Telegraph Cable Map in 1901

A larger version at Atlantic-cable.com! Compare to the 2008 Submarine Cable Map, tell us the difference you've sensed. via Digg

Bell Steals Elisha Gray's Telephone Patent Idea?

In a new book "The Telephone Gambit: Chasing Alexander Graham Bell's Secret," due out January 7, journalist Seth Shulman, claims to have definitive evidence of a long-suspected technological crime - that Alexander Graham Bell [picture left] stole ideas for the telephone from a rival, Elisha Gray. Author Shulman believes that Bell — aided by aggressive lawyers and a corrupt patent examiner — got an improper peek at patent documents Gray had filed, and that Bell was erroneously credited with filing first. Alexander  Graham Bell- Patent Thief? on Slashdot well summarized the main contents of Shulman's book

...Author Seth Shulman shows that Bell's notebooks contain false starts, and then after a 12-day gap during which he visited the US Patent Office, suddenly show an entirely different design, very similar to Gray's design for multiplexing Morse code signals. Shulman claims that Bell copied the design from Gray's patent application and was improperly given credit for earlier submission, with the help of a corrupt patent examiner and aggressive lawyers. Shulman also claims that fear of being found out is the reason Bell distanced himself from the company that carried his name. And if Gray Telephone doesn't seem to roll off the tongue, Shulman also noted that both of them were two decades behind the German inventor Johann Philipp Reis, who produced the first working telephony system."

 Click here to read the full report on Smh.

#Tags: bell, telephone, elisha gray

Nano Bible

To increase young people's interest in nanoscience and nanotechnology, Israeli scientists at the Haifa Institute of Technology  have successfully used a device called Focused Ion Beam (Fib)to inscribe a 300,000 worded Hubrew Bible on a nano chip, setting a record of the smallest Bible ever created.

The 0.5sq-mm (0.01sq-in) nano-Bible on the chip smaller than a pinhead was written on a silicon surface covered with a thin layer of gold (20nanometres thick - 0.0002mm). Source: BBC #Tags: israel, nanotechnology, bible, hubrew

Toyota Violin-playing Robot

Toyota violin-playing Robot picutre (AFP)

Japanese auto giant Toyota Motor today in Tokyo unveiled Toyota Partner Robot that can play the violin as part of its efforts to develop futuristic machines capable of assisting humans in Japan's greying society.

The 1.5-metre-tall, two-legged robot wowed onlookers with a faultless rendition of Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance, using its mechanical fingers to push the strings correctly.

With 17 joints in its hands and arms, the robot has human-like dexterity that could be applied to helping people in the home or in nursing and medical care. Source: AFP Tags: toyota parnter robot, violin-playing robot

Google Rumored to Purchase Skype

We do think this is a good deal if Google will finally buy Skype, as for our users, we may get more free quality VoIP service. From Guardian.co.uk

Currently in favour around London's webbist community is the rumour that Google has been in negotiations to buy Skype, the web telephony firm, from eBay.

This makes sense on a number of levels, particularly because it fits with Google's ambitions for disrupting the mobile industry through its new open mobile phone development platform Android, and for eBay - which was recently forced to admit that it had paid too much for Skype.

Download the latest Skype here for free! Tags: google, buy, ebay, skype, voip

MIT Creates New Structured Gel That Can Change Colors

MIT researchers have created a new structured gel that can rapidly change color in response to a variety of stimuli, including temperature, pressure, salt concentration and humidity.

A critical component of the structured gel is a material that expands or contracts when exposed to certain stimuli. Those changes in the thickness of the gel cause it to change color, through the entire range of the visible spectrum of light.

One place where such an environmental sensor could be useful is a food processing plant, where the sensor could indicate whether food that must remain dry has been overly exposed to humidity. Source:Xinhua

Tags: MIT, gel, color

Pascal Cotte Found Mona Lisa's Eyebrows

Pascal Cotte, a French engineer and inventor, claimed to have found Mona Lisa's eyebrows, using an extremely sophisticated scanner built by himself.

Pascal Cotte announced at a press conference Wednesday that he has found definitive proof that when Leonardo da Vinci painted the original portrait he included "Mona Lisa's" lashes and brows.

Cotte examined the world's most famous painting using a high-definition camera of his own design.

The device scanned a 240-million pixel image using 13 light spectrums, including ultra-violet and infrared.

The resulting ultra-high resolution photograph of 150,000 dots per inch yielded a reproduction of the "Mona Lisa's" face magnified 24 times. And there Cotte found the evidence he sought -- a single brushstroke of a single hair above the left brow.

Pascal Cotte's other finding includes:

• Under-drawings show a change in the position of the left index and middle finger.
• The elbow was altered when the painting was restored in 1956, after someone threw at rock at it.
• The blanket covering Mona Lisa's knees also covers her stomach.
• The left finger was not completely finished.

Sources: High resolution image hints at 'Mona Lisa's' eyebrows @ CNN

New Technique Shows Mona Lisa Had Eyebrows But Incomplete Left Hand @ CityNew.ca

Link to Lumiere-Tecnhnology.com where detailed Pascal Cotte's scanning works.

Tags: Pascal Cotte, Mona Lisa, eyebrow, eyelash, scanner, hand, painting

Incredible Abstract Stained Glass

Wow! The most beautiful Glass I ever sawe! Link

Tags: glass, abstract, technology

Samsung Developing Water Powered Cell Phones

From ChosunIlbo

In 2010 your mobile phone may be powered by water. Samsung Electro-Mechanics announced Thursday [Oct. 11] that it has developed a micro-fuel cell and hydrogen generator that runs on H20.

"When the handset is turned on, metal and water in the phone react to produce hydrogen gas," explained Oh Yong-soo, vice president of Samsung Electro-Mechanics' research center. "The gas is then supplied to the fuel cell where it reacts with oxygen in the air to generate power." Other fuel cells need methanol to produce hydrogen, while Samsung's needs only water.

Since the micro-fuel cell can generate up to three watts of electricity, it could be used in mobile devices, the company said. The new fuel cell could power a handset for 10 hours, twice as long as rechargeable batteries.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics unveiled the new technology at the 2007 Korea Electronics Show at the Korea International Exhibition Center in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province.

Tags: samsung, cellphone, water, battery, hydrogen, oxygen

Free Mosquito Ringtone Mp3 Download

Mosquito Ringtone, also called Teen Buzz is a 17khz high frequency sound which can be heard by teenagers but not adults due to presbycusis (a normal loss of acute hearing that occurs with advancing age). It has now become a popular ringtone that was hijacked from the technology that was originally used to repel loitering teenagers from congregating at shops or parking lots in the United Kingdom. Techo-savvy choolchildren have recorded the sound and spread it from phone to phone via text messages and Bluetooth technology. It's been showing up in classrooms all over the world.

Click here to free download Mosquito Ringtone Mp3. Link to the NYT article Link to Teen Buzz on Wikipedia Another link(right click and save as) to download the high-pitch alarm.

Beam Solar Power from Space

(Illustration Credit: Mafic Studios)

Dan Cho of NewScientist.com writes:

A futuristic scheme to collect solar energy on satellites and beam it to Earth has gained a large supporter in the US military. A report [download pdf file] released yesterday (October 10) by the National Security Space Office recommends that the US government sponsor projects to demonstrate solar-power-generating satellites and provide financial incentives for further private development of the technology.

Space-based solar power would use kilometre-sized solar panel arrays to gather sunlight in orbit. It would then beam power down to Earth in the form of microwaves or a laser, which would be collected in antennas on the ground and then converted to electricity. Unlike solar panels based on the ground, solar power satellites placed in geostationary orbit above the Earth could operate at night and during cloudy conditions.

Nissan Pivo 2 360 Degrees No Reverse Concept Car

Nissan has worked up a new version electric-powered Pivo 2 concept car. Designed for urban use, the Pivo 2 features a 360-degree revolving cabin, allowing the driver to always face forward while driving, even when parallel parking, and to access the unique front door from any direction.

The three-seat car is equipped with safety systems such as Around View Monitor (AVM), Distance Control Assist System (DCAS) and also a Robotic Agent that uses facial monitoring technology to interact with the driver - in English or Japanese.

It will be on display on the 40th Tokyo Auto Show on October 26 to November 11.

Source: 日本推无需倒车的汽车 车舱可360度旋转@ MSN   Nissan Pivo 2: 360 Degrees, No Reverse @ jalopnik

Link

Video: Sergey Brin's UC Berkeley Lecture

The Google co-founder's lecture on search engine marketing in 2005 was only premiered on Youtube recently by UC Berkeley. Link

Sputnik 50-year Anniversary

At 22:28 Moscow time on October 4, 1957, humanity entered a new space age. The Soviet Union, the country that is now not exist, sent the Earth's first artificial satellite--Sputnik I into orbit.

The picture above is the first official picture of the Soviet satellite Sputnik I, which was issued in Moscow on October 9, 1957.

Sputnik, a silvery orb with four frond-like antennae and two radio transmitters whose signals could be heard around the world,  gave birth to more than mere technology. Sputnik, also helped spark the Cold War and inspire a generation of astronauts and scientists.

Link

1 GB Memory, Then and Now

Click here for a clear comparison between 20 years ago and today's one gigabyte memory. You must be stunned by the huge progress made in the computer products during the past two decades.