Music Speaks Technology Serves: December 2009

Friday, December 11, 2009

Sir Richard Branson Unveiled Rocket Plane

Sir Richard Branson has unveiled the rocket plane he will use to take fare-paying passengers into space.

SpaceShiptwo was presented to the world in Mojave, California. The vehicle will undergo testing over the next 18 months before being allowed to take ticketed individuals on short-hop trips just above the atmosphere. According to the Billionaire Sir Richard (Head of Virgin Group) it has been intended to run the first flights out of New Mexico before extending operations around the globe.

This hybrid rocket motor powered and Built from lightweight carbon composite materials SS2 is based on the X-Prize-winning SpaceShipOne concept which is basically a rocket plane that is lifted initially by a carrier vehicle before blasting skywards. The Plane will take the passengers into the space for about five mins and then will come back back down. This five mins flight into the space to make you feel weightless or whatever you might wana call it will cost about USD 200,000 (Source: news.bbc.co.uk)

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

British geology maps now free to explore on website

Ever wondered if there was a volcano under your home?

Well, now you can find out by using the British Geological Survey's (BGS) new OpenGeoscience portal.

It allows the public to study all the UK's rocks on a simple Google map, down to a "scale" of 1:50,000. Toggling the map shows overlying towns and streets.

A range of educational and professional tools are also brought together on the website, including the huge national geological archive of photographs.

(source: news.bbc.co.uk)

Google includes real-time data in search results

Google has launched real-time search to give users access to up-to-the-second information.

The search giant said it will draw real-time data from over a billion pages on the web.

The new feature will also include updates from Twitter and the social networks of MySpace and Facebook.

"Information is being created at a pace I have never seen before and in this environment, seconds matter," said Google fellow Amit Singhal.

At an event staged at the Computer History Museum in California, the company said this was the first time that any search engine has integrated the real-time web into its results page.

"There is so much information being generated out there that getting you relevant information is the key to the success of a product like this. It's all about relevance, relevance, relevance," said Mr Singhal. (source: news.bbc.co.uk)

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Mobile phones 'have not increased brain cancers'

There has been no substantial change in the number of adult brain tumours since mobile phone usage sharply increased in the mid-1990s, Danish scientists say.

The Danish Cancer Society looked at the rates of brain tumours among 20 to 79 year olds from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. They found that trends in cancer rates had not altered from the period before mobiles were introduced.But they say longer follow-up studies are needed. (source: news.bbc.co.uk)

iPhone orchestra ready for debut

Smartphone symphony: a group of US students have

built music applications and written scores for their iPhones.

A group of US students has created an entire orchestra out of separate iPhone applications.

As part of their studies, the group from the University of Michigan built the applications themselves and composed music for them. (source: news.bbc.co.uk)

Electric cars are starting to take off in Japan

Green cars powered by alternative fuel sources have become more visible on the roads in recent years.

One cause could be the introduction of legislation and higher taxes to penalise drivers of gas-guzzling vehicles by governments around the world. (Source: news.BBC.co.uk)

Indy-Cator LCD Shift Knob

I used to hate manual cars until I came to know about this revolutionary product and state of the art technology. How would you feel if you have a technology in your car that allows your shift knob showing you what gear you have on? Check out this Indy-Cator's latest technology which manages to spice up an otherwise ordinary shift knob by outfitting it with a built-in LCD. According to Indy-Cator this LCD shift knob not only adds some kool looks to your manual car but also decreases the consumption of your car by 15% by adopting a certain driving style. They have also claimed that this revolutionary product (LCD Shift Knob) increases driving safety which I kind of don’t understand how.

This LCD shift knob fits all cars with manual transmissions up to 6 speeds and is designed to work with every gearshift pattern but it won’t work if you have to press some sort of button to shift to reverse gear. And to ensure a clear view of the LCD at all the times a light sensor in the Indy-Cator LCD shift Knob controls the brightness of the LCD according to the light in the environment.
This LCD Shift Knob comes in three colors. A red display, a blue display and a green display