Tech - Break

Iceland Creates DNA map of the "Entire Nation"

2015-04-30T08:27:00.000+05:30

Scientists in Iceland have produced an unprecedented snapshot of a nation's genetic makeup, discovering a host of previously unknown gene mutations that may play roles in ailments as diverse as Alzheimer's disease, heart disease and gallstones.

Daniel G MacArthur, a geneticist at Massachusetts General Hospital who was not involved in the research says, “They've now managed to get more genetic data on a much larger chunk of the population than in any other country in the world.“

In a series of papers published on Wednesday in the journal Nature Genetics, researchers at Decode, an Icelandic genetics firm owned by Amgen, described sequencing the genomes -the complete DNA -of 2,636 Icelanders, the largest collection ever analysed in a single human population. With this trove of genetic information, the scientists were able to accurately infer genomes of more than 1,00,000 other Icelanders, or almost a third of the entire country.

“From the technical point of view, these papers are a tour-de-force,“ said David Reich, a geneticist at Harvard Medical School who was not involved in the research.

While some diseases, like cystic fibrosis, are caused by a single genetic mutation, the most common ones are not. Instead, mutations to a number of different genes can each raise the risk of getting, say , heart disease or breast cancer. Discovering these mutations can shed light on them and point to potential treatments. But many of them are rare, making it necessary to search large groups of people to find them.
The wealth of data created in Iceland may enable scientists to begin doing that.

In their new study , the researchers at Decode present several such revealing mutations. For example, they found eight people in Iceland who shared a mutation on a gene called MYL4. Medical records showed that they also have early onset atrial fibrillation, a type of irregular heartbeat.

Gilian McVean, a geneticist at Oxford who was not involved in the study , said that discovering a rare association this way “is a bit of a holy grail“ for geneticists.

In recent years, geneticists have been searching for causes of disease not just by seeking out people who carry mutations, but also those who lack a working copy of a particular gene. Scientists call them human knockouts.

Sean E Harper, R&D head at biotechnology giant Amgen, said he expected many more insights from the DNA of Icelanders. “They can be guiding lights for us.“

China Plans to build Solar Space Station

2015-04-29T18:53:00.001+05:30

A random space station illustration

China is planning to build a huge Solar Power Station 36,000 kilometers above the ground in an attempt to solve the increasing energy crisis, greenhouse effects and smog problems.

The power station would be a super spacecraft on a geosynchronous orbit equipped with huge solar panels. The electricity generated would be converted to microwaves or lasers and transmitted to a collector on Earth.

According to Wang Xiji, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and an International Academy of Astronautics member, the space power station would be really huge, with the total area of the solar panels reaching 5 to 6 sq km. That would be equivalent to 12 of Beijing's Tian'anmen Square, the largest public square in the world, or nearly two New York Central Parks.

The electricity generated from the ground-based solar plants fluctuates with night and day and the weather, but a space generator can collect energy 99 per cent of the time.Also, Space-based solar panels can generate ten times as much electricity as ground-based panels per unit area, says Duan Baoyan, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

It's also of great strategic significance as whoever gets hold of the technology first could occupy the future energy market. China plans to build this space station by year 2020.

Lamborghini Veneno - Most Expensive Collector's Item

2015-04-29T06:58:00.001+05:30

An open racing prototype with an extreme design and breathtaking performance, Lamborghini Veneno is a Limited Production super car based off of the Lamborghini Aventador. Built to celebrate it's 50th anniversary, Lamborghini stated that there are going to be only 9 of Veneno released ever. One of these cars, dubbed Car Zero, is to be placed in Lamborghini's Museum as display vehicle.

The Car is consistently focused on optimum aerodynamics and cornering stability giving it the real dynamic experience of a racing car. The Veneno Roadster accelerates from 0 to 100km/h in just 2.9sec and with a top speed of 355km/h it's a beast on road. The Car is driven by a 12 cylinder engine with a displacement of 6.5 litres and is equipped with an extremely fast shifting ISR transmission with 5 modes. With a dry weight of 1,490kg the Veneno Roadster benefit from a power-to-weight ration of just 1.93kg/hp which guarantees a mind blowing performance.

Even the interior is dominated by Carbon Fibre. The carbon fibre mononoque is visible inside the car around central tunnels and the sills.The two lightweight bucket seats are made from Lamborghini's patented Forged Composite. The vowen carbon fibre Carbonskin is used to clad the entire cockpit, part of the seats and the headliner.

All in all, this car is one the great Collector's masterpieces of engineering and design in the world of racing. The price of the car is around $4.3 million.

Click to go to Wallpaper Gallery

Source: Lamborghini Website

Bloodborne Game Review

2015-04-28T11:53:00.004+05:30

If you guys are a fan of Action, Role-playing and horror, then this game is absolutely meant for you. Bloodborne developed by From Software is a game that is unconventional in every way you see it.
Warning: Bloodborne is quite difficult, very playable, but does not dumb down the action. You will die a lot, however, that is one of the best parts of the game. Read on to find out more...

His footsteps clatter across the cobblestones, his bloody scythe in one hand, empty gun in another as he rounds the corner panting. Behind him, a horde of crazy townsfolk with all too long hands, carrying pitchforks, torches and whatever they can get their hands on. He, your character, scrambles up the steps, hopeful that he's finally gotten away, when he comes to a dead end. No other way, he turns around to stand and fight, his scythe snaps and extends. The battle is close, as he hacks and slashes his way, dodging makeshift blades and wooden shields. When all that's left is one lumbering beast of a man. Your character uses the last of his own life force to create blood bullets, and at the very last second staggers the beast and in one move eviscerates it. The battle is over. Up until you hear soft padding behind you and turn around to face two very large werewolves. There's nothing left to do but die.

Video games are all about experiences. Immersing you in worlds of fantasy or horror, where you either be the hero in a war or the only survivor or a zombie outbreak. However, none of these games really capture the true despair of being outnumbered, outgunned as the Souls series. Directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki, these games are unforgiving in their difficulty and yet incredibly fun to play with solid fighting mechanics and a wonderful risk reward gameplay. Now, the Souls series moves into next generation with Bloodborne.

Story and setting
The gothic city of Yharnam has drawn millions of people to it for it's mysterious miracle cure. You are one such outsider, arrived newly into the city that you discover has been twisted by a plague. An illness that's driven all the townsfolk mad, and into monsters. Now you're trapped in the city, on the night of the hunt. Where you roam the streets as a hunter, or the hunted.

Unlike every other game, the story of Bloodborne does not unfold in many cut-scenes, played out by dummy actors. The player can play through the game oblivious of the story, however the lore is there, and very deep, for those who search. What befell Yharnam and what happened to it's tragic denezins can be found through clues hidden, as well as knocking of doors of cowering townsfolk. Hiding from the night of the hunt.

Blood borne will send creeps down your spine. As you pass by some doors with moaning and crying. Some have laughter tinged with madness. While in the distance you can hear screams and roars of beasts. In many ways Bloodborne is a horror through and through. One that puts you in a front row seat. Though, it's a story that makes you want to be on top of the hunt. The biggest and baddest of them all.

Gameplay
The first paragraph sums up the game. You are alone against all odds. Even if you are fully levelled up, the smallest minion can kill you, if you aren't smart, quick and know the battle system. Expect to die a lot at first while you learn. Death is a big part of the game. Sure it is frustrating, because your mind is wired from games past, dying is bad. However in Bloodborne, dying and being reborn at the Hunters Dream, let's you know how to avoid, know what to do and try and overcome.

The battle system is fantastic, fluid and fast. You have a right and a left hand weapon that are controlled by the trigger. So your sword and gun play works with these. The good part is your weapons transform for reach or damage. Fighting is all about slashing, watching your endurance, rolling and dodging incoming attacks, and timing your gunshots at the precise moment when the enemy is about to attack for a visceral high damage blow. Once you get a hang of this, the battle system is addictive. So good, you just want to really get perfect at it.

This is thanks to the risk reward nature of the game. Killing beasties earns you blood echos, that lets you buy stuff or level up your character. Now when you die, you lose all your echos. When you're reborn, you have to go to the spot you got killed, or in some cases, have to kill the enemy that killed you to retrieve your lost echos. This system makes venturing into any alley is like taking a gamble at a casino. What lurks beyond in the darkness can most definitely kill you. It's a chance you have to take, either you get their blood echos, or they get yours. This aspect of the game is the best part. The euphoria you get when you survive, and dominate your foes, or when you finally kill one of the gigantic bosses, is unparalleled in a game.

Sure the game does throw a few bones your way. You can upgrade your weapons for more damage. Plus if you get hit by an enemy, you can recoup the health you lost if you're quick enough to strike back within a second. However, the game is tough. It will get frustrating. However, there's nothing close in the video gaming world to the addiction of this game.

Multiplayer

Another thing this game does unconventional is the multiplayer. Rather than have usual deathmatches, the multiplayer here is passive. Thousands of players around the world are playing this game. Are dying with you. You get to find this out by reading warning notes left by players or seeing their spectres at the time of their death. Occasionally you can see the white ghost of another player fighting around you. Making the lonely city a lot more friendly, knowing there's someone out there who is sharing your experience.

Using certain items, you can call forth a player to help you out in a tough battle. Which is where the multiplayer becomes more active as your buddy helps you take down the boss or clear off an area. Making playing Bloodborne a lot more fun, knowing there's someone coming to your aid.

Graphics and sound
Blood borne is best played at night, in the dark, with your home theatre set to a good ambient volume. The sound engineering is fantastic. As you hear howls, and shuffling feet. Raspy breathing of a bad guy in wait or a monster lurking in the dark to get to you. Padding of feet. I just sets you on edge, into hunter mode. The predator in you on the surface.

Graphics wise, Bloodborne looks amazing. Bringing the Gothic world to life. A twisted London of perpetual night. With immense attention to detail in the architecture and design of the city. Twisted level design that leads you up to rooftop balconies and walkways to underground sewers. Bleak but beautiful. What also stands out is the animations, of your character and the numerous bad guys. Which will keep popping up in your friendly neighbourhood nightmares. If you live in Mumbai, after playing this game, you will probably never ever walk alone at night in the old Fort district.

Conclusion
Blood borne is not recommended for those who don't like tough games. If you feel all the games out today do not pose any challenge, you will love this game. A fresh, unforgiving and yet addictive experience. That keeps you coming back for more.

Rating: 4.5/5

Price: Rs 3,999 for PS4

Features- Action role-playing Difficult Hauntingly beautiful setting.

Source: Times of India

Aston Martin DB11 Concept Car

2015-04-27T17:00:00.000+05:30

What is known more firmly is the engineering basis for the new car. It will use an all-new platform, upgrading Aston Martin's VH aluminium architecture to something called VH500 and pepped up with the latest modules of everything: new suspension and transmission updates, the carte-blanche electrical systems such as sat-navs and, we hear, a smattering of lightweight composites.

Aston has been quietly developing its knowledge of carbonfibre with models such as the latest Vanquish, One-77, Vantage GT3 and Vulcan. We expect more plastics to contribute to a hefty weight-saving on the next DB9.

The V12 lives on

The big news is that CAR understands the V12 engine will continue. Aston has consistently used twelve-pots for its top-end cars and we hear the engine supply deal with Ford is continuing (the Blue Oval makes the 6.0-litre V12 in Cologne).

But it will now be turbocharged and we expect the capacity to drop accordingly. The next DB11 will offer a mix of V12 and V8 power, much like the Bentley Continental range. Sounds like Aston's broadening its range to hoover up more buyers. If it's worked for Bentley and Porsche...

Powered By Twin-Turbo Engine

The gutted center console has been equipped with a control panel that has four toggle switches for the inter-cooler pumps and fans. The car's operating card doesn't say which particular engine is being used in the VH500-X1 prototype but previous reports have suggested the model will be offered with an AMG-sourced twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 as well as a twin-turbo V12.

As for the exterior is considered, it also has an interesting fact to it. The car has been designe by Jennarong Muengtaweepongsa, a 15 yr old aspiring designer from Bangkok, Thailand.

Click the Photo to got to the Album

Here's what the guy himself says,
"The car is a design study of the "continuation" of lines, and a mixture of various aspects from previous Aston Martin designs. The Front End's design is inspired by the CC100 speedster concept, especially with the grille design, along with the metal inlets being in the shape of the original Aston Martin grille design, the shape taken from the iconic DB5.

With the lines beginning beautifully from the front of the car continued into the rear, while forming an invisible "X" shape in the middle of the car, right in the driver's position. The indicator under the headlight also follows with the continuation theme, by continuing through the wheel into the side strakes and into the bodywork. The main line, which starts from next to the headlight, continues into the rear diffuser, with the rear being heavily inspired by the DB10."

A3W Motiv Concept MotorBike

2015-04-27T05:00:00.000+05:30

Now guys, This is another good concept I have seen around. This one is Trike Bike i.e. it has 3 tyres which are all part of basic design and not a modification.

French designer Julien Rondino’s three-wheeled motorcycle concept – the A3W Motiv.

We are waiting for more details on the bike. But for now, what we know is that the bike has been designed around KTM’s 999cc LC8 v-twin. The chassis seems to be a mix of cast aluminium and steel tube sections and the bike is packed with interesting bits – hub-centre steering, adjustable ergonomics and Buell-style perimeter brakes.

Here is the Link to an album of A3W Motiv's Pics.

Acura NSX comes up with really cool info...

2015-04-26T20:52:00.001+05:30

At the Society of Automotive Engineers 2015 World Congress, Acura spilled some new details about the upcoming next-generation NSX. Befitting the audience, it was all very techno-nerdy.

Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, the new NSX strays from the all-aluminum construction that was a hallmark of the original mid-engine Acura. The new hybrid sports car will utilize a multi-material space frame that Acura says is the world's first automotive application of ablation casting technology. This process allows for shorter, stronger stitch welding, minimizing heat distortion and creating ultra-rigid castings in strategic locations within the car's space frame. With the addition of ultra high strength steel in critical locations and a carbon fiber floor, Acura claims the new NSX will have "the most rigid body in its class. "Acura also points out that the 3D-formed, ultra high strength steel A-pillars provide maximum rigidity and roof crush strength while minimizing visual obstruction. That's a nice callback to the airy cockpit of the original NSX, and a contrast to the sometimes cave-like passenger compartments necessitated by today's crashworthiness requirements.

All that metallurgy and whatnot is cool, but the biggest question hanging over the new NSX has been about the powertrain. Acura still isn't talking raw numbers, but we learned a little more about the mid-ship power plant and its electric buddies. The gas-burning half is an all-new, twin-turbo, 75 degree 3.5-liter V6 with direct and port injection and dry-sump lubrication to allow a nice low center of gravity and high-G cornering.

Power goes through a nine-speed dual-clutch transmission to Acura's most advanced application of Sport Hybrid SH-AWD with dynamic torque vectoring. The hybrid half of the

drive-train is comprised of three electric motors: A twin-motor unit (TMU) driving the front axle, and a rear motor within the transmission that acts directly on the crankshaft for immediate power boost to the rear wheels. Acura says the double-wishbone, double lower control arm front suspension isolates the torque of the front axle motors from the steering system, "providing timeless sports car steering communication." Notably, the new NSX's aero package doesn't involve any active elements, though the cooling requirements of the 3.5-liter V6 and the electric motors necessitated 10 radiators in total.

Acura's keeping mum on the power output of the new NSX, though previous conversations hinted at a total gasoline-plus-electric output "north of 550 hp." We still speculate that Acura's decision to switch from a transverse engine layout to a longitudinal setup, which happened rather late in the car's development, hints at the possibility of a bigger engine down the line, but that's just pure guessing on our part. Expect the new NSX to price in the mid-$150,000 range, with production starting in the fall.

Click The pic to check Album

Source: RoadandTrack.com

The Suzuki Crosscage Concept MotorBike

2015-04-24T07:00:00.000+05:30

Suzuki Crosscage Concept

The Suzuki Crosscage fuel celled motorcycle is a hydrogen powered prototype that exists now. Suzuki is putting the Crosscage through road testing with the goal of commercialization in less than 5 years. This joint venture of Suzuki and Intelligent Energy is really going to define Style with Clean fuel.

Here’s one of the more radical concept motorcycles we've seen in a while – Suzuki’s Crosscage concept is a fuel-cell powered electric bike with single-sided suspension front AND rear. The brush-less electric motor’s mounted inline with the rear wheel, and looks-wise it’s so far out there that it’s on its way back again. Seems like Bridgestone’s even developed a special futuristic-looking tyre to match the bike’s oddly tesselated discs.

We've just seen the amazing Suzuki Crosscage concept at the Tokyo Motor Show, where our heads are still spinning from all the ground-breaking technology on show.

There’s no press release for the Crosscage concept yet, but we do know it runs on hydrogen – most likely in compressed gas form, so it should be a zero-emissions vehicle if you don't count the coal burned to electrolyse the hydrogen to fill it.

It’s got mono-shocks at both ends – which looks absolutely fantastic – and a unique cross-cage frame that highlights the fact that as new engine technologies evolve, we’re going to see the shape of the motorcycle change significantly. I’d love to know how it handles! Initial photos of the dash would indicate that it’s not a performance machine, with 100kmh being the biggest number shown on the speedometer – but it’s certainly one hell of an eye-catcher.

You can check all the photos of this bike here in this album.

Source: Gizmag.com

Chevy's Robo-Car Concept is Switchblade on wheels

2015-04-23T10:01:00.000+05:30

The Chevrolet-FNR is unlike any self-driven car or concept we've ever seen.

GENERAL MOTORS HAS a vision of motoring in 2030, when autonomous cars free us from the tyranny of the commute, and it’s … interesting.

Terrifying and exhilarating, it seems built for a dystopian future somewhere between Tron and Blade Runner, with the hands from Edward Scissorhandsthrown in. Cars aren’t comfy cocoons, they’re knives on wheels. And while GM isn’t a company most associated with innovation or autonomous vehicles, it’s been exploring the technology since at least 2007, when it started working with Carnegie Mellon and competed in a DARPA self-driving car challenge.

The Chevrolet-FNR is unlike any self-driving car or concept we’ve seen so far. Audi focuses its concepts on the near future, what cars might look like in five years, when some autonomous features are available. Google’s got a prototype with no steering wheel or pedals, but it’s a long ways from cool. Unveiled at the Shanghai auto show, the FNR (for Find New Roads, Chevy’s slogan) has a lot in common with theMercedes-Benz self-driving concept we saw earlier this year. Both are aimed at the year 2030. They run on electricity and have interiors plastered with touch and gesture-controlled screens, basic requirements for any futuristic concept car.

Each has front seats that rotate to face the rear passengers, a smart nod to one of the biggest changes autonomous cars will deliver: The irrelevance of longstanding norms like forward-facing seats, mirrors, pedals, and steering wheels.

But while the German concept’s curves make it reminiscent of a bar of soap, the American newcomer is all sharp lines, as if it were assembled from switchblades. The interior is reminiscent of the alien spacecraft in Independence Day. The doors are similarly out of this world, a mashup of gullwing and suicide styles Chevy calls “dragonfly dual swing doors.”

Chevy mentions some pretty swank tech, including iris recognition instead of a key, crystal laser lights, and “magnetic hubless wheel electric motors,” whatever those are. The “motorized webbed seats” would read passengers’ heart rate and blood pressure, and tweak the temperature, lighting, and music accordingly, Fortune reports. The ability to “map out the best route to the driver’s preferred destination” sounds like pretty standard navigation, and the roof-mounted radar system explains how the FNR sees and navigates the outside world.

Chevy promises passengers can still drive if they want to, through gesture control. How that would work is an open question, but allowing person behind the wheel to take control is SOP for every robo-car currently being built, proposed, or imagined by an automaker. This is as much about assuaging your concern about being rendered irrelevant as it is about the automakers’ concern that they’ll be rendered irrelevant when cars drive themselves.

General Motors takes the “you can take over anytime” idea one step further, according to Fortune, promising that, “for drivers who like an edgier performance experience, the FNR will be able to tighten its suspension and execute tight turns while hitting high but legal speeds.”

That seems strange. You’d think that in a world where cars drive themselves, they’d all act the same way—safely and efficiently, not for the excitement of the passengers. It’s not a roller coaster, it’s transportation. But coming from Chevy, this makes sense, says David Carlisle, chairman of the board of auto industry consultancy Carlisle & Company.

Chevy has some performance cred—it is the company that gave us the Corvette and Camaro, after all—and that’s not a market it’s ready to abandon. Nor should it, Carlisle says. “Let [the performance market] vaporize rather than walk away from it. It’s gonna be a leverage-able segment for the foreseeable future.” There’s also the fact that this is a concept, so GM can say whatever it wants (and promise whatever technology it wants), regardless of whether it can ever happen.

That’s what concept cars are all about. They aren’t necessarily vehicles you expect to see, but a canvas for things you’d like to see. They’re like a lame duck president’s budget proposal, daring ideas with little basis in reality.

As many benefits as self-driving cars promise—a dramatic drop in deadly crashes chief among them—they threaten to kill what’s fun about driving, and make all cars feel the same. It doesn’t outweigh the lives that could be saved, but it’s sad nonetheless.

And for that reason, we’re glad to see this bonkers idea from Chevy: It may not be pretty, but it keeps things interesting.

Source: Wired.com

Deep Learning

2013-08-18T08:43:00.003+05:30

Deep Learning

When Ray Kurzweil met with Google CEO Larry Page last July, he wasn’t looking for a job. A respected inventor who’s become a machine-intelligence futurist, Kurzweil wanted to discuss his upcoming book How to Create a Mind. He told Page, who had read an early draft, that he wanted to start a company to develop his ideas about how to build a truly intelligent computer: one that could understand language and then make inferences and decisions on its own.

It quickly became obvious that such an effort would require nothing less than Google-scale data and computing power. “I could try to give you some access to it,” Page told Kurzweil. “But it’s going to be very difficult to do that for an independent company.” So Page suggested that Kurzweil, who had never held a job anywhere but his own companies, join Google instead. It didn’t take Kurzweil long to make up his mind: in January he started working for Google as a director of engineering. “This is the culmination of literally 50 years of my focus on artificial intelligence,” he says.

Kurzweil was attracted not just by Google’s computing resources but also by the startling progress the company has made in a branch of AI called deep learning. Deep-learning software attempts to mimic the activity in layers of neurons in the neocortex, the wrinkly 80 percent of the brain where thinking occurs. The software learns, in a very real sense, to recognize patterns in digital representations of sounds, images, and other data.

The basic idea—that software can simulate the neocortex’s large array of neurons in an artificial “neural network”—is decades old, and it has led to as many disappointments as breakthroughs. But because of improvements in mathematical formulas and increasingly powerful computers, computer scientists can now model many more layers of virtual neurons than ever before.

With this greater depth, they are producing remarkable advances in speech and image recognition. Last June, a Google deep-learning system that had been shown 10 million images from YouTube videos proved almost twice as good as any previous image recognition effort at identifying objects such as cats. Google also used the technology to cut the error rate on speech recognition in its latest Android mobile software. In October, Microsoft chief research officer Rick Rashid wowed attendees at a lecture in China with a demonstration of speech software that transcribed his spoken words into English text with an error rate of 7 percent, translated them into Chinese-language text, and then simulated his own voice uttering them in Mandarin. That same month, a team of three graduate students and two professors won a contest held by Merck to identify molecules that could lead to new drugs. The group used deep learning to zero in on the molecules most likely to bind to their targets.

Google in particular has become a magnet for deep learning and related AI talent. In March the company bought a startup cofounded by Geoffrey Hinton, a University of Toronto computer science professor who was part of the team that won the Merck contest. Hinton, who will split his time between the university and Google, says he plans to “take ideas out of this field and apply them to real problems” such as image recognition, search, and natural-language understanding, he says.

All this has normally cautious AI researchers hopeful that intelligent machines may finally escape the pages of science fiction. Indeed, machine intelligence is starting to transform everything from communications and computing to medicine, manufacturing, and transportation. The possibilities are apparent in IBM’s Jeopardy!-winning Watson computer, which uses some deep-learning techniques and is now being trained to help doctors make better decisions. Microsoft has deployed deep learning in its Windows Phone and Bing voice search.

Extending deep learning into applications beyond speech and image recognition will require more conceptual and software breakthroughs, not to mention many more advances in processing power. And we probably won’t see machines we all agree can think for themselves for years, perhaps decades—if ever. But for now, says Peter Lee, head of Microsoft Research USA, “deep learning has reignited some of the grand challenges in artificial intelligence.”

Building a Brain

There have been many competing approaches to those challenges. One has been to feed computers with information and rules about the world, which required programmers to laboriously write software that is familiar with the attributes of, say, an edge or a sound. That took lots of time and still left the systems unable to deal with ambiguous data; they were limited to narrow, controlled applications such as phone menu systems that ask you to make queries by saying specific words.

Neural networks, developed in the 1950s not long after the dawn of AI research, looked promising because they attempted to simulate the way the brain worked, though in greatly simplified form. A program maps out a set of virtual neurons and then assigns random numerical values, or “weights,” to connections between them. These weights determine how each simulated neuron responds—with a mathematical output between 0 and 1—to a digitized feature such as an edge or a shade of blue in an image, or a particular energy level at one frequency in a phoneme, the individual unit of sound in spoken syllables.

Some of today’s artificial neural networks can train themselves to recognize complex patterns.

Programmers would train a neural network to detect an object or phoneme by blitzing the network with digitized versions of images containing those objects or sound waves containing those phonemes. If the network didn’t accurately recognize a particular pattern, an algorithm would adjust the weights. The eventual goal of this training was to get the network to consistently recognize the patterns in speech or sets of images that we humans know as, say, the phoneme “d” or the image of a dog. This is much the same way a child learns what a dog is by noticing the details of head shape, behavior, and the like in furry, barking animals that other people call dogs.

But early neural networks could simulate only a very limited number of neurons at once, so they could not recognize patterns of great complexity. They languished through the 1970s.

WHY IT MATTERS

Computers would assist humans far more effectively if they could reliably recognize patterns and make inferences about the world.

Breakthrough
A method of artificial intelligence that could be generalizable to many kinds of applications.

Key Players
• Google
• Microsoft
• IBM
• Geoffrey Hinton, University of Toronto

Source: MIT Technology Review - Deep Learning

Smart Watches

2013-08-17T09:52:00.002+05:30

Pebble Smart Watches

Eric Migicovsky didn’t really want a “wearable computer.” When he first conceived of what would become the Pebble smart watch five years ago, as an industrial-design student at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, he just wanted a way to use his smartphone without crashing his bicycle. “I thought of creating a watch that could grab information from my phone,” the 26-year-old Canadian says. “I ended up building a prototype in my dorm room.”

Now Migicovsky is shipping 85,000 Pebble watches to eager customers who don’t want to lug a glass slab out of their pocket just to check their e-mail or the weather forecast. Pebble uses Bluetooth to connect wirelessly to an iPhone or Android phone and displays notifications, messages, and other simple data of the user’s choosing on its small black-and-white LCD screen. In April 2012, using the online fund-raising platform Kickstarter, Migicovsky asked for $100,000 to help bring Pebble to market. Five weeks later, he had more than $10 million—making his the highest-grossing Kickstarter campaign yet. Suddenly smart watches are a real product category: Sony entered the market last year,Samsung is about to, and Apple seems likely to follow.

Although the $150 Pebble watch can be used to control a music playlist or run simple apps like RunKeeper, a cloud-based fitness tracker, Migicovsky and his team purposely designed the watch to do as little as possible, leaving more complicated apps for phones. This emphasis on making the watch “glanceable” informed nearly every aspect of the design. The black-and-white screen, for example, can be read in direct sunlight and displays content persistently without needing to “sleep” to conserve battery power, as color or touch-screen displays do.

These watches are coming to market a few months before Google Glass, which is another attempt to solve the problem Pebble addresses—namely, that “interacting with our phones has a certain overhead that doesn’t need to be there,” says Mark Rolston, chief creative officer of Frog Design. But Google Glass will try to replace the smartphone altogether by combining a computer and monitor into eyeglass frames so that wearers can “augment” their view of the world with data. That lines up with predictions about the advent of wearable computing, but it’s easy to see Pebble’s idea being much more popular. By making use of a watch—a classic accessory—Pebble is trying to fit in to long-standing social norms rather than create new ones.

Why It Matters

Even as computing gets more sophisticated, people want simple and easy-to-use interfaces.

Breakthrough
Watches that pull selected data from mobile phones so their wearers can absorb information with a mere glance.

Key Players
• Pebble
• Sony
• Motorola
• MetaWatch

Ultra-Efficient Solar Power

2013-08-10T11:35:00.000+05:30

Harry Atwater thinks his lab can make an affordable device that produces more than twice the solar power generated by today’s panels. The feat is possible, says the Caltech professor of materials science and applied physics, because of recent advances in the ability to manipulate light at a very small scale.

Solar panels on the market today consist of cells made from a single semiconducting material, usually silicon. Since the material absorbs only a narrow band of the solar spectrum, much of sunlight’s energy is lost as heat: these panels typically convert less than 20 percent of that energy into electricity. But the device that Atwater and his colleagues have in mind would have an efficiency of at least 50 percent. It would use a design that efficiently splits sunlight, as a prism does, into six to eight component wavelengths—each one of which produces a different color of light. Each color would then be dispersed to a cell made of a semiconductor that can absorb it.

Atwater’s team is working on three designs. In one (see illustration), for which the group has made a prototype, sunlight is collected by a reflective metal trough and directed at a specific angle into a structure made of a transparent insulating material. Coating the outside of the transparent structure are multiple solar cells, each made from one of six to eight different semiconductors. Once light enters the material, it encounters a series of thin optical filters. Each one allows a single color to pass through to illuminate a cell that can absorb it; the remaining colors are reflected toward other filters designed to let them through.

Solar Power Grid

Another design would employ nanoscale optical filters that could filter light coming from all angles. And a third would use a hologram instead of filters to split the spectrum. While the designs are different, the basic idea is the same: combine conventionally designed cells with optical techniques to efficiently harness sunlight’s broad spectrum and waste much less of its energy.

It’s not yet clear which design will offer the best performance, says Atwater. But the devices envisioned would be less complex than many electronics on the market today, he says, which makes him confident that once a compelling prototype is fabricated and optimized, it could be commercialized in a practical way.

Achieving ultrahigh efficiency in solar designs should be a primary goal of the industry, argues Atwater, since it’s now “the best lever we have” for reducing the cost of solar power. That’s because prices for solar panels have plummeted over the past few years, so continuing to focus on making them less expensive would have little impact on the overall cost of a solar power system; expenses related to things like wiring, land, permitting, and labor now make up the vast majority of that cost. Making modules more efficient would mean that fewer panels would be needed to produce the same amount of power, so the costs of hardware and installation could be greatly reduced. “Within a few years,” Atwater says, “there won’t be any point to working on technology that has efficiency that’s less than 20 percent.”

Why It Matters

Higher efficiency would make solar power more competitive with fossil fuels.

Breakthrough
Managing light to harness more of sunlight’s energy.

Key Players
• Harry Atwater, Caltech
• Albert Polman, AMOLF
• Eli Yablonovitch,
University of
California, Berkeley
• Dow Chemical

Memory Implants

2013-08-03T11:57:00.000+05:30

Theodore Berger, a biomedical engineer and neuroscientist at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, envisions a day in the not too distant future when a patient with severe memory loss can get help from an electronic implant. In people whose brains have suffered damage from Alzheimer’s, stroke, or injury, disrupted neuronal networks often prevent long-term memories from forming. For more than two decades, Berger has designed silicon chips to mimic the signal processing that those neurons do when they’re functioning properly—the work that allows us to recall experiences and knowledge for more than a minute. Ultimately, Berger wants to restore the ability to create long-term memories by implanting chips like these in the brain.

The idea is so audacious and so far outside the mainstream of neuroscience that many of his colleagues, says Berger, think of him as being just this side of crazy. “They told me I was nuts a long time ago,” he says with a laugh, sitting in a conference room that abuts one of his labs. But given the success of recent experiments carried out by his group and several close collaborators, Berger is shedding the loony label and increasingly taking on the role of a visionary pioneer.

Berger and his research partners have yet to conduct human tests of their neural prostheses, but their experiments show how a silicon chip externally connected to rat and monkey brains by electrodes can process information just like actual neurons. “We’re not putting individual memories back into the brain,” he says. “We’re putting in the capacity to generate memories.” In an impressive experiment published last fall, Berger and his coworkers demonstrated that they could also help monkeys retrieve long-term memories from a part of the brain that stores them.

If a memory implant sounds farfetched, Berger points to other recent successes in neuroprosthetics. Cochlear implants now help more than 200,000 deaf people hear by converting sound into electrical signals and sending them to the auditory nerve. Meanwhile, early experiments have shown that implanted electrodes can allow paralyzed people to move robotic arms with their thoughts. Other researchers have had preliminary success with artificial retinas in blind people.

Still, restoring a form of cognition in the brain is far more difficult than any of those achievements. Berger has spent much of the past 35 years trying to understand fundamental questions about the behavior of neurons in the hippocampus, a part of the brain known to be involved in forming memory. “It’s very clear,” he says. “The hippocampus makes short-term memories into long-term memories.”
What has been anything but clear is how the hippocampus accomplishes this complicated feat. Berger has developed mathematical theorems that describe how electrical signals move through the neurons of the hippocampus to form a long-term memory, and he has proved that his equations match reality. “You don’t have to do everything the brain does, but can you mimic at least some of the things the real brain does?” he asks. “Can you model it and put it into a device? Can you get that device to work in any brain? It’s those three things that lead people to think I’m crazy. They just think it’s too hard.”

Cracking the Code

Berger often speaks in sentences that stretch to paragraph length and have many asides, footnotes, and complete diversions from the point. I ask him to define memory. “It’s a series of electrical pulses over time that are generated by a given number of neurons,” he says. “That’s important because you can reduce it to this and put it back into a framework. Not only can you understand it in terms of the biological events that happened; that means that you can poke it, you can deal with it, you can put an electrode in there, and you can record something that matches your definition of a memory. You can find the 2,147 neurons that are part of this memory. And what do they generate? They generate this series of pulses. It’s not bizarre. It’s something you can handle. It’s useful. It’s what happens.”
This is the conventional view of memory, but it only scratches the surface. And to Berger’s perpetual frustration, many colleagues who probe this mysterious realm of the brain haven’t attempted to go much deeper. Neuroscientists track electrical signals in the brain by monitoring action potentials, microvolt changes on the surfaces of neurons. But all too often, says Berger, their reports oversimplify what’s actually taking place. “They find an important event in the environment and count action potentials,” he says. “They say, ‘It went up from 1 to 200 after I did something. I’m finding something interesting.’ What are you finding? ‘Activity went up.’ But what are you finding? ‘Activity went up.’ So what? Is it coding something? Is it representing something that the next neuron cares about? Does it make the next neuron do something different? That’s what we’re supposed to be doing: explaining things, not just describing things.”

If one neuron fires at a specific time and place, what exactly do the neighboring neurons do in response?

Berger takes a marker and fills a whiteboard from top to bottom with a line of circles that represent neurons. Next to each one, he draws a horizontal line that has a different pattern of blips on it. “This is you in my brain,” he says. “My hippocampus has already formed a long-term memory of you. I’ll remember you into next week. But how can I distinguish you from the next person? Let’s say there are 500,000 cells in the hippocampus that represent you, and there are all sorts of things that each cell is coding—like how your nose is relative to your eyebrow—and they code that with different patterns. So the reality of the nervous system is really complicated, which is why we’re still asking such basic, limited questions about it.”

Theodore Berger has spent his career trying to understand how neurons form memories.

In graduate school at Harvard, Berger’s mentor was Richard Thompson, who studied localized, learning-induced changes in the brain. Thompson used a tone and a puff of air to condition rabbits to blink their eyes, aiming to determine where the memory he induced was stored. The idea was to find a specific place in the brain where the learning was localized, says Berger: “If the animal did learn and you removed it, the animal couldn’t remember.”

Thompson, with Berger’s help, managed to do just that; they published the results in 1976. To find the site in the rabbits, they equipped the animals’ brains with electrodes that could monitor the activity of a neuron. Neurons have gates on their membranes, which let electrically charged particles like sodium and potassium in and out. Thompson and Berger documented the electrical spikes seen in the hippocampus as rabbits developed a memory. Both the spikes’ amplitude (representing the action potential) and their spacing formed patterns. It can’t be an accident, Berger thought, that cells fire in a way that forms patterns with respect to time.

This led him to a central question that underlies his current work: as cells receive and send electrical signals, what pattern describes the quantitative relationship between the input and the output? That is, if one neuron fires at a specific time and place, what exactly do the neighboring neurons do in response? The answer could reveal the code that neurons use to form a long-term memory.

But it soon became clear that the answer was extremely complex. In the late 1980s, Berger, working at the University of Pittsburgh with Robert Sclabassi, became fascinated by a property of the neuronal network in the hippocampus. When they stimulated the hippocampus of a rabbit with electrical pulses (the input) and charted how signals moved through different populations of neurons (the output), the relationship they observed between the two wasn’t linear. “Let’s say you put in 1 and get 2,” says Berger. “That’s pretty easy. It’s a linear relation.” It turns out, however, that there’s “essentially no condition in the brain where you get linear activity, a linear summation,” he says. “It’s always nonlinear.” Signals overlap, with some suppressing an incoming pulse and some accentuating it.

By the early 1990s, his understanding—and computing hardware—had advanced to the point that he could work with his colleagues at the University of Southern California’s department of engineering to make computer chips that mimic the signal processing done in parts of the hippocampus. “It became obvious that if I could get this stuff to work in large numbers in hardware, you’ve got part of the brain,” he says. “Why not hook up to what’s existing in the brain? So I started thinking seriously about prosthetics long before anybody even considered it.”

A Brain Implant

Berger began working with Vasilis Marmarelis, a biomedical engineer at USC, to begin making a brain prosthesis (see “Regaining Lost Brain Function”). They first worked with hippocampal slices from rats. Knowing that neuronal signals move from one end of the hippocampus to the other, the researchers sent random pulses into the hippocampus, recorded the signals at various locales to see how they were transformed, and then derived mathematical equations describing the transformations. They implemented those equations in computer chips.

Next, to assess whether such a chip could serve as a prosthesis for a damage hippocampal region, the researchers investigated whether they could bypass a central component of the pathway in the brain slices. Electrodes placed in the region carried electrical pulses to an external chip, which performed the transformations normally done in the hippocampus. Other electrodes delivered the signals back to the slice of brain.

“I never thought I’d see this go into humans, and now our discussions are about when and how. I never thought I’d live to see the day.”

Then the researchers took a leap forward by trying this in live rats, showing that a computer could in fact serve as an artificial component of the hippocampus. They began by training the animals to push one of two levers to receive a treat, recording the series of pulses in the hippocampus as they chose the correct one. Using those data, Berger and his team modeled the way the signals were transformed as the lesson was converted into a long-term memory, and they captured the code believed to represent the memory itself. They proved that their device could generate this long-term memory code from input signals recorded in rats’ brains while they learned the task. Then they gave the rats a drug that interfered with their ability to form long-term memories, causing them to forget which lever produced the treat. When the researchers pulsed the drugged rats’ brains with the code, the animals were again able to choose the right lever.

Last year, the scientists published primate experiments involving the prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain that retrieves the long-term memories created by the hippocampus. They placed electrodes in the monkey brains to capture the code formed in the prefrontal cortex that they believed allowed the animals to remember an image they had been shown earlier. Then they drugged the monkeys with cocaine, which impairs that part of the brain. Using the implanted electrodes to send the correct code to the monkeys’ prefrontal cortex, the researchers significantly improved the animal’s performance on the image-identification task.

Within the next two years, Berger and his colleagues hope to implant an actual memory prosthesis in animals. They also want to show that their hippocampal chips can form long-term memories in many different behavioral situations. These chips, after all, rely on mathematical equations derived from the researchers’ own experiments. It could be that the researchers were simply figuring out the codes associated with those specific tasks. What if these codes are not generalizable, and different inputs are processed in various ways? In other words, it is possible that they haven’t cracked the code but have merely deciphered a few simple messages.

Berger allows that this may well be the case, and his chips may form long-term memories in only a limited number of situations. But he notes that the morphology and biophysics of the brain constrain what it can do: in practice, there are only so many ways that electrical signals in the hippocampus can be transformed. “I do think we’re going to find a model that’s pretty good for a lot of conditions and maybe most conditions,” he says. “The goal is to improve the quality of life for somebody who has a severe memory deficit. If I can give them the ability to form new long-term memories for half the conditions that most people live in, I’ll be happy as hell, and so will be most patients.”

Despite the uncertainties, Berger and his colleagues are planning human studies. He is collaborating with clinicians at his university who are testing the use of electrodes implanted on each side of the hippocampus to detect and prevent seizures in patients with severe epilepsy. If the project moves forward as envisioned, Berger’s group will piggyback on the trial to look for memory codes in those patients’ brains.

“I never thought I’d see this go into humans, and now our discussions are about when and how,” he says. “I never thought I’d live to see the day, but now I think I will.”

WHY IT MATTERS

Brain damage can cause people to lose the ability to form long-term memories.

Breakthrough
Animal experiments show it is possible to correct for memory problems with implanted electrodes.

Key Players
• Theodore Berger, USC
• Sam Deadwyler, Wake Forest
• Greg Gerhardt,
University of Kentucky
• DARPA

Asymmetry in nature: The story of our existence

2012-08-03T10:37:00.000+05:30

We have seen symmetry everywhere around us. We say everything that is good has something bad too. If we approach this symmetry from Physics point of view, there are electrons and opposing them are protons, then there are neutral particles called neutrons. These three particles are responsible for everything around us, everything we call matter.
But as I have learned, matter and anti-matter is always created together. And keeping the symmetry, matter and anti-matter must have been in equal amounts . We see matter, so where is this anti-matter?
Well of-course the answer lies in the universe outside our earth. As we have seen from Hubble telescope, all the galaxies around us are moving away from us. That means that our universe is expanding. This conclusion gave birth to a new theory, the only one that explains the violent start of the universe and its expansion. And according to this theory, everything must have been at the same place, all galaxies and stars collected together between some 10-15 billion years ago.

Do you remember Einstein's mass-energy equation, E = mc². That equation is a fact, and another fact is that the matter and anti-matter were created together. These two facts taken together implies that ten-billionths of a second just after the Bing bang, the entire Universe would have fitted into a single room, where energy and matter were completely exchangeable - temperature, billions of billions of billions degrees. New particles and anti-particles were created all the time and annihilated back into energy.

So where did these antiparticles go? There should have been equal amounts of matter and anti-matter. But somehow, scientists could not understand why, a small surplus of matter appeared; for every billion anti-matter particles, there were a billion plus one matter particles. Nature created very little asymmetry, which gave birth to all of the universe. This asymmetry gave a kick to the Universe which tipped to the 'matter side'. And as matter increased, within a second the whole of the anti-matter part of Universe was destroyed to nothing. While expanding the temperature continuously dropped till it reached a point where no more particles and anti-particles can be created and all that left was a little amount of matter, which we see as our Universe.

Does that mean, we owe our existence to a little asymmetry between matter and anti-matter? Yes, without that asymmetry, there would have been no universe, no earth, no humans. Universe would have been nothing but light in an empty space.

Ford Classic in India

2012-07-28T20:40:00.003+05:30

Ford India has launched the new Ford Classic Titanium version of the Ford Classic sedan car (earlier was known as Fiesta Classic) . The unique feature of this model is up to 34.38 km/L mileage (diesel) which is leaps higher than what other diesel sedan cars offer .

Ford Classic Petrol

Ford Classic 1.6 Duratec LXi
Ford Classic 1.6 Duratec CLXi
Ford Classic 1.6 Duratec Titanium

Ford Classic Diesel

Ford Classic 1.4 TDCi LXi
Ford Classic 1.4 TDCi CLXi
Ford Classic 1.4 TDCi Titanium

specifications :

Physical specs

Dimensions : 4282x1686x1468 mm
Wheel Base : 2486 mm
Ground clearance : 168 mm
Kerb weight : 1150 kg
Turning radius : 4.90 m
Fuel Tank Capacity : 45 L
Boot space : 430 L

Engine

Diesel Engine

Type : 4 Cyl. In-Line, 8-V SOHC
Construction : Aluminium Alloy
Fuel system : Advanced Common Rail
Displacement : 1399 cc
Compression Ratio : 18:1
Max. power : 68 ps @ 4000 RPM
Max. torque : 160 Nm @ 2000 RPM

Petrol Engine

Type : 4 Cyl. In-Line, 16-V DOHC
Construction : Aluminium Alloy
Fuel system : SEFI
Displacement : 1596 cc
Compression Ratio : 9.75:1
Max. power : 101 ps @ 6500 RPM
Max. torque : 146 Nm @ 3400 RPM

Suspension

Front : Independent McPherson struts with offset coil spring
Rear : Semi-independent heavy duty twist-beam with twin tube dampers
Shock absorbers : Gas Filled

Brakes

Front : Ventilated Discs
Rear : Self Adjusting Drums

Tyres

Tyres : 175/65 R14
Wheel Size : 14-inch Alloy (in Titanium version only)

Ford Classic Price in India

Ford Classic Petrol Price in Delhi

Ford Classic 1.6 Duratec LXi – Rs.5,27,000
Ford Classic 1.6 Duratec CLXi – Rs.5,49,000
Ford Classic 1.6 Duratec Titanium – Rs.6,86,500
Ford Classic 1.6 Duratec SXi – Rs.7,29,000

Ford Classic Diesel Price in Delhi

Ford Classic 1.4 TDCi LXi – Rs.6,57,000
Ford Classic 1.4 TDCi CLXi – Rs.6,98,000
Ford Classic 1.4 TDCi Titanium – Rs.7,82,900
Ford Classic 1.4 TDCi SXi – Rs.8,19,000

Audi R8 2013

2012-07-26T20:30:00.000+05:30

Audi has made its R8 high-performance sports car even more attractive and dynamic. The Audi R8 V10 plus is a new top model in the model series, with a totally new 7-speed S tronic. The LED headlights and the new rear indicator lights with dynamicized display are standard equipment on all variants.

4.44 meters (14.44 ft) long, 1.90 meters (6.23 ft) wide and only 1.25 (4.10 ft) meters high (Spyder: 1.24 meters (4.07 ft)) - the broad Audi R8, developed and built by quattro GmbH, stands firmly on the road, ready to pounce. New details lend its design even more acuity. The single-frame grille with the beveled upper corners is painted high-gloss black, with horizontal chrome inserts adorning the struts on the V10 variants. The bumper is also new, with the air inlets bearing three crossbars each. As an option, Audi installs a front splitter made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP). The splitter is standard on the new Audi R8 V10 plus.

LED headlights with a new technology are now standard on all variants of the Audi R8. The light-emitting diodes for the high and low beams have been placed above and below the strip-shaped daytime running lights, which are specially actuated to serve as indicators. In addition, static turning lights are integrated in the headlights.

The housings of the outside mirrors and the side blades, the lateral air inlets on the Coupé, are made from CFRP on the new Audi R8 V10 plus top model. In the 10-cylinder variants the blades extend outwards farther than on the V8 and have special edging; small marks of distinction also occur at the sills. The vent louvers next to the rear window have an aluminum look on the Audi R8 V10 Coupé (matt black on the R8 V8 Coupé and R8 V10 plus). As an option, LEDs illuminate the engine compartment; in the Audi R8 V10 plus this illumination as well as a partial CFRP lining for the engine compartment are standard.

The LED lights dominate the rear of the Audi R8. One innovation from Audi is the indicator light with dynamic display at the bottom edge of the lamp - its light always proceeds towards the outside, in the direction the driver wishes to turn. Above the high-gloss black area between the vent openings sits the new badge - the letter "R" resting partly on a red diamond, the Audi Sport signature. The large diffusor, optionally CFRP (standard on the R8 V10 plus), has been pulled far upwards. In all engine versions the exhaust system terminates in two round, glossy tailpipe trim sections, painted black on the Audi R8 V10 plus.

Audi offers the R8 in the two solid colors Ibis White and Brilliant Red, in four metallic shades and with five pearl effect / crystal effect coatings. For the Audi R8 V10 plus a matt effect color is available as an exclusive feature. The side blades on the Coupé come in eight colors, while the soft top of the R8 Spyder comes in black, red or brown.

The R8 embodies Audi's full expertise in ultra-lightweight design. The aluminum body with the Audi Space Frame (ASF) weighs only 210 kilograms (462.97 lb) on the Coupé, and 216 kilograms (476.20 lb) on the Spyder. The unladen Audi R8 V8 Coupé with manual transmission registers just 1,560 kilograms (3439.21 lb) on the scales, while the open-top sports car weighs 1,660 kilograms (3659.67 lb). The Audi R8 V10 plus, available only as a coupé, brings the needle to 1,570 kilograms (3461.26 lb). Adjustable bucket seats with glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) chassis, less use of insulating materials, special light alloy wheels and chassis components, including the standard ceramic brakes, as well the CFRP add-on parts at the body all contribute to lowering the weight.

On the Audi R8 Spyder the lid on the soft top compartment and the side parts are also CFRP. The elegant, lightweight fabric top, with its largely aluminum and magnesium linkage, is the crowning touch to the ultra-lightweight design. The top opens and closes electrohydraulically in 19 seconds, and during driving at up to 50 km/h (31.07 mph). The heated window pane in the bulkhead between the passenger and engine compartments stands apart from the soft top; the window can be retracted and extended by a switch and also serves as a wind deflector. In case of a pending rollover, two strong, spring-tensioned sections shoot upwards from the seats.

As in car racing, the aerodynamics of the Audi R8 has been optimized for propulsion. The underfloor contains five NACA nozzles, along with two diffusors in the front section, which increase the propulsion at the front axle. The drag coefficient is 0.35 or 0.36 depending on the engine version and body shape; the frontal area measures 1.99 m2 (21.42 ft2).

The engines are assembled by hand. The V8 with 4,163 cc displacement and the V10 with its 5,204 cc displacement are captivating, naturally aspirated heavy-duty engines packed with power. The interplay with the new 7-speed S tronic has reduced CO2 emissions by up to 22 grams/km (35.41 g/mile) and decreased the sprint from zero to 100 km/h (62.14 mph) by three-tenths of a second. Both engines are compact and comparatively lightweight. The crankcase is an aluminum-silicon alloy; the bed plate structure provides high rigidity. The dry-sump lubrication allows low positioning of the engines; the pressure recirculation pump operates load-dependently, for increased efficiency.

The FSI direct fuel injection system allows a high compression of 12.5 : 1. Four adjustable camshafts control the valves. At low load and engine speed, flaps in the intake ducts bring about a precise, cylindrical rotation of the incoming air. The exhaust system is designed for low back pressure. The two tailpipes contain flaps; they open during sharp acceleration to produce a fuller sound.

The 4.2 FSI engine produces 316 kW (430 hp) at 7,900 rpm, with a torque of 430 Nm (317.15 lb-ft) between 4,500 and 6,000 rpm. The unit accelerates the Audi R8 Coupé with S tronic from rest to 100 km/h (62.14 mph) in 4.3 seconds and to a top speed of 300 km/h (186.41 mph) (with manual transmission: 4.6 seconds and 302 km/h (187.65 mph)). For the Audi R8 V8 Spyder the corresponding values are 4.5 and 4.8 seconds, respectively, and also 300 km/h (186.41 mph). On average the R8 V8 quattro as a coupé with S tronic consumes 12.4 liters of fuel per 100 km (18.97 US mpg).

The V10 engine provides a torque of 530 Nm (390.91 lb-ft) at 6,500 rpm, with 386 kW (525 hp) at 8,000 rpm. Its crankshaft is a common-pin design, yielding alternating ignition intervals of 54 and 90 degrees. This design combines maximum rigidity and low weight, while at the same time generating the unique car racing-like sound of the V10.

The Audi R8 V10 Coupé with S tronic accelerates from zero to 100 km/h (62.14 mph) in 3.6 seconds and reaches a top speed of 314 km/h (195.11 mph). With manual transmission the values are 3.9 seconds and 316 km/h (196.35 mph). The Audi R8 V10 Spyder with S tronic completes the standard sprint in 3.8 seconds and has a top speed of 311 km/h (193.25 mph) (with manual transmission: 4.1 seconds and 313 km/h (194.49 mph)). The average consumption rate of the Audi R8 V10 Coupé with S tronic lies at 13.1 liters of fuel per 100 km (17.96 US mpg).

The new top model of the model series is the Audi R8 V10 plus. Developing 404 kW (550 hp), its maximum torque is 540 Nm (398.28 lb-ft) at 6,500 rpm. With S tronic, the Audi R8 V10 plus, available only as a coupé, catapults from zero to 100 km/h (62.14 mph) in 3.5 seconds and achieves a top speed of 317 km/h (196.97 mph); the average fuel consumption rate is 12.9 liters per 100 km (18.23 US mpg). The key data with manual transmission are 3.8 seconds, 319 km/h (198.22 mph) and 14.9 liters (15.79 US mpg).

Two power transmission systems are available for the overhauled Audi R8. The manual 6-speed transmission, with its lever leading into an open stainless steel gate, is standard on the V8 and optional on the V10. The new 7-speed S tronic - optional on the V8 and standard on the V10 - spaces the gears closely in a sporty mode; the final drive position has a wide gear ratio. The dual clutch transmission can be shifted at the selector lever or at the steering wheel paddles; a sports mode is alternatively available. At the press of a button the launch control manages starting at an increased initial engine speed and with optimal tire slip.

The new 7-speed S tronic, with a three-shaft layout, is less than 60 centimeters (23.62 inches) in length. Two multi-plate clutches lying behind one another (a new feature), serve two mutually independent sub-transmissions; gears are shifted directly as the clutches alternately open and close. Gearshifting occurs practically without interruption of tractive power within hundredths of a second, and so dynamically, smoothly and comfortably as to be hardly noticeable.

From the 7-speed S tronic the propeller shaft runs through the crankcase of the engine to the front axle, where a viscous coupling distributes the torque. In normal operation the coupling directs about 15 per cent of the torque to the front axle; when the rear wheels start to spin, a maximum additional 15 per cent flows to the front. A mechanical locking differential operates at the rear axle. The rear-load distribution of the forces ideally harmonizes with the mid-engined concept of the Audi R8. The axle-load distribution is 43 : 57 (front : rear), with small differences between the individual variants.

The chassis of the high-performance sports car employs technologies from car racing. Double wishbones forged from aluminum guide all four wheels. On the R8 V10 plus the springs and shock absorbers have been specially tuned and the camber values at the front axle adapted accordingly. The Audi magnetic ride adaptive damping is standard on the Audi R8 V10 and optional for the V8 variants; it offers a normal mode and a sports mode. The power steering delivers finely differentiated, super-sensitive feedback, with sporty, direct gear ratios.

The overhauled R8 rolls along on large wheels. The V8 engine versions have the standard wheel dimensions of 8.5 J x 18 at the front and 10.5 J x 18 at the rear, with tire sizes 235/40 and 285/35. On the V10 versions Audi mounts 19-inch wheels of widths 8.5 and 11 inches; the tires come in the sizes 235/35 and 295/30 respectively. The optional wheels have especially attractive designs - polished to a high gloss, with a titanium look or (on the R8 V10 plus) in black gloss.

The steel brake disks of the high-performance sports car are internally ventilated, perforated and joined to the aluminum disk bowls by pins. The new "Wave" design of the disks - the wavy exterior contour - lowers the weight overall by about two kilograms (4.41 lb) compared with round disks of the same dimensions. The aluminum brake calipers operate at the front wheels with eight pistons each, and at the rear wheels with four pistons each. In combination with the 19-inch wheels, Audi can provide optional carbon fiber ceramic brake disks (standard on the Audi R8 V10 plus). The electronic stabilization control system ESC offers a sports mode and can also be fully deactivated.

The Audi R8 is a sports car with excellent practical skills. The front luggage compartment has a capacity of 100 liters (3.53 cubic ft); the Coupé accommodates an additional 90 liters (3.18 cubic ft) behind the seats. The long wheelbase of 2.65 meters (8.69 cubic ft) affords generous space. The interior conveys a car racing atmosphere on the luxury level; its dominant feature is the monoposto - the long arc curve running around the cockpit in the area of the driver. The flattened rim of the optional, more contoured R8 leather-covered multifunction sports steering wheel bears the new R8 badge, which also appears at the gearshift or selector lever, at the door sill trims, in the instrument cluster and on the start screen of the on-board monitor.

The electrically adjustable sports seats are optional on the V8 engine versions and standard on the V10 variants. Depending on the model variant, the seat upholstery is an Alcantara/leather combination or Fine Nappa; on the Audi R8 Spyder a special pigmentation reduces heating from direct sunlight. Audi also offers optional bucket seats with prominent side sections for better lateral support (standard on the R8 V10 plus).

Numerous control and trim elements shine with subdued chrome strips or with black paint; the needles in the instrument cluster and the shift paddles have been slightly modified. The center console and the handbrake lever are covered with leather, adorned by delicate seams; in the V10 models the molding around the standard navigation system plus is also leather-covered.

With the diamond-stitched, Fine Nappa full-leather equipment level, the seats and the door trim feature quilted upholstery; for the Audi R8 Coupé a quilted Alcantara headlining is also available. More individualistic customers can choose between leather items in different colors, inlays in Carbon Sigma (standard on the R8 V10 plus) and piano finish black. A wide range of design, styling and leather packages from the Audi exclusive customization line is also available.

The Audi R8 V10 and the R8 V10 plus come with the navigation system plus and the Bang & Olufsen Sound System as standard on-board features. Other options for all R8 variants include a high-beam assistant, a stowage package, various travel case sets, a cell phone preparation, with belt microphone and voice control, and the parking system plus with reversing camera.

The overhauled Audi R8 will roll off the line to European customers at the end of 2012.

The base price is EUR 113,500 for the V8 Coupé, and EUR 124,800 for the Spyder. The V10 variants are listed at EUR 154,600 and EUR 165,900 respectively, while the Audi R8 V10 plus costs EUR 173,200.

Source: http://www.netcarshow.com/

The Bodygaurd Glove

2012-07-24T17:36:00.000+05:30

It is equipped with a video camera and a stun gun to keep criminals at bay...

The Armor Sleeve Defuses confrontations and prevents potentially violent situations John B. Carnett

A robber is cornered in a dead-end alley. He turns to face the police officer pursuing him, ready to fight. He pauses. The officer’s left forearm is encased in ballistic nylon, and half a million volts arc menacingly between electrodes on his wrist. A green laser target lands on the robber’s chest. He puts his hands up; it’s a fight he can’t win.

For police and corrections officers, preventing and defusing confrontations can save lives, and that’s the premise behind the BodyGuard.

Equipped with a highvoltage stunner, video camera, laser pointer and flashlight, the armor sleeve is intended to prevent violent situations. The invention was designed by David Brown, a cameraman, editor and producer who makes a living filming musical acts such as Rage Against the Machine and Snoop Dogg, as well as behindthe-scenes movie footage for the actor Kevin Costner, a friend and BodyGuard investor.

Brown developed the concept for the device one evening in 2004, when he and some friends were discussing a recent mountain lion attack in a nearby Orange County park that had left one cyclist dead and another maimed. During an attack like that, Brown recalls thinking, even if you have a knife or other handheld weapon, you’re going to drop it. He wanted something that a person could deploy instinctually.

How It Works: Armored Glove: The breathable glove weighs less than three pounds and is encased by a hard shell that extends across the forearm. A pull pin preps the stunner (generated by four electrodes on the wrist), and a button at the palm activates it. Similar buttons trigger the laser pointer, video camera and flashlight. Blanddesigns.co.uk

As he refined the idea, he realized that his natural market was police forces, corrections departments and the military. He made a prototype in 48 hours from a medical arm brace, an off-theshelf stun gun and a fire-alarm button from Home Depot. When Costner saw that early version, he became an active partner. “I could see the application. I could see the deterrent. I could see how it could work,” he says, “and those are the things that get my engine going.”

Seven years and 30 prototypes later, Brown has his first demo model. The components are arranged for ease of use, comfort and to prevent users from stunning themselves. The green laser pointer helps aim a high-definition video camera because, Brown says, a suspect who knows he’s on camera is more likely to cooperate. If the camera doesn’t do the trick, the wrist mounted stunner might. It looks and sounds painful when electricity sizzles between its electrodes, which may encourage an attacker to back off. As a last resort, it may be used to briefly incapacitate a particularly stubborn suspect.

The BodyGuard debuted in May at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Mock Prison Riot, an annual training and technology-assessment event held at a decommissioned penitentiary in West Virginia. The first demo unit will be released to the Los Angeles sheriff’s department later this year. Brown says future incarnations could include chemical sensors, an electronic translator to help soldiers communicate overseas, or biometric readers for airport security guards. “BodyGuard will empower officers worldwide,” Brown says, “and it will save lives."

Name: The BodyGuard

Inventor: David Brown

Time: 7 years

Cost: Undisclosed

Source: Tech Gadgets

10 more cars exposed in Auto Expo '12

2012-01-07T00:20:00.000+05:30

Yesterday, I posted about 195 new cars at 11th Auto Expo 2012, Pragati Maidan, Delhi. But through the Day 10 more cars came into light and the count got up to 205 new cars.....

Force One SUV 4x4 Variant

Renault Duster

and Many more.....

Lets see what's more in store for us at 11th Auto Expo.

Source: Car Dekho

Total 195 news Available in 11th Auto Expo, 2012 @ Delhi

2012-01-06T02:02:00.002+05:30

The 11th Auto Expo held at Pragati Maidan, Delhi this year from 6th January holds new surprises for its visitors. Its showing 195 new cars from a variety of manufacturers. Some of them are DC Avanti, BMW M5, Tata Safari Storme, Renault DeZir and many more.

Have a Glimpse at some of the new appearances in 11th Auto expo...

Renault DeZir

DC Avanti

Tata Safari Storme

Jaguar LandRover Defender Concept 100 Sports

BMW M5

Audi A8 L Security

This auto expo is for invited or ticketed visitors only but the show is gonna be great.

Source: Car Dekho

A Better Mechanical Hand

2011-12-07T05:58:00.003+05:30

A prosthetic hand that’s as functional as an electronic model—but at a fraction of the cost...

In The Workshop One of the inspirations for Mark Stark’s [below] invention was an artificial hand designed for NASA. “It was a challenge,” he says. “I thought, ‘I can do better than that.’" John B. Carnett

Prosthetic hands typically come in three varieties: purely cosmetic models; hooks and other low-cost mechanical appendages that provide a limited range of motion; and electronic versions that better mimic natural hand movements yet can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Mark Stark’s prosthetic incorporates the best elements of each. Although its minimalist plastic assembly is nearly as light and inexpensive as a common steel hook, it looks and moves like a high-end electronic hand.

Stark, who makes his living designing valves for dryers and other appliances, got into prosthetics in part to help his friend, Dave Vogt, who was born without a left hand. Stark’s creation is electronics-free, but its fingers each have three knuckles (two on the thumb) that bend separately to conform to anything the wearer grasps, including irregularly shaped objects that a hook can’t hold.

Hooks attach to a socket at the end of an amputee’s arm and are operated by a cable that runs up to a shoulder harness. When the wearer shrugs his shoulders, the cable pulls the hook open; when he relaxes, the cable slackens and the hook closes. The Stark Hand screws into the same socket-and-cable system but adds a lever on the palm that connects to five more cables, each running up the back of a finger. A shoulder movement triggers the lever to tug all five fingers open at once, and the individual cables let each finger rebound on its own. Springs in each joint contract until each finger comes to rest on an object, so some fingertips can curl around, say, a wineglass stem while others grasp the cup. The springs exert a level of pressure gentle enough to hold an egg but strong enough that you can lift a chair.

How It Works: The Stark Hand: The prosthetic hand attaches to a cable that runs from a shoulder harness worn by an amputee. A lever on the palm opens all five fingers at once, and separate cables in each finger and springs at each knuckle allow the fingers to close individually and bend around objects with a secure grip. Blanddesigns.co.uk

In 2004, Stark constructed a proof-of-concept from hardware-store supplies and gave it to Vogt to try out. Within an hour, Vogt caught a ball left-handed for the first time in his life. Since then, he has helped Stark test and improve four more prototypes. Stark designed stronger, compact springs, re-engineered the fingers into a few easy-to-manufacture shapes, and set the thumb at a new angle to better replicate a real thumb. He also strengthened the joints in the hand against side impacts after Vogt broke a prosthetic knuckle when he hit something while swinging around on the dance floor.

Vogt now wears the hand everywhere except to his job as a machinist, where he has to do heavy lifting for which a hook still works better. A more durable production version, which will use tougher plastics and sleeker parts, could be on the way as early as this winter. Edison Nation, a company that helps inventors develop their ideas, recently selected Stark’s hand for commercial development and is now in talks to license it to a major prosthetics manufacturer.

Name: The Stark Hand

Inventor: Mark Stark

Time: 7 years

Cost: $17,000–$18,000

Source: Tech Gadgets

“Straddling” bus

2011-12-04T05:44:00.001+05:30

A cheaper, greener and faster alternative to commute...

A big concern on top of urban transportation planner’s mind is how to speed up the traffic: putting more buses on the road will jam the roads even worse and deteriorate the air; building more subway is costly and time consuming. Well, here is an cheaper, greener and fast alternative to lighten their mind up a bit: the straddling bus, first exhibited on the 13th Beijing International High-tech Expo in May this year. In the near future, the model is to be put into pilot use in Beijing’s Mentougou District. (The official site of the high-tech expo put it as 3D fast bus, which I think is more confusing, for now I’ll just call it the straddling bus.)

Proposed by Shenzhen Hashi Future Parking Equipment Co., Ltd, the model looks like a subway or light-rail train bestriding the road. It is 4-4.5 m high with two levels: passengers board on the upper level while other vehicles lower than 2 m can go through under. Powered by electricity and solar energy, the bus can speed up to 60 km/h carrying 1200-1400 passengers at a time without blocking other vehicles’ way. Also it costs about 500 million yuan to build the bus and a 40-km-long path for it, only 10% of building equivalent subway. It is said that the bus can reduce traffic jams by 20-30%.

At present, there are mainly 4 types of public transits in China: subway, light-rail train, BRT, and normal bus. They have advantages and disadvantages, for example, subway costs a lot and takes long time to build; BRT takes up road spaces and produces noises as well as pollution to the air. How to develop environmental-friendly public transportation? Straddling bus provides a solution. Let’s watch a demonstration.

The straddling bus combines the advantages of BRT, it is also a substitution for BRT and subway in the future. As you all know, the majority vehicle on the road is car, the shortest vehicle is also car. Normally our overpass is 4.5-5.5 m high. The highlight innovation of straddling bus is that it runs above car and under overpass. Its biggest strength is saving road spaces, efficient and high in capacity. It can reduce up to 25-30% traffic jams on main routes. Running at an average 40 km/h, it can take 1200 people at a time, which means 300 passengers per cart.

Another strength of straddling bus is its short construction life cycle: only 1 year to build 40 km. Whereas building 40-km subway will take 3 years at best. Also the straddling bus will not need the large parking lot that normal buses demand. It can park at its own stop without affecting the passage of cars. This is what the interior looks like: it has huge skylight that will eliminate passengers’ sense of depression when enter.

There are two parts in building the straddling bus. One is remodeling the road, the other is building station platforms. Two ways to remodel the road: we can go with laying rails on both sides of car lane, which save 30% energy; or we can paint two white lines on both sides and use auto-pilot technology in the bus, which will follow the lines and run stable.

There are also two ways in dealing with station platform. One is to load/unload through the sides; the other is using the built-in ladder so that passengers can go up and to the overpass through the ceiling door.

Straddling bus is completely powered by municipal electricity and solar energy system. In terms of electricity, the setting is called relay direct current electrification. The bus itself is electrical conductor, two rails built on top to allow the charging post to run along with the bus, the next charging post will be on the rails before the earlier one leaves, that is why we call it relay charging. It is new invention, not available yet in other places.

The set here is super capacitor, a device that can charge, discharge and store electricity quickly. The power it stores during the stop can support the bus till the next stop where another round of charging takes place, achieving zero toxic gas throughout the process.

About the ultrasonic waves put forth from the end of the bus, that is to keep those high cars or trucks away from entering the tunnel. Using laser ray to scan, cars get too close to the passage will activate the alarm on the bus end. Inside the bus, there are turning lights that indicate a the bus is intending to make a turn to warn the cars inside. Also radar scanning system is embedded on the walls to warn cars from getting too close to the bus wheels.

Nowadays many big cities have remodeled their traffic signaling system, to prioritize public buses, that is to say when a bus reaches a crossing, red light on the other side of the fork will turn on automatically to give buses the right of way. Our straddling bus can learn from this BRT method. The car can make the turn with the bus if that is the direction it wants to go too; if not, the red light will be on to stop the cars beneath while the bus take the turn.

The bus is 6 m in width and 4-4.5 m high. How will people get off the bus if an accident happens to such a huge bus? Here I introduce the most advanced escaping system in the world. In the case of fire or other emergencies, the escaping door will open automatically. I believe many of you have been on a plane. Planes are equipped with inflated ladder so people can slide down on it in emergency. I put the escaping concept into the straddling bus. It is the fastest way to escape.

The bus can save up to 860 ton of fuel per year, reducing 2,640 ton of carbon emission. Presently we have passed the first stage demonstration and will get through all of the technical invalidation by the end of August. Beijing’s Mentougou District is carrying out a eco-community project, it has already planned out 186 km for our straddling bus.

source: Tech Gadgets

Glass Multi-touch keyboard and mouse

2011-12-01T18:08:00.002+05:30

I know those tech-loving computer geeks who dream of a computer that give you the feel of digits drumming atop virtualized letters glowing out of slippery glass. This feel has until now been given by iPad and Microsoft Surface. Jason Gidding's Kickstarter project to develop multi-touch glass keyboards and mice can finally make those dreams of yours come true. The project has been fully funded and he expects to have them to market as early as April of the next year.
According to Jason, the concept is said to use existing technology to create something more advanced than current everyday gadgets. The design has been made to look simple yet elegant and modernistic. The multi-touch peripherals have no wires and absolutely no moving parts. As the developer puts it, the gadgets are 'doughnut and coffee resistant'. This should make those computer freaks happy who have a habit of spilling something or the other over their keyboards or mouse.

Going technical, the face of each device is built using tempered glass supported by a metal base and some other components accommodating for existing technology. Powered by Rechargeable Lithium Polymer Batteries the gadgets feature tactile sounds and lighting that can be switched on or off. The entire concept utilizes Frustrated Total Internal Reflection which exploit the behaviour of infrared LEDs inside the glass surface, emitted from a point source. this is done by the diffracting or frustrating of the rays downwards, when the panel is contacted from above. the camera on the underlying surface then detects theser rays and the software configurations perform the necessary functions.

The most interesting thing about these gizmos, espescially to developers, is that the functions are customizable as an open source software is being employed since it is being the most difficult part in integrating into the OS. This is done in order to give tinkerers the ability to continue to tweak the experience.

Reported by Gizmodo, the concept devices currently feature on Kickstarter for fundraising purposes. The project requires $50,000 (approx. Rs.2,601,000) by January 1, to help them reach the production process. You can still donate $250 for a keyboard, $150 for a mouse or $350 for both though. Or you can simply keep dreaming of how good it would be to have a keyboard that cookie-chunks can't get stuck between the keys of. You toilet-seat laptop users know what I mean.

Source: Tech Gadgets

BMW Gina

2011-11-26T23:59:00.003+05:30

The light visionary concept car...

BMW recently revealed the 'GINA', light visionary model concept car, an innovative new exploration in car design. It is a fabric-skinned shape-shifting sports car. Gina stands for "Geometry and functions In 'N' Adaptations". Instead of the traditional steel and plastic body shell, the GINA concept uses a textile fabric starches over a wire frame. This unique idea allows the car’s skin to change shape, stretching to match the position and curve of the wire frame. This idea is demonstrated in the ‘blinking’; headlights and the flexibility of the car doors as they open. The project began by questioning the purpose of a car’s body and exploring new possibilities. Designed by BMW's head of design, Chris Bangle and his team, who says Gina allowed them to 'challenge existing principles and conventional processes. The construction began in 2001.

BMW Gina, BMW Museum, Munchen, Germany.

Fabric body

The flexible, stretchable, water resistant, translucent, man-made fabric skin – polyurethane-coated Spandex, is resilient and durable. It resists high or low temperatures, does not swell or shrink and the movement does not slacken or damage the fabric. The body changes its shape according to exterior conditions and speeds, and it also allows the driver to change its shape at will. The fabric is stretched over a moveable frame; essential shapes are formed beneath the skin by an aluminium wire structure, though at points where movement is needed (ducts, door openings, spoiler) flexible carbon struts are used. The shape of the frame is controlled by many electric and hydraulic actuators, for example, the headlights are revealed when small motors pull the fabric back in an eyelid like fashion. As the fabric is translucent the taillights shine through it.

Transformations

Exterior

GINA has just four panels — the bonnet, the two side panels and the boot. Its skin appears seamless, but it can “grow” a higher rear spoiler for stability at high speed. Its doors open in a butterfly style, and are each covered by a fabric piece reaching all the way from the nose of the car to their trailing edge which when closed leaves a perfectly smooth surface. Access to the engine can be gained through a slit that can open in the middle of the bonnet.

Interior

When the car is parked, the car’s steering wheel and instruments sit in an ‘idle’ position on the centre console to allow the driver easy entry. The steering wheel and instruments assume their correct positions when the driver presses the start button and the headrest rises from the seat once the driver is seated, making it easier to get in and out of the car.

Top Ten Scientific Breakthroughs of 2010

2011-11-21T14:37:00.001+05:30

Modern age is often referred to as the science age because of the changes, both qualitative and quantitative, brought about by science. In fact in today's world, we cannot think of anything without having a scientific approach to it. Science consists in experimentation, and finding out the mysterious aspects of nature. Every year hundreds of new discoveries are made, but all of them are not included in the list of breakthroughs. Breakthroughs are those discoveries which seem to have qualities that may impact the patterns of thoughts regarding some particular things or principles. Seen from this viewpoint, the top ten breakthroughs of the year 2010 are:

The Quantum Machine

Until March 2010, all man-made objects had moved according to the laws of classical mechanics. Back in March, however, a group of researchers designed a gadget that moves in ways that can only be described by quantum mechanics as the rules that govern the behaviour of tiny things like molecules atoms and subatomic particles. In recognition of the conceptual ground their experiment breaks, the ingenuity behind it and its many potential applications, Science has called this discovery the most significant scientific advance of 2010.

The quantum machine proves that the principles of quantum mechanics can apply to the motion of macroscopic objects, as well as atomic and subatomic particles. It provides the first key step towards gaining complete control over an object's vibrations at the quantum level. Such control over an engineered device should allow scientists to manipulate those miniscule movements, much to control the quantum states of light, ultra-sensitive force detectors, and ultimately, investigations into the bounds of quantum mechanics and our sense of reality.

Synthetic Biology

In a defining moment for biology and biotechnology, researchers built a synthetic genome and used it to transform the identity of a bacterium. The genome replaced the bacterium's DNA so that it produced a new set of proteins-an achievement that prompted a Congressional hearing on synthetic biology. In the future, researchers envision synthetic genomes that are custom built to generate biofuels, pharmaceuticals and other useful chemicals.

Neanderthal Genome

Researchers sequenced the Neanderthal genome from the bones of three female Neanderthals who lived in Croatia sometime between 38,000 and 44,000 years ago. New methods of sequencing degraded fragments of DNA allowed scientists to make the first direct comparisons between the modern human genome and that of our Neanderthal ancestors.

HIV Prophylaxis

Two HIV prevention trials of different, novel strategies reported unequivocal success: A vaginal gel, that contains the anti-HIV drug tenofovir, reduced HIV infection in women by 39 percent and an oral pre-exposure prophylaxis led to 43.8 fewer HIV infections in a group of men and transgender women who have sex with men.

Exome Sequencing/Rare Disease Genes

By sequencing just the exons of a genome, or the tiny portion that actually codes for proteins, researchers, who study rare inherited diseases caused by a single flawed gene, were able to identify specific mutations underlying at least a dozen diseases.

Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Simulating the gyrations, that proteins make as they fold, has been a combinatorial nightmare. Now, researchers have harnessed the power of one of the world's most powerful computers to track the motions of atoms in a small, folding protein for a length of 100 times longer than any previous efforts.

Next-Generation Genomics

Faster and cheaper sequencing technologies are enabling very large-scale studies of both ancient and modern DNA. The 1,000 Genomes project, for example, has already indentified much of the genome variation that makes us uniquely human and other projects in the works are set to reveal much more of the genome's functions.

RNA Reprogramming

Reprogramming cells turning back their developmental clocks to make them behave like unspecialized "stem cells" in an embryo has become a standard lab technique for studying diseases and development.

In 2010, researchers found a way to do it, using synthetic RNA.

Quantum Simulator

To describe what they see in the lab, physicists cook up theories based on equations. Those equations can be fiendishly hard to solve. In 2010, researchers found a short-cut by making quantum simulators artificial crystals in which spots of laser light play the role of ions and atoms trapped in the light stand in for electrons. The devices provide quick answers to theoretical problems in condensed matter physics and they might eventually help solve mysteries such as superconductivity.

The Return of the Rat

Mice rule the world of laboratory animals, but for many purposes, researchers would rather use rats. Rats are easier to work with and anatomically more similar to human beings. A flurry of research in 2010, however promises to bring "knockout rats" to labs in a big way.

All the scientific breakthroughs help scientific minds to carry on the uphill task of discovering unknown aspects of nature as well as inventing new mechanisms to unravel the mysteries that have been lying partially revealed in nature for ages, creating a lot of confusion. Human civilization never looks back and always tries to step forward in quest of better understanding of the universe, and science becomes a tool in its hands. In other words scientific breakthroughs become part and parcel of our life in course of time and we look forward to others that are to follow.

Source: Competition Success Review October 2011 Issue