Bacterial 'wires' an electronic dream

THE hair-like threads sticking out of some species of bacteria may hold the secret to more powerful electronics and circuits that will work underwater.

Bacteria use pili, as the threads are known, to connect with other bacteria, and they also conduct electricity, says microbiologist Derek Lovley at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Lovley's team sheared some from Geobacter bacteria to study their properties in isolation. They found that conductivity increases with pH and as temperatures fall - just as in metals. The team then engineered the bacteria to boost pili production, which in turn boosted the overall conductivity of Geobacter biofilms (Nature Nanotechnology, DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2011.119).

The applications are numerous, says Lovley's colleague Mark Tuominen. The small size of pili and their ability to form a lattice could dramatically increase surface area inside capacitors, allowing them to store more electrical charge.

What's more, because the bacteria live in water, they may also help develop waterproof electronics.

How to unlock and start a car - with a text message

Thought your shiny new car looked pretty impregnable? Think again. Two researchers have shown that they can unlock a car  - and even start the engine - using a simple text message.

Don Bailey and Matthew Solnik, researchers at iSEC Partners presented their work at the Black Hat 2011 security conference in Las Vegas, explaining how they can use an Android phone to carry out a  technique they've dubbed "war-texting". The new technique relies on intercepting text messages, which many devices use to send commands or even firmware (permanent software programmed into a read-only memory) updates.

By setting up a local GSM network in the vicinity of a Subaru Outback, the team were able to intercept password authentication messages sent between the electronic key fob and the vehicle. What happens next is not exactly known, because the researchers haven't divulged all their secrets as a courtesy to the manufacturer.

However, what we do know is that intercepting those authentication messages allowed the team to understand the basic commands required to communicate with the security system of the car. Once they knew those details, they were able to send their own messages to the system in order to reverse-engineer the firmware - effectively learning how the entire device works.

From there, they could work out which commands were useful, and write their own messages to send that could unlock - and even start the engine of - the car. The whole process took them just a matter of hours. The team haven't gone into detail about which other cars might share these vulnerabilities, but the communication devices built into the vehicle are generic items - so the chances are that the problem could be widespread.

More worryingly, their technique could be used to attack other systems. Any device that routinely recieves firmware updates via text message, such as traffic control systems and security cameras, could be fair game. Perhaps worst of all, it could also attack SCADA sensors, which are used to monitor industrial systems such as the power grid and water supplies. "I could care less if I could unlock a car door," Don Bailey told CNN. "It's cool. It's sexy. But the same system is used to control phone, power, traffic systems. I think that's the real threat."

Though there has been no formal statement made by Subaru, Bailey has notified the manufacturer, and they are apparently taking steps to remedy the situation. 

Microsoft Opens Up About Windows 8

If you're dying for more Windows 8 news then you'll want to bookmark Microsoft's brand new blog, Building Windows 8 where the software giant plans to start dishing on the next iteration of its OS. Microsoft says it will use the new blog to talk about forthcoming features, user interface decisions, engineering and other Windows 8-related news. "We know developers, IT pros, and gamers all want to know what's new [in Windows 8] for them," wrote Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft's Windows and Windows Live division. "There is so much packed into Windows 8...so we want to be sure to take the time to cover as many of these topics as possible."

                     

Microsoft did something similar during the development of Windows 7 with a blog called Engineering Windows 7.
Biggest Refresh Since Windows 95
Sinofsky's debut post for the new Windows 8 blog was short on specifics about the new OS beyond what Microsoft showed off in June. Instead, Sinofsky reiterated Microsoft's vision for the next version of Windows, which the Microsoft exec says will be the biggest revamp of Windows since Windows 95.
"Windows 8 reimagines Windows for a new generation of computing devices," Sinofsky said. "Today more than two out of three PCs are mobile (laptops, netbooks, notebooks, tablets, slates, convertibles, etc.)... Screen sizes range from under 10" to wall-sized screens and multiple HD screens. Storage has jumped from megabytes to terabytes and has moved up to the cloud...These changes in the landscape motivate the most significant changes to Windows, from the chips to the experience."
Windows 8 Peek-A-Boo
Microsoft surprised many in June during its sneak peek at the brand new interface for Windows 8 since the new Microsoft OS will sport a touch-centric interface for use on both traditional mouse-and-keyboard PCs as well as tablets.
Windows 8 will also be the first version of Windows built to run on ARM-based and Intel x86 chips. Apps for the new OS will rely on HTML and JavaScript as the primary development languages.
Since Windows 8 appears to be such a tectonic shift for Windows, Sinofsky expects a lot of people will want to express their opinions about Microsoft's plans. If you fall into that category, Sinfosky has invited you to email him directly here.
Microsoft's next major outing for Windows 8 will be in September during the company's BUILD developer conference. The company plans to show off Windows 8's development tools as well as the OS' new capabilities, according to Sinofsky. The BUILD conference keynote address, where Microsoft is likely to release more information about Windows 8, is scheduled for Tuesday, September 13 from 9-11 a.m. Pacific.

National Geographic Channel creates 3D outdoor campaign for Nat Geo Rush

Eye catching shark plunging out of  the hoarding and the tail of the 3D plane crashing into the hoarding gain attention.

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | August 16, 2011

National Geographic Channel has been recently creating a stir amongst its viewers not just for its new show Nat Geo Rush, but also for their innovative marketing campaign which has been recently rolled out. While the new series is generating tremendous excitement amongst youth for its fast paced, thrilling, adrenaline pumping content, the robust 360 degree marketing campaign has further fuelled the curiosity around it.  The three dimensional, eye catching shark plunging out of  the hoarding at North Campus – Bunglow Road in New Delhi and Mahim Causeway in Mumbai, and the tail of the 3D plane crashing into the hoarding at Defence Colony flyover, New Delhi have been gaining attention of passers-by.

National Geographic Channel is acclaimed for conceptualizing creative properties and executing them in an innovative way. From outdoor to digital, the brand has taken giant leaps in the recent past to leverage multiple mediums to reach out to their target audience. Infact on Social Media, the channel’s Facebook Fan page has seen a rise of 50% in the fan base. Nat Geo Rush, the new series on the channel has gone across a wide spectrum of genres from wild nature to natural disasters, science and technology to real life incidents and packaged the most thrilling moments in a 30-minute capsule. Nail -biting action like death defying jumps from snow covered mountain peaks, incredible rescue landing of a passenger jet after its body was ripped open mid-air, fights between cape buffalos and lions to the secrets behind engineering defying structures like the Colosseum amphitheatre in Rome.

The outdoor campaign for Nat Geo Rush is the first of many interesting campaigns in store to create curiosity amongst the viewers about the dynamic programs on the channel. The show will be further promoted through innovative digital campaign in the weeks to follow. Stay tuned to National Geographic Channel or login to the Facebook Fan page for more interesting updates & contests.

Speaking about the new series, Debarpita Banerjee, Vice President Marketing for NGC Network India & FOX International Channels said “The youth today is on a constant lookout for excitement and adventure. At Nat Geo we have aligned not just our programming to create content which caters to their curiosity levels, but also devised equally innovative marketing campaigns to reach out the youth through multiple channels. Our first series under this initiative – Nat Geo Rush has been receiving a phenomenal response from our viewers. The on-ground installations in Mumbai and Delhi have been grabbing eye balls and as a result we are witnessing a spike in our viewership. In the near future, our viewers can expect more of such off-beat programming and marketing initiatives to keep them entertained.”

The latest and greatest in medical technology

LEWISTON — Welcome to the future of medicine. On Friday, it was parked at Central Maine Medical Center, a massive traveling van filled with the latest in surgical gadgetry. Although at first glance, it would be easy to mistake it for a video arcade.
Or possibly a diner.
On one side of the room are surgical training stations, featuring small devices where surgeons can manipulate the newest tools of the trade and watch their progress in a monitor overhead. Tiny clamps snap down on beans masquerading as polyps. A surgeon, manipulating a pair of devices that look like beefed up barbecue lighters, uses the pistol grips to pluck up a small stick and tenderly thread it through a circle the size of a button.
On the other side of the room, a few slabs of steak sit on a tray. But it's not lunch. The meat is used to demonstrate a LigaSure device that can incise the steak and lay down neat rows of titanium staples on either side. If this were a real operation, rended human tissue would have been sealed off efficiently so surgeons could continue their work inside the body.
Welcome to the Covidien Innovation Tour where, advances in Single Incision Laparoscopic Surgery are on exhibition. On Friday, the tour came to Lewiston during a 90-city sweep of the country.
At CMMC, surgeons had the opportunity to see what the future holds and to begin getting comfortable with the latest and greatest.
"It's state of the art," Chief of Surgery Jamie Loggins said, "and beyond."
At the training stations, a surgeon — or a reporter trying to fake his way through — works the hand-held devices sticking from one "multiple instrument access port." If this were a human body, that port would be inside the belly button. In single incision surgery, that's where surgeons enter the body. Traditionally, this type of surgery requires four or even six incisions across the abdomen.
"One obvious benefit," said Covidien Surgical Device Specialist Vincent Palange II, "is cosmetic."
No scarring, in other words. Traditionally, patients who undergo invasive procedures of this nature come away with a small archipelago of scars.
When you first see a surgeon operating this way — using multiple instruments through one port — it seems like a skill that would be immensely difficult to develop.
"It's like watching Tiger Woods golf," Loggins said.
Yet, a surgeon used to working multiple instruments across several openings will likely find the new way more efficient. The equipment is designed to be faster, more precise and less dangerous for the patient.
"The dexterity we lose in our hands," Loggins said, "has been made up for in the instruments."
Loggins manipulates the instruments with smooth, fluid motions that suggest familiarity, his progress on display in the monitors above. Loggins, you might say, is the Tiger Woods of this faux surgical theater.
But Palange is no slouch, either. A Lewiston native who works at CMMC, Palange is also a surgical device specialist with Covidien. He is the point man between Covidien and the local surgeons. He knows this equipment as intimately as anyone.
Palange demonstrates the LigaSure surgical staplers, guides his visitors through the training stations, and lays down staples into chunks of beef like a pro.
But his greatest enthusiasm comes when he's showing off the iDrive Power stapler. It's a gadget that hums deeply when you hold it. It neatly closes human tissue like the others, but this one is more advance. This one senses when an area of the human body requires a shorter stapler or a longer one.
This technology is strikingly faster than making incisions, applying clamps and repeating over and over for the duration of an operation. Speed isn't the first goal, Palange says, but it's an important one.
"Anything they have to do that takes extra time," he said, "there's that much more danger for the patient."
The technology has a wow factor. But both Palange and Loggins are each quick to point out one constant truth when it comes to medical advances: It's always evolving. As soon as a person gets comfortable with the latest, greatest innovation, something new is coming down the pike.
For now, Palange and the rest of the Covidien team are doing what they can to get surgeons around the country familiar with the technology. It's vital for their success as surgeons, of course. And in its way, it's fun — like playing games on the latest computer tablet or smart phone.
"It's the video game generation,"  Covidien Manager Leo Nunzioleo said. "And this is making surgeons better."

HYPERSONIC FLIGHT IS DESIGNED: SPEED OF 13000MPH

The U.S. military said it launched a hypersonic test aircraft called the Falcon HTV-2, which reached speeds of 13,000 mph, but lost control after about nine minutes of flight and, they believe, crashed in the Pacific Ocean.
The drone was designed to reach Mach 20 -- or 20 times the speed of sound -- and could travel between Los Angeles and New York in just 12 minutes. Such high speeds could be useful for new weapons, among other things.
The HTV-2 was launched on a Minotaur IV rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base near Lompoc, Calif. DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, first reported that the HTV-2 was on course and sending data. But 20 minutes later it sent a message saying it had lost contact with the vehicle.
Another 45 minutes passed. "Downrange assets did not reacquire tracking or telemetry," said DARPA on its Twitter feed. "HTV2 has an autonomous flight termination capability," it said -- shorthand for saying it was designed to ditch itself in the ocean if there was a danger it had flown out of control.
This afternoon DARPA released a statement saying it had difficulty controlling the Falcon in the air.

"The aircraft transitioned to Mach 20 aerodynamic flight," it said. "This transition represents a critical knowledge and control point in maneuvering atmospheric hypersonic flight. More than nine minutes of data was collected before an anomaly caused loss of signal.

"'Here's what we know,'" Air Force Maj. Chris Schulz, the HTV-2 program manager for DARPA, said in the statement. 'We know how to boost the aircraft to near space. We know how to insert the aircraft into atmospheric hypersonic flight. We do not yet know how to achieve the desired control during the aerodynamic phase of flight. It's vexing; I'm confident there is a solution. We have to find it.'"
Follow along with the flight HERE (http://twitter.com/#!/DARPA_News) on Twitter.
An earlier version of the hypersonic craft made a flight back in April 2010, but it also lost contact about nine minutes into flight. Today's flight was meant to build on the knowledge from that experiment and add to the technical understanding of hypersonic flight, DARPA said.
The Defense Department is trying to develop technology to respond to threats around the globe at speeds of Mach 20 or greater. A warhead flying through the atmosphere might be harder to intercept than one carried into space by a missile.
Building a hypersonic aircraft is considerably different from a spacecraft, even though a ship in orbit travels faster -- 17,500 mph on average at altitudes of a hundred miles or more. Hypersonic planes need to cut through the atmosphere, and the dynamics of how to do that have proved surprisingly difficult.
"Assumptions about Mach 20 hypersonic flight were made from physics-based computational models and simulations, wind tunnel testing, and data collected from HTV-2's first test flight — the first real data available in this flight regime at Mach 20," said Schulz in a statement before today's launch. "It's time to conduct another flight test to validate our assumptions and gain further insight into extremely high Mach regimes that we cannot fully replicate on the ground."
The military has a long history of setting aviation milestones. Oct. 14, 1947 marked the first time an airplane flew faster than the speed of sound when the Bell X-1 reached 700 miles per hour, Mach 1.06, and in 1959 test flights began for the X-15, which set new speed records when it attained Mach 4, 5 and 6.
But Mach 20 remains a challenge. "As today's flight indicates, high-Mach flight in the atmosphere is virtually uncharted territory," said Maj. Schulz

Nokia launches two dual SIM phones

NEW DELHI: Nokia has refreshed its dual SIM portfolio with the launch of two slider phones, Nokia C2-03 and Nokia C2-06.
The phones pack 2 megapixel camera, stereo FM radio, media player and memory support that can be expanded up to 32GB.
Nokia C2-03 comes with a feature that allow users to personalise up to five SIM cards with a dedicated look and feel, and an Easy Swap option that lets users change SIM cards without having to turn off the phone or remove the battery.

Along with two dual-SIM phones, Nokia has also introduced a single SIM variant of Nokia C2-02. The phone will come with push messaging options and support broad range of IM providers.
Ravi Kunwar, Regional General Manager (North), Nokia India said, "These 'Touch & Type' phones offer internet, maps and apps experience second to none in the market. With the choice of a touch screen or a keypad, we really have made everything available and easy to use in an affordable phone that comes in both dual and single SIM options."
"With pre-installed apps on the phones and with the Nokia Browser that serves up relevant local content faster, we are making the internet experience easy, fast and affordable for all," he added.
The phones will come pre-installed with apps available on the Ovi Store. The new offerings also come with Nokia Life Tools, an SMS based service that offers a range of agricultural information, education and health services.
Nokia has also introduces location based service for the first time on Series 40 platform with local maps and places of interest pre-installed on the phone. Users can now use Local Search on Maps using both SMS and GPRS.
As for the pricing, Nokia C2-02, C2-03 and C2-06 will be available for Rs 4,289, Rs 4,949 and Rs 5349 respectively.