Archive for February, 2013
USC: New Lithium Ion Battery Design
February 14th, 2013Via: USC: Researchers at USC have developed a new lithium-ion battery design that uses porous silicon nanoparticles in place of the traditional graphite anodes to provide superior performance. The new batteries — which could be used in anything from cellphones to hybrid cars — hold three times as much energy as comparable graphite-based designs and […]
Intel’s New TV Box Watches You
February 14th, 2013Via: Register: Intel has confirmed it will be selling a set-top box direct to the public later this year, along with a streaming TV service designed to watch you while you’re watching it. … Huggers points out that the camera will have a physical shutter on the front, which can be closed, and that having […]
Pentagon Inks Deal for Smartphone Tool That Scans Your Face, Eyes, Thumbs
February 14th, 2013In other words, expect cops to be be using this on Americans. Via: Wired: In a few years, the soldier, marine or special operator out on patrol might be able to record the facial features or iris signature of a suspicious person all from his or her smartphone — and at a distance, too. The […]
Genetic System Performs Logic Operations and Stores Data in DNA
February 14th, 2013Via: Nature: Synthetic biologists have developed DNA modules that perform logic operations in living cells. These ‘genetic circuits’ could be used to track key moments in a cell’s life or, at the flick of a chemical switch, change a cell’s fate, the researchers say. Their results are described this week in Nature Biotechnology. Synthetic biology […]
SARS-Like Virus May Have Spread Person-to-Person
February 14th, 2013Via: AP: British officials say a mysterious virus related to SARS may have spread between humans, as they confirmed the 11th case worldwide of the new coronavirus in a patient who they say probably caught it from a family member. The new virus was first identified last year in the Middle East and the 10 […]
Obama Signs Cybersecurity Executive Order
February 14th, 2013Via: ZDnet: President Obama signed an executive order aimed at bolstering U.S. cybersecurity prior to tonight’s State of the Union address. The Order precedes a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on “new threats.” It is the government’s latest move in attempting to deal with cyber threats, and the order has not undergone any public technical, […]
Indiana Soybean Farmer Sees Monsanto Lawsuit Reach U.S. Supreme Court
February 13th, 2013Via: Guardian: As David versus Goliath battles go it is hard to imagine a more uneven fight than the one about to play out in front of the US supreme court between Vernon Hugh Bowman and Monsanto. On the one side is Bowman, a single 75-year-old Indiana soybean farmer who is still tending the same […]
North Korea Lights Off Another Nuclear Weapon
February 12th, 2013Via: Guardian: North Korea has drawn widespread condemnation after conducting a nuclear test in defiance of international bans – a development signalled by an earthquake detected in the country and later confirmed by the regime. The test, which took place in the north-east of the country just before noon local time, could bring North Korea […]
Raytheon’s Graphical Object Browser for Tracking People Over Social Networks
February 11th, 2013Via: Guardian: A multinational security firm has secretly developed software capable of tracking people’s movements and predicting future behaviour by mining data from social networking websites. A video obtained by the Guardian reveals how an “extreme-scale analytics” system created by Raytheon, the world’s fifth largest defence contractor, can gather vast amounts of information about people […]
Pope Benedict to Resign at the End of the Month, Vatican Says
February 11th, 2013Yeah, Disney is looking for someone to play a Sith Lord in the upcoming Star Wars films. Via: CNN: The spiritual leader of 1.2 billion Catholics, Pope Benedict XVI, surprised the world Monday by saying he will resign at the end of the month “because of advanced age.” It’s the first time a pope has […]
