Chad's News

With 3-D movies becoming all the rage, Slate takes a look at the difficulties inherent in converting an older 2-D movie into 3-D. Unfortunately the viewing experience is not as good as native 3-D, especially if they do a sloppy job. Also, since it costs more to film in 3-D than to convert from 2-D, we may see upcoming films doing the conversion anyway.

Link: http://www.slate.com/…
(via Neatorama)

From the article: “A paper in the current issue of Science discusses the ability of a single-celled creature to create a robust network while foraging for food—one that mimicked the Tokyo rail system in complexity.”

Link: http://arstechnica.com/…

It seems like copyright holders go ballistic every time a new medium is developed, then that medium ends up becoming a major revenue source. Ars Technica did some research and has determined this is not a new phenomenon.

Link: http://arstechnica.com/…

I remember hearing about the Tweel and thinking what a great idea it was—no more flat tires and no more wasted gas or uneven wear due to improper inflation. Unfortunately, Michelin hasn’t done much with the technology. But now there’s another contender in the airless tire arena. Let’s hope this military technology makes its way to the consumer market sometime soon.

Link: http://www.gizmag.com/…
(via Neatorama)

As I grow older, I’m amazed to see the creation of technologies that I once read about in science fiction books. The Japanese government is spending $22 billion on a project to put a large solar panel array in orbit that will generate energy and beam it down to the Earth.

Link: http://www.scientificamerican.com/…
(via digg)

The next step forward in display technology is OLED-based screens. OLED displays are thinner, use less power, and provide better picture quality. The linked article says we’ll see them in small devices in another month or two. It may be a while, however, before we get large-screen OLED televisions. Also, there is a significant difference between LED and OLED televisions. Don’t be fooled by the similarity of the acronyms.

Link: http://arstechnica.com/…

While much attention has been going to quantum computers as the replacement for today’s silicon-based computer systems, some research has shown that bacteria and DNA could instead be the future. Chad’s News has previously discussed the possibility of using DNA for encryption—so why not go all the way and have a full-fledged DNA-based computer? Note that both bacterial and DNA computers are in the research phase, however, and we won’t be seeing them in common use any time soon.

Link #1 (DNA): http://news.bbc.co.uk/…

Link #2 (Bacteria): http://www.guardian.co.uk/…

The Ford Motor Company has created a viable system that replaces spark plugs with lasers. According to the linked article, this technology is “more reliable and efficient than current spark plug technology and will enable cars to start more easily in cold and damp conditions.” As an added bonus, fuel usage is reduced because of the increased stability of the combustion. Expect to see this “in the wild” within a couple years.

Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/…
(via Engadget)

First diamonds, then buckyballs and carbon nanotubes, but now we have a viable way to manufacture graphene, the next miracle material made strictly from carbon. Graphene is strong, thin, and very good at conducting electricity, which makes it useful for quite a few things. It’s been around for a long time (think pencils), but the problem has been how to manufacture it in a useful form. Expect to see more of this technology in the future.

Link: http://www.freep.com/…
(via Neatorama)

Here’s an interesting concept. You know all the power that radio and TV stations use to broadcast signals over the airwaves—most of which just dissipates away? This prototype Nokia phone uses that energy to recharge its battery. The power isn’t very much and won’t necessarily keep the phone fully charged while being actively used, but it would at least make the battery last longer between “wired” recharges. Expect to see this technology go live sometime in the next 3-5 years.

Link: http://ca.tech.yahoo.com/…
(via digg)

For web designers, dealing with images is simple. You just use the <img> HTML tag, and the browser knows how to handle it, whether the image type is PNG, JPEG, GIF, TIFF, or whatever. The same cannot be said for video content. Adobe Flash has become an informal standard, but even then you have to use the nonstandard <embed> tag with lots of vendor-specific information, or the horrible <object> tag that’s official but even more cumbersome. HTML version 5 hopes to do away with all this by making video content as easy to handle as images are today. The browsers will have built-in codecs to display the video, and all the designer will have to do is use the <video> tag. No more browser plug-ins for Flash, Silverlight, or JavaFX.

This is only one of HTML 5’s new features. For instance, there’s an <audio> tag for (you guessed it…) audio content.

HTML 5 is still in draft form and won’t see widespread use for years, but some newer browsers already support certain features. And it will make life much easier for web developers.

Link: http://www.infoworld.com/…
(via Slashdot)

As CFLs have been replacing standard incandescent light bulbs, so will LED bulbs displace the CFLs. They last longer, use less electricity, and don’t contain hazardous materials. Right now, however, they’re way too expensive ($40 to $80 for the ones described here). One of the LED bulbs in the linked article even has a remote that allows you to change its brightness and color, which is a bit over the top for my tastes. But CFLs were super-expensive when they first came out, so I expect the LED bulbs will drop to a reasonable price as well.

Link: http://sharp-world.com/…
(via Engadget)