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Comment Re:Simple solution... (Score 1) 610

by submeta (#42496151) Attached to: 'Gorilla Arm' Will Keep Touch Screens From Taking Over
Yes, I agree. Jeff Han's 2006 demo (predating the iphone by a year and a half) shows the power of a multitouch drafting table (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiS-W9aeG0s). How badass would it be for editing video, page layouts, working with maps, etc? Not to mention some novel interface for writing code... Steve Jobs didn't really rule this out, he simply pointed out the problem with vertical screens ("Touch surfaces don't want to be vertical." - http://www.businessinsider.com/steve-jobs-touch-screen-mac-2010-10). The first thing I did when playing with Windows 8 on the 23" screen at Best Buy was flip it down to this orientation, and it was actually pretty cool to use (although too small in this context). It could work well in conjunction with mice/stylus/trackpads for the occasional high-accuracy work. I was mostly surprised that Microsoft beat Apple to market on this one (although the hardware is still really lacking). I wonder if all the talk of an "Apple Television" could be a smokescreen for parts acquisition for such a device.
Encryption

Submission + - Quantum key exchange with an airplane (newscientist.com)

Submitted by
submeta
submeta writes: "Researchers in Munich have successfully performed a quantum key exchange between a moving aircraft and a ground station. Quantum key distribution, which exploits the phenomenon of entanglement, offers theoretically perfect encryption (although it can be vulnerable in practice). This advance is an important step on the way to key exchange with a satellite, which could enable practical usage of the technology."

Submission + - Possible proof of ABC conjecture (newscientist.com)

Submitted by
submeta
submeta writes: "Shinichi Mochizuki of Kyoto University has released a paper which claims to prove the decades-old ABC conjecture, which involves the relationship between prime numbers, addition, and multiplication. His solution involves thinking of numbers not as members of sets (the standard interpretation), but instead as objects which exist in 'new, conceptual universes'. As one would expect, the proof is extremely dense and difficult to understand, even for experts in the field, so it may take a while to verify. However, Mochizuki has a strong reputation, so this is likely to get attention. Proof of the conjecture could potentially lead to a revolution in number theory, including a greatly simplified proof of Fermat's Last Theorem."
Science

Submission + - Researchers create short-term memories in-vitro (scienceblog.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Researchers say they've found a way to store artificial short-term memories in isolated brain tissue. “This is the first time anyone has found a way to store information over seconds about both temporal sequences and stimulus patterns directly in brain tissue,” says the study's lead. “This paves the way for future research to identify the specific brain circuits that allow us to form short-term memories.” The peer-reviewed study can be found here.
Beer

Submission + - Ale to the Chief: White House Releases Beer Recipe (whitehouse.gov)

Submitted by wiredmikey
wiredmikey writes: Sam Kass, White House Assistant Chef and the Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives, after much buzz, today released the recipe for White House Honey Ale and White House Honey Porter, two brews made right on site at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

According to Kass, the White House Honey Brown Ale is the first alcohol brewed or distilled on the White House grounds, as far as they know. "George Washington brewed beer and distilled whiskey at Mount Vernon and Thomas Jefferson made wine but there's no evidence that any beer has been brewed in the White House. (Although we do know there was some drinking during prohibition)," Kass wrote in a blog post.

The recipe can be found here along with a short video "Inside The White House Beer Brewing" which shows the brewing in process. Your tax dollars hard at work yet again!
Science

Submission + - Radioactive Decay Influenced by the Sun (wavewatching.net)

Submitted by quax
quax writes: In school you probably learned that the decay rate of radioactive matter is solely determined by the halftime specific to the element. There is no environmental factor that can somehow tweak this process. At least there shouldn’t be. Now a second study confirmed previous findings that the decay rate of some elements seems to be under the subtle and mysterious influence of the sun. As of now there is no theoretical explanation for this strange effect buried in the decay rate data.
Technology

Submission + - Human-Powered Helicopter Team Sets New Records for Altitude and Flight Duration (sacbee.com)

Submitted by daltec
daltec writes: The $250,000 American Helicopter Society Igor I. Sikorsky Human Powered Helicopter Competition prize, unclaimed since 1980, is now within Gamera II’s reach. On Thursday, the University of Maryland’s Clark School of Engineering team unofficially satisfied two of the three American Helicopter Society Sikorsky Prize requirements. The giant craft flew for 65 seconds, stayed within a 10 square meter area and hovered at two feet of altitude. New unofficial U.S. and world flight duration records were also set. The team expects to make their next attempt Saturday.
Math

Submission + - Universal Turing machine in Penrose Tile Cellular Automata (newscientist.com) 1

Submitted by submeta
submeta writes: Katsunobu Imai at Hiroshima University has figured out a way to construct a universal Turing machine using cellular automata in a Penrose tile universe.

'Tiles in the first state act as wires that transmit signals between the logic gates, with the signal itself consisting of either a 'front' or 'back' state. Four other states manage the redirecting of the signal within the logic gates, while the final state is simply an unused background to keep the various states separate.'

He was not aware of the recent development of the Penrose glider, so he developed this alternative approach.

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