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The Intel India Development Centre (IIDC) has co-developed the world's first teraflops research chip for building the next generation of high-end computers and servers to deliver supercomputer-like performance. The 80-core chip, which is less than a fingernail in size, has a powerful programmable processor that can undertake trillions of calculations per second - teraflops consuming only 62 watts of power. "The multi-core chip with greater computing horse power can be used for diverse research applications such as scientific experiments, weather forecasting, astronomical calculations, oil exploration, financial services, entertainment and personal media services involving huge data processing and number-crunching," Intel India...

The sun was not necessary for Vikings to navigate, say researchers Vikings may have used a special crystal called a sunstone to help navigate the seas even when the sun was obscured by fog or cloud, a study has suggested. Researchers from Hungary ran a test with sunstones in the Arctic ocean, and found that the crystals can reveal the sun's position even in bad weather. This would have allowed the Vikings to navigate successfully, they say. The sunstone theory has been around for 40 years, but some academics have treated it with extreme scepticism. Researcher Gabor Horvath from...

Consolidation among companies that resell and distribute tech goods and services is continuing apace, as larger players look for growth in new product and geographic areas. At the same time, new resellers are popping up to deal with emerging markets such as unified communications and online video. The tech distribution and resale business remains strong thanks to hot product types such as notebook computers, wireless networks and data storage products, says Tim Curran, chief executive of the Global Technology Distribution Council. The council is a trade group for this field.

Consulting Google Earth can help people work out routes to avoid Google is playing an unlikely role in the Iraq war. Its online satellite map of the world, Google Earth, is being used to help people survive sectarian violence in Baghdad. As the communal bloodshed has worsened, some Iraqis have set up advice websites to help others avoid the death squads. One tip - on the Iraq League site, one of the best known - is for people to draw up maps of their local area using Google Earth's detailed imagery of Baghdad so they can work out escape...

1. Bendable Concrete The nickname for Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC) is self-explanatory: bendable concrete. Specially coated microscopic polymer fibers slide past each other instead of snapping under stress, so ECC bends without breaking. The material has been used to create stretchable expansion joints for a Michigan bridge, and to allow the coupling beams in a 41-story tower in Yokohama to flex during Japan's frequent earthquakes. Short-term impact: LOW It could take years for ECC to be commonly used in construction, unless a major earthquake puts it in the spotlight. 2. PRAM (Phase-Change Random Access Memory)Flash memory, with no moving parts...

Seagate Technology this week introduced a hard drive that it claims is the fastest hard drive available in a 2.5 inch form factor. Meanwhile ProStor Systems Inc. announced a new high-capacity removable disk drive as a replacement for tape media for workstations and servers in small and midsize markets. The Seagate Savvio 15K drive is a 15,000rpm serial attached SCSI drive (SAS). It is designed for use in both rack-mounted servers and blade servers. The Savvio drive is 70% smaller than other 15K drives on the market and has 30% less power consumption, the company said. The drive has a...

Research in Britain is in danger of being overtaken by the efforts of scientists from countries such as China, South Korea and India, many of whom were educated in UK universities, a report says. Unless collaboration with these "innovation hotspots" is increased, Britain will be sidelined, according to The Atlas of Ideas, launched today at a conference attended by leading figures in science and politics. Demos, a think tank, says in the report that Britain must "wake up" to developments in Asian innovation and promote global, collaborative app-roaches. "UK higher education has survived on a diet of China, India and...

Robot mother helps South Koreans prepare for birth Thu Jan 4, 2007 12:21 PM ET SEOUL, Jan 4 (Reuters Life!) - With South Korea's birth rate at its lowest ever, medical students are resorting to robots to practice bringing babies into the world. Kyunghee University Medical Center in Seoul is the first institution in South Korea to use Noelle, a life-sized robot, and her "newborn" to give obstetric students experience. "With this simulator training tool, we can conduct not only normal deliveries, but also complicated deliveries such as breech births, Caesarean deliveries," Professor Jung Eui told Reuters Television. "Students can...

In 2000 Plastic Logic, a Cambridge-based start-up company, announced it was attempting to commercialise a form of plastic electronics that had developed from research at the laboratory. By using a cheap and simple set of processing operations to build up layers of circuitry on plastic “substrates” – the material on which circuits are formed – rather than silicon wafers used in conventional microchips, the developments promised to slash the cost of making semiconductors. What has given the science behind the company more substance is today’s announcement that Plastic Logic has attracted $100m (£51m) of investment that will fund a plant...

People say that if you play Microsoft CD's backwards, you hear satanic things, but that's nothing, because if you play them forwards, they install Windows. - Unknown There are 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't. - Unknown If at first you don't succeed; call it version 1.0 - T-Shirt Microsoft: "You've got questions. We've got dancing paperclips." - Unknown 1f u c4n r34d th1s u r34lly n33d t0 g37 l41d - tee shirt My pokemon bring all the nerds to the yard, and they're like you wanna trade cards? Darn right,...

It's been one of those years when technology came on in leaps and bounds. Around the world, thousands of pointy-headed scientists and product designers beavered away in high-security laboratories, investing time, money and effort to create... more silly USB gadgets. Yes, 2006 has been the year when gadgets got a bit ridiculous. And it wasn't just USB devices either. Here's Tech Digest's (http://techdigest.tv) pick of the year's gadgets that got us chuckling, frightened, or just scratching our heads in bafflement. 1. Gupi the robot guinea pig Complete with his animatronic carrot and 30 different sounds (most of which are presumably...

(Business 2.0 Magazine) -- Amid all the post-election noise, Democrats haven't been subtle about their top priorities once they take control of Congress: boost minimum wage, reform Medicare, rescind the 2001 tax cuts, and clean up "the swamp" of Washington lobbying. With such a teeming legislative plate, the tech industry might be feeling like table scraps right about now. It shouldn't. The 110th Congress could be the most technology-friendly in history. Here's why: Yes, Nancy Pelosi, the presumptive new Speaker of the House, hails from one of the most liberal parts of the country, San Francisco. But she also represents...

It was the narrowest of Republican margins in the U.S. Senate that doomed a crucial vote on Net neutrality earlier this year. By an 11-11 tie, a GOP-dominated committee failed in June to approve rules requiring that all Internet traffic be treated the same no matter what its "source" or "destination" might be. A similar measure also failed in the House of Representatives. But now that this week's elections have switched control of the House back to the Democrats--and they appear to have seized the Senate as well--the outlook for technology-related legislation has changed dramatically overnight....

Operation infiltration update UPDATE Submitted by staff on Sat, 11/04/2006 - 8:48pm. [UPDATE] We're fully staffed for phase II You can Sign up for the GOP 72 hour program here, and become a GOTV double agent. Before you do however, send me an email, and I'll give you your mission profile. Some field reports coming in indicate day 1 was a big success - more on that Monday

DURHAM - Robert Henn began making changes as soon as he walked through the door at Liquidia Technologies. Three months after he signed on as chief technology officer, the Durham company is holding fewer meetings and brainstorming more. In the time it used to take to perfect one experiment, the scientists now perform several. "No experiment is a failure," said Luke Roush, Liquidia's director of business development. As a result of that attitude, prototypes are now made in three to four days, rather than a month. And Henn, a chemist, is often in the laboratory, working alongside the nine scientists...

In today's DC Examiner, Olbermann Watch blogger Bob Cox sounds the alarm against what he (correctly) perceives as the conservative movement's failure to sufficiently become involved in creating the next generation of the internet. Now that the web has become a commodity, most conservatives have given up trying to be technology leaders, effectively allowing the left to create and control all of the major "web 2.0" resources like Technorati, Wikipedia, YouTube, and others. The failure of the Dean campaign has led too many conservatives to dismiss technology leadership as an overhyped part of a political campaign. But that's only half...

There's no doubt about it: foreign technology can whet your appetite. Super-lightweight laptops from Japan, feature-packed smartphones from Europe, and shiny, gotta-get-it devices designed in India, South Korea, and Taiwan are but a few of the items that currently reside on tech's cutting edge. But chances are you will never see those gadgets on store shelves here in the U.S. A trip to the typical U.S. electronics store suggests many Americans would gladly shell out some extra cash for high-end lightweight products. Smaller, lighter, and more-expensive laptops are occupying an ever-increasing amount of shelf space. Even if a larger percentage...

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--The airport of tomorrow might have virtual intelligence agents that check your bags, "smart dust" sensor networks that vet passengers heading through security and commuter pilots who fly the plane from a home office.That is, if Dave Evans' vision is to be believed. As chief technologist for Cisco Systems' Internet Business Solutions Group Innovations Team, Evans set the stage Tuesday for technology innovations that will help shape the future of airport travel here at the opening of the FAA/NASA/Industry Airport Planning Workshop. "This is a great time to innovate," Evans said as he delivered the keynote speech at...

Ainge targeted for grid stardom at very early age Tuesday, September 12, 2006 The Hillsboro Argus Stardom was predicted for Erik Ainge even before he touched a football. And at one point, there was consideration for Ainge to achieve his prep feats at another high school rather than Glencoe. A sports scientist named Jonathan P. Niednagel got the ball rolling when he told Ainge's parents that Erik had the realistic potential to be a National Football League star quarterback. Erik Ainge was a frail 10-year-old fifth grader when the story began, and Niednagel was working for Danny Ainge and...

Nintendo announced last night that the highly anticipated Wii will be released in the U.S. on November 19th at a launch price of $250. The Wii will be released just days after Sony plans to release the PS3. While Sony has said they will have a limited number of PS3's available for the holiday season, Nintendo assures they will have "far more available than their competitor". Link