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Hardware

Submission + - Scientific breakthroughs in "Racetrack memory"

Submitted by Esther Schindler
Esther Schindler writes: Swiss scientists are working on racetrack memory, shock-proof memory that they say is 100,000 times faster and consumes less power than current hard disks. Professor Mathias Kläui at EPFL, Laboratory of Nanomagnetism and Spin Dynamics and SwissFEL, says the new kind of memory using nickel-iron nanowire may soon be possible — and a market-ready device could be available in as little as 5-7 years.

If you're comfortable reading text like "For each bit of information to be clearly separated from the next so that data can be read reliably, the scientists use domain walls with magnetic vortices to delineate two adjacent bits," you'll probably be able to follow the techie details in the journal article Physical Review Letters, but mere mortals who want the summarized "what's in it for me?" can get it from the short ITWorld.com blog post, Racetrack Memory — Computer Memory That's 100,000 Times Faster Than Today's — May Arrive in 5-7 Years.
Games

Submission + - Samsung's dual-core Cortex-A9 Processor (blogspot.com)

Submitted by inspirearun
inspirearun writes: As expected, the end of 2010 will also be published in each application processor vendors ARM Cortex-A9-based products in point in time, while Samsung's first Cortex-A9 Products Orion ARM's annual events are coming out, unlike hummingbirds use PowerVR graphics program, Orion using ARM's Mali 400 GPU
Power

Submission + - Nuclear Fusion Possible Within 2-3 Years? (gizmag.com) 1

Submitted by Zothecula
Zothecula writes: Even with all the developments taking place in the areas of alternative energy such as solar and wind power, nuclear fusion still remains the holy grail of clean electricity generation. However, after decades of worldwide research costing billions of dollars, the goal of achieving “net-gain,” where more energy is produced than is required to trigger the fusion chain reaction, still remains elusive. Now researchers at Sandia Labs are claiming a breakthrough that could see break-even fusion reactions in as little as two to three years.
Robotics

Submission + - Robot Actress Makes Stage Debut In Japan (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by Robotron23
Robotron23 writes: The BBC reports that a robot named Geminoid-F has made it's acting debut in Japan. The short play in which it appeared was a sellout with the Japanese public who were curious to see the robot's performance. However an actress who co-starred pointed out that the lack of human presence made the droid difficult to act alongside.
Data Storage

Submission + - Unsung Heroes: 14 Years of Hard Drive Performance (hothardware.com)

Submitted by
MojoKid
MojoKid writes: "When the likes of WD or Seagate launch a new hard drive, the product is hailed as a more efficient means of storing data. Useful? Very. High class or sexy? Not so much. You've got to admit that hard drives have gotten a bum rap. Granted, they're still technically the slowest part of a system, but HDD manufacturers deserve a bit more credit than they typically get, especially these days, with the explosion of the SSD market. HotHardware decided to take a look at how hard drive performance has evolved over the past 14 years. This round-up shows a representative group of hard drives, formatted, scanned for bad sectors, and then a few modern benchmarks were invoked to see how much performance has improved over the years. The results were interesting and even surprising in spots."
Patents

Submission + - 3D printing may face legal challenges (idg.com.au)

Submitted by
angry tapir
angry tapir writes: "A coming revolution in 3D printing, with average consumers able to copy and create new three-dimensional objects at home, may lead to attempts by patent holders to expand their legal protections, a paper from Public Knowlege says. Patent holders may see 3D printers as threats, and they may try to sue makers of the printers or the distributors of CAD (computer-aided design) blueprints, according to digital rights group Public Knowledge."
Displays

Submission + - Samsung's see-through screens to replace windows (goodgearguide.com.au)

Submitted by
angry tapir
angry tapir writes: "Samsung Electronics has developed see-through flat-panel screens intended to be used as high-tech windows. They could overlay news or the time on office windows, or flash special offers on store windows while still allowing shoppers to see inside. Samsung showed the concept screens at Japan's FPD International exhibition."
Security

Submission + - Research Inches Toward Processor Specific Malware (threatpost.com)

Submitted by chicksdaddy
chicksdaddy writes: The Windows/Office/IE monoculture is disappearing faster than equatorial glaciers — Mac OSX and iOS, Linux and Android...and whole new application ecosystems to go with each. That's bad news for malware authors and other bad guys, who count on 9.5 out of 10 systems running Windows and Microsoft applications to do their magic. What's the solution? Why, hardware specific hacks, of course! After all, the list of companies making CPUs is far smaller than, say, the list of companies making iPhone applications. Malware targeting one or more of those processors would work regardless of what OS or applications were installed. There's just one problem: its not easy to figure out what kind of CPU a device is running. But researchers at France's Ecole Superiore d'Informatique, Electronique, Automatique (ESIEA) are working on that problem. Threatpost.com reports on a research paper that lays out a strategy for fingerprinting processors by observing subtle differences in the way they perform complex floating point calculations. The method allows them to distinguish broad subsets of processor types by manufacturer, and researchers plan to refine their methods and release a tool that can make specific processor fingerprinting a snap.
Earth

Submission + - Gold Nanoparticles Turn Trees Into Streetlights (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Street lights are an important part of our urban infrastructure — they light our way home and make the roads safe at night. But what if we could create natural street lights that don’t need electricity to power them? A group of scientists in Taiwan recently discovered that placing gold nanoparticles within the leaves of trees, causes them to give off a luminous reddish glow. The idea of using trees to replace street lights is an ingenious one – not only would it save on electricity costs and cut CO2 emissions, but it could also greatly reduce light pollution in major cities.
Robotics

Submission + - Toy Robots Can Guard Your Home

Submitted by Orome1
Orome1 writes: Worried about burglars ransacking your house? Buy yourself some toy robots! It is what Robert Oschler, a Florida-based programmer, did. He bought a Rovio — a Wi-Fi enabled mobile webcam robot that can be picked up from toy sections of many stores — and modified it to suit his needs. The robot already has a camera, a microphone and speakers, but the improvements he made to the software allowed him to enhance the audio and video quality of this existing equipment, and to create specific routines for the robots. This way, every time he feels the need to check what's going on in the house, he simply goes online with his laptop and directs the robot through the house.
Hardware

Submission + - A brief history of computer displays (arnnet.com.au)

Submitted by splitenz
splitenz writes: Great little 20-image slideshow tracing the development of the humble computer screen. From blinking lights and punch cards to LCDs and 3D flat panels, we trace the 70-year history of the tech that users rely on to see what a computer is doing. The old black and whites photos of the gear and monitors from the 1940s-1970s are particularly interesting. We certainly have come along way.

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