Fifty New Exoplanets Discovered by HARPS

Astronomers using ESO’s world-leading exoplanet hunter HARPS have today announced a rich haul of more than 50 new exoplanets,including 16 super-Earths, one of which orbits at the edge of the habitable zone of its star. By studying the properties of all the HARPS planets found so far, the team has found that about 40% of …

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Intel will introduce 50 core processor in 2012

The Intel Many Integrated Core (MIC) architecture is a key addition to the company’s existing products, including Intel Xeon processors, and expected to help lead the industry into the era of exascale computing. The first Intel MIC product, codenamed “Knights Corner,” is planned for production on Intel’s 22-nanometer technology that featuring innovative 3-D Tri-Gate transistors. …

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Status of nuclear reactors that should complete in 2011 through 2013

The Indian Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR), under construction at Kalpakkam, near Chennai, is “a unique reactor” which does not require water for emergency cooling of its nuclear fuel core in the case of an accident, said Baldev Raj, Director, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) at Kalpakkam. The 500 MWe PFBR will be …

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Exoplanet Gliese 581d is super-earth sized habitable planet atmosphere may be warm enough for liquid water

Arxiv – Gliese 581d is the fi rst discovered terrestrial-mass exoplanet in the habitable zone It has been suggested that the recently discovered exoplanet GJ581d might be able to support liquid water due to its relatively low mass and orbital distance. However, GJ581d receives 35% less stellar energy than Mars and is probably locked in …

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Henry Markram and the Human Brain Project are in talks with EU for $1.61 billion to achieve human brain emulation by 2024

Henry Markram, a neuroscientist at the École Polytechnique Fédérale in Lausanne, Switzerland, has assembled a team of nine top European scientists for the research effort to build a computer model of a human brain. The Human Brain Project is in discussion with the EU for a £1billion (US$1.61 billion) grant. ‘This is one of the …

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Skylon Spaceplane builders will test the vital helium precooler component in June 2011

Roger Longstaff, engineer at Reaction Engines Ltd (REL), said that the company intends to test its amazing “pre-cooler” technology in June, 2011. An REL spokesperson announced that they had secured $350 million of further funding, contingent on successful completion of the full-sized precooled jet engine test in June 2011. In paper studies, the costs per …

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IBM makes 155 Ghz graphene transistors on diamond-like carbon

a, Schematic view of a top-gated graphene r.f. transistor on DLC substrate. b, SEM image of a typical top-gated dual-channel r.f. device. Scale bar, 3 μm. c, Cross-section TEM image of a graphene transistor with a gate length of 40 nm. Nature- High-frequency, scaled graphene transistors on diamond-like carbon Owing to its high carrier mobility and saturation …

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George Monbiot describes the double standard against nuclear power

George Monbiot is a reporter and environmentalist at the UK Guardian. He describes his support for nuclear power and for a clean environment. He lists the double standards against nuclear power Double standard one: deaths and injuries Chinese coal mining alone kills as many people every week as the worst nuclear power accident in history …

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Quantum dots could make solar panels more efficient

Illustration of multiple-exciton generation (MEG), a theory that suggests it is possible for an electron that has absorbed light energy, called an exciton, to transfer that energy to more than one electron, resulting in more electricity from the same amount of absorbed light. The left side shows an electron promoted to a high energy state …

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