The SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY News Thread

[Jinto]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...tml?ir=Science

If this ultra thin glass could be used in transistors, they might finally reach a point where the density of stored charge per volume make them usable as accumulators. Accumulators that can be (dis)charged extremely fast.

[Anh_Minh]

And then... man portable rail guns, laser guns and stuff?

[monir]

Originally Posted by Jinto

If this ultra thin glass could be used in transistors, they might finally reach a point where the density of stored charge per volume make them usable as accumulators. Accumulators that can be (dis)charged extremely fast.

Can you elaborate, good sir, so this layman can understand? What practical application are we talking here?

[NoemiChan]

Originally Posted by Jinto

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...tml?ir=Science

If this ultra thin glass could be used in transistors, they might finally reach a point where the density of stored charge per volume make them usable as accumulators. Accumulators that can be (dis)charged extremely fast.

...you mean they're like batteries?

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by monir

Can you elaborate, good sir, so this layman can understand? What practical application are we talking here?

Think of RX-78's E-cap system having a glass block inside.

[Jinto]

Originally Posted by monir

Can you elaborate, good sir, so this layman can understand? What practical application are we talking here?

Atm in chip design what they call micro or nano meter technology is basically about the size of the gates in (MOSFET) transistors. Those are currently the tiniest structures in chip design. However, today there is a tradeoff between electrical isolation and heat transmission and electrical conductivity, which makes the remaining structures comparably huge in chip design. So, generaly in chip design, the glass could allow for a more packed structure.

Also, this could be very interesting in the design of memory chips (DRAM - basically based on micro capacitors).

Originally Posted by NoemiChan

...you mean they're like batteries?

Well, its not exactly a good material for capacitors used as batteries, or lets say... there are materials (e.g. nanotubes) that can be used today (or soon), that offer at least the same charge density. Maybe it could be used for capacitors that must be able to work in extreme temperatures.

[Dextro]

Canon's low-light video sensor can see in the dead of night

In March Canon announced a new high-sensitivity CMOS sensor design, and now the company is showing off its capabilities with some remarkable footage of fireflies shot in almost total darkness. The 35mm full-frame sensor captures video at 1920 x 1080 — or Full HD — resolution, and was designed expressly for low-noise performance in challenging conditions. To test it, a camera was equipped with the sensor and used to capture footage of fireflies on Ishigaki Island in Japan.

I wasn't particularly impressed until they made a zoomed closeup of a firefly in the dark and it was rather clear. Now that's impressive.

[NoemiChan]

Nice way to reenact Outlast at night

[ganbaru]

Bill would create California quake warning system
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...09-13-16-25-33

[AnimeFan188]

Valve CEO: Why Linux is the future of gaming:

"As a keynote speaker at the Linux Foundation's 2013 North American Linuxcon,
Newell explained that the old proprietary ways are no longer working for gaming
companies. In no small part, that's because the economics of games are changing.
Newell said, "Games are becoming nodes in a linked economy where the majority of
digital goods and services are user generated, rather than created by companies.""

See:

http://www.zdnet.com/valve-ceo-why-l...ng-7000020735/

[ganbaru]

Va. company about to make first space station run
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...09-17-14-42-34

Brazil looks to break from US-centric Internet
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...09-17-14-26-26

[AnimeFan188]

Darpa Revives Larger Reusable Booster Spaceplane:

"The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) plans to seek industry
interest next month in an Experimental Spaceplane (XS-1) which will be capable of
delivering a payload up to 5,000 lb. to space for less than $5 million per launch.

The XS-1 is targeted at flying at Mach 10 plus and generating a sortie rate of up to 10
times over 10 days. The program compliments the agency’s ongoing Airborne Launch
Assist Space Access (Alasa) program, which is developing an air launch system for
small satellites, and appears to be a partial revival of the Air Force Research
Laboratory’s abandoned Reusable Booster System (RBS) Pathfinder.

Like RBS, the XS-1 would be based on a hypersonic first stage which would deliver
payloads to low Earth orbit via one or more expendable stages. The first stage would
return autonomously to the launch site for reuse. Darpa, which is expected to issue a
Broad Agency Announcement for XS-1 shortly, says “modular components, durable
thermal protection systems and automatic launch, flight, and recovery systems should
significantly reduce logistical needs, enabling rapid turnaround between flights.”"

See:

http://www.aviationweek.com/Article...._p0-618115.xml

[ganbaru]

Hackers offered cash, booze to crack iPhone fingerprint security
http://ca.reuters.com/article/techno...98I10I20130919

NASA rover finds no hint of methane in Mars air
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...09-19-18-28-52

[SummeryDreams]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

Hackers offered cash, booze to crack iPhone fingerprint security
http://ca.reuters.com/article/techno...98I10I20130919

NASA rover finds no hint of methane in Mars air
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...09-19-18-28-52

I wish I could have that fingerprint security in my 4S as well. Can't afford a 5 right now. T_T

[Dhomochevsky]

Well, it's already broken.
They used the same old method they've been using for years, so you could say it was broken from the start.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygree...rprint-reader/

[ganbaru]

Arctic sea ice 6th lowest, but rebounds from 2012
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...09-20-17-51-56

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Dhomochevsky

Well, it's already broken.
They used the same old method they've been using for years, so you could say it was broken from the start.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygree...rprint-reader/

The Chaos Computer Club? Those guys have been around since the 90s.

Looks like they also shifted to hacking mobile technology. Kudos to them and everyone who seek to destroy and exploit security to prevent them from being "premiumised".

[SummeryDreams]

Just out of curiousity, why don't they just hire this really good hackers and pay them a really good salary.

[Jinto]

Originally Posted by SummeryDreams

Just out of curiousity, why don't they just hire this really good hackers and pay them a really good salary.

I think most of these hackers are employed somewhere. Thats also the reason why they have something like a hacker ethos. They are not dependend on the hacks as an income source.

[SummeryDreams]

Originally Posted by Jinto

I think most of these hackers are employed somewhere. Thats also the reason why they have something like a hacker ethos. They are not dependend on the hacks as an income source.

I guess most of the hackers will just do dirty jobs when provoked to do so. Like if they got pissed off of something and they wanted to ruin everything about whoever pisses them off, or something like that. But they're really cool you know, like doing with all the securities of the big companies in the world and still they'd be able to penetrate.