1. Contact lens and modified 3D TV glasses allows wearers to switch from normal to 2.8 times zoom Researchers have created contact lenses which, when paired with special spectacles, bestow telescopic vision on their wearers. The contact-lens-and-spectacles combination magnifies scene details by 2.8 times. Polarising filters in the spectacles allow wearers to switch between normal …
The data capacity of single-mode optical fibers, while having increased by four orders of magnitude over the last 30 years, is rapidly reaching the limits imposed by the fiber’s nonlinear effects. But a bicoastal team has devised a new fiber optic technology that promises to increase bandwidth dramatically, meeting today’s ever-increasing demand for data-intensive activities …
The need for organ donors has never been greater. Presently, there are more than 110,000 people on the national waiting list who need a life-saving organ transplant. Organ donations in the USA are made after a donor has been declared brain dead. Recently a proposed procedure seems to make the possibility of human body transplants …
Recently Nextbigfuture wrote about technical hurdles being overcome for head transplants. Quick list of the some of the reactions – * Several have noted that they should really be called body transplants * Someone tweeted that the top 1% will always get ahead * The article made the front page of Reddit * Fark – …
Alfin Alfin had several blogs and published regularly each week. Alfin suddenly stopped publishing on January 27, 2013 and did not respond to moderate any comments. This circumstantial evidence would suggest a sudden change (like bad health). If Alfin is still around, best wishes and if not then Goodbye to good blogs. The Oil Drum …
Nanantennas by Nano-Meta Technologies provide for efficient control of light with nano-meter precision. The company is developing nanostructured compounds that can concentrate light through plasmonic effects to surmount a hurdle called the diffraction limit, which affects the resolution of light microscopes and lithography. Possible applications include: * Heat-assisted magnetic data recording (HAMR) allowing for ultra …
The World Nuclear Association reports 58,394 tons of uranium produced for 2012. This was 4720 tons more than the previous peak production in 2010. Dittmar made a new prediction of a 58kton peak in uranium. He would be wrong if not for his error bars (plus or minus 4000 tons) to allow it to have …
In a paper titled “The Shale Oil Boom: A U.S. Phenomenon,” [64 pages] Maugeri wrote that the unique characteristics of shale oil production are ideal for the United States — and unlikely to be mirrored elsewhere in the world. These factors include the availability of drilling rigs, and the entrepreneurial nature of the American exploration …
A year has gone by since the over 200 story Sky City factory mass produced skyscraper plan was announced and there is no sign of the skyscraper. The site, which was to supposed to have been home to the 220-storey [new plans are for a 202 story] tower on the Daze Lake by now, is …
Located in Chengdu (population 14 million), capital of Sichuan province in southwestern China, the New Century Global Center is the “largest freestanding building in the world,” Chinese officials say. Though the words “world’s largest” usually bring to mind an image of a towering skyscraper, this project actually isn’t all that tall. But it’s certainly big. …
Australia’s government rejected a $100 billion Chinese project proposal to rebuild much of Sydney without any taxpayer money and will proceed with the $13 billion WestConnex project that will require significant taxpayer funding. An Australian and Chinese consortium known as Aspire Sydney would have built the M4 East motorway in exchange for the rights to …