• Science

    How Your Laptop Will Just Keep Getting Faster

    By Corey Binns Posted on 9.25.2008 12 Comments

    Since the invention of the transistor, silicon semiconductors have been king. But now silicon-based transistors are nearing the limit of their potential. Excess heat and manufacturing hurdles are impeding the development of ever-faster and -smaller processors. Advances in materials and chip design to resist extreme heat and move huge amounts of data, quickly, will be crucial. Experts are exploring three technologies to overcome these challenges: spintronics, graphene and memristors.

    9.26.2008 at 10:08pm - Comment by pinktux777

    Wouldn't be possible to do completely analog computations using memristers? I remember reading that they can store analog data. Instead of binary we could use trinary or even decimal or hex computations. Of course, this would be difficult and I haven't a clue of how we would make the switch.

  • Science

    Will We Run Out Of Breathable Oxygen If We Produce Too Much Carbon Dioxide?

    By Amy Geppert Posted on 9.23.2008 14 Comments

    Here’s why you might be worried: Burning oil, coal, gas, wood or other organic materials uses molecular oxygen, the O2 we breathe, to break carbon-hydrogen bonds and release energy. This reaction, better known as combustion, also pairs each broken-off, positively charged carbon atom with two negatively charged oxygen atoms, forming carbon dioxide, or CO2.

    Article Rating:
    9.23.2008 at 07:03pm - Comment by pinktux777

    I second esareph. Where dose our O2 come from? Plants. What do they make it from? CO2. Think about this... its ridiculous. I haven't experienced any noticeable trouble breathing under normal conditions recently. If we were headed toward not enough "breathable O2" wouldn't someone have noticed it by now?

  • Entertainment & Gaming

    Rise of the Game-Playing Machines

    By Posted on 8.8.2008 6 Comments

    The game of Go has long been a bastion of human brilliance. While computers have gotten steadily better at playing chess and poker, they've had a harder time wrapping their silicon minds around the elegant Japanese strategy game. That's why it's a big deal that a computer Go player known as MoGo beat a top-ranked human, Myungwan Kim, yesterday.

    8.8.2008 at 05:42pm - Comment by pinktux777

    This doesn't mean we will no longer be the "dominate species" at these games. Humans did create the algorithms that led to this computer victory. Until there is a jump to complete, independent sentience of a computer mind, these accomplishments will only go to display human ingenuity.

  • DIY

    Can I Get Files From My Home Computer Remotely?

    By Posted on 8.1.2008 7 Comments

    Ah, that sinking feeling: You’ve just left for a business trip when you realize you’ve forgotten the PowerPoint presentation on your PC at home. No matter: With the right tools in hand, you’ll be able to retrieve your file regardless of where you are.

    8.1.2008 at 05:27pm - Comment by pinktux777

    you can use orb (orb.com) to access files remotely. I use it to stream music from my home computer, but it can handle pictures, files, ect. I don't know how secure it is, but it works for me.

  • Entertainment & Gaming

    MLB's Major Tech Woes

    By Posted on 6.19.2008 8 Comments

    A memo sent from Major League Baseball’s Umpires Union to its members last week suggests instant replay will be implemented by August 1st. In typical MLB fashion, the proposed plan is a decade late, ignores the potential provided by modern technology and will likely create more questions than answers. In the words of Yogi Berra, “This is like déjà vu all over again.” (see: steroid debacle). But fear not Red Sox Nation and Marlin fan! We've concocted an ingenious plan that will save baseball from its masochistic ways. Before PopSci rescues America’s Pastime, it’s important to detail the current plan so we might strip it naked and expose the deficiencies.

    6.28.2008 at 03:10pm - Comment by pinktux777

    What is with all you people citing the "human element" against instant replay? Don't the 18 players on the field (or 20 in the AL) bring enough human element into the game for you?

  • Entertainment & Gaming

    The Spawn of Spore

    By Posted on 6.17.2008 5 Comments

    Years in the making, Will Wright’s Spore peeks out today with the release of the Creature Creator. The free download is a toolkit for designing the life forms that will inhabit the Spore universe when the full game launches on September 7.

    6.17.2008 at 01:16pm - Comment by pinktux777

    I'm stoked

  • Entertainment & Gaming

    Double Amputee Sprinter Cleared For Olympic Competition

    By Posted on 5.16.2008 30 Comments

    Its about time. After an excruciating and absurd debate, double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius will be allowed to compete in the Olympics. Pistorius won his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport today which immediately overturned an asinine ruling by the International Association of Athletics Federations which stated Pistorius gained an unfair advantage from his prosthetics.

    5.18.2008 at 11:12am - Comment by pinktux777

    flamehd14... my thought exactly. "It’s about time. After an excruciating and absurd debate..." How do you get away with opening a story like that? Apparently us who think differently have absurd reasoning. From what I see, there are too many "what ifs" here: what if he actually has an advantage? what if that advantage would have existed without the prosthetics? what if a future amputee has more of advantage? what if he sets a record? what if in 20 years "naturals" can't compete any more? Maybe I'm a "crazy and inconsiderate asshole," but I would rather not have to deal with drawing some arbitrary line in the future that says one athlete is "human" enough and another isn't. It would be better to just draw the line at no mechanics involved. Then again, NBC will probably get better tv ratings from this.

  • The Environment

    Breeding the Oil Bug

    By Posted on 4.30.2008 23 Comments

    It could be an aerial photo of an oil spill: liquid spheres pooling, oozing, dwarfing a bedraggled landscape. I half expect to zoom in on poisoned seal pups or waterbirds dragging their oil-soaked feathers. But the scene is microscopic. The landscape is made of E. coli. And whats happening is exactly the opposite of what it seems. The little bugs arent drowning in fuel. Theyre making it.

    Article Rating:
    4.1.2008 at 06:24pm - Comment by pinktux777

    Gasoline as a renewable resource? sounds good to me.



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