|
|
|
| SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY |
|
|
|
Flashback 2009 Trends Prof Yash
Pal THIS UNIVERSE
|
|
|
Flashback 2009 But it was also a year in which the tiny company called Twitter became a major communications force, and when political, economic, social and technological trends combined to put green technology at the forefront of innovation. 2009 was the year when the micro-blogging site Twitter became the de-rigueur mode of communication for any artist, politician or celebrity who wished to display a cutting edge sense of connectivity. But it also became an essential mode of communication for everyone from grandmas to schoolgirls, from company spokesman to revolutionary ideologues. The uprising against the election results in Iran in June gave the most concrete indication to date of the power of Twitter to influence world events. As the Iranian government clamped down on other media and internet channels, Iranians kept taking to the streets and transmitting their experiences via the microblogging site, helping their leaders organise demonstrations, and sympathisers around the world keep track of their struggle. The technology allows users to post instant and frequent updates via their mobile phones, and grew exponentially this year to an estimated 18 million users a month - a 200 percent increase over the year before. With the continued proliferation of the iPhone and its would-be competitors, Twitterers and others certainly had a huge variety of devices to choose from. Though Apple’s iconic device remains the undisputed king of the sector, 2009 saw the emergence of its first credible challengers. This was largely due to the emergence of Google’s Android operating system, which was adopted as a mobile platform by a growing band of device manufacturers, notably Taiwanese maker HTC, and Motorola, a once-dominant handset maker which is banking its future on Android. Though the global recession cut into Google’s amazing growth spurt and even prompted it to announce its first firings and cost-cutting initiatives, Google still dominated the internet search market throughout the year. It still registers some 60 percent of all US searches, but now, when the company executives look in their rear view mirror, they might notice the tiny image of a distant giant approaching. After years in which Microsoft botched every attempt to build on the dominance of its Internet Explorer browser, the Seattle software giant has finally got something right with its Bing search engine. The company’s heavily-promoted new technology has been warmly reviewed and has grabbed a 10 percent market share since its launch. Microsoft’s agreement to provide Yahoo with its search technology and its discussions with news providers for exclusive contracts could yet make it a formidable Google competitor. Microsoft also finally got it right with the release of its Windows 7 operating system less than four years after it launched the widely-derided Vista. According to Microsoft, the new software has sold more than twice as many copies as Vista did during its initial launch period. The October release also helped pump up computer sales for the crucial holiday season. But perhaps the biggest technology story of the year revolves not around the latest computing innovations but on the ever-increasing focus placed on the development of clean green technology. According to tracking firm CleanTech Ventures, US clean technology venture investments totalled $1.59 billion in the 3rd quarter of 2009 for the second consecutive quarterly rise after steep declines prompted by the global recession. Green industry got an added boost from the US government this year under US President Barack Obama’s stimulus programme, which set aside nearly 10 percent or $70 billion for energy efficiency and new methods. Huge investments have been made from outside the venture and government scene. ExxonMobil for instance has pumped $600 million into a San Diego-based scheme to develop fuel from algae, while two California-based companies have received almost $1 billion in government awards to develop electric cars. Private investors were also eager to open their wallets as they sought to take advantage of low share prices for emerging technology firms. But while 2009 was a year of recovery for green technology, 2010 is likely to see a return to significant growth as high oil prices and the focus on a low-carbon economy continue to fuel interest in alternative energy. “Bring me your business plans,” venture capitalist Steve Westly told a tech industry conference in November. “We are ready to start funding again.”
— DPA |
|
Trends BEIJING: Chinese archeologists have unearthed a large third-century tomb, which they say could be that of Cao Cao, the legendary politician and general famous throughout East Asia for his Machiavellian tactics. The tomb, discovered in Xigaoxue village near the ancient Chinese city of Anyang, Henan Province, has an epitaph and inscription that appear to refer to Cao Cao, Central China Television said on Sunday.
Tailored music therapy can ease tinnitus PORT LOUIS:
Scientists have found more than 200 new species of frogs in Madagascar but a political crisis is hurting conservation of the Indian Ocean island's unique wildlife, a study shows. The discovery, which almost doubles the number of known amphibians in Madagascar, illustrates an underestimation of the natural riches that have helped spawn a $390-million-a-year tourism industry.
Shrimp's eye points way to better DVDs LONDON:
The amazing eyes of a giant shrimp living on Australia's Great Barrier Reef could hold the key to developing a new type of super high-quality DVD player, British scientists said on Sunday. Mantis shrimps, dubbed "thumb splitters" by divers because of their vicious claws, have the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom.
Gene therapy strengthens muscles in monkeys WASHINGTON:
A gene therapy treatment that stops the breakdown of muscle appeared safe in monkeys and may build up muscle, too, researchers reported on Wednesday. The approach is being developed in the hope of treating severe muscle weakness caused by multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy and neurodegenerative diseases, but progress is slow in part because of fears about its safety.
— Reuters
|
|
THIS UNIVERSE Does light bend?
Besides the fact that light can be bent by mirrors and lenses, it also bends in going from one medium to another. It is also found that light also bends by gravitational fields. It not only bends, it also changes its wavelength. When we go from India to Europe in non-stop flight, the time taken by flight to reach there is more than the time taken by the flight to come back from Europe to India, even if the route is same both ways. Why? The I think the reason is that at the altitude where the plane flies there is the eastward fast-flowing jet stream. While the route is the same, the westward flying planes have to face a strong headwind. I remember that when we used to fly stratospheric balloons for cosmic ray studies we allowed for a payload drift of hundreds of kilometres eastward, over a five hour flight period, to post our recovery teams. According to Einstein's equation mass and energy are inter convertible. Does this mean that anything and everything can be converted into energy or is it applicable to only nuclear reactions? Is the whole universe made up of energy? Yes every thing can be converted into energy and vice-a versa. But this has to be done keeping in mind some conservation laws. The first requirement is that both energy and momentum must be conserved. For example a photon of high energy travelling in vacuum cannot change into a single electron because you cannot conserve both energy and momentum that way. You cannot do it because of another restriction. That is the requirement that starting with net charge zero on a photon you cannot end up with a single negatively charged electron. So you are constrained to a situation where you produce two particles, one negative and the other positive. Simultaneous conservation of energy and momentum further ensures that you must have another heavier particle that remains essentially as a spectator. Indeed this was the experiment that led to discovery of positive electrons, later named as positrons. This way we can turn the quanta of energy- the photons into electrons and positrons. Einstein is happy — also all the other conservation laws. When we travel in a train and it stops completely we get a shock forward and then backwards. Why? Which principal works on it? When the train stops suddenly the part of our body resting on the train tends to stop and the upper part wants to keep going. This produces a shock. It also happens when our fast moving car hits a car or any other barrier. We are not only shocked we can also be seriously hurt. When the train starts suddenly, our feet move forward and the upper part of body wants to stay put. That also produces some shock. In all such events Mr. Newton is being proved right. Readers wanting to ask Prof Yash Pal a question can e-mail him at palyash.pal@gmail.com |
|
|
Any review of the major technology developments of 2009 would inevitably include copious copy on the Googles, Microsofts and other giants of the tech world.