Technology

A University of Florida engineer has crafted a nickel-sized imaging device that uses organic light-emitting diode technology similar to that found in laptop screens for night vision. The device is paper-thin, light and inexpensive, making it a possible add-on for cell phones. Other applications could include night vision technology for car windshields, or even for standard glasses to use at night. A paper detailing the infrared-to-vision device was published in a recent issue of Advanced Materials. Standard night vision goggles use a photocathode to convert invisible infrared light…

The New York Times recently published an editorial opining that the Federal Communications Commission should reclassify broadband Internet service, from a U.S. regulatory point of view, as a communications service (rather than an information service, as it’s classified now). That will give the FCC more authority to regulate broadband providers. The Times acknowledges that such a redefinition “would surely unleash a torrent of lawsuits by broadband providers,” and presaging that is a letter to the editor from Verizon’s Chief Communications Officer, Peter Thonis. Mr Thonis says that “the…

China's cyberculture may be growing rapidly,  but experts say it is unlikely to usher in an age of social and political freedom in the communist state, and may even facilitate government control free of expression. According to a new study in Telematics and Informatics, claims that widespread use of blogs threatens government control over democratic discourse and free speech in China are not realistic. "Some hold that advanced technology and the free flow of information make the Internet uncontrollable," says Junhao Hong, a communications expert at the University of Buffalo. "But there…

Sometimes I find an article that is supposed to be about science or technology and I can't help but wonder what the point of bringing up the subject was.  A recent LiveScience article entitled "Rising Fuel Costs Could Help Make Electric Planes A Reality" is just such a piece. Within the first three sentences the following statement is presented, "...for the most part the idea of an electric airliner is regarded as fantasy in aviation since batteries are so heavy..." From here it is followed up by some facts that demonstrate just how impossible electric power is for replacing jet fuel.…

If you thought storing your entire music library on an iPod was cool, you haven't seen anything yet.  Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a computer chip that can store an entire library's worth of information on a single chip. The new chip stems from a breakthrough in the use of nanodots, or nanoscale magnets, and represents a significant advance in computer-memory technology, researchers say. Nanodots are made of single, defect-free crystals, creating magnetic sensors that are integrated directly into a silicon electronic chip. These nanodots, which can be…

Yesterday, Eric Taub reviewed an interesting device in the Gadgetwise blog in the New York Times. It’s a pair of transceivers that help you locate your car even if you’re a half mile from it. You leave one transceiver in the car, take the other with you, and then use it to find your car as you’d use a Geiger counter to find a source of radiation. It seems, from the review, that it’s pretty slick — Mr Taub says it works as advertised. But the real point, I think, is how he ends his review: While the product will most likely solve your lost car problems, if you don’t want to spend $80 for one,…

  Engineered Stem Cells    The small plastic vial in James ­Thomson's hand contains more than 1.5 billion carefully coddled heart cells grown at Cellular Dynamics, a startup based in Madison, WI. They are derived from a new type of stem cell that ­Thomson, a cofounder of the company, hopes will improve our models of human diseases and transform the way drugs are developed and tested. Thomson, director of regenerative biology at the Morgridge Institute at the University of Wisconsin, first isolated human embryonic stem cells in 1998. Isolating these cells, which are capable…

Researchers at Tel Aviv University are developing a new "virtual" method to analyze movement patterns in children ― and more effectively treat those with debilitating motor disorders. The team is using a "virtual tabletop" called the ELEMENTS SYSTEM, developed by scientists at Australia's Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, to "move" kids with disabilities and provide home-based treatments using virtual reality tools. "I've been working with children with movement disorders for the last 20 years," says Dr. Dido Green of Tel Aviv University. "By the time I meet these children, they're…

Bynet Software, a leading Israel-based SharePoint service provider, and Metalogix Software, a leading provider of solutions for Microsoft SharePoint migration, management, and archiving as well as Exchange(R) migration and archiving, today announced the addition of Bynet Software to the Metalogix partner program. Together, the two companies will be hosting an Open House on April 26 for companies looking to upgrade to SharePoint 2010.  Planning a migration project for SharePoint 2010 from other platforms is essential to the success of any organization's SharePoint project, said Meron…

Metalogix Software, a leading provider of solutions for Microsoft SharePoint migration, management, and archiving as well as Exchange(R) migration and archiving, today announced the appointment of Metia as a UK migration and management partner. Like Metalogix, Metia is a Microsoft Gold Certified partner.  Working with top quality partners is essential for any software product company, said Miguel Nhuch, vice president, International Business Development, Metalogix. Metia is a unique organisation and an ideal UK partner. They have a proven expertise in designing and deploying SharePoint…