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Saints Row IV loses 'alien narcotics' mission to gain approval in Australia
We knew the Australian Classification Board had fundamental objections to Saints Row IV. What we didn't know, however, was that these sticking points boiled down to just a single 20-minute side mission, in which the player gained superpowers by smoking "alien narcotics" with a character called Shaundi. That mission has now been exorcised, microwaved and buried in a sanitary disposal tank somewhere in the outback. According to Eurogamer, the only other change to the Australian version of Saints Row IV is the removal of a weapon called the Rectifier, which the censors were too anal to appreciate, but which will still be available to players as DLC. Meanwhile, we're taking bets on how long it'll be before the full, uncut title hits shelves Down Under as a premium box set.
Cheap NFC-based chips run on your phone's radio waves, can be read and written
A new generation of cheaper, passively powered smart tags could accelerate NFC adoption very soon. Developed at Sunchon National University and Paru Printed Electronics Research Institute in Korea, the circuits could be printed in a similar method to newspapers, but it's the inclusion of the rectenna that makes the new chip technology so appealing. The combination antenna and rectifier can pick up residual radio waves from your phone to power itself. This new technology could apparently drop the cost of installing NFC to as little as one penny per unit, while offering up additional two-way functionality over its RFID rival. And if there's a speed boost in the process, well, all the better.
Let the turkey power your Christmas tree lights
No one's attempted this in a commercial product before, but Nihon Dengyo Kosaku Co has reportedly developed a device that makes it achievable: a 'rectenna' that can fit inside a microwave oven and recycle unused wave energy. The palm-sized gadget combines both an antenna for catching waves and a rectifier for converting them into DC current, with a maximum output of 100 watts. Foods with a low water content have the worst heating efficiency, which means they offer the best opportunity for reclaiming energy -- so stodgy Christmas cuisine would be perfect.
Heat diodes give thermal computing a fighting chance
Anyone who has tried their hand at overclocking recognizes just how evil waste heat is, and we're guessing that one Wataru Kobayashi at Waseda University in Japan understands explicitly. He, along with a few colleagues, has recently devised a new diode that allows heat current to travel in one direction but not in the other. The breakthrough essentially paves the way for thermal computing to actually take off, with obvious applications including heat sinks for microprocessors. Kobayashi, who may or may not be able to eat a dozen hot dogs per minute in his spare time, also hopes that his discovery will lead to a thermal transistor, thermal logic gates and a thermal memory. The future's yours, friend.
