Monster Machines: How This Supercomputer Will Silence Jet Engines – http://t.co/vgVRRASa
Using snails’ teeth to improve solar cells and batteries :: ElectronicsOnline
“Kisailus is using the lessons learned from this biomineralisation pathway as inspiration in his lab to guide the growth of minerals used in solar cells and lithium-ion batteries. By controlling the crystal size, shape and orientation of engineering nanomaterials, he believes he can build materials that will allow the solar cells and lithium-ion batteries to operate more efficiently … and the lithium-ion batteries could need significantly less time to recharge … (and) engineering nanocrystals can be grown at significantly lower temperatures, which means significantly lower production costs.”
via Using snails’ teeth to improve solar cells and batteries :: ElectronicsOnline.
Electromagnetic harvester can charge your batteries from thin air – PC & Tech Authority
Electromagnetic harvester can charge your batteries from thin air – PC & Tech Authority.
“This tiny device will wirelessly suck up energy from power lines, coffee machines, photocopiers and pretty much anything else.”
“The harvester uses coils and high frequency diodes to capture the energy, while an LED indicates the strength of the signal. One thing to consider: Siegel says it takes about a day to charge a single AA battery, depending on the signal strength …”
The Battery Controlled – Button battery safety
The Battery Controlled – Button battery safety
via The Battery Controlled – Button battery safety.
“If a child swallows a button battery, the battery can get stuck in the child’s throat and burn through the oesophagus in as little as two hours. Repair can require feeding and breathing tubes and multiple surgeries.”
“In Australia, an estimated four children per week present to an emergency department with an injury related to a button battery.”
VIC: Warning on TV and furniture tip-over hazards
Date: 30th October 2012
Consumer Affairs Victoria is reminding Victorians to check their household furniture for stability and safety, after a five-year-old boy died when a television set fell on him at his Western Australian home.
…
Statistics from the Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit show that from 2006 to 2010, children under 10 accounted for more than 70 per cent of visits to emergency departments for injuries caused by tipping TVs.
Isolating the danger (Rooftop Solar Panels) | Electrical connection
“Accessing a roof with solar panels could place electricians, emergency service personnel and home owners at risk of electrocution. Even after following the standard procedure of isolating the DC isolator at the switchboard and the PV isolator on the roof, lethal DC voltages can continue to be generated throughout the solar panels and the associated wiring.”
“A damaged solar array can create unpredictable current
paths which can make live gutters, the roof and the modules.”
Paperless office now a pain in the neck, says study :: SafetySolutions
The survey of more than 900 office workers found a direct correlation between the amount of time spent at a computer and the likelihood of experiencing musculoskeletal pain over a 12-month period. 85% of people who spent more than eight hours a day working with a computer experienced neck pain, 74% reported shoulder pain and 70% reported lower back pain.
via Paperless office now a pain in the neck, says study :: SafetySolutions.
My supplier assures me that my product complies with overseas requirements and will meet local requirements. Is this sufficient for me to legally supply the products in Australia?
Answer
You should always check with your supplier that the product complies and that it has been assessed against local requirements. Ask the supplier to provide copies of current test certificates from an accredited or recognised test house.
If you are unsure, you should arrange to have the product tested yourself, preferably using a test house accredited to test to the specific standard.
IBM claims spintronics memory breakthrough | Computerworld New Zealand
IBM scientists used ultra short laser pulses to monitor the evolution of thousands of electron spins that were created simultaneously in a very small spot, said Gian Salis, co-author of the Nature paper and a scientist in the Physics of Nanoscale Systems research group at IBM Research.Usually, such spins find electrons randomly rotating and quickly losing their orientation. In this study, IBM and ETH researchers found, for the first time, how to arrange the spins neatly into a regular stripe-like pattern – the so-called persistent spin helix.
via IBM claims spintronics memory breakthrough | Computerworld New Zealand.
Generating terahertz on silicon chips :: ElectronicsOnline
Current methods of generating terahertz radiation involve lasers, thermionic valves and special circuits cooled near absolute zero, often in room-sized apparatuses costing thousands of dollars.
Cornell researchers with Ehsan Afshari, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, have developed a new method using the familiar and inexpensive CMOS chip technology, generating power levels high enough for some medical applications.
via Generating terahertz on silicon chips :: ElectronicsOnline.
Laser that could speed computer performance :: ElectronicsOnline
“It is truly an interdisciplinary team effort,” Zhou says. “The co-existence of photonics with electronics on the chip level shall enable multifunctional, energy-efficient super-chips for applications in computing, communications, sensing, imaging and so on.”
via Laser that could speed computer performance :: ElectronicsOnline.
Article: How to Make Computers More Powerful and More Energy Efficient at the Same Time
How to Make Computers More Powerful and More Energy Efficient at the Same Time
http://asmarterplanet.com/blog/2012/07/18120.html
“Sequoia, is the world’s most powerful supercomputer”, … also there is another machine that “is the first commercial machine cooled by hot water”.
“While Sequoia is more than one and a half times faster than its nearest competitor, it is almost two and a half times more energy efficient. Meanwhile, the water-cooled Leibniz machine consumes 40 percent less energy than traditional air-cooled versions. Since water is able to remove heat 4,000 times more efficiently than air, hot water is an innovative means to more efficiently cool computers than the conventional approach based on chilled water. It also allows energy to be captured from the system and reused to heat the buildings during winter. These advances afford potential energy savings of around 1 million euros per year.”
Introducing an air-breathing battery that could power a breakout electric car — Cleantech News and Analysis
“IBM is unveiling progress and new partners for its lithium air battery technology, which it started working on back in the Summer of 2009 and which could one day be a commercial product perhaps in the 2020/2030 timeframe”
“IBM says its lithium air battery could have an energy density of 1,000 watt hours per kilogram, which is more than double the energy density of some of the most cutting edge lithium ion batteries out there …. It’s also five to ten times more energy dense than the basic lithium ion batteries on the market.”
16 petaflops IBM Supercomputer Wins Speed Record – WSJ.com
IBM Supercomputer Wins Speed Record – WSJ.com.
“IBM’s Sequoia system was able to carry out 16 quadrillion calculations a second, or petaflops, according to a benchmark used to compile a semiannual list of the world’s 500 most powerful computers”
“IBM’s system at Lawrence Livermore, by contrast [to x86-based systems], is based on a design called Blue Gene/Q that uses new chips the company designed itself to boost performance while saving energy. Each has 16 processors, based on a technology called Power that long has been used in the company’s servers.”
IBM Supercomputing infographic
Sydney scientist helps design tiny super computer
Sydney scientist helps design tiny super computer.
“The system we have developed has the potential to perform calculations that would require a supercomputer larger than the size of the known universe. And it does it all in a diameter of less than a millimetre,” Dr Biercuk, of the University of Sydney, said.
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