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Sunday, April 17, 2011
Friday, April 2, 2010
What is a 3G Network?
Based on the International Telecommunications Union standards, the 3G network is the third generation of mobile networking and telecommunications. It features a wider range of services and advances network capacity over the previous 2G network. The 3G network also increases the rate of information transfer known as spectral efficiency. Telephony has received a wider area and more range, while video and broadband wireless data transfers have also been positively affected. These criteria are identified as the IMT-2000 standard.
A 3G network provides for download speeds of 14.4 megabits per second and upload speeds of 5.8 megabits per second. The minimum speed for a stationary user is 2 megabits per second. A user in a moving vehicle can expect 348 kilobits per second.
This scheme is known as a layered system. Each transmission features three layers of information. The top layer is general service. The middle layer is a control data transmission. The bottom layer is the basic connectivity information.
There is a distinct difference from WiFi, or IEEE 802.11 technology, and this network. WiFi is basically a short range network that offers high-bandwidth designed for data transfer. 3G networks are geared towards cellular telephone technology and Internet access.
Japan and South Korea were the first countries to successfully launch this network. The Japanese company FOMA launched in May 2001 and South Korea's SK Telecom launched in January 2002. British Telecom in the United Kingdom and Monet Mobile Networks in the United States followed suit. By 2007, most countries had implemented the technology.
Delays on the roll-out process of the 3G network impacted the growth of mobile technology in many countries. This network uses a different radio frequency than 2G, which forced many companies to build entirely new infrastructure and obtain additional licenses. Countries like China and Indonesia intentionally chose to withhold the network from its citizens for many years.
Security concerns over 3G networks have been primarily mitigated. The system uses the KASUMI block crypto encryption rather than the older A5/1 stream cipher on the 2G network. While a number of weaknesses have been identified, the system is overall secure.
Some of the challenges that continue to hinder implementation of the 3G network. A number of telecommunications companies found themselves in financial instability throughout 2007 and 2008, highlighted by the increased costs of both phones and communications towers.
Licensing agreements also vary heavily from country to country in both expense and process. This has led to a lack of interest in building 3G networks equating to a lack of customer base.
why 3G Network
3G provides accelerated data speeds and simultaneous voice and data capabilities for an amazing wireless voice and data experience.
- Access CV for faster on-demand viewing of high quality video clips from your favorite TV shows, news, sport and weather
- Surf the wireless Internet faster and significantly lower your wait for page loads
- Download files and access email faster from favorite providers like Yahoo!, MSN, and AOL.
- Multi-task while you are on a call—search for movies times, look up directions, or send messages.
- Get more done with faster access to email and internet. AT&T LaptopConnect gives you the power of the AT&T network while you’re on the go
Technology
The AT&T 3G network uses HSDPA/UMTS technology (High Speed Downlink Packet Access/Universal Mobile Telephone System), which makes it possible to enjoy a variety of feature-rich wireless services. It also gives AT&T the advantage of offering simultaneous voice and data services. That means you can talk and use the Internet at the same time. How's that for multitasking?
Availability
Check the coverage viewer for mobile broadband 3G coverage in your area.
Disclaimer: 3G network not available in all areas
Disclaimer: Referenced speeds require an HSDPA 3.6Mbps / HSUPA capable device with Receive Diversity and/or Equalizer. BroadbandConnect speed claims based on our network tests without compression using 3MB data files. 3G devices not enabled with HSUPA support typical upload speeds of 220-320kbps based on our network tests without compression using 500KB data files for upload. Actual throughput speed varies.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
DLP 3D TV
Turn on your new 3D DLP HDTV, slide on your active 3D glasses, and watch the images jump off the high definition screen and into your home theater. The extreme speed of the DLP chip, combined with 3D technology, makes it all possible.
Experience games and movies like never before
Imagine playing a game with characters and objects that appear to surround you. Or immerse yourself in a movie that spills right into your living room. That’s the magic of 3D ready DLP HDTVs. Even when you're not watching 3D content, you’ll appreciate the high definition quality of your DLP HDTV.
DLP HDTVs are the perfect combination – full HD and future-proof 3D capable at a price you can afford.
DLP HDTVs are famous for offering perhaps the best full HD, 1080p picture quality. With 3D ready capability, your DLP HDTV is ready for the future. 3D content is becoming more popular every day. When you add the optional 3D add on kit, you can enjoy a nice selection of 3D movies and hundreds of PC games today and you’ll have everything you need to enjoy increased 3D content tomorrow. Plus, DLP HDTVs offer perhaps the best “price–per–inch” of any HDTV making them the perfect big screen HDTVs at an affordable price.
Images so real, it’s like you’re there
DLP technology delivers crystal clear, razor-sharp and lifelike images for the ultimate in picture quality. DLP technology is capable of extremely high contrast ratios providing a stunning viewing experience - crisper whites, ultra-rich blacks and images that "pop" on-screen.
Want to watch the TV of the future today?
Setting up your DLP HDTV for 3D viewing is quick and easy.
- Connect your 3D DLP HDTV – offered by either Mitsubishi or Samsung – to a compatible 3D source
- Plug the transmitter into the HDTV VESA sync port
- Place the DLP HDTV into 3D mode
- Put on your active 3D glasses
- Enjoy!
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Harley Davidson NIGHT ROD
The 2010 Harley Davidson Night Rod has a sinister look and style from the H-D VRSC family, featuring black-slotted, machined cast aluminum disc wheels and nimble control provided by Brembo brakes and an ultra-fat 240 mm rear tire. This motorcycle has aggressive power and performance spawning from a rubber-mounted, liquid-cooled 1250 cc Revolution 60-degree V-twin engine with 122 hp @ 8250 rpm producing 85 ft lbs of torque @ 7000 rpm.price is Rs . 1895000.
Harley Davidson NIGHT ROD Price : Rs. 1,895,000
Engine Type V Twin
Cylinders 2
Engine Stroke 4-Stroke
Cooling Liquid
Valves 8
Valves Per Cylinder 4
Valve Configuration DOHC
Compression Ratio 11.5:1
Starter Electric
Fuel Requirements Premium
Fuel Type Gas
HONDA CBR 1000RR
The CBR1000RR is powered by an all new 999 cc (61.0 cu in) inline-four engine with a redline of 13,000 rpm. It features titanium valves and an enlarged bore with a corresponding reduced stroke. The engine has a completely new cylinder block, head configuration, and crankcase with lighter pistons. A new ECU delivers two separate revised maps sending the fuel and air mixture to be squeezed tight by the 12.3:1 compression ratio. Ram air is fed to an enlarged air box through two revised front scoops located under the headlamps. Honda claims power output to be at least 178 hp (133 kW) beginning at 12,000 rpm.
Winning Road Racing World’s “2009 1000cc Shootout” merely confirmed the CBR1000RR’s supremacy, with 2010 certain to continue its legacy of class-defining power, light weight, handling and looks.
Some of its features:
Engine Type 999 cc (61.0 cu in) liquid-cooled inline four-cylinder
Bore/Stroke 76 mm (3.0 in) x 55.1 mm (2.17 in)
Compression Ratio 12.3:1
Valve Train DOHC; four valves per cylinder
Carburetion Dual Stage Fuel Injection (DSFI)
Ignition Computer-controlled digital transistorized with three-dimensional mapping
Drivetrain
Transmission Close-ratio six-speed
Final Drive #530 O-ring sealed chain
Chassis/Suspension/Brakes
Front Suspension 43 mm (1.7 in) ohlins inverted HMAS cartridge fork with spring-preload, rebound and compression-damping adjustability; 4.7 in (120 mm) travel
Rear suspension Unit Pro-Link HMAS single shock with spring pre-load, rebound and compression damping adjustability; 5.4 in (140 mm) travel
Front Brakes -Dual radial-mounted four-piston calipers with full-floating 320 mm (13 in) discs
Rear Brakes Single 220 mm (8.7 in) disc with single-piston caliper
Front Tire 120/70ZR-17 radial
Rear Tire 190/50ZR-17 radial
Dimensions
Rake (Caster Angle): 23.3°
Trail 96.2mm (3.8 inches)
Wheelbase 55.4 inches
Seat Height 32.3 inches
Curb Weight 439 pounds (Includes all standard equipment, required fluids and full tank of fuel–ready to ride.) At 439 pounds wet (i.e., full tank of fuel, engine oil, etc.), the CBR weighs in as one of the lightest open-classers out there.
Fuel Capacity 4.7 gallons, including 1.06-gallon reserve
Miles Per Gallon 37 MPG*
Performance
Max. Power Output 178.0 hp (133 kW) @ 12,000 rpm
Max. Torque 82.6 ft·lbf (112.0 N·m) @ 8500 rpm
Other
Available Colors Red/Black, Pearl Orange/Light Silver Metallic
Auto Designers Cater To China, the New Giant Read More http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/02/automotive-design-for-china/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_me
Volkswagen designed the Lavida specifically for China and introduced the car in 2008. Photo: Volkswagen.
Western automakers have started designing cars specifically for the huge Chinese market, and we don’t mean just meeting tighter pollution and fuel-efficiency standards.
The new cars and concepts have exterior contours that comport to Chinese ideas of balance, with interior colors and fabrics designed to signify status and evoke respect. The controls for entertainment and climate systems might even be moving to the back seat, because truly wealthy people don’t drive, they have drivers.
Thirty years ago, the People’s Republic of China was an automotive backwater. Today it’s the biggest market in the world, having just eclipsed the United States. So, its consumers are demanding the best from automotive designers.
The explosive growth of the Chinese market, where consumers bought 17 million new cars last year compared to about 10 million in the United States, has been a bright light in an otherwise dark time for the auto industry. As the traditional markets of North America, Europe and Japan stagnate or decline, automakers have seen their sales in China double and double again.
“This is clearly the market of the future,” says Freidhelm Engler, General Motors director of design in China. “It’s not going to slow down.”
That has automakers taking a fresh look at how they design cars for the Chinese market. Although Western designs have proven immensely popular in China, global car companies were slow to account for Chinese tastes and preferences. More often than not, automakers made a few small tweaks to the cars they sold in the West and shipped them over.
“Ten to 15 years ago, companies brought existing designs or even dated designs to the Chinese market,” says Chelsia Lau, chief designer at Ford Asia-Pacific. “Consumers in China are no longer satisfied to accept designs directly copied from overseas and are now far more discriminating and demanding.”
First, a quick history lesson on how we got here.
A little more than a generation ago, China’s GDP per capita was just over $100. As a command economy with a decrepit transportation network, it offered little incentive for Western automakers to sell there. Not that it mattered, because the governments of China and the United States didn’t want them to, anyway.
That started to change in the 1970s as the two countries normalized relations, and Deng Xiaoping (Mao Zedong’s successor) created economic zones where foreign manufacturers could build. Automakers rushed to establish joint ventures with Chinese companies and start selling cars.
As China’s economy grew, so did demand for cars. As money poured in, the increasingly wealthy population began to buy a lot of cars. China’s increasingly affluent middle class is larger than the entire U.S. population, and the Chinese market has been the fastest-growing for several years.
Last year, it surpassed the United States to become the largest automotive market in the world. It was a long-awaited marker that came unexpectedly soon after the economic recession brought U.S. car sales to a screeching halt.
Now vehicle designers in China face unique challenges and opportunities. They are being given control over large organizations and an increasingly influential voice.
Ford started building cars in China in 2003 and moved its Asia-Pacific offices from Bangkok to Shanghai last year. GM has increased its design staff in China from 80 in 2005 to 1,700.
Both are playing catch-up to Volkswagen, which was among the first companies to enter China and last year managed to sell more cars than any other automaker, Chinese or otherwise.
The challenges facing these designers is daunting. A vast cultural gulf separates China from the U.S. and Europe, requiring different design considerations and a new consumer portrait. Brands marketed in China are largely unencumbered by their legacies abroad, allowing for radical redefinitions. Buick, for example, known in the United States as a car for old people, is in China popular among wealthy businessmen.
“Just imagine, for a moment, a Buick Regal,” says Engler, “A buyer could be around 30…. This is different from a consumer who is 15-20 years older and is in a different league.”
Some design considerations are wholly different in China, where a car’s most important role is often to serve as an indicator of wealth and power. Take a look at the Buick Business concept pictured at right. See the cut of the headlights, meant to mimic traditional Chinese liuli glass? See the chrome trim? Chrome is huge in China. See the connecting line between head and taillights and how it drops at the rear seats to emphasize the passenger and increase visibility?
Inside, the back seat envelops the passenger “like a clam,” Engler says, in the same manner as an emperor’s throne. Interior coloring is nearly monotone from the rear passenger’s perspective in accordance with Chinese expectations of a car. Notice the deep purple color. GM says was “chosen to elicit the right level of attention and respect” and named it euphemistically after a rare and slow-growing Chinese tree, It was designed, Engler says, to look like a smooth fabric blowing in the wind.
“It has a nice gesture to it, something which is very Chinese,” he adds. Try finding that look in an American GM product.
Describing the Shanghai office’s influence on the update of the modest Ford Fiesta, head designer Chelsia Lau uses words like “sleek” and “elegant,” phrases that might be a stretch to a potential American buyer. But in China, where families routinely pool their money to buy a car, it makes sense to make a car sound as upscale as possible.
In China, the focus of control shifts from the driver’s seat to the passenger or rear seat, where the owner might prefer to sit, as it indicates higher status. Because the rear seat is the position of power, that’s where you’ll find controls for the radio, heat, sunroof and so forth. In the United States, of course, the driver controls everything.
The same principle requires a new focus on the entire car. Designers place special emphasis on exterior styling, which is held to higher standard than in the West. Loosely-fitted panels and extraneous add-ons are not tolerated, as the exterior is subject to a particularly laser-like focus, and buyers want to be seen in the best.
“Yin and yang, black and white, balance is very important to a Chinese customer,” says Engler, who spent two decades designing in Europe before moving to China. “Balance and harmony, those are the key words here for design. You cannot skip it, you cannot work around it.”
Automakers have begun to step outside their traditional stomping grounds to introduce vehicles exclusively to China. These cars, designed and built in China, are the first tentative steps toward adapting to Chinese consumer preferences. VW’s Lavida, for example, is a fairly conservative remaking of the ubiquitous Golf. Chevrolet’s Sail is a classic brand resurrected for China.
In some ways, China is a more advanced market. Pollution regulations, which are in some ways stricter than the U.S. and Europe, translate to limited engine size and fantastic fuel efficiency, trends which some predict will envelop the Western markets in the years to come. Research into battery technology has a higher priority in China than in the United States, one result being an already-evident edge in some aspects of batteries.
The design trend isn’t all one-way. Chinese domestic manufacturers have long eyed lucrative Western markets for their products, and they face similar challenges in producing cars that appeal to Western consumers. The result has been some pretty weird ideas, a few of which were exhibited at the recent Detroit Auto Show.
But this may be the year we’ll find out just how well Chinese manufacturers have done: BYD, well established in China, plans to introduce an all-electric car to North America, and several other domestic Chinese companies have announced plans to enter the market soon.
Volvo is likely to end up in the hands of China’s Geely, and Hummer may be China-owned by the end of the month. Bits and pieces — a Ford engine, the Wheego Whip chassis — are just the beginning.
With the demands of the enormous Chinese market, the expansion of Chinese companies into the West and the introduction of Chinese vehicles to U.S., American consumers should expect to see some Chinese characteristics make their way across the ocean. “Decoration to enhance proportion,” says Engler, “may show up in North America in coming months.”
The increasingly early influence of Chinese design bureaus on globally designed cars means we might soon recognize that new cars are a little toned-down — balanced, as a Chinese designer might say. That doesn’t mean the Chevrolet Corvette or Ford F-150 will suddenly be remade. But some of the characteristics of Chinese cars and the influences of the people buying them will inevitably make their way to the United States.
That isn’t a bad thing. Because maybe the Mustang could use a little more harmony.
Main photo: General Motors. Ed Welburn, GM VP of global design, discusses design at the 2009 Shanghai auto show.
Apple iPod nano 8 GB Digital player / radio - 8 GB flash - Black
Price: $134
Say you're listening to a song you really like and want to hear other tracks that go great with it. The genius feature finds the songs in your music library that go great together and makes a Genius Playlist for you. It's like having your own highly intelligent, personal DJ.
Tilt or turn iPod nano on its side, and you'll listen, watch, and play in new ways. You can flip through your album art with cover flow. Or, vertically speaking, see more albums and artists on the screen at one time.
Pull hundreds of photos from your pocket and share them wherever you go. Hold iPod nano upright and see your photos in portrait view. Turn it on its side to see them in landscape. Your photos look beautiful in their proper aspect ratio on the vibrant, 320-by-240-resolution display.
It's even easier to find the song you want to hear. Now you can view your album art in cover flow. Or just press and hold the center button to browse by album or artist. When you find the right song, press the center button to add it to your on-the-go playlist.
Sometimes, people could all use a little unpredictability. And now you can shake to shuffle your music. Just give iPod nano a shake and it shuffles to a different song in your music library. You'll always be surprised by what you'll hear.
Watching movies, TV shows, and videos is big fun on iPod nano. And the high-resolution picture looks crisp and vivid on the 2-inch widescreen display. So you can always have a little video with you.
Apple iPod Touch 32 GB (3rd Generation)
Price: $268
iPod touch features the same multi-touch screen technology as iPhone. Pinch to zoom in on a photo. Scroll through your songs and videos with a flick. Flip through your library by album artwork with Cover Flow. Watch your movies, TV shows, and photos come alive with bright, vivid color on the 320-by-480-pixel display. Browse the web using Safari and watch YouTube videos on the first iPod with Wi-Fi built in.
iPod touch lets you enjoy everything you love about an iPod, and then some. Watch your movies and TV shows on a brilliant 3.5-inch display. Use the revolutionary Multi-Touch interface to flick through your music in Cover Flow. And anytime you're itching for more entertainment, just tap iTunes to browse and buy on the fly
Global Worming
Global warming has become perhaps the most complicated issue facing world leaders. On the one hand, warnings from the scientific community are becoming louder, as an increasing body of science points to rising dangers from the ongoing buildup of human-related greenhouse gases — produced mainly by the burning of fossil fuels and forests. On the other, the technological, economic and political issues that have to be resolved before a concerted worldwide effort to reduce emissions can begin have gotten no simpler, particularly in the face of a global economic slowdown.
After years of preparation for climate talks taking place in Copenhagen through Dec. 18, 2009, President Obama and other leaders announced on Nov. 15 what had already become evident — that no formal treaty could be produced anytime soon. Instead, the leaders pledged to reach a placeholder accord that would call for reductions in emissions and increased aid to help developing nations adapt to a changing climate and get access to non-polluting energy options.
This would in theory give the nations more time to work out the all-important details. Negotiators would then seek a binding global agreement in 2010, complete with firm emission targets, enforcement mechanisms and specific dollar amounts to aid poorer nations.
At the heart of the debate is a momentous tussle between rich and poor countries over who steps up first and who pays most for changed energy menus.
Within the United States, Congress is similarly fighting over legislation on climate change. The House in the summer of 2009 passed a bill outlining a cap-and-trade system that could, over the next few decades, lead to an early end to conventional use of coal and oil, fuels that have underpinned prosperity and growth for more than a century. But between stiff opposition from energy interests and the overwhelming distractions of health care reform and the economy, the legislation has stalled in the Senate.
In international discussions over climate, Mr. Obama has urged other countries not to be discouraged by the stasis on Capitol Hill, pointing to big investments in energy efficiency, solar and wind power and his move to restrict greenhouse gases using environmental regulations.
In the meantime, recent fluctuations in temperature, seized on by opponents of emissions restrictions, have intensified the public debate over how urgently to respond. The long-term warming trend over the last century has been well-established, and scientists immersed in studying the climate are projecting substantial disruption in water supplies, agriculture, ecosystems and coastal communities. Passionate activists at both ends of the discourse are pushing ever harder for or against rapid action, while polls show the public locked durably in three camps — with roughly a fifth of American voters eager for action, a similar proportion aggressively rejecting projections of catastrophe and most people tuned out or confused.
Background
Scientists learned long ago that the earth's climate has powerfully shaped the history of the human species — biologically, culturally and geographically. But only in the last few decades has research revealed that humans can be a powerful influence on the climate as well.
A growing body of scientific evidence indicates that since 1950, the world's climate has been warming, primarily as a result of emissions from unfettered burning of fossil fuels and the razing of tropical forests. Such activity adds to the atmosphere's invisible blanket of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping "greenhouse" gases. Recent research has shown that methane, which flows from landfills, livestock and oil and gas facilities, is a close second to carbon dioxide in impact on the atmosphere.
That conclusion has emerged through a broad body of analysis in fields as disparate as glaciology, the study of glacial formations, and palynology, the study of the distribution of pollen grains in lake mud. It is based on a host of assessments by the world's leadingorganizations of climate and earth scientists.
In the last several years, the scientific case that the rising human influence on climate could become disruptive has become particularly robust.
Some fluctuations in the Earth's temperature are inevitable regardless of human activity — because of decades-long ocean cycles, for example. But centuries of rising temperatures and seas lie ahead if the release of emissions from the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation continues unabated, according to theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The panel shared the2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former Vice President Al Gore for alerting the world to warming's risks.
Despite the scientific consensus on these basic conclusions, enormously important details remain murky. That reality has been seized upon by some groups and scientists disputing the overall consensus and opposing changes in energy policies.
For example, estimates of the amount of warming that would result from a doubling of greenhouse gas concentrations (compared to the level just before the Industrial Revolution got under way in the early 19th century) range from 3.6 degrees to 8 degrees Fahrenheit. The intergovernmental climate panel said it could not rule out even higher temperatures). While the low end could probably be tolerated, the high end would almost certainly result in calamitous, long-lasting disruptions of ecosystems and economies, a host of studies have concluded. A wide range of economists and earth scientists say that level of risk justifies an aggressive response.
Other questions have persisted despite a century-long accumulation of studies pointing to human-driven warming. The rate and extent at which sea levels will rise in this century as ice sheets erode remains highly uncertain, even as the long-term forecast ofcenturies of retreating shorelines remains intact. Scientists are struggling more than ever to disentangle how the heat building in the seas and atmosphere will affect the strength and number of tropical cyclones. The latest science suggests there will be more hurricanes and typhoons that reach the most dangerous categories of intensity, but fewer storms over all.
Steps Toward a Response
The debate over such climate questions pales next to the fight over what to do, or not do, in a world where fossil fuels still underpin both rich and emerging economies. With the completion of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change at the Earth Summit in 1992, the world's nations pledged to avoid dangerously disrupting the climate through the buildup of greenhouse gases, but they never defined how much warming was too much.
Nonetheless, recognizing that the original climate treaty was proving ineffective, all of the world's industrialized countries except for the United States accepted binding restrictions on their greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol, which was negotiated in Japan in 1997. That accord took effect in 2005 and its gas restrictions expire in 2012. (The United States signed the treaty, but it was never submitted for ratification, in the face of overwhelming opposition in the Senate because the pact required no steps by China or other fast-growing developing countries.
It took until 2009 for the leaders of the world's largest economic powers to agree on a dangerous climate threshold: an increase of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) from the average global temperature recorded just before the Industrial Revolution kicked into gear. (This translates into an increase of 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit above the Earth's current average temperature, about 59 degrees).
The Group of 8 industrial powers also agreed this year to a goal of reducing global emissions 50 percent by 2050, with the richest countries leading the way by cutting their emissions 80 percent. But they did not set a baseline from which to measure that reduction, and so far firm interim targets — which many climate scientists say would be more meaningful — have not been defined.
At the same time, fast-growing emerging economic powerhouses, led by China and India, still oppose taking on mandatory obligations to curb their emissions. They say they will do what they can to rein in growth in emissions — as long as their economies do not suffer. The world's poorest countries, in the meantime, are seeking payments to help make them less vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, given that the buildup in climate-warming gases so far has come mainly from richer nations. Such aid has been promised since the 1992 treaty and a fund was set up under the Kyoto Protocol. But while tens of billions of dollars are said to be needed, only millions have flowed so far.
In many ways, the debate over global climate policy is a result of aglobal "climate divide.'' Emissions of carbon dioxide per person range from less than 2 tons per year in India, where 400 million people lack access to electricity, to more than 20 in the United States. The richest countries are also best able to use wealth and technology to insulate themselves from climate hazards, while the poorest, which have done the least to cause the problem, are the most exposed.
In Copenhagen in December 2009, negotiators had planned to try to settle on the basic terms of two new global climate agreements. One would renew the commitments of countries bound by the Kyoto emissions limits; the other would rein in emissions of all countries to varying extents, depending on their wealth and emissions history. Given the many competing interests, and the reality that any big emissions shifts would have substantial economic impacts, the negotiations have been called one of the most complex diplomatic challenges ever.
Democratic leaders in the United States Senate continue to try to follow the lead of the House of Representatives by securing passage of a bill aiming to sharply cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The chief mechanism would be a "cap and trade" system that sets a gradually declining ceiling for over all emissions. Companies and institutions could buy and sell credits from one another as a way to curb emissions at the lowest cost. Companies that made deeper cuts than required could sell credits to companies that fell short of their targets.
But a national preoccupation with the slow economy and competing issues, led by health care, threaten to delay or weaken such legislation. Another impediment is the shortage of money flowing to basic energy research and large-scale demonstrations of non-polluting energy technology. While the Obama administration and Congress directed some stimulus money toward such efforts, such spending comes only after decades of declining investment in these areas.
President Obama came into office vowing to take swift action on climate change, and under him, the Environmental Protection Agency has declared that it will regulate carbon dioxide emissions. But with the cap-and-trade bill facing an uncertain future in the Senate, his ability to take big steps on the issue has been severely constrained, and without significant actions by the United States, China and India had made it clear they would remain on the sidelines. Just weeks before the planned Copenhagen session, he and other leaders gathered for an Asian summit announced that no treaty would be reached in 2009. Instead, leaders will try to reach a political agreement that could be the basis for new treaty talks in 2010.
In the meantime, a recent dip in emissions caused by the global economic slowdown is almost certain to be followed by a rise, scientists warn, and with population and appetites for energy projected to rise through mid-century, they say the entwined challenges of climate and energy will only intensify.
Green House Effect
The greenhouse effect is the rise in temperature that the Earth experiences because certain gases in the atmosphere (water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane, for example) trap energy from the sun. Without these gases, heat would escape back into space and Earth’s average temperature would be about 60ºF colder. Because of how they warm our world, these gases are referred to as greenhouse gases.
Have you ever seen a greenhouse? Most greenhouses look like a small glass house. Greenhouses are used to grow plants, especially in the winter. Greenhouses work by trapping heat from the sun. The glass panels of the greenhouse let in light but keep heat from escaping. This causes the greenhouse to heat up, much like the inside of a car parked in sunlight, and keeps the plants warm enough to live in the winter.
The Earth’s atmosphere is all around us. It is the air that we breathe. Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere behave much like the glass panes in a greenhouse. Sunlight enters the Earth's atmosphere, passing through the blanket of greenhouse gases. As it reaches the Earth's surface, land, water, and biosphere absorb the sunlight’s energy. Once absorbed, this energy is sent back into the atmosphere. Some of the energy passes back into space, but much of it remains trapped in the atmosphere by the greenhouse gases, causing our world to heat up.
The greenhouse effect is important. Without the greenhouse effect, the Earth would not be warm enough for humans to live. But if the greenhouse effect becomes stronger, it could make the Earth warmer than usual. Even a little extra warming may cause problems for humans, plants, and animals.
A Passion for Personal Flight
The animation of the Puffin on YouTube has gotten more 648,000 hits in a week," said Moore. "Until the concept was mentioned in the media Jan. 19, the video had only been clicked on a couple of thousand times since it was uploaded to the NASAPAV channel last November."
It all started with an email from a reporter who was pursuing a story on electric aircraft propulsion for "a couple of websites associated with space.com." As the former manager of the former Vehicle System program's Personal Air Vehicle sector. Moore is a nationally recognized expert on that and other small aircraft systems.
Moore not only shared information about electric motor research for airplanes, but also the Puffin design that he and a team from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Georgia Institute of Technology, the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA), and M-DOT Aerospace planned to present to an American Helicopter Society conference on aeromechanics, Jan. 20. Combine NASA cachet with an intriguing technology concept, some compelling animation created by Analytical Mechanics Associates graphic designers and quotable quotes from Moore and the story of the Puffin lifted off.
First it appeared on the Scientific American website from the original interview on electric aircraft propulsion. There Moore was quoted as saying the team named the design the Puffin because, "If you've ever seen a puffin on the ground, it looks very awkward, with wings too small to fly, and that's exactly what our vehicle looks like," Moore says. "But it's also apparently called the most environmentally friendly bird, because it hides its poop. So the vehicle is environmentally friendly because it essentially has no emissions. Also, puffins tend to live in solitude, only ever coming together on land to mate, and ours is a one-person vehicle."
The pictures and video of the Puffin helped attract media attention too. It's not everyday that you see a design that's part plane, part helicopter that stands upright on the ground. Its tail splits into four "legs" that serve as landing gear. It lifts off like a helicopter, hovers and then leans forward to fly horizontally with the pilot lying down like in a hang-glider.
Even the technical details were pretty interesting. If ever built the proposed aircraft would be small and very lightweight -- about 300 pounds (136 kg) empty weight plus another 100 pounds (45 kg) of battery and 200 pounds (91 kg) for the pilot or payload. The design would be powered by a total of 60 horsepower through electric motors, which are designed to be able to fail any two powertrain components on either side and still produce the required power to hover. It has a cruising speed of 150 mph (241 kph), but cruises more efficiently at lower speeds The range with current battery technology would be about 50 miles (80 km).
The first web story snowballed until the Puffin garnered worldwide attention, capturing more than 10 news.google.com search pages in less than seven days with stories in media from Japan, Russia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Italy, Romania, Turkey, Chile, Spain, Guatemala, Greece, Peru, Mexico, Norway, Argentina, Czechoslovakia, China, Korea, and others. A full "Google" search of "NASA Puffin" indicated there were more than 38,000 hits for the combined words. Moore and the NASA Langley News Media Team got inquiries from a New York Times blogger, Germany's biggest Sunday paper, a French men's magazine, ABC News and many more. Even the social media site "Twitter" has been all a-twitter with more than 1,200 tweets about the Puffin in a week.
For Moore the publicity was an added bonus, but it was the way the work was accomplished that really excited him. "I've been doing conceptual design studies for 25 years, and this is the first time that I have performed a six month conceptual design study that involved such detailed analyses performed right from the onset (that is viscous full Navier Stokes Overflow aero solutions feeding WopWop aeroacoustic analysis, along with MBDyn rotor dynamics, with detailed transition trajectory analysis)," said Moore. "So I think it is a poster child of higher-order methods being able to push themselves far forward to the front stages of design -- to avoid the nasty 'real world' surprises that higher-order analysis can bring at later stages. Getting systems analysis to work in closer collaboration with discipline experts is greatly needed as we progress towards greater multi-disciplinary coupling to solve highly complex problems."
The other thing the engineer says he looks forward to is sharing the technical results of the studies and "the depth of analysis that exists" with other researchers. He'd much rather do that, Moore says, than talk to reporters.
As for the Puffin media frenzy -- it's subsided some, but could start back up later this year when the NIA hopes to fly a remote control one-third size model to validate assumptions made in academic studies, with the specific intent of exploring the transition from hover to forward flight.
Kathy Barnstorff
NASA Langley Research Center
Jurassic Space: Ancient Galaxies Come Together after Billions of Years
Hickson Compact Group 31 is one of 100 compact galaxy groups catalogued by Canadian astronomer Paul Hickson. Credit: NASA, ESA, S. Gallagher (University of Western Ontario), and J. English (University of Manitoba). Photo No. STScI-PRC10-08a
Imagine finding a living dinosaur in your backyard. Astronomers have found the astronomical equivalent of prehistoric life in our intergalactic back yard: a group of small, ancient galaxies that has waited 10 billion years to come together. These "late bloomers" are on their way to building a large elliptical galaxy.
Such encounters between dwarf galaxies are normally seen billions of light-years away and therefore occurred billions of years ago. But these galaxies, members of Hickson Compact Group 31, are relatively nearby, only 166 million light-years away.
New images of these galaxies by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope offer a window into what commonly happened in the universe's formative years when large galaxies were created from smaller building blocks. The Hubble observations have added important clues to the story of this interacting foursome, allowing astronomers to determine when the encounter began and to predict a future merger.
Astronomers know the system has been around for a while because the oldest stars in a few of its ancient globular clusters are about 10 billion years old. The encounter, though, has been going on for about a few hundred million years, the blink of an eye in cosmic history. Everywhere the astronomers looked in this compact group they found batches of infant star clusters and regions brimming with star birth. Hubble reveals that the brightest clusters, hefty groups each holding at least 100,000 stars, are less than 10 million years old.
The entire system is rich in hydrogen gas, the stuff of which stars are made. Astronomers used Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys to resolve the youngest and brightest of those clusters, which allowed them to calculate the clusters' ages, trace the star-formation history, and determine that the galaxies are undergoing the final stages of galaxy assembly.
The composite image of Hickson Compact Group 31 shows the four galaxies mixing it up. The bright, distorted object at middle, left, is actually two colliding dwarf galaxies. The bluish star clusters have formed in the streamers of debris pulled from the galaxies and at the site of their head-on collision. The cigar-shaped object above the galaxy duo is another member of the group. A bridge of star clusters connects the trio. A longer rope of bright star clusters points to the fourth member of the group, at lower right. The bright object in the center is a foreground star. The image was composed from observations made by the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, and the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX).
The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute conducts Hubble science operations. The institute is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. in Washington, D.C.
Donna Weaver
Space Telescope Science Institute
3D Sun for the iPhone
Screen capture of 3D Sun on the iPhone. The application allows users to spin the sphere by flicking it and zoom in by pinching the screen. Credit: NASA
Imagine holding the entire sun in the palm of your hand. Now you can. A new iPhone app developed by NASA-supported programmers delivers a live global view of the sun directly to your cell phone. Users can fly around the star, zoom in on active regions, and monitor solar activity.
"This is more than cool," says Dick Fisher, director of NASA's Heliophysics Division in Washington DC. "It's transformative. For the first time ever, we can monitor the sun as a living, breathing 3-dimensional sphere."
The name of the app is "3D Sun" and it may be downloaded free of charge at Apple's app store. Just enter "3D Sun" in the Store's search box or visithttp://3dsun.org for a direct link.
Realtime images used to construct the 3-dimensional sphere are beamed to Earth by the Solar-Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO), a pair of spacecraft with a combined view of 87% of the solar surface. STEREO-A is stationed over the western side of the sun, while STEREO-B is stationed over the east. Together, they rarely miss a thing.
Telescopes onboard the two spacecraft monitor the sun in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. "That's why the 3D sun looks false-color green," explains Lika Guhathakurta, STEREO program scientist at NASA Headquarters. "These are not white-light images."
That's okay because EUV is where the action is. Solar flares and new sunspots shine brightly at these wavelengths. EUV images also reveal "coronal holes," vast dark openings in the sun's atmosphere that spew streams of solar wind into the solar system. Solar wind streams that hit Earth can spark intense displays of Northern Lights.
"With this app, you can spin the sun, zoom in on sunspots, inspect coronal holes--and when a solar flare erupts, your phone plays a little jingle to alert you!" says Guhathakurta.
Indeed, many users say that's their favorite part -- the alerts. The app comes alive on its own when the sun grows active or when interesting events are afoot. For example, a recent alert notified users that a comet just discovered by STEREO-A was approaching the sun. When the comet was destroyed by solar heating, the app played a movie of Comet STEREO's last hours.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Readius - Floppy Tech!
Don't be confused........
its not 5 1/4″ disks!
Ever wanted a device that has a screen much bigger than the actual device?
Impossible? Not any more! The Readius from Polymer Vision is set to be just that impossible device!
The screen in the picture above folds out from the main body of the device. That’s right, a fully functional FOLDABLE computer screen!! The technology is Electronic Ink inside a foldable, rollable polymer screen. As with most E-Ink screens, it is only black and white at the moment, but even so,I think it’s another amazing step forwards.
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