Toyota brings fuel cell dream closer to reality
June 7, 2008
TOKYO (AFP) — Toyota Motor Corp. said Friday it had developed a new zero-emission fuel-cell vehicle that has a longer cruising distance than previous models and can operate in freezing temperatures.
Japanese companies have been working to create a viable zero-emission car running on fuel cells, which produce electricity through a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen, leaving water as the only by-product.
Toyota’s system “was enhanced to further improve cruising distance and low-temperature starts, which had presented obstacles to widespread fuel-cell vehicle use,” the company said in a statement.
Toyota engineers managed to control the amount of water produced inside the fuel-cell system, which previously interfered with electrical generation at low temperatures. Fuel efficiency was also improved, the automaker said.
Toyota said it would continue to strive to improve the durability and reduce the cost of fuel-cell vehicles to bring about their widespread use.
Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe has said previously that it will take years to make eco-friendly cars running on fuel cells commercially viable.
Besides the hefty price, motorists would also need an infrastructure of hydrogen filling stations if they are to take the cars on the road.
Toyota was a pioneer of petrol-electric hybrid cars which are attracting growing interest at a time of soaring oil prices and increasing concerns about global warming.
The International Energy Agency estimated Friday that nearly a billion electric or fuel-cell vehicles may need to be put on the road as part of an “energy technology revolution” to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Built to order - Hearts anyone?
March 31, 2008
University of Minnesota scientists have rebuilt and reanimated a heart. This is a major step in creating “built-to-order” organs that will help countless transplant patients currently waiting for donors.
“Someday, doctors may routinely extract cells from heart failure patients and use them to reseed a new organ from a cadaver-derived ECM. ” — UoM
Read more here
3-D chip stacks - Future of Computing?
March 23, 2008
Mr. Moore predicted that the number of transistors that fit on a piece of silicon would double almost every two years. However, this axiom will be trumped in 15 years or less. This is due to the increasing difficulty faced when manipulating transistors the size of atoms. So, what direction can our favourtie piece of silicon go?
It looks like IBM has been working on a solution to help. It’s called a 3-D chip stack and it looks promising. Hypothetically, it’s possible to move data 1000X faster than we do now. How? Using TSVs (through-silicon vias) that go through the chip and connect to the next layer directly below it. Currently, chips connect along the outer edges which is slow and limiting.
Keep your eyes peeled — IBM is slated to begin selling this technology soon.
Plen - The Bluetooth controlled Robot
March 16, 2008
Plen is a humanoid robot that can be controlled via Cell Phone or Desktop PC. This little guy is probably more skilled than you! Unfortunately, in order to buy the best toys you must have money in the bank — Now on sale for a measly $2000USD
Check the video below to see some of these skills:
Stage 6 - Joining the Dodo Bird
February 25, 2008
Stage6 to Shut Down on February 28
You may remember the Stage6 service as the sole provider of illegal movie downloads and serious copyright infringements. But in reality it was the first innovative provider and pioneer of VOD for people in any country, no restrictions.
It’s a shame that people will no longer be able to build their illegal movie collections by simply clicking “download.” Damn you Hollywood!
Also say goodbye to aggregator sites such as Joox & Quicksilverscreen (using Google Video now).
Hit the link to read the message from “Spinner”
aizen Design