Scientists are fickle, aren't they? First they're saying we can't have invisibility cloaks, now they're saying we can. I vote "can," obviously. How will it work? The same way everything in the future will work: nanoparticles. A team from Fudan University in Shanghai believes that silver-plated nanoparticles suspended in water could be the trick to draping yourself in invisibility: In the absence of a magnetic field, such nanoparticles would simply float around in the water, but if a field were introduced, the particles would self-assemble into chains whose lengths depend on the strength of the field, and which can also attract one another to form thicker columns. The chains and columns would lie along the direction of the magnetic field. If they were oriented vertically in a pool of water, light striking the surface would refract negatively – bent in way that no natural material can manage. This property could be exploited for invisibility devices, directing light around an object so that it appears as if nothing is there, or be put to use in lenses that could capture finer details than any optical microscope. See, scientists? That wasn't so hard! I hope this is lighting a fire under the asses of the USPS owl-training division. [New Scientist via Slashdot] Send an email to Brian Barrett, the author of this post, at < moc.odomzig@tterrabb > moc.odomzig@tterrabb
- Posted by admin
- Dec 31, 2009
- Gadget news, About, Apple, Controller, Like, Magic, Still, Thinking, Wand, Wiimote
Seems like Apple is not giving up on alternative control methods: They have just updated their March Wiimote-like controller patent, so that means they may still working on it. Or maybe not. A remote wand for controlling the operations of a media system is provided. The wand may be operative to control the movement of a cursor displayed on screen by the position and orientation at which the wand is held. As the user moves the wand, the on-screen cursor may move. The user may use the wand to control a plurality of operations and applications that may be available from the media system, including for example zoom operations, a keyboard application, an image application, an illustration application, and a media application. I wish they fixed Apple TV instead, so it could play any media, and not only iTunes-branded stuff. Actually, if I were Apple, I will forget about wands and license Microsoft Natal to integrate it in all their computers, especially the iMac. [MacRumors] Send an email to Jesus Diaz, the author of this post, at < moc.odomzig@susej > moc.odomzig@susej
That weirdly-shaped Sholes Tablet we saw a while ago has an official Chinese press page up. There's also details on the XT800, the much less lumpy handset of the two. Both of the phones feature Android 2.0 (sans Motoblur from what I can see), Cortex A8 processors and 854x480 displays. The XT800 is a hybrid EVDO-CDMA/GSM handset. Except for the lump on the Sholes (or XT701 if you're a model number kind of person), they both look pretty nice. Here's to hoping these find their way to U.S. shores soon enough. Check out the link for full specs on both. [Mobile Review Forums via BGR] Send an email to Chris Jacob, the author of this post, at < moc.odomzig@bocajc > moc.odomzig@bocajc
