paper
Latest
Research shows answering one robocall doesn't lead to more
Researchers used 66,606 fake phone lines to better understand robocalls.
Astronomers observe the brightest supernova on record
In 2016, astronomers spotted the brightest supernova ever observed. They watched as the supernova, named SN2016aps, continued to emit radiation for more than 1,000 days.
Samsung will replace plastic packaging with eco-friendly materials
Samsung is once more improving its environmental footprint in response to pressure. The company has outlined plans to begin replacing plastic packaging with more sustainable materials. From the first half of 2019 onward, it'll ditch regular plastic in boxes for phones, appliances and other products with bioplastics, recycled plastics and paper. It's even changing product designs to reduce its waste -- phone chargers will have a matte finish that doesn't require a plastic protection film to remain pristine during shipping.
Stephen Hawking's last paper on black holes is now online
Stephen Hawking never stopped trying to unravel the mysteries surrounding black holes -- in fact, he was still working to solve one of them shortly before his death. Now, his last research paper on the subject is finally available online through pre-publication website ArXiV, thanks to his co-authors from Cambridge and Harvard. It's entitled Black Hole Entropy and Soft Hair, and it tackles the black hole paradox. According to Hawking's co-author Malcolm Perry, the paradox "is perhaps the most puzzling problem in fundamental theoretical physics today" and was the center of the late physicist's life for decades.
Dropbox's Paper documents app now supports custom layouts
Dropbox has been pushing out a bunch of updates to its core products over the last few weeks, and its collaborative document-building service Paper is the latest to get some major tweaks. As of today, Dropbox is adding the ability to build Paper templates and share them with an entire organization, if you're working in a big business setting. Whether you're in a large company or just using Paper solo, templates should make it a lot easier to re-use layouts that you've built.
Researchers digitize writing with cheap, touch-sensitive paper
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a paper that can track touch, which, among other applications, could lead to an inexpensive way to digitize writing. They're presenting their work this week at the ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. The paper itself is your typical, run-of-the-mill paper, but conductive material is applied to the back. While looking for the best conductive material to attach to the paper, the researchers wanted to make sure it was as inexpensive as possible and could be applied in a high-volume production scenario. Many materials were eliminated due to high costs, non-scalability and poor interaction with paper, but the researchers found two that were suitable -- a carbon-loaded plastic sheet that can be adhered to the paper and carbon-loaded paint that can be silk-screened, brushed or sprayed on.
Dropbox Paper's newest features cater to designers
Dropbox Paper originally seemed like a Google Docs clone built for the big businesses that have been an increasingly large focus for the cloud sync-and-share company. But two years since its initial introduction, Paper's ability to embed and display a huge variety of content (including images, Google spreadsheets, data from Github YouTube videos, Spotify playlists and plain old code) has helped it carve out niches in a variety of businesses.
Dropbox document scanning comes to Android devices
Android Dropbox users now have the same ability as their iOS-using brethren: scanning documents right to their account with a mobile app. The company's Paper app -- a collaborative document workspace for Dropbox Business users -- also gets an offline mode for both iOS and Android.
Researchers are breeding fluorescent bacteria to uncover landmines
One of the many tragedies of war are the dangers that persist long after conflicts formally end -- dangers like abandoned minefields peppered with active, deadly ordnance. Buried landmines threaten the lives of ordinary people near former battlefields all over the world, and disarming them has always been a dangerous effort. Now, researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem are working on a way to make landmine identification easier and safer. No, the trick isn't to build a better metal detector, it's to cultivate bacteria that glows in the presence of deadly explosives.
Dropbox Smart Sync lets you collaborate across Mac and Windows PCs
Last year, Dropbox introduced an interesting new feature called Project Infinite, which promised to let you view and access all of your files, whether they're on your hard drive or in the cloud. The idea here is that all your files will appear right there in your desktop, and you can view and make changes to them without having to launch Dropbox's web interface. Several months later and Project Infinite has left its beta state. Now, it's called Smart Sync, and it'll be available to all Dropbox Business users starting today.
Digitize your doodles with an e-reader you can draw on
No matter how useful a tablet can be, for many, nothing can beat the versatility of paper. Well, paper-loving reader, it might be time to re-think those analog allegiances as reMarkable has just unveiled an impressive new e-paper tablet.
This paper rolls up into an adjustable flashlight
The latest capsule collection from Design of Things (courtesy of design firm Nendo and Softbank) is just as fascinating as its 3D-printed, prune-able Bonsai trees announced last year. The Paper Torch is equal parts designs, patterns and heritage of Takeo paper (est. 1899), and electronics know-how from a startup that specializes in flat components and printed circuits (est. 2014). The results might be... illuminating. If only I could see it working in person...
Paper, Dropbox's answer to Google Docs, now has apps for iOS and Android
It's been almost a year since Dropbox formally introduced Paper, its vision for a collaborative workplace regardless of whether you're a project manager, coder, designer or any other kind of employee. It's been in closed beta since then, and we haven't heard much of how the tool has progressed, but today that's changing. Dropbox is announcing that the Paper beta is now open to anyone, and the company is also launching dedicated Paper apps for iOS and Android.
Facebook's Paper news-reading app to shut down next month
Facebook has announced that it is shutting down its news-reading app Paper. The application was introduced in 2014 as an alternative to the main Facebook app, featuring a sleek layout with a complete focus on showcasing articles -- rather than status updates from your friends. As unexpected as the announcement may be, it shouldn't come as a surprise considering that last year Facebook shuttered Creative Labs, the design team behind Paper.
Oree's real ink-and-paper stylus is not for starving artists
Known for chic, artisanal digital products like a $190 walnut keyboard, French company Orée is going after the creative set with the Stylograph. Fabricated from pure copper, the ink stylus lets you transcribe your scribblings from paper over to an iOS or Android device. The idea is to marry the tactile sensation of drawing on paper with the flexibility of digital formats. The pen is nearly a work of art in itself, but it comes with a $300 price tag -- double that of rival Livescribe.
Livescribe's latest smartpen is aimed at writing buffs
Livescribe had the canny idea of letting you digitize your art by drawing with ink on actual paper, and it's trying to make the drawing experience better with the Livescribe 3 Black Edition. The pen has a grippy matte black finish with a glass-reinforced black clip and a subtle change in balance that was requested by some of the company's customers. We take that to mean that artists or perhaps lovers of calligraphy wanted something more akin to a professional tool.
Epson wants to put a paper recycling machine in your office
If Seiko Epson has its way, your office paper recycling bin could soon become obsolete. The company's PaperLab, an 8.5-foot-wide device that turns used paper into clean white sheets, is set to go on sale next year. The machine strips paper into fibers before using additives to bind fibers back together, remove colors and calibrate the white appearance for the final result. PaperLab works at a rate of 14 sheets per minute or around 6,720 sheets in an 8-hour workday. In addition to convenience, the PaperLab should also reduce the environmental impact from transporting paper waste and new recycled sheets back and forth. Epson isn't discussing pricing specifics just yet, but expect the requisite investment to be quite substantial.
Watch this graphene paper slither around like it's alive
Researchers from China have taken shape-memory materials to a creepy new level with a self-folding paper that can propel itself by "walking." Sorcery? Not quite. It's actually made from everybody's favorite wonder-material, graphene, and heated by an infrared laser that causes active regions to contract, then expand when it shuts off. By placing the regions in strategic locations, the team can make the paper move in any direction. It isn't going to put a scare into Sarah Connor just yet, but the team thinks it could one day be used to create contracting "muscles" that do power murderous 'bots. In the near term, the material could lead to low-cost temperature and humidity sensors.
Paper is Dropbox's new vision for how teams can work together
Six months ago, Dropbox quietly announced a collaborative note-taking tool called Notes and launched it in an invite-only beta test. But starting today, the product is being officially branded as Dropbox Paper and the beta test is expanding significantly. You'll still need an invite, but the company gave us a preview of what's probably the biggest addition to Dropbox in years. It's far too early to tell if Paper will be able to keep up with entrenched tools from Google, Microsoft and many others -- but there are definitely some interesting features here that make it worth keeping an eye on.
This paper origami bird actually flies
Origami and technology go together pretty well. Lightweight, efficient structures... and animal shapes. But there's nothing more "origami" than the humble paper crane. Now, courtesy of a small, light, power-efficient microcomputer from Rohm (a Japanese company: don't let the name fool you), the crane can fly. Better still, it's remote-controlled and can even keep itself afloat for around five minutes, according to the spokesperson. It's almost the most Japanese thing here at this year's CEATEC. Almost.
