Issue no. 42, 2003
Published: Nov 14, 2003 |
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 New memory technology could replace CDs |
| Patent office to re-examine Eolas patent |
| W3C revises image format |
| Pilot study may give quadriplegics computer control |
| Physics tackles processor problem |
| Novel semiconductor could improve solar cells |
| Single speaker unit creates surround sound |
| Games at work may be good for you |
| 'Chameleon nails' at the click of a switch |
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| New memory technology could replace CDs |
Compact discs could be history within five years, superseded by a new
generation of fingertip-sized memory tabs with no moving parts,
according to researchers at Princeton University and HP Labs.
The researchers melded together organic and inorganic materials in a
unique way. It could be used to produce a single-use memory card that
permanently stores data and is faster and easier to operate than a CD.
The card would not involve any moving parts, such as the laser and motor
drive required by CDs. Its secret is the discovery of a previously
unknown property of a commonly used conductive plastic coating.
The polymer, called PEDOT, has been used for years as an anti-static
coating on photographic film. In the new memory card, data in the form
of ones and zeroes would be represented by polymer pixels. When
information is recorded, higher voltages at certain points in the
circuit grid would 'blow' the PEDOT fuses at those points. As a result,
data is permanently etched into the device. A blown fuse would from then
on be read as a zero, while an unblown one that lets current pass
through is read as a one. |
| Ananova
Nov 12, 2003 |
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| Patent office to re-examine Eolas patent |
The US Patent and Trademark Office has agreed to re-examine the Eolas
patent for a browser plug-in. The 906 patent, owned by the University of
California and licensed exclusively to one-man software company Eolas,
describes how a web browser can use external applications. The patent
also earned that school and company a $521 million judgement after a
federal jury found that Microsoft's Internet Explorer infringed on it.
After Microsoft made public planned changes to IE that held the
potential to break millions of websites, the World Wide Web Consortium
(W3C) last month urged the USPTO to re-examine the so-called 906 patent
in light of W3C technologies that it said predated Eolas' patent.
Specifically, the consortium pointed out early HTML drafts by W3C
Director Tim Berners-Lee and W3C staff member Dave Raggett that it said
qualified as prior art in the case. Prior art is a similar invention
that predates a patent, therefore invalidating it. |
| ZDNet
Nov 11, 2003 |
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| W3C revises image format |
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) this week recommended a revised
edition of the Portable Network Graphics (PNG) format, a royalty free
image format, fixing 7 years' worth of errata and making minor technical
adjustments.
The format's second edition is also being published by the International
Standardization Organization and the International Electrotechnical
Commission, as ISO/IEC 15948:2003.
PNG was designed in response to a patent for the Lempel-Ziv-Welch, or
LZW, a compression algorithm, forms the basis of the popular GIF design.
Despite its added features and royalty free status, PNG has never
approached GIF in terms of adoption, in part because of spotty support
for the format by Microsoft's dominant Internet Explorer browser. |
| ZDNet / CNET
Nov 11, 2003 |
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| Pilot study may give quadriplegics computer control |
Human trials of a device to give quadriplegics mouse control and
computer access should start in the New Year, researchers at
Cyberkinetics in Foxborough, Massachusetts, announced.
The study, which builds on successful primate research, will assess the
efficacy and safety of a device called Braingate in five patients with
serious spinal cord injuries. Many immobile patients still generate the
brain signals for movement. Braingate recognises these impulses and
converts them into action on a computer screen.
Braingate comes in two parts, wired together. A tiny chip is implanted
into the brain to record cell activity while an external processor
converts the signals into computer instructions. The chip is smaller
than an aspirin and contains 100 electrodes. In monkey brains, it works
for up to two years and can be removed and replaced easily. |
| Nature
Nov 10, 2003 |
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| Physics tackles processor problem |
Knowing beforehand the difficulty of a given task is useful information
that could change the way you focus your effort. Researchers from Otto
von Guericke University in Germany have devised a difficulty-prediction
scheme that could lead to more efficient parallel computing.
Parallel computers speed work on certain very large problems by breaking
them into smaller tasks and parcelling the pieces out to different
computer processors. Distributing and coordinating these smaller tasks
so that the problem is solved as quickly as possible is one of a class
of problems whose possible solutions grow exponentially in relation to
the number of variables - in this case the number of tasks.
The researchers used a classic theoretical physics technique to map the
multiprocessor scheduling problem in order to pin down the precise
critical boundary that separates easy from hard problems. This boundary
marks a phase transition, similar to the temperature boundary between
water and ice. They found that two distinctly different phases
characterised harder versus easier problems. The method pinpoints the
transition between the phases, making it easier to identify where to
expect hard tasks and where to expect easy ones. |
| Technology Review / TRN
Nov 13, 2003 |
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| Novel semiconductor could improve solar cells |
Efforts to mass produce solar cells to harness energy have stalled at
efficiencies of around 30 per cent in the laboratory and less than 20
per cent in commercial cells. A novel crystal may change that, however.
Scientists at of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory report that the
semiconductor material could form the basis of solar cells with nearly
50 per cent efficiency.
In a standard photovoltaic cell, the sun's rays are converted into
electricity when electrons within the material are knocked loose. To
accomplish this the incoming light must have a specific energy, known as
the band gap. Incident light with less energy will not be absorbed,
while the portion of more energetic radiation above the band gap will be
lost.
In an attempt to alleviate this problem, the researchers investigated
the properties of a new semiconductor material comprising an alloy of
zinc, manganese and tellurium. They added oxygen impurities to the
crystal, which resulted in a crystal having three band gaps instead of
the customary one. spanning much of the solar spectrum. |
| Scientific American
Nov 10, 2003 |
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| Single speaker unit creates surround sound |
Film soundtracks are normally mixed for five or six separate speakers
arranged around a cinema, to create the impression that action is
happening all around the audience. Many DVDs include this sound data so
that the effect can be recreated at home. But a listener normally has to
wire up five or six speakers in set positions around a room.
But Nirotek's DVD player, the NIRO 1.1 PRO, achieves the same effect
with five individual speakers packed horizontally into a single case. To
achieve the surround sound effect, an on-board computer manipulates the
signal to each speaker using algorithms that mimic the effects used by
the brain to identify the direction a sound is coming from.
These 'head related transfer functions' take account of differences in
the time at which a sound arrives at each side of the head, as well as
subtle distortions caused by the shape of each ear. The signal
manipulations require 600 million calculations per second. Nirotek also
claims its system does not require the listener to be directly in front
of the speaker to be effective. |
| New Scientist
Nov 12, 2003 |
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| Games at work may be good for you |
Playing simple computer games at the office could improve productivity
and job satisfaction, research suggests. Scientists from the University
of Utrecht have studied the effects of game playing on 60 employees in a
Dutch insurance firm.
The researchers randomly split the workers into groups. Some were
allowed to play simple games like Solitaire and Minesweeper for up to
one hour a day, while other 'control' groups were denied the chance. The
game players kept logs of their playing habits and feelings, and were
asked how they used their game playing during their working day.
The results were measured against how they felt about the work they do
and their job. The groups that played games showed improvement on both
of these measures. The results suggest that games might help personal
productivity and make people feel better about their jobs. A round of
Solitaire could help people work more effectively because it gives their
brain a break from complex work tasks. Also being free to play games
within certain limits, and having more choice over how they spend their
work day, could contribute to job satisfaction. |
| BBC News
Nov 07, 2003 |
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| 'Chameleon nails' at the click of a switch |
Women will soon be able to change the colour of their nails at the click
of a switch thanks to a bit of electronic wizardry, developed at the
Cidetec research centre in Spain's Basque country.
The hi-tech cosmetic accessory is fitted on top of the natural nail and,
once in place, can be changed to the colour of the wearer's choice. The
nail is made up of a number of superimposed layers, which are sandwiched
between various electrochromic polymers to allow the colours to change.
A digital control device is then used to programme the desired colour on
to the nails. This includes a camera which can capture the colour of any
surface which is then reproduced on the nails. There is also a screen to
allow the wearer to visualise their colour selection before it is
transferred to the nails.
The developers say the technique, which has already won an innovation
prize, could also be used to cover other surfaces. |
| Ananova
Nov 09, 2003 |
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