LG to use Windows in smartphones
Microsoft signed a deal with LG Electronics that states that LG will use Microsoft OS in most of its smartphones. Microsoft also renamed its wireless service from Windows Mobile to Windows.
The new Windows operating system will feature a powerful mobile Internet Explorer web browser. It also includes a wireless backup system for contacts and pictures.
Currently, HTC is the largest phone manufacturer that uses Microsoft OS. Samsung Electronics, Motorola, and Sony Ericsson do not have many phones with Windows OS on the market.
Scientists develop nano electronics
Two American teams have synthesized new materials to make smaller and more powerful electronics. A team from the University of Pittsburgh has made smaller transistors that can be used to make smaller computer processors.
The size of the new computer processor would be a fraction of current silicon-based processors.
The other team, from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of California, Berkeley, has made a film material that boosts memory capacity.
The new film material can hold the equivalent of 250 DVDs on the surface of a coin. Both new inventions were published in the journal Science.
MIT creates green washing machine
A team of students has used recycled materials to create a pedal-powered washing machine called “Bicilavadora.” The washing machine is designed for developing parts of the world where there is no access to electricity.
The recycled machine is made out of a standard oil drum and welded with a short barrel. The system is connected to an old bicycle without wheels and the chain is connected to a gear mechanism. The high gear can be used for spin cycle while the low gear can be used for the wash cycle.
Although the design is still not complete and some water seeped out during the initial tests of the device, it still shows great promise and small modifications in the design could allow it to handle large loads.
Source: MIT News
Mummy seen using a CT scanner
A team at the University of Chicago Medical Center has used a Computed Tomography (CT) scanner to determine the facial features of a 3000-year-old mummy.
The image obtained is very lifelike and the researchers could see small details of the face even without opening the Egyptian casket. The high-tech scanner was a preferred method, since opening up the coffin could destroy the mummy. CT scans had previously been used to view pictures of mummies, but the quality was not as good as that achieved with the new CT scans.
Also, previously the caskets had to be opened to run the scan, and this led to a loss of valuable evidence.