Monthly Archives: September 2012

New process for nanotube semiconductors could be graphene’s ticket to primetime (video)

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New patented nanotube semiconductors could be graphene's ticket to primetime

In many ways, graphene is one of technology's sickest jokes. The tantalizing promise of cheap to produce, efficient to run materials, that could turn the next page in gadget history has always remained frustratingly out of reach. Now, a new process for creating semiconductors grown on graphene could see the super material commercialized in the next five years. Developed at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, the patented process "bombs" graphene with gallium, which forms droplets, and naturally arranges itself to match graphene's famous hexagonal pattern. Then, arsenic is added to the mix, which enters the droplets and crystallizes at the bottom, creating a stalk. After a few minutes of this process the droplets are raised by the desired height. The new process also does away with the need for a (relatively) thick substrate to grow the nanowire on, making it cheaper, more flexible and transparent. The inventors state that this could be used in flexible and efficient solar cells and light emitting diodes. We say forward the revolution.

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New process for nanotube semiconductors could be graphene's ticket to primetime (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 30 Sep 2012 12:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Man Hacks Doorbell, Turns It Into a Key

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Piet De Vaere read about a hack made by Steve Hoefer, in which Steve made is to he could unlock his door using a secret knock. Piet was becoming annoyed that he had to take out his keys to unlock his gate, so he decided to mimic Steve’s project to solve his first world problem, except he decided to make a secret doorbell code.

janus the gatekeeper doorbell hack

Piet calls his project Janus: The gatekeeper. When Piet rings his doorbell, Janus intercepts the input and compares it with the prerecorded unlock sequence. If the input matches, then the gate opens. If not, a bell rings. Skip to 0:24 to see Janus at work, then to 0:52 to see his brain, which is based on a mehduino.

Head to Piet’s blog for more details on Janus. For obvious reasons Piet doesn’t recommend rigging Janus on your main door. It would be cool and more secure if you can pair it with another layer of geeky gatekeeping, perhaps voice activation. Or you can use it to beef up your current gate and make it so it won’t unlock unless you use your key and enter the secret doorbell code.

[via Hack A Day]


Periodic Table of Minecraft: Breaking Blocks

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Minecraft is an adventure game. Minecraft is a horror game. Minecraft is an engineering game. Minecraft is a chemistry game. All of it is made possible by mixing and stacking it’s most basic parts, its elements.

periodic table of minecraft by egeres

Minecraft: where the oven and TNT are elements. Head to egeres’ deviantART page to see a larger version of his table.

[via it8bit]


Inhabitat’s Week in Green: ECOLAR house, transparent solar panel and Star Wars terrariums

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Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green.

Inhabitat's Week in Green Solar Decathlon Europe, transparent solar panel and star wars terrariums

For the past two weeks Inhabitat has been reporting live from the Solar Decathlon Europe in Madrid, where 18 student teams from around the world have been competing for the title of the world's most efficient solar-powered prefab house. As usual, suspense was running high in the final days of the competition, and we're excited to announce that Team Rhône-Alpes' Canopea House has been named this year's winner! The beautiful modular house took top honors in the architecture and sustainability categories, and it features a 10.7 kW photovoltaic array on the roof that produces more than enough energy to power the home.

Some of the other standouts at the Solar Decathlon Europe include Germany's ECOLAR House, which features a flexible, modular design that can expand or shrink to accommodate the needs of its owners. It came as no surprise that the German team was tops in the engineering category, and the team incorporated hemp insulation in the floors, walls and ceiling to prevent thermal loss. Team Andalucia's Patio 2.12 House, which consists of four separate prefabricated modules built around an interior courtyard, scored high marks for energy efficiency and innovation. And although Italy's MED in Italy House might not look like much on the outside, step inside and you'll enter a different world altogether. The highly efficient home features a central courtyard and a rooftop photovoltaic array that generates about 9.33 kWh of energy per year -- roughly double what it needs. Team Rome also added wall layers that can be filled with heavy materials to provide high thermal mass once the home is installed.

Continue reading Inhabitat's Week in Green: ECOLAR house, transparent solar panel and Star Wars terrariums

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Inhabitat's Week in Green: ECOLAR house, transparent solar panel and Star Wars terrariums originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 30 Sep 2012 10:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Go Dutch Bill Lets You Split the Tab, Literally.

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It’s pretty common for big groups to go out and eat together, and then split the tab afterwards. But the process of splitting up the bill can be pretty tedious, since someone usually has to break out the calculator (or calculator app) and add up the amount that each person has to pay.

But not with the Go Dutch Bill.

Go Dutch BillIt’s a billing system that automatically churns out split-able (is there even such a word?) receipts so each member of the group can just grab the tab with their order and pay for it accordingly. It’s an extremely fun and novel concept, even though we’ll probably never see it come to light because it might be pretty complex to apply in practice.

But I’d love to be wrong on that one because this concept is totally awesome.

Go Dutch Bill1

Go Dutch Bill was designed by Szu-Yu Liu and is up for the 2012 iF concept design award.

[via Yanko Design]


Karakuri Ribbon Stretches Your Scalp to Eliminate Wrinkles

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Got a problem with your face? There’s little you can do to change what you look like (unless you opt for cosmetic surgery or Botox) but if the only thing you’re worried about are your wrinkles, then there’s hope for you yet – without having to go under the knife or inject yourself with Botulinum toxin.

Introducing… the Karakuri Ribbon.

Karakuri Ribbon1This is the latest in a line of strange Japanese beauty tools that includes the likes of the Hana Tsun Nose Straightener, the Eye Slack Haruka, the Rhythm Slim Chin Exerciser, and the Face Slimmer Mouthpiece.

With the Karakuri Ribbon, you’re supposed to put the included bands over your ears. Then you have to hook the stretchy ribbon with the combs over it and around the top of your head to pull the area around your ears back.

Karakuri Ribbon

Think you’ll rest the fate of your sagging skin to the Karakuri Ribbon? If you are, then you can get it for $43(USD) from the Japan Trend Shop (but you could also make one yourself at a fraction of the price they’re selling it for, if you’re resourceful.)


Sony shuts down PSP Comic Store after October 30th, leaves most of us in the lurch for now

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Sony shuts down PSP Comic Store after October 30th, leaves North Americans in the lurch

PSP Comic Store, we hardly knew ye. No really, we hardly knew ye -- which is probably why Sony is warning PSP owners that its comic book portal is shutting down after October 30th. Come Hallowe'en, we'll lose the option to download the necessary app or buy additional titles. Any currently owned comics will be available to download again until mid-January, but readers will be on their own to preserve existing libraries after that. Outside of Japan, that creates significant problems for literary PlayStation fans: while PS Vita owners in Sony's home country will get a Manga store and reader in October, there's no equivalent crutch for other countries (or any PSP owners) at this stage. The console maker is non-committal and says there's nothing it can discuss "at the moment," which to us is a hint that we shouldn't plan our reading hours around a PSP or PS Vita in the near future.

[Thanks, Sooraj]

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Sony shuts down PSP Comic Store after October 30th, leaves most of us in the lurch for now originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 30 Sep 2012 08:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google retires more services, consolidates others in continued efficiency bid

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Google retires more services, consolidates others in continued efficiency bid

When you run as many services as Google does, every once in a while you're going to have to do some pruning. Evidently Mountain View's got the secateurs out, having just announced the next batch of its projects that will be getting axed wound down. For the chop are: AdSense for Feeds, Classic Plus, Spreadsheet Gadgets, Places for Android, and +1 Reports in Webmaster Tools. Other services are being merged into existing properties to prevent overlap, such as Google Storage for Picasa and Drive -- which are now consolidated -- and Insights for Search is now part of Google Trends. Naturally, the search giant claims this is all about streamlining, and improving other core products. If the retired service involves a paid subscription, or legacy data, then you'll need to check the specifics on the official blog to find out how this will affect you, which fortunately for you, is just a tap of the source link away.

[Image Credit: Shutterstock]

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Google retires more services, consolidates others in continued efficiency bid originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 30 Sep 2012 07:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Crazy iPad theft on the streets of San Francisco

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Apple products are a magnet for thefts and these crimes are on the rise. This sort of crime has recently gone up by 40 percent in New York alone.
(...)
Original Story Crazy iPad theft on the streets of San Francisco

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LightSquared pitches new plans to FCC in attempt to end GPS interference hex

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LightSquared files new plans to the FCC, hopes to cast off GPS interference hex

If you thought filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy was the final chapter in LightSquared's wireless network saga, you'd be wrong. Hedge-fund manager Philip Falcone is back at the FCC's doorstep with yet another proposal, which he hopes might snatch the maligned network from the jaws of GPS interference-related troubles. Two filings placed with the commission apparently outline plans to use its broadband network in a way that it believes won't interfere with GPS signals, along with the 5MHz of spectrum that are known not to cause any issues. Along with the proposed changes, LightSquared is reportedly set to ask for more time to have exclusive rights to propose a reorganization plan. If granted, this could finally mean some progress for the beleaguered project, but with investors worried that money being spent on this could be better-placed back in their pockets, Falcone will have everything crossed, while the FCC deliberates the situation.

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LightSquared pitches new plans to FCC in attempt to end GPS interference hex originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 30 Sep 2012 05:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceThe Wall Street Journal  | Email this | Comments