842 pounds (382 kilograms) of rocks and soil have been brought back to Earth for further study.
In addition, three science satellites are currently orbiting the moon, she said.
“Given all this activity, do we know everything that we would like to know about the moon? In short, the answer is no.”
Scientists believe that the moon was formed when a planet-sized object crashed into the Earth, throwing off a load of material that eventually became what we now recognize as our planet's airless, desolate satellite.
But as recently as last month, a study published in the journal Nature raised new questions about our knowledge of the Moon’s beginnings.
A fresh dating analysis of isotopes of lead and neodymium, found in samples of magma-formed rock, showed the Moon is 4.36 billion years old, up to 200 million years younger than previously thought.
The study suggested that the oldest crusts on both the Earth and Moon formed at roughly the same time, just after this massive collision.
“The extraordinarily young age of this lunar sample either means that the Moon solidified significantly later than previous estimates, or that we need to change our entire understanding of the Moon’s geochemical history,” said Richard Carlson of the Carnegie Institution for Science.
If Thursday’s launch goes ahead as planned, the GRAIL twins will journey to the moon for more than three months, with one spacecraft entering Moon's orbit on New Year's Eve and the second on New Year’s Day.
Once there, they will line up with each other and “essentially chase each other around in a polar orbit as the Moon rotates slowly underneath them,” said Zuber.
They will hover about 34 miles (55 kilometers) above the lunar surface, with the distance between them ranging from 37 to 140 miles (60 to 225 kilometers.)
The duo will accomplish the mission's primary aim of understanding the Moon’s inner character by performing a series of low-altitude gravity field measurements using what is known as a Ka-band ranging instrument.
The mission itself is relatively short in duration, just 90 days once the two spacecraft reach orbit.
About 40 days after their work is done, the pair will plunge into the lunar surface, NASA said. Scientific analysis of their data is expected to continue for a year.
Last month, NASA launched its billion-dollar solar-powered spacecraft Juno on a five-year journey to Jupiter aiming to discover what makes up the solar system’s biggest planet.
After GRAIL, the US space agency plans to launch its Mars Science Laboratory in November on a nearly two-year journey to the red planet.
WASHINGTON
The US space agency plans to launch two unmanned spacecraft Thursday that will chase each other around the Moon as they use gravity measurements to draw an unprecedented map of its inner workings.
Known as the GRAIL mission, or Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory, the satellites will launch together on a single Delta II rocket as early as 8:37 am Thursday (1237 GMT), when the launch window opens.
Researchers hope GRAIL will answer some of the mysteries about the far side of the moon, which humans have never explored, and also shed light on how other rocky planets like Earth, Venus, Mars, and Mercury may have formed.
“GRAIL is a mission that will study the inside of the Moon from crust to core,” said the 500-million-dollar project's principal investigator Maria Zuber.
The project is part of NASA’s Discovery program, which has launched 10 spacecraft since 1992 to study the solar system.
Zuber noted that the Moon has been amply studied since the dawn of the space age in 1959, with a total of 109 missions of various kinds.
Twelve humans have stepped foot on the lunar surface, and 842 pounds (382 kilograms) of rocks and soil have been brought back to Earth for further study.
In addition, three science satellites are currently orbiting the moon, she said.
“Given all this activity, do we know everything that we would like to know about the moon? In short, the answer is no.”
Scientists believe that the moon was formed when a planet-sized object crashed into the Earth, throwing off a load of material that eventually became what we now recognize as our planet's airless, desolate satellite.
But as recently as last month, a study published in the journal Nature raised new questions about our knowledge of the Moon’s beginnings.
A fresh dating analysis of isotopes of lead and neodymium, found in samples of magma-formed rock, showed the Moon is 4.36 billion years old, up to 200 million years younger than previously thought.
The study suggested that the oldest crusts on both the Earth and Moon formed at roughly the same time, just after this massive collision.
“The extraordinarily young age of this lunar sample either means that the Moon solidified significantly later than previous estimates, or that we need to change our entire understanding of the Moon’s geochemical history,” said Richard Carlson of the Carnegie Institution for Science.
If Thursday’s launch goes ahead as planned, the GRAIL twins will journey to the moon for more than three months, with one spacecraft entering Moon's orbit on New Year's Eve and the second on New Year’s Day.
Once there, they will line up with each other and “essentially chase each other around in a polar orbit as the Moon rotates slowly underneath them,” said Zuber.
They will hover about 34 miles (55 kilometers) above the lunar surface, with the distance between them ranging from 37 to 140 miles (60 to 225 kilometers.)
The duo will accomplish the mission's primary aim of understanding the Moon’s inner character by performing a series of low-altitude gravity field measurements using what is known as a Ka-band ranging instrument.
The mission itself is relatively short in duration, just 90 days once the two spacecraft reach orbit.
About 40 days after their work is done, the pair will plunge into the lunar surface, NASA said. Scientific analysis of their data is expected to continue for a year.
Last month, NASA launched its billion-dollar solar-powered spacecraft Juno on a five-year journey to Jupiter aiming to discover what makes up the solar system’s biggest planet.
After GRAIL, the US space agency plans to launch its Mars Science Laboratory in November on a nearly two-year journey to the red planet.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Microsoft gives further peek at Windows 8
Microsoft on Tuesday provided another glimpse at changes coming with the next-generation of Windows software that powers most of the world’s computers.
Microsoft is making major improvements to a key Windows Explorer file management program to enhance how it interacts with the coming Windows 8 operating system, according to Windows division president Steven Sinofsky.
“Windows 8 is about reimagining Windows, so we took on the challenge to improve the most widely used desktop tool (except maybe for Solitaire) in Windows,” Sinofsky said atop a blog post detailing Explorer modifications.
“Windows Explorer is a foundation of the user experience of the Windows desktop and has undergone several design changes over the years, but has not seen a substantial change in quite some time,” he added.
A control “ribbon” for commands was added to make them more easily accessible to people other than “power users” familiar with Windows Explorer shortcuts.
Engineers set out to “return Explorer to its roots as an efficient file manager and expose some hidden gems” in the form of handy commands many people may not know, according to Alex Simmons of the program management team.
Microsoft in June provided the first sneak peak at the successor to Windows 7, a next-generation operating system designed to work on both personal computers and touchscreen tablets.
Sinofsky demonstrated some of the features of the operating system code-named “Windows 8” at a D9 technology conference hosted by All Things Digital.
“Laptops, slates, desktops -- all can run one operating system,” Sinofsky said.
“Windows 8” builds upon many of the features in Microsoft’s latest mobile operating system for smartphones, Windows Phone 7, including the use of touch “tiles” instead of icons to launch and navigate between applications.
Microsoft has promised to reveal more features of Windows 8, which uses Internet Explorer 10 as a Web browser, at its developers conference in Anaheim, California, opening on September 13.
Microsoft is making major improvements to a key Windows Explorer file management program to enhance how it interacts with the coming Windows 8 operating system, according to Windows division president Steven Sinofsky.
“Windows 8 is about reimagining Windows, so we took on the challenge to improve the most widely used desktop tool (except maybe for Solitaire) in Windows,” Sinofsky said atop a blog post detailing Explorer modifications.
“Windows Explorer is a foundation of the user experience of the Windows desktop and has undergone several design changes over the years, but has not seen a substantial change in quite some time,” he added.
A control “ribbon” for commands was added to make them more easily accessible to people other than “power users” familiar with Windows Explorer shortcuts.
Engineers set out to “return Explorer to its roots as an efficient file manager and expose some hidden gems” in the form of handy commands many people may not know, according to Alex Simmons of the program management team.
Microsoft in June provided the first sneak peak at the successor to Windows 7, a next-generation operating system designed to work on both personal computers and touchscreen tablets.
Sinofsky demonstrated some of the features of the operating system code-named “Windows 8” at a D9 technology conference hosted by All Things Digital.
“Laptops, slates, desktops -- all can run one operating system,” Sinofsky said.
“Windows 8” builds upon many of the features in Microsoft’s latest mobile operating system for smartphones, Windows Phone 7, including the use of touch “tiles” instead of icons to launch and navigate between applications.
Microsoft has promised to reveal more features of Windows 8, which uses Internet Explorer 10 as a Web browser, at its developers conference in Anaheim, California, opening on September 13.
With new tablets, Sony takes aim at iPad in Japan
Sony Corp. said Thursday it wants to become the biggest player in Japan’s growing Android tablet market by changing the way the devices are used.
The Japanese electronics and entertainment giant unveiled its first tablets to the rest of the world Wednesday, diving into the intense race at home and abroad to catch Apple’s iPad.
Sony will begin selling the Tablet S in Japan on Sept. 17 starting at about 45,000 yen ($584). The device is about the size of an iPad but features a wedge-shaped design that makes it easier to hold. It can also double as a universal remote control.
The smaller, dual-screened Tablet P will hit Japanese stores by November at a price yet to be determined.
The Tablet P is small enough to fit in a purse and opens like a book to reveal two screens. When used for e-book reading, it can be held vertically and show one page on each screen. When composing e-mail, the upper screen can show the message while the lower one shows a keyboard.
Akihiro Matsubara, corporate vice president of Sony Marketing Inc., told reporters in Tokyo on Thursday that Japan’s tablet market is expected to hit 2 million units this fiscal year through March and expand to 3.2 million the following year.
The iPad holds about 85 percent of Japan’s tablet market, though Android-based tablets are expected to gradually gain ground.
Sony found that in Japan, tablets are purchased for casual, personal use, Matsubara said. The Tokyo-based company hopes to change that.
By integrating content from its other properties, Sony hopes to transform tablets into household necessities used by the whole family.
The devices will connect to Sony’s cloud-computing based library of content such as movies and music, as well as to Sony PlayStation video games adapted for running on Android and digital books from Sony’s Reader store.
Computing for the general user is no longer about hardware specs, Matsubara said.
“It’s about what you can do with a tablet, and how easily you can do it,” he said.
Whether consumers will bite is another matter. Initial reaction online has been mixed, with some reviewers underwhelmed by the user interface despite praising the wedge design.
Earlier this week, Macquarie Capital Securities downgraded its rating on Sony’s stock one notch to neutral. It cited deteriorating sales of electronics and a more pessimistic long-term outlook about the company’s key products.
Macquarie analyst Jeff Loff expressed concerns that prices may be too high for Sony’s tablets.
Also, “we think the ... clamshell design will fail,” he said.
Other electronics companies are trying to differentiate their tablets from the iPad as well. On Tuesday, Lenovo Corp. launched a “business-oriented” tablet that comes with a stylus.
The Japanese electronics and entertainment giant unveiled its first tablets to the rest of the world Wednesday, diving into the intense race at home and abroad to catch Apple’s iPad.
Sony will begin selling the Tablet S in Japan on Sept. 17 starting at about 45,000 yen ($584). The device is about the size of an iPad but features a wedge-shaped design that makes it easier to hold. It can also double as a universal remote control.
The smaller, dual-screened Tablet P will hit Japanese stores by November at a price yet to be determined.
The Tablet P is small enough to fit in a purse and opens like a book to reveal two screens. When used for e-book reading, it can be held vertically and show one page on each screen. When composing e-mail, the upper screen can show the message while the lower one shows a keyboard.
Akihiro Matsubara, corporate vice president of Sony Marketing Inc., told reporters in Tokyo on Thursday that Japan’s tablet market is expected to hit 2 million units this fiscal year through March and expand to 3.2 million the following year.
The iPad holds about 85 percent of Japan’s tablet market, though Android-based tablets are expected to gradually gain ground.
Sony found that in Japan, tablets are purchased for casual, personal use, Matsubara said. The Tokyo-based company hopes to change that.
By integrating content from its other properties, Sony hopes to transform tablets into household necessities used by the whole family.
The devices will connect to Sony’s cloud-computing based library of content such as movies and music, as well as to Sony PlayStation video games adapted for running on Android and digital books from Sony’s Reader store.
Computing for the general user is no longer about hardware specs, Matsubara said.
“It’s about what you can do with a tablet, and how easily you can do it,” he said.
Whether consumers will bite is another matter. Initial reaction online has been mixed, with some reviewers underwhelmed by the user interface despite praising the wedge design.
Earlier this week, Macquarie Capital Securities downgraded its rating on Sony’s stock one notch to neutral. It cited deteriorating sales of electronics and a more pessimistic long-term outlook about the company’s key products.
Macquarie analyst Jeff Loff expressed concerns that prices may be too high for Sony’s tablets.
Also, “we think the ... clamshell design will fail,” he said.
Other electronics companies are trying to differentiate their tablets from the iPad as well. On Tuesday, Lenovo Corp. launched a “business-oriented” tablet that comes with a stylus.
Friday, August 12, 2011
NASA finds new evidence of liquid water on Mars
NASA scientists have discovered new evidence that briny water flows on Mars during its warmest months, raising chances that life could exist on the Red Planet, the space agency said on Thursday.
NASA first found signs of water on Mars more than a decade ago, but earlier indications were that any existing water would be frozen and concentrated at the poles.
Recently analyzed images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter satellite show dark, finger-like features that extend down some slopes and crater walls on the planet during its late spring through summer, fading in the Martian winter.
“This is the best evidence we have to date of a liquid water occurring today on Mars,” said Philip Christensen, a geophysicist at Arizona State University, Tempe, in a NASA panel announcing the findings in Washington.
NASA scientists believe that if there is liquid water on Mars, it would be highly salty and lie beneath the surface. That would explain why it would not freeze in the planet’s frigid surface temperatures, which can fall to around 200 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (minus 128 degrees Celsius), or evaporate in its low air pressure.
“It is more like a syrup, maybe, in how it flows,” said Alfred McEwen of the University of Arizona, Tucson, principal investigator in charge of a special camera on the Mars orbiter called a High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment.
He also is the lead author of a report on evidence of water flows published on Thursday in the journal Science.
The scientists on NASA’s panel stressed that liquid water is more likely to sustain life than ice, underscoring the importance of the latest discovery.
Past NASA discoveries revealed evidence of ancient shorelines and riverbanks on Mars. And analysis of gullies on the Red Planet five years ago turned up fresh mineral deposits that suggested recent water flows, but provided no categorical proof of that, scientists said.
The latest discovery is more difficult to explain away as evidence of anything but contemporary water flows, said Michael Meyer, Mars exploration program lead scientist at NASA.
Another possibility to account for the periodic darkening in the areas under examination is dust moving along the surface of the planet, McEwen said. But dust avalanches would occur at more random intervals, rather than on a seasonal basis, he said.
Scientists on the panel said the latest imaging evidence of flowing water also suggests the existence of liquid water closer to the planet's equator than previously found.
Any liquid water would likely lie beneath the surface because the atmosphere on Mars is so thin that liquid water above ground would quickly evaporate, scientists said.
Some organisms on Earth thrive underground with little access to sunlight, and the same thing could be occurring on Mars, said Lisa Pratt, biogeochemist at Indiana University, Bloomington, and a participant on the NASA panel discussing the results on Thursday.
Ms. Pratt said further research is needed at the seven sites where recurring evidence of flowing water was found.
“It is our first chance to see an environment on Mars that might allow for the expression of an active biological process, if there is present-day life on Mars,” she said.
NASA first found signs of water on Mars more than a decade ago, but earlier indications were that any existing water would be frozen and concentrated at the poles.
Recently analyzed images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter satellite show dark, finger-like features that extend down some slopes and crater walls on the planet during its late spring through summer, fading in the Martian winter.
“This is the best evidence we have to date of a liquid water occurring today on Mars,” said Philip Christensen, a geophysicist at Arizona State University, Tempe, in a NASA panel announcing the findings in Washington.
NASA scientists believe that if there is liquid water on Mars, it would be highly salty and lie beneath the surface. That would explain why it would not freeze in the planet’s frigid surface temperatures, which can fall to around 200 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (minus 128 degrees Celsius), or evaporate in its low air pressure.
“It is more like a syrup, maybe, in how it flows,” said Alfred McEwen of the University of Arizona, Tucson, principal investigator in charge of a special camera on the Mars orbiter called a High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment.
He also is the lead author of a report on evidence of water flows published on Thursday in the journal Science.
The scientists on NASA’s panel stressed that liquid water is more likely to sustain life than ice, underscoring the importance of the latest discovery.
Past NASA discoveries revealed evidence of ancient shorelines and riverbanks on Mars. And analysis of gullies on the Red Planet five years ago turned up fresh mineral deposits that suggested recent water flows, but provided no categorical proof of that, scientists said.
The latest discovery is more difficult to explain away as evidence of anything but contemporary water flows, said Michael Meyer, Mars exploration program lead scientist at NASA.
Another possibility to account for the periodic darkening in the areas under examination is dust moving along the surface of the planet, McEwen said. But dust avalanches would occur at more random intervals, rather than on a seasonal basis, he said.
Scientists on the panel said the latest imaging evidence of flowing water also suggests the existence of liquid water closer to the planet's equator than previously found.
Any liquid water would likely lie beneath the surface because the atmosphere on Mars is so thin that liquid water above ground would quickly evaporate, scientists said.
Some organisms on Earth thrive underground with little access to sunlight, and the same thing could be occurring on Mars, said Lisa Pratt, biogeochemist at Indiana University, Bloomington, and a participant on the NASA panel discussing the results on Thursday.
Ms. Pratt said further research is needed at the seven sites where recurring evidence of flowing water was found.
“It is our first chance to see an environment on Mars that might allow for the expression of an active biological process, if there is present-day life on Mars,” she said.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Kids who use excess Facebook get low marks in school
London, Aug 11 (IANS) Social networking websites like Facebook have negative effects on children, and those who frequently use such websites are more likely to get lower marks in school, says a new American study.
Such students are also likely to have behavioural problems and 'narcissistic tendencies' from spending too much time logged on to such sites, according to the research by the California State University.
Psychology professor Larry Rosen said researchers watched as students spent 15 minutes studying something that was important to them.
The research team was left dumbfounded as the students' concentration lapsed because of the need to check their Facebook page.
'What we found was mind-boggling. About every three minutes they are off-task. You'd think under these constraints, knowing that someone is observing you, that someone would be more on task,' Rosen was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.
'The more media they consumed per day, the worse students they were. If they checked Facebook just once during 15 minutes, they were worse students.'
Rosen released the findings at the American Psychological Association in a speech titled 'Poke Me: How Social Networks Can Both Help and Harm Our Kids'.
The negative effects of over-using social media include making students more prone to vain, aggressive and anti social behaviour, the report said.
Children under 13 who overuse social sites on a daily basis are also more likely to be prone to bouts of anxiety, depression, sleeping problems and stomach aches.
The study also found that social networking had some positive effects also. They helped shy children interact more.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Video Games: What to Do If a Child They Replaced Reality?
Well, here came the day when the beloved child jumps for joy to the ceiling – its cherished dream has come true, he now has a computer! Instantly cast all of their household affairs and immersed in a friendly communication with the miracle technology: who will get acquainted, and who seriously “poyuzerit and play. In general, the noise is barely be heard Mom’s warning, “Only half an hour,” “Do not slouch, do not fight, if your eyes are red – Stop and take!” …Months pass, second, and parents are beginning to realize that from Chad, in general, there was only back at the monitor. And when you try to pull this back from the computer they come across first in the imploring eyes reddened eyes, and assurances that all lessons are done, and on the street rain, etc. Well, the child did not die of hunger, food must bring into the room and put the front of the monitor, and sometimes even to breathe oxygen – to open the window.
Will be some time, and wise parents simply declare war: captured by the wire (child find other, and very quickly), applied to intentional harm Technology (pseudo-user will fix in a minute), and put passwords (even cause the smile of the young hacker). But it did not help. At some point, parents are still lowered his arms, and swell the ranks of moms and dads, who were defeated fashionable fad of today’s children. But parents enthusiasts will go further: talk to a psychologist, will buy the book titled “How to pull a child from a computer, to undertake the mental conversation with Chad and drag it to the campaign and the joint family sortie. Sometimes it really helps.
But in fact, according to child psychologists, we must not try to follow the popular template “A child on a computer – bad parents”, “Computer – evil,” “In the fight for child of all methods are good,” etc., but soberly and deliberately analyze the root of the problem. And then it will solve all problems. Thus, the reasons for the excessive (in the opinion of the parents) may be dragging your computer as follows:
1. Fashion trends among their peers.
And in this case the interest of the child completely ban is not necessary, because to be today in their team, peers, the boy just to boast that it has been a difficult tenth the level in the game-shooter, or wrung some of the hero-warrior. Especially because today’s children who have homes have wired internet, have the opportunity to play with each other online. Than not “voynushki” in the yard, albeit peculiar?
2. Personal psychological problems of the child.
When a family cries, scandals, when the child is constantly imposed unjustified claims, or he just bad and uncomfortable at home – it is much easier and faster to plunge into the illusory world of computer games. And no wonder, because this is just a slob at home, he and mediocrity, and in the game, he was – a hero, a fighter, he is respected, he had something he could achieve. And so it was difficult for him to return later in the inhospitable reality …
In this case, you may need assistance of an experienced psychologist. And not just the child. By making the atmosphere at home can help her daze to become less dependent on the games and even a little real love.
3. Nesobrannost child, inability to control time.
In that case, a teenager should simply agree to: “Come on, ten minutes – on and off”, “Your time for the game – from 14 to 17 and beyond – the real, want it or not.” Even the most disorganized child gradually becomes accustomed to the rules if they are competent to make and not break.
And finally, it is important to note that in themselves these computer games are not a hundred percent evil (except for explicit violent games). It is in play, children learn to overcome obstacles, learn to play, develops an excellent strategic thinking and even finds a new companions. But problems such as hunched back, and lack of friends in real life are solved easily by setting the parent of simple rules and a full house atmosphere of love and taking his child as he is.
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