Follow Slashdot blog updates by subscribing to our blog RSS feed

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Technology

Submission + - Smart Salad Dressing to save Venice (telegraph.co.uk)

Submitted by pastababa
pastababa writes: UK Telegraph reports that a new way to save Venice historic building from sinking.

"This technology called programmable protocells is based on the chemistry of oil and water and has the special property of transforming carbon dioxide into a limestone-like substance."
The globules would form "solid pearls" of artificial limestone that could protect buildings from future damage.
This technology could be an alternative to the current plan to install a series of steel floodgates to control tidal movements in the lagoon surrounding Venice, if the oil could be directed to form carbonate deposits at their bases, and could distribute the load and slow or even stop the sinking.

A website called Future Venice set up to explore new technologies to save Venice future explains this idea more in details.

Submission + - HumanCar brings people-power to the hybrid (wired.co.uk)

Submitted by Lanxon
Lanxon writes: With its Flinstone-like principles of human powered transport you'd be forgiven for thinking the new HumanCar Imagine PS was just a frivolous one-off. But father and son duo Charley and Chuck Greenwood actually see a real world use for their creation outside of automotive travel. Using a four gear transmission to convert the physical power of up to four passengers, the Imagine_PS HumanCar is capable of speeds of up to 60mph — on a slope — and will apparently propel you towards 35mph in the region of four to six seconds. But it's HumanCar's ability to store that power and return it for use in everyday situations that makes the HumanCar arguably the most interesting hybrid to date.
Idle

Submission + - 70,000 carats of gemstones on a Honda

Submitted by pastababa
pastababa writes: A report from DigInfo (with video):

At Tokyo Auto Salon 2010, Honda Odyssey with 70,000 carats of sparkling Kyoto Opal on its entire surface is on display.

Kyoto Opal is a new material, based on the same quartz grains as natural opal. By coloring Kyoto Opal artificially, a diverse range of hues can be produced.

In addition, a variety of cuts can be achieved, overcoming the cracking and chipping that occur in natural opal. Kyoto Opal has been combined with Jewel Paint, a new coating technology in sheet metal coating and car customization.

The result is the world’s first gemstone-coated car. The Jewel Paint on the Odyssey cost about US$88,690 (not including the car itself).

Submission + - God started to twits (twitter.com)

Submitted by pastababa
pastababa writes: Dalai Lama, the living God of the Tibetan, has a twitter account and started his holiness twits yesterday.
There are already close to 58 thousand followers.
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft deal to power Yahoo searches approved (bbc.co.uk) 1

Submitted by chetbox
chetbox writes: Microsoft and Yahoo have finally completed a 10-year deal in which Microsoft will use Bing to power Yahoo searches. Microsoft will retain 12% of revenue for the first 5 years. From the article:

The European Commission ruled that the deal "would not significantly impede effective competition". Under the deal, Yahoo's website will use Microsoft's Bing search engine, and the two firms will share the revenues. [...] In explaining its decision, the Commission said that taken together, Microsoft and Yahoo currently have less than 10% of the search engine market in Europe, with Google controlling 90%.
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft's Bing home use market share at 2% (eming.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: According to a survey done by Japan.internet.com, after one year of operation, Bing is not making much in road into Japanese home.
Yahoo Japan has been and still is the number portal and search engine in Japan according and Alexa, despite the huge success of Google in the USA and around.
The survey of home use shows that Bing is at 2% market, but it ranks 47 in Japan according to Alexa.
But then, the Japanese market is difficult to crack, you have to be very Japanese to get acceptance.
Is this a success or failure story for Bing reaching such market share in just one year?

Slashdot Top Deals

Always draw your curves, then plot your reading.

Close