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10 Gigabit per-second connection between US and China demoed
You, sir or ma'am, should probably not get too excited. Chances are, this trans-Pacific 10 Gigabit link won't do you any good, personally. On the other hand, researchers working together across the oceanic divide have tons to cheer about. The China Education and Research Network, the National Science Foundation and Indiana University worked together with BGI, one of the largest genomics organizations in the world, to christen the connection by transferring 24 Gigabytes of genomic data from Beijing to UC Davis in under 30 seconds. As a benchmark, the same file was sent between the same locations over the regular ol' Internet and it took over 26 hours. The high-speed link should prove to be a major boon for genetic research and DNA sequencing.
White House aims to make internet '90 percent cheaper' to build, teams up with Mozilla for $500k competition
The government's US Ignite partnership aims to push the growth of next-generation broadband networks, teaming up with over 100 start-ups, universities and existing tech companies like HP, Comcast and Verizon for the project. The President is set to sign an executive order today that aims to cut the cost of broadband construction across federal roadways and properties by up to 90 percent. The White House is also is looking to improve "next-generation applications and (the) digital experience," running on networks that are a heady 100 times faster than what's in use today. The National Science Foundation has thrown in $250 million to assist the partnership's creation of a national 1-gigabit network that would connect together academic and developer hubs. Mozilla has decided to team up with the foundation to offer up a $500,000 prize pot for developers looking to help create the "internet of the future". The challenge aims on education, healthcare, public safety and other (admittedly broad) topics, with the top ideas capable of grabbing $15,000 from the prize fund. And if Google reckons gigabit networks are the way to go, who's the White House to argue?
USC computer scientist makes geo-immersion maps, leaves other maps feeling inferior
Google's Maps and Earth services provide us with 3D maps, the means to track St. Nick, and even tools to help us train to wear the maillot jaune. Real-time views of the world are not among Street View's many powers, however. That's why the director of USC's Integrated Media Systems Center, Cyrus Shahabi, has one-upped El Goog by rendering the real world virtually using the concept of geo-immersion -- which integrates real-time information and videos with digital maps. In one application, users can see the energy usage and floor plans of university buildings along with the current location of campus transit buses. Another uses live video feeds from security cameras and facial recognition technology to track ne'er-do-wells in a three dimensional model of a city. Itching to see what happens when real and virtual worlds collide? Check out the cutting-edge cartography in action after the break.
Dell to trial mushroom-based packaging on servers, hugs IT hippies
We've already seen Dell embracing the bamboo woods to package its products, so what's next for Round Rock's green fingers? Mushrooms, apparently. Unveiled at the Fortune Brainstorm Green conference yesterday is a biodegradable cushioning tray, which is grown -- yes, grown -- out of a mold stuffed with old cotton hulls, mushroom spawn, and nutritious agricultural waste. While it does take about five to ten days for the mycelium (aka mushroom root) to form the desired shape, the merit of such process is that all the energy required for the manufacture is provided by the recycled waste, thus reducing other energy dependencies. What's more, this fungal packaging has already passed Dell's extensive lab tests "like a champ," and it'll soon be trialed on Multipack packaging shipments for the PowerEdge R710 servers. If you want to thank Michael, he'll be in his usual tree house.
Scientists discover planet capable of supporting life, Richard Branson calls dibs on it
A team of planet hunters from UC Santa Cruz (not to be confused with Dog The Bounty Hunter) have found a planet three times the size of our own that might support life. Scientists have been using the HIRES spectrometer on the Keck I Telescope to keep an eye on the Gliese 581 red dwarf star in the constellation Libra for about 11 years now, and among its many virtues have learned that the planet Gliese 581g has the potential for life. Indeed, it is being billed as "the first potentially habitable exoplanet," meaning that it's in "the zone" where it's neither too hot nor too cold for liquid water. Although it's rather Earth-like in some respects, there are some stunning differences: for instance, the planet doesn't spin on its axis, so one side is always dark (and probably 25 degrees below zero) while the other side is probably rather pleasant, or "shirt-sleeve weather," as one of the discoverers, Steven Vogt, put it. Indeed, he goes on to estimate that "chances for life on this planet are 100 percent." Those are pretty good odds! There's no word on when Virgin Galactic will be offering vacation packages to this hit destination, or even when it will be feasible to make the 20 light year voyage. Artist's rendition after the break.
NSF backs development of laser-guided robot wheelchairs
It's been well over a year since we last saw the laser-guided, self-docking wheelchair developed by folks at Lehigh University, and now the team is back with an altogether more ambitious project. According to associate professor John Spletzer, the recipient of a five-year CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation, the goal is to "extend the autonomy of the wheelchair so it can navigate completely in an urban setting and take you wherever you need to go." This will be done by equipping robotic chairs with laser and camera sensors (which the team developed for the 2007 DARPA Grand Challenge) as well as exhaustive, Google Street View-esque maps of the city where they will be operating. Of course, these guys will be operating in a busy urban environment, so in addition to large-scale 3D maps, they must be equipped with motion planning features for operating in dense crowds and a changing environment. It's too soon yet to say when these things might become available commercially, but if you're a resident of the Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Hospital in Allentown, PA, you might have your chance to test one soon enough. [Via PhysOrg]
Volkswagen and Toshiba to link up on electric drive systems
Volkswagen sure is talking tough about going green, but we've yet to actually see any of these long-teased concepts hit the show floor. In case a plug-in Twin Drive hybrid just wasn't enough to look forward to, the suits in Wolfsburg have just inked a letter of intent with Toshiba in order to form a collaborative agreement that will see the two working together in the development of "electric drive units and the accompanying power electronics for Volkswagen's planned New Small Family." If rumors prove accurate, the NSF crew will mimic that Up! concept we've been drooling over for ages, and if you were wondering where the batteries would be coming from, this here arrangement suggests that it'll be from within the partnership. Oh, and you want a launch date, don't you? How about "forever from now," or as VW's Dr. Martin Winterkorn put it: "A considerable amount of research and development work still has to be carried out until we can produce the electric vehicle."
