Invention: Slimline radioactive battery

• 13:03 17 December 2008 by Justin Mullins
• For similar stories, visit the Invention Topic Guide

Engineers have long hoped to exploit radioactive decay to generate electricity. One way to do this is to use a radioactive isotope, such as a variant of hydrogen called tritium, that emits electrons as it decays. Current is generated when the electrons hit semiconductive material nearby.

Attempts to put the theory into practice have been plagued by extremely low efficiency, though, converting only a small fraction of the emitted electrons into current.

The problem is that the electrons cannot travel far from their starting place in the tritium nucleus. Most end up lodging in the radioactive material itself and never reach the adjacent semiconductor.

Now Paul Engel and colleagues at Rice University in Houston, Texas, say that these batteries can be made more efficient by using a thin layer of a liquid polymer that contains the isotope.

Electron catcher

The polymer can be painted onto the surface of a porous semiconductor, creating a very thin layer of radioactive material that soaks into the pores. This minimises the distance between decaying nuclei and the semiconductor, so electrons are much more likely to be caught and turned into current.

The use of thin layers means that the batteries can be made into a wide range of shapes, such as thin sheets.

The beta radiation produced by tritium and similar materials is easily contained too. Even if the casing of a battery was breached, the close bond between the polymer and the semiconductor would keep the radioactive material firmly in place.

The patent claims that the resulting batteries could have a range of uses, either as the sole power source or a "trickle-charger" to make a normal chemical battery last longer. Long-lived gadgets in inaccessible places like spacecraft, deep-sea sensors, or even medical implants, would be ideal places, it says.

Reference: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16288-invention-slimline-radioactive-battery.html

'Mind-reading' software could record your dreams

Pictures you are observing can now be recreated with software that uses nothing but scans of your brain. It is the first "mind reading" technology to create such images from scratch, rather than picking them out from a pool of possible images.

Earlier this year Jack Gallant and colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley, showed that they could tell which of a set of images someone was looking at from a brain scan.

To do this, they created software that compared the subject's brain activity while looking at an image with that captured while they were looking at "training" photographs. The program then picked the most likely match from a set of previously unseen pictures.

Now Yukiyasu Kamitani at ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories in Kyoto, Japan has gone a step further: his team has used an image of brain activity taken in a functional MRI scanner to recreate a black-and-white image from scratch.

"By analysing the brain signals when someone is seeing an image, we can reconstruct that image," says Kamitani.

This means that the mind reading isn't limited to a selection of existing images, but could potentially be used to "read off" anything that someone was thinking of, without prior knowledge of what that might be.

"It's absolutely amazing, it really is a very significant step forward," says John-Dylan Haynes of the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Germany.

Dream catcher

Kamitani starts by getting someone to look at a selection of images made up of black and white squares on a 10 by 10 square grid, while having their brain scanned. Software then finds patterns in brain activity that correspond to certain pixels being blacked out. It uses this to record a signature pattern of brain activity for each pixel.

The person then sits in the scanner and is shown fresh patterns. Another piece of software then matches these against the list to reconstruct the pixels on a 10 by 10 grid.

The quality of images that were recreated is quite crude. However, the word "neuron" and several numbers and shapes that people were indeed being shown (see image, top right) could be observed in the reconstructed images. It is an important proof of principle, says Haynes.

As fMRI technology improves, Kamitani adds that an image could potentially be split into many more pixels, producing much higher quality images, and even colour images.

The next step is to find out if it is possible to image things that people are thinking of - as well as what they are looking at - Haynes says it may be possible to "make a videotape of a dream".

Ethical concerns

Haynes also raises the prospect of "neural marketing", where advertisers might one day be able to read the thoughts of passers by and use the results to target adverts. "This [new research] specifically doesn't lead to this - but the whole spirit in which this is done is in line with brain reading and the applications that come with that," he says.

"If you have a technique that allows you to read out what people are thinking we need clearer ethical guidelines about when and how you are able to do this," he says. "A lot of people want their minds to be read - take for example a paralysed person. They want us to read their thoughts," he says. "But it shouldn't be possible to do this for commercial purposes."

Kamitani is well aware of the negative potential of the technology. "If the image quality improves, it could have a very serious impact on our privacy and other issues. We will have to discuss with many people - not just scientists - how to apply this technology," he says.

REACTION:

Looks like it is not possible anymore to read one's mind... and indeed this must be used for humanitarian purpose only.. it may indanger the privacy of each individual..

Referrence: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16267-mindreading-software-could-record-your-dreams.ht

rosh

rosh

BlackBerry

Overview

No matter what your individual needs, a BlackBerry® solution will enable you to accomplish more by keeping you in touch with information, colleagues and friends.
It consists of smartphones integrated with software that enables access to a variety of data and communication services.
Stay in touch with everything that matters to you while you’re on the go with a BlackBerry smartphone. Email, phone, maps, organiser, applications, games, the Internet and more. Some smartphones even include a multi-media player and/or camera so you really have everything you need in one stylish device.
The BlackBerry solution supports leading enterprise email platforms and can be customised to meet the needs of one person or an entire enterprise, to any scale, in any industry.
BlackBerry users know exactly where they’re going in life. We’re here to help you get there.
No matter what your individual needs, a BlackBerry® solution will enable you to accomplish more by keeping you in touch with information, colleagues and friends.
It consists of smartphones integrated with software that enables access to a variety of data and communication services.
Stay in touch with everything that matters to you while you’re on the go with a BlackBerry smartphone. Email, phone, maps, organiser, applications, games, the Internet and more. Some smartphones even include a multi-media player and/or camera so you really have everything you need in one stylish device.
The BlackBerry solution supports leading enterprise email platforms and can be customised to meet the needs of one person or an entire enterprise, to any scale, in any industry.
BlackBerry users know exactly where they’re going in life. We’re here to help you get there.

Smartphones

BlackBerryPearl
BlackBerry® smartphones provide you with the power to connect to everything that matters in your professional and personal lives.
Whatever your needs, there’s a BlackBerry smartphone to suit your lifestyle.
The Features You Need
For your mobile life, BlackBerry smartphones have all the features you need:
While you’re on the go, keep in touch with email, instant messaging and advanced phone functionality
Go beyond communications with features like a built-in camera, multi-media and social networking capabilities1
Stay on top of your life wherever it takes you with the Internet, GPS, BlackBerry® Maps and more
BlackBerry smartphones are designed with an easy-to-use QWERTY style keyboard or SureType® keyboard technology. Along with the intuitive trackball on many models, that means typing and navigating couldn’t be easier.

Software

The BlackBerry® solution provides all the software you need, whether you’re an individual BlackBerry smartphoneuser, or an organization with thousands of users.
Software for BlackBerry Devices
BlackBerry® Device Software includes all the applications on your smartphone – email, organizer, media player, browser, calculator and more. Depending on the version of software your BlackBerry smartphone is running, you may be able to enjoy new features that weren’t included when you purchased your device1. Learn more:
Download the latest BlackBerry Device Software
BlackBerry Desktop Software
BlackBerry® Desktop Software lets you manage how your email, organizer information, media files and more are synchronized with, or available on, your BlackBerry smartphone. Learn more:
BlackBerry Desktop Software
Management, Collaboration and Messaging Software
Whether a large enterprise wants to connect its mobile users with internal applications or a small business wants to access all of its email addresses from one smartphone — BlackBerry software can make it happen. Learn More:
BlackBerry® Enterprise Server - integrates your organization's BlackBerry smartphones with your existing enterprise systems, securely extending wireless communications and corporate data to mobile users.
BlackBerry® Professional Software - a wireless communications and collaboration solution for small and medium-sized businesses. It delivers the features your employees need, in a package that's easy to set up and priced right.
BlackBerry® Unite! – free software that lets families and small businesses access shared pictures, calendars, documents and more on BlackBerry smartphones.
Software for Data and Corporate Applications
BlackBerry® Mobile Data System (BlackBerry MDS) is an optimized set of developer tools, administrative services and BlackBerry® Device Software that enables your organization to develop applications that you can deploy to mobile users. Learn more:

MY SELF

Before anything else, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Roel Catigum Cañete, I'm twenty years old. I live at Saavedra 1, Lower Cabatangan Zamboanga City. I was born on August 28 1988 at Anonang Davao Del Sur.

I took my elementary at Sta. Maria Elementary School and my High School at Don Pablo Lorenzo Memorial High School. Now, I'm currently enrolled at Western Mindanao State University taking up Bachelor of Science in Computer Science major in Software Technology, third year standing this semester (year).

I'm a thin kind of person, fair complexion and not so tall. My physical aspects are not that good but I consider my self healthy.

I’m a kind of person that is moody. I change my mood so fast that it makes me psychotic. I say what I want to say that sometimes I hurt persons around me. I am that kind of person that can be corrected; I listen to the advice of others. I hate myself when I’m lazy because I would not do it unless I’m in the mood to do so.

I have lots of like and dislikes, depending on where or on what it is about. I like, in food, which are sweet, saucy, sour, and not so spicy. I love pasta and pizza; my weaknesses are Hopia, Bico and Siopao. I have no dislike except for the Tau-si, ew!. I like person who are being themselves and not pretending to be someone else. I like things that are weird and distinct or unique. I like color pink, blue, green and yellow.

I like playing basketball for an exercise. Sometimes I play chess and other board games to enhance my thinking and strategic skills. I love watching anime and cartoons. Sometimes I compose poems if I’m feeling sad and alone. And more often net surfing and searching for new computer games if I’m bored.