The Size of Our World

I found this very interesting comparison of heavenly bodies on stumbleupon at rense.com. I thought it would be a nice share.

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10 Ways to Destroy Earth

Whether it took the Earth 4.5 billion years to get to where it is today (or a mere seven days), destroying it might take a lot less time. Take a look at these spell-bounding new ways of destroying our Earth and how far man can reach from today's perspective.

10. Total existence failure

You will need: nothing

Method: No method. Simply sit back and twiddle your thumbs as, completely by chance, all 200,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 atoms making up the planet Earth suddenly, simultaneously and spontaneously cease to exist. Note: the odds against this actually ever occurring are considerably greater than a googolplex to one. Failing this, some kind of arcane (read: scientifically laughable) probability-manipulation device may be employed.

Utter, utter rubbish.


9. Gobbled up by strangelets

You will need: a stable strangelet

Method: Hijack control of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider in Brookhaven National Laboratory, Long Island, New York. Use the RHIC to create and maintain a stable strangelet. Keep it stable for as long as it takes to absorb the entire Earth into a mass of strange quarks. Keeping the strangelet stable is incredibly difficult once it has absorbed the stabilizing machinery, but creative solutions may be possible.

A while back, there was some media hoo-hah about the possibility of this actually happening at the RHIC, but in actuality the chances of a stable strangelet forming are pretty much zero.

Earth's final resting place: a huge glob of strange matter.


8. Sucked into a microscopic black hole

You will need: a microscopic black hole. Note that black holes are not eternal, they evaporate due to Hawking radiation. For your average black hole this takes an unimaginable amount of time, but for really small ones it could happen almost instantaneously, as evaporation time is dependent on mass. Therefore you microscopic black hole must have greater than a certain threshold mass, roughly equal to the mass of Mount Everest. Creating a microscopic black hole is tricky, since one needs a reasonable amount of neutronium, but may possibly be achievable by jamming large numbers of atomic nuclei together until they stick. This is left as an exercise to the reader.

Method: simply place your black hole on the surface of the Earth and wait. Black holes are of such high density that they pass through ordinary matter like a stone through the air. The black hole will plummet through the ground, eating its way to the center of the Earth and all the way through to the other side: then, it'll oscillate back, over and over like a matter-absorbing pendulum. Eventually it will come to rest at the core, having absorbed enough matter to slow it down. Then you just need to wait, while it sits and consumes matter until the whole Earth is gone.

Highly, highly unlikely. But not impossible.

Earth's final resting place: a singularity of almost zero size, which will then proceed to happily orbit the Sun as normal.

Source: "The Dark Side Of The Sun," by Terry Pratchett. It is true that the microscopic black hole idea is an age-old science fiction mainstay which predates Pratchett by a long time.


7. Blown up by matter/antimatter reaction

You will need: 2,500,000,000,000 tons of antimatter

Antimatter - the most explosive substance possible - can be manufactured in small quantities using any large particle accelerator, but this will take some considerable time to produce the required amounts. If you can create the appropriate machinery, it may be possible - and much easier - simply to "flip" 2.5 trillion tons of matter through a fourth dimension, turning it all to antimatter at once.

Method: This method involves detonating a bomb so big that it blasts the Earth to pieces.

How hard is that?

The gravitational binding energy of a planet of mass M and radius R is - if you do the lengthy calculations - given by the formula E=(3/5)GM^2/R. For Earth, that works out to roughly 224,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Joules. The Sun takes nearly a WEEK to output that much energy. Think about THAT.

To liberate that much energy requires the complete annihilation of around 2,500,000,000,000 tonnes of antimatter. That's assuming zero energy loss to heat and radiation, which is unlikely to be the case in reality: You'll probably need to up the dose by at least a factor of ten. Once you've generated your antimatter, probably in space, just launch it en masse towards Earth. The resulting release of energy (obeying Einstein's famous mass-energy equation, E=mc^2) should be sufficient to split the Earth into a thousand pieces.

Earth's final resting place: A second asteroid belt around the Sun.

Earliest feasible completion date: AD 2500. Of course, if it does prove possible to manufacture antimatter in the sufficiently large quantities you require - which is not necessarily the case - then smaller antimatter bombs will be around long before then.


6. Destroyed by vacuum energy detonation

You will need: a light bulb

Method: This is a fun one. Contemporary scientific theories tell us that what we may see as vacuum is only vacuum on average, and actually thriving with vast amounts of particles and antiparticles constantly appearing and then annihilating each other. It also suggests that the volume of space enclosed by a light bulb contains enough vacuum energy to boil every ocean in the world. Therefore, vacuum energy could prove to be the most abundant energy source of any kind. Which is where you come in. All you need to do is figure out how to extract this energy and harness it in some kind of power plant - this can easily be done without arousing too much suspicion - then surreptitiously allow the reaction to run out of control. The resulting release of energy would easily be enough to annihilate all of planet Earth and probably the Sun too.

Slightly possible.

Earth's final resting place: a rapidly expanding cloud of particles of varying size.

Earliest feasible completion date: 2060 or so.

Source: "3001: The Final Odyssey," by Arthur C. Clarke


5. Sucked into a giant black hole

You will need: a black hole, extremely powerful rocket engines, and, optionally, a large rocky planetary body. The nearest black hole to our planet is 1600 light years from Earth in the direction of Sagittarius, orbiting V4641.
Method: after locating your black hole, you need get it and the Earth together. This is likely to be the most time-consuming part of this plan. There are two methods, moving Earth or moving the black hole, though for best results you'd most likely move both at once.

Very difficult, but definitely possible.

Earth's final resting place: part of the mass of the black hole.

Earliest feasible completion date: I do not expect the necessary technology to be available until AD 3000, and add at least 800 years for travel time. (That's in an external observer's frame of reference and assuming you move both the Earth and the black hole at the same time.)

Sources: "The Hitch Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy," by Douglas Adams; SPACE.com


4. Meticulously and systematically deconstructed

You will need: a powerful mass driver, or ideally lots of them; ready access to roughly 2*10^32J

Method: Basically, what we're going to do here is dig up the Earth, a big chunk at a time, and boost the whole lot of it into orbit. Yes. All six sextillion tons of it. A mass driver is a sort of oversized electromagnetic railgun, which was once proposed as a way of getting mined materials back from the Moon to Earth - basically, you just load it into the driver and fire it upwards in roughly the right direction. We'd use a particularly powerful model - big enough to hit escape velocity of 11 kilometers per second even after atmospheric considerations - and launch it all into the Sun or randomly into space.

Alternate methods for boosting the material into space include loading the extracted material into space shuttles or taking it up via space elevator. All these methods, however, require a - let me emphasize this - titanic quantity of energy to carry out. Building a Dyson sphere ain't gonna cut it here. (Note: Actually, it would. But if you have the technology to build a Dyson sphere, why are you reading this?) See No. 6 for a possible solution.

If we wanted to and were willing to devote resources to it, we could start this process RIGHT NOW. Indeed, what with all the gunk left in orbit, on the Moon and heading out into space, we already have done.

Earth's final resting place: Many tiny pieces, some dropped into the Sun, the remainder scattered across the rest of the Solar System.

Earliest feasible completion date: Ah. Yes. At a billion tons of mass driven out of the Earth's gravity well per second: 189,000,000 years.


3. Pulverized by impact with blunt instrument

You will need: a big heavy rock, something with a bit of a swing to it... perhaps Mars

Method: Essentially, anything can be destroyed if you hit it hard enough. ANYTHING. The concept is simple: find a really, really big asteroid or planet, accelerate it up to some dazzling speed, and smash it into Earth, preferably head-on but whatever you can manage. The result: an absolutely spectacular collision, resulting hopefully in Earth (and, most likely, our "cue ball" too) being pulverized out of existence - smashed into any number of large pieces which if the collision is hard enough should have enough energy to overcome their mutual gravity and drift away forever, never to coagulate back into a planet again.

A brief analysis of the size of the object required can be found here. Falling at the minimal impact velocity of 11 kilometers per second and assuming zero energy loss to heat and other energy forms, the cue ball would have to have roughly 60% of the mass of the Earth. Mars, the next planet out, "weighs" in at about 11% of Earth's mass, while Venus, the next planet in and also the nearest to Earth, has about 81%. Assuming that we would fire our cue ball into Earth at much greater than 11km/s (I'm thinking more like 50km/s), either of these would make great possibilities.

Obviously a smaller rock would do the job, you just need to fire it faster. A 10,000,000,000,000-tonne asteroid at 90% of light speed would do just as well. See the Guide to moving Earth for useful information on maneuvering big hunks of rock across interplanetary distances.

Pretty plausible.

Earth's final resting place: a variety of roughly Moon-sized chunks of rock, scattered haphazardly across the greater Solar System.

Earliest feasible completion date: AD 2500, maybe?


2. Eaten by von Neumann machines
You will need: a single von Neumann machine

Method: A von Neumann machine is any device that is capable of creating an exact copy of itself given nothing but the necessary raw materials. Create one of these that subsists almost entirely on iron, magnesium, aluminum and silicon, the major elements found in Earth's mantle and core. It doesn't matter how big it is as long as it can reproduce itself exactly in any period of time. Release it into the ground under the Earth's crust and allow it to fend for itself. Watch and wait as it creates a second von Neumann machine, then they create two more, then they create four more. As the population of machines doubles repeatedly, the planet Earth will, terrifyingly soon, be entirely eaten up and turned into a swarm of potentially sextillions of machines. Technically your objective would now be complete - no more Earth - but if you want to be thorough then you can command your VNMs to hurl themselves, along with any remaining trace elements, into the Sun. This hurling would have to be achieved using rocket propulsion of some sort, so be sure to include this in your design.

So crazy it might just work.

Earth's final resting place: the bodies of the VNMs themselves, then a small lump of iron sinking into the Sun.

Earliest feasible completion date: Potentially 2045-2050, or even earlier.

Source: "2010: Odyssey Two," by Arthur C. Clarke


1. Hurled into the Sun

You will need: Earthmoving equipment

Method: Hurl the Earth into the Sun. Sending Earth on a collision course with the Sun is not as easy as one might think; even though you don't actually have to literally hit the Sun (send the Earth near enough to the Sun (within the Roche limit), and tidal forces will tear it apart), it's surprisingly easy to end up with Earth in a loopy elliptical orbit which merely roasts it for four months in every eight. But careful planning can avoid this.

This is impossible at our current technological level, but will be possible one day, I'm certain. In the meantime, may happen by freak accident if something comes out of nowhere and randomly knocks Earth in precisely the right direction. Earth's final resting place: a small globule of vaporized iron sinking slowly into the heart of the Sun.

Earliest feasible completion date: Via act of God: 25 years' time. Any earlier and we'd have already spotted the asteroid in question. Via human intervention: given the current level of expansion of space technology, 2250 at best.

Source: "Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers," by Grant Naylor.

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Can we stop aging and reverse it's effects?

Why do we age?



Over the centuries, people have often wondered how it is that our bodies grow and develop from a tiny fertilized egg, to a newborn baby, to a young child, then a teenager and, finally, a young adult. A huge number of very complex changes within our bodies must happen perfectly in order to achieve this.

Once we grow into our adult perfection, why can’t we just stay there? Why do we have to age?

And can we stop it?

Doctors and scientists used to take aging for granted. Scientists used to think that because aging was a natural process, there was no need to investigate it. Is it the wear and tear of the body that causes aging or the life span of a person is defined by his genetic structure?


You've heard it said many times before: "Youth is wasted on the young." Unfortunately, the trade-off for the life experiences and wisdom that comes with age is the gradual loss of youth and physical health. We're constantly reminded that "life's too short." Time eventually takes it toll, and the body simply doesn't work as well as it did before.

But what if that didn't have to be the case? Imagine what people could do with an extra decade or two of healthy years. Now how about an extra fifty? Hundred? Five hundred? Imagine accumulating wisdom and experience without the threats of disease and frailty. Imagine being able to stop aging and reverse its effects.

Sounds like a plot for a science fiction story? The truth is putting an end to aging isn't a far-off dream: it's quickly becoming a reality, according to speakers at ideaCity 2008. The conference, hosted and produced in Toronto by Moses Znaimer, featured the latest research on slowing and stopping the aging process. The goal: not just to increase human lifespan, but to increase the healthy years -- perhaps indefinitely. And the "cure" may be available sooner than you think. Here's what the speakers had to say:


Ray Kurzweil

Don't be fooled by appearances. On the outside, Ray Kurzweil looks like a baby boomer but on the inside he claims to be decades younger. Advances in science are paving the way for revolutionary treatments, and he plans to be around to take advantage of them.

Imagine being a "designer baby boomer". In his talk at ideaCity, Kurzweil outlined how the biotechnology revolution is changing the paradigm of medicine. New technology can design and simulate treatments, computers can simulate human intelligence and tiny robots (known as nanobots) and nanotechnology devices could soon be used to kill cancer cells or control insulin. Genes can be added or be "turned off" to prevent diseases. Organs and tissues will eventually be restored to their youthful state. He predicts the biotechnology revolution will peak around 2020 -- well within the grasp of today's Zoomers.

The challenge, Kurzweil argues, is getting through the next 15 years to reap the benefits. How? By slowing the disease and aging processes using the knowledge we have today. If you want to see the specifics, Kurzweil and co-author Terry Grossman outline their strategies in their book Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever. The book acts as a guide to the aggressive strategies you need to employ to retain your health, including regular exercise, managing stress, taking supplements and treating inflammation in addition to the chapters dedicated to a healthy diet.


Michael Rose

Imagine being in a dark factory with only a flashlight. That's how Michael Rose describes how we used to approach medicine: Try to detect the source (if you can see it) and correct the problem. The approach doesn't work well for the complex networks that make up the human body. However, genomics (e.g. the Human Genome Project and DNA mapping) has effectively "turned on the lights" to provide a better understanding of how components and systems work -- and where faults occur.

The problem is that our genome has an unfavourable vocabulary -- it tends towards what Rose calls "bad words" like cancer, Alzheimer's disease and heart disease. The solution is to find therapeutic treatments to rewrite these bad words in order to literally stop your genome from killing you. In the end, you'll have a longer life, but also a healthier and more robust constitution.

In his book, The Long Tomorrow -- How Advances in Evolutionary Biology Can Help Us Postpone Aging, Rose argues that there is no single "fountain of youth" or fabled "elixir of life", despite what the old legends say. Instead, the field of Nutrigenomics, the study of the relationships between nutrition and genes, will lead to nutritional supplements meant to protect health and put off aging.


Aubrey de Grey

"The first 1000-year-old is probably less than 20 years younger than the first 150 year old."

Say what?

In order to understand this statement, you have to stop thinking in straight lines. When it comes to life span, Aubrey de Grey, chairman of the Methuselah Foundation, sees exponential rather than linear increases. What starts as the doubling of small numbers (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, etc) soon explodes. The numbers almost sound too good to be true, but once the fundamental breakthroughs happen, then achievements will accelerate rapidly -- and so will life expectancy.

How will these miraculous numbers come about? De Grey argues that our metabolism causes damage on an ongoing basis. This damage eventually causes pathology (disease). What we need to do is prevent and repair damage at the metabolic level, and maintain our bodies to keep them in top shape. Damage can be repaired with engineering. This means getting rid of "junk" inside and outside of our cells, getting rid of excess cells, replacing lost cells and dealing with mutations.

In other words, repairing damage "buys time" until the next advances come along. Extending lives means saving lives, especially since more deaths are caused by aging than terrorism, war, accidents and natural disasters combined. It's not surprising that de Grey is a force behind getting people to understand the importance of this issue... and to do something about it.

For more information, check out de Grey's book, Ending Aging: The Rejuvenation Breakthroughs That Could Reverse Human Aging in Our Lifetime, and the Methuselah Foundation website.

Overall, the ideas and methods may be different, but the speakers all seemed to agree on one thing: if you can maintain your health a little longer, you'll be able to benefit from the treatments when they become available. With all due respect to George Bernard Shaw, youth will no longer be wasted on the young, and aging will become a process of continued personal growth rather than decay.

Video :-

New aging research into living longer, disease prevention, quality of life, healthy lifestyles, longevity - conference keynote speaker Dr Patrick Dixon



Scientists have stopped the ageing process in an entire organ for the first time. Know More

Your Suggestions will be greatly entertained.

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VENOM by VeNoM

I always loved watching Discovery n NGC and especially the 'Wild' and 'Built for the Kill' when it comes to the category of Animal science , however I like the other shows aired as well.. But lemme not get into them , instead this post is all about 'VenoM' . The other day I was trying to find out the top 10 Venomous Snakes of the planet and our search engine(I hope you like Google Search :) ) threw me a huge list of sites bearing the Top 10. But then I was confused coz each site showed a different list of top 10 with some similarities as well , there was no branded so called official top 10 list. I tried to figure out but as usual lost interest after a while :D and I ended up listing out the Venomous Snakes of the 7 continents.
I now feel that its a pretty good find and so here comes the list. I dont think so that I would satisfy the 'Venom experts or rather the Herpetologists' but I can atleast hope for the best ^_^

BubbleShare: Share photos - Easy Photo Sharing

Asia

To start with Asia is one of the richest habitat for the most poisonous snakes.
Almost instantly u say Cobra if you are an Asian when asked about venomous snakes. The deadly venom which it carries makes it the formidable Snake.

King Cobra- found in South and South-East Asian parts , its the longest venomous snake on the planet. Its named King since it feeds on other snakes and on its own species at times.
A lethal strike can kill the human within no time.

Indian Cobra-found in the Southern Asia( India,Pakistan,Bangladesh,Srilanka,Nepal,Bhutan) it accounts for most snakebite casualties in these parts.
The Spectacle marks which it displays to warn off predators is the striking feature of this snake.Its often worshiped and is treated sacred in the Southern India. It's categorized as the Big Four of India.

Russell's Viper-found in South East Asia, China ,Taiwan and Indian Sub-continent, its most dangerous viperid snake. This deep yellow,tan brownish snake covers a huge part of Asia and is responsible for almost all the snakebites on the region. Its the common viper and is extremely camouflaged

Krait-found on Indian Soil as well as the South East Asia , it carries a venom 15times more potent than the Cobra . Comes in different varieties such as Banded Krait, Common Krait etc. These are Nocturnal Creatures mostly feeding on rats , frogs and lizards

Pit Vipers- they are the poisonous vipers found all over Asia.

Malayan Krait (Bungarus candidus )- Southeast Asia and Indonesia. 50% of the bites from this snake are fatal even with the use of antivenom treatment.

Africa

Black Mamba-the World's second largest poisonous snake lives in Africa. Growing upto 4 mts , these black-mouthed snakes are the most feared and dangerous snakes on Africa. They are found in Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Botswana, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa and the Congo. These can hunt prey both in day and night making it one of the successful predators.
Their Cousins Green Mambas are also dangerous but only carry 1/10th of the toxic content of their former species.

Boomslang-Its an exception of the Colubridae family, and carries a highly dangerous venom. Its a small snake and lives in Saharan Africa.

Puff Adder- is a venomous viper species found in Savannah and grasslands from Morocco and western Arabia throughout Africa except for the Sahara and rain forest regions.

Bush Viper- This triangle headed green snake lives on the tree perches feeding on lizards and birds and known to carry a lethal venom. Its found in sub sharan Africa

Egyptian Cobra and Gaboon Viper are the other poisonous snakes of the continent

Europe

Common Adder-Not recognized as highly dangerous these are wide-spread snakes of Europe.

Long Nosed Viper-Its the most dangerous viper of Europe.The most distinctive characteristic is a single "horn" on the snout, just above the rostral scale. It consists of 9-17 scales arranged in 2 (rarely 2 or 4) transverse rows

Ursinis' Viper - a venomous viper and a very widespread species, found from southeastern France all the way to China (Xinjiang)

North America

American Copperhead- a venomous pitviper species found in North America. Its not known to inflict lethal doses of venom, this snake is an ambush hunter like the most vipers

Cottonmouth is a venomous pitviper species found in the eastern United States. Adults are large and capable of delivering a painful and potentially fatal bite, but their reputation for aggression is largely undeserved. This is the world's only semi aquatic viper, usually being found in or near water, particularly in slow-moving and shallow lakes and streams.

Coral Snake- the smallest, yet one of the most poisonous snakes lives in southern parts of North America. The notable feature of these snakes are the colorful bands on their skins.New World coral snakes possess the second most potent venom of any North American snake, behind some rattlesnake species.

Rattlesnake-Diamondback Rattlesnakes are the largest of all North American Venomous Reptiles and is in the family Crotalidae. These impressive snakes are not only deadly, but incredibly beautiful as well.Around 8,000 people are bitten by venomous snakes in the United States each year.

South America

Bushmaster- The Bushmaster, lachesis muta muta is the largest Pit Viper in the world with a nasty reputation as a "cruel dude". The Bushmaster is a huge, thick-bodied and highly venomous snake with a triangularly shaped head, one of nature's warning signs that a snake is poisonous and potentially deadly.

Tropical Rattlesnake is a venomous pitviper species found in South America. The most widely distributed member of its genus, this species poses a serious medical problem in many parts of its range.

Jumping Viper is a venomous pitviper species found in Mexico and Central America.

Others are Mojave Pit Viper, Eyelash Viper, fer-de-lance

Australia

When it comes to Australia you'll find a great number of venomous snakes. Infact four of the top 10 venomous snakes hail from Aus.

Inland Taipan-also known as the Small Scaled Snake and Fierce Snake, is native to Australia and is the most venomous snake in the world. Maximum yield recorded (for one bite) is 110mg. That would probably be enough to kill over 100 people or 250,000 mice. These rare snakes are virtually unknown in collections outside of Australia.

Taipan - Australia. The venom delivered in a single Taipan bite is enough to kill up to 12,000 guinea pigs.

Tiger snake- a type of venomous serpent found in southern regions of Australia, including its coastal islands and Tasmania. These snakes are highly variable in their color, often banded like those on a tiger, and forms in their regional occurrences.Tiger snakes possess a potent neurotoxin (notexin), coagulants, haemolysins and myotoxins, and rank amongst the deadliest snakes in the world.

Death Adder is a genus of highly venomous elapid snakes. Commonly called death adders, they are native to Australia, New Guinea and nearby islands, and are among the most venomous snakes in the world.
Death adders inject on average 40 – 100 mg of extremely toxic venom with a bite. This makes an untreated death adder bite one of the most dangerous in the world.Death adder venom is completely neurotoxic, containing neither haemotoxins or myotoxins, unlike most venomous snakes.

Australian Brown Snake-The King Brown or Mulga snake is a venomous snake found in Australia. It is the second largest venomous snake in Australia (after the Taipan) and the third largest venomous snake in the world and produces large amounts of venom. Although the name implies it is a brown snake, it is in fact part of the black snake genus.

Australian Copperhead is a genus of venomous elapid snakes native to the relatively fertile temperate southern and eastern part of the Australian continent.

Oceania

Almost all the sea snakes are venomous and infact the deadliest snake on the planet lives in ocean!

Beaked seasnake- also known as the hook-nosed sea snake, the common sea snake, is a species of sea snake.
It is found in the Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf (off Oman), south of the Seychelles and Madagascar, the seas off South Asia (Pakistan, India and Bangladesh), Southeast Asia (Myanmar (formerly Burma), Thailand, Vietnam), and Australia (Northern Territory and Queensland) and New Guinea.

Yellowbelly Sea Snake- or Pelagic Sea Snake is a species of sea snake found in tropical oceanic waters around the world.

Banded Sea Snake-Sea Snakes are highly venomous marine reptiles inhabiting the warm tropical waters of the world.

Snakes are most beautiful reptiles. Protect them and also their habitat.

I hope you like the post..
As usual I expect some replies.. so do drop them.

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Notable Inventions of 20th century - Timeline and Top 10 Gadgets of the year 2008

From the dawn of 20th century man has been able to develop some most important, outstanding and ground-breaking technologies that served the purpose of many > making life easy and happy.

The 20th century was a golden age of engineering producing breathtaking succession of innovations. There was this 'relativistic theory' in 1905 to start with, which made Einstein 'the person of the century'.

Followed by (some notable inventions) :-

Aspirin, Blood Groups, Radio, Air Conditioner, Airplane, Marconi's Wireless, Motion Pictures in early 1900's.

Liquid-Fuel Rocket, Radio Remote Control, Toaster, Stainless Steel between 1910 and 1919.

Band-Aid, Hair Dryer, Traffic Light, Bubble Gum, Television, Penicillin, Sun Glasses, Antibiotics, Robot, Insulin between 1920 and 1929.

Ballpoint Pen, Trampoline, Multiplane Camera, Shopping Cart, Electron Microscope, Helicopter between 1930 and 1939.

Blood Bank, Turing Machine, Nuclear Reaction, Bouncing Putty, Microwave Oven, Atomic Bomb, Tupperware, Bikini Swim Suit, ENIAC computer, Transistor, SCRABBLE between 1940 and 1949.

Peanuts, Random Access Memory, Computer Compiler, Play-Doh, TV Remote Control, Integrated Circuit, Laser, Video Game, Barbie Doll, DNA, Credit Card, McDonalds between 1950 and 1959.

Balloon, Holography, Smiley Face, Hand-held Calculator, Dynamic RAM, Computer Mouse, Microprocessor, Speakers, Heart Transplant between 1960 and 1969.

eBooks, Karaoke Machine, Ethernet, Internet, Post-it Notes, Personal Computer, PC Modem, Dyson Vaccum Cleaner, Walkman between 1970 and 1979.

Computer Gaming, IBM-PC, MS-DOS, Mobile Phone, Windows, Macintosh between 1980 and 1989.

World Wide Web, Light Emmiting Diodes, Water Disinfection System, Pentium Processor, JAVA, Viagra, Google between 1990 and 1999

Now in this post we are going to take on some brilliant gadgets developed across the globe this year. Just the rankings have been taken from Popular Mechanics, but the rest of the description work has been done by us.


1. Microsoft Photosynth


You can share or relive a vacation destination or explore a distant museum or landmark. With nothing more than a digital camera and some inspiration, you can use Photosynth to transform regular digital photos into a three-dimensional, 360-degree experience. Anybody who sees your synth is put right in your shoes, sharing in your experience, with detail, clarity and scope impossible to achieve in conventional photos or videos.

Synths constitute an entirely new visual medium. Photosynth analyzes each photo for similarities to the others, and uses that data to build a model of where the photos were taken. It then re-creates the environment and uses that as a canvas on which to display the photos.

Imagine yourself beneath the Eiffel Tower or in the heart of Times Square. Now imagine being able to see that exact scene in an amazing new way. With Photosynth, you can look up or down, pan from left to right, zoom in, or pull back to reveal the full sense of where you were. Photosynth provides incredibly realistic close-up detail of a place as seen in the collaboration with National Geographic. Exclusive synths of some of the world’s most renowned locations, such as Machu Picchu and the Parthenon, were created using photographs taken by National Geographic.

Go here photosynth.com


2. Spore


Spore is Will Wright's (Sim City, The Sims) new masterpiece. Spore starts a player out as a single-cell organism swimming around in a primordial soup. As Will Wright explains it, this stage of the game is essentially like Pac-Man, and you basically devour microbes smaller than you while avoiding those that are larger. You can upgrade your cell by adding cilia, flagella, and other defense mechanisms in order to gain any advantage possible for a single cell. From there you'll move on to the "water world" phase of evolution. Your single-cell organism becomes a multi-cell organism. At this point, the gameplay switches from 2d to 3d but is still essentially the same: devouring the less fortunate and avoiding the bullies.Economical

Spore is a revolution in gaming; a modern day coloring book, if you will. It's not a game about trigger happy reflexes, if it's a "game" by traditional standards at all. More closely, it resembles a tool to create: in this case, your own creatures and civilizations. And, of course, Spore is a whole galaxy to explore full of other player's creations and content. Never before has a normal computer gamer been given so much control to create what his heart desires!

Go here spore.com


3. Amazon Kindle


Excellent high-contrast screen does a great job of simulating a printed page; large library of tens of thousands of e-books, newspapers, magazines, and blogs via Amazon's familiar online store; built-in free wireless "Whispernet" data network--no PC needed; built-in keyboard for notes; SD card expansion slot; compatible with Windows and Mac machines.

With its free built-in wireless capabilities and PC-free operation, Amazon's Kindle holds a distinct advantage over Sony's Reader and is a promising evolution of the electronic book--but Amazon needs to bring down the pricing for both the device and the content to attract a wider audience.

Go here for more amazon.com>>>kindle


4. Livescribe Pulse SmartPen



Livescribe has just launched its Pulse Smartpen - what looks like an ordinary writing instrument is actually a computer. Housed within a pen-shape case, this nifty little device is capable of digitally capturing handwriting in addition to recording audio simultaneously, synchronizing it to the writing. As I suspected, it isn’t compatible with any paper (now that would definitely make it sell like super hot cakes all over the world), but instead relies on a special Dot Paper Notebook. Whether you are a student, a professional or just an ordinary bloke who often gets involved in note taking situations, the Livescribe Pulse Smartpen sounds like what the doctor ordered.

Go here livescribe.com>>>SmartPen


5. Craftsman Nextec Multi-Saw


A new breed of saw doesn’t come along very often. The Craftsman Nextec Multi-Saw qualifies—it’s a 12-volt hybrid of a jigsaw and reciprocating saw that hits a new level of versatility. The tool is small enough to get into tight spots, powers through tough jobs and can operate at up to 2000 strokes per minute. $150 (in a kit with a drill, two batteries, a charger, two blades, a drill bit and a work light).


6. Potenco PCG1 Power Generator


The Potenco PCG1 pull-cord generator creates electricity for portable gadgets with far greater efficiency than hand-cranked devices. The PCG1 is the geek-chic version of a generator for the developing world. It weighs 14 ounces, has both an internal NiMh battery and a mini-USB output jack and can convert 2 minutes of effort into 40 minutes of cellphone talk time.


7. Nissan Around View Monitor


Using 4 separate cameras, the monitor displays an image of the vehicle from above. This helps the driver to visually confirm the vehicle's relation to the lines around the parking space. With this, the driver can position the vehicle for parallel parking or park the car in a smart way with ease.

The birds-eye view makes it easy for the driver to position the vehicle for parallel parking. The front/rear view enables the driver to simultaneously confirm the front or rear of the vehicle.
Information of the sonars, equipped on the vehicle corners for camera assistance, are shown on the display in an easy-to-understand way. By displaying the rear view and front-side view simultaneously, the driver can easily confirm the two most worrisome areas; the rear and front assist side of the vehicle.


8. M-Spector Digital Inspection Camera


With advanced digital imaging technology and a 2.4" high-resolution color LCD display, the Digital Inspection Camera provides a crystal clear picture of tough to reach places such as inside pipes, drains and equipment and behind walls. Optimal image quality and control is achieved via an exclusive Image Zoom (2x) feature and LED brightness control. Equipped with a durable, detachable, 3' water-tight flexible cable and a small camera head, the Digital Inspection Camera fits through holes as small a 3/4" and gets into, under and around tight spaces. An ergonomic handle, comfortable in any orientation, features up-front power and image controls for true one-handed operation. A power saving, auto shut-off feature preserves battery life.


9. Intel Atom Processor


Intel's smallest and lowest power processor, the Intel® Atom™ processor enables the latest Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs), and another new category of devices for the internet called netbooks and nettops.

Intel® Atom™ processorNewly designed from the ground up, 45nm Intel® Atom™ processors pack an astounding 47 million transistors on a single chip measuring less than 26mm², making them Intel's smallest and lowest power processors. All this while delivering the power and performance you need for full Internet capabilities.

Go here intel.com>>>Atom


10. Caroma Profile Smart Dual Flush Toilet


Inventive, conservation-minded DIY plumbers have rigged gray-water systems to their toilets for years, reusing water from the sink for flushing. Caroma’s Profile Smart designs the concept right into the fixture, by providing a sink and faucet atop the water-storage tank.

Tagged Under: Gadgets, Electronica, Mobiles, Computers, Accessories

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Inside Honeypot!!

Honeypots!!??? This was my expression the other day when I was asked what they were actually!

And so here I end up once again at my desktop, after all this is the only place where I found most of the weird answers as well as hi-tech news! :D

I guess its enough now, let us learn(only for people like me who know nothing about these :P) what these honeypots actually are?
A Honeypot is basically a surveillance tool , they are the traps set to detect, deflect or rather counteract the attempts of unauthorized access into information systems.Honeypots are closely monitored network decoys serving several purposes: they can distract adversaries from more valuable machines on a network, they can provide early warning about new attack and exploitation trends and they allow in-depth examination of adversaries during and after exploitation of a honeypot.

A honeypot ,while is often a computer , can take on other forms, such as files or data records, or even unused IP address space. A honeypot that masquerades as an open proxy in order to monitor and record the activities of those using the system is called a sugarcane. Honeypots should have no production value and hence should not see any legitimate traffic or activity. Whatever they capture can then be surmised as malicious or unauthorized. One very practical implication of this is that honeypots designed to thwart spam by masquerading as systems of the types abused by spammers to send spam can categorize the material they trap 100% accurately: it is all illicit.

Honeypots are a highly flexible security tool with different applications for security. They don't fix a single problem. Instead they have multiple uses, such as prevention, detection, or information gathering.

Honeypots all share the same concept: a security resource that should not have any production or authorized activity. In other words, deployment of honeypots in a network should not affect critical network services and applications. A honeypot is a security resource who's value lies in being probed, attacked, or compromised.

Honeypots can be classified based on their deployment and based on their level of involvement. Based on the deployment, honeypots may be classified as

• Production honeypots are easy to use, capture only limited information, and are used primarily by companies or corporations;
• Research honeypots are complex to deploy and maintain, capture extensive information, and are used primarily by research, military, or government organizations.

However 'Honeypots' can carry risks to a network, and must be handled with care. If they are not properly walled off, an attacker can use them to break into a system.

Detection

Just as honeypots are a weapon against spammers, honeypot detection systems are a spammer-employed counter-weapon. As detection systems would likely use unique characteristics of specific honeypots to identify them; a plethora of honeypots in use makes the set of unique characteristics larger and more daunting to those seeking to detect and thereby identify them. This is an unusual circumstance in software: a situation in which "versionitis" (a large number of versions of the same software, all differing slightly from each other) can be beneficial. There's also an advantage in having some easy-to-detect honeypots deployed. Fred Cohen, the inventor of the Deception Toolkit, even argues that every system running his honeypot should have a deception port that adversaries can use to detect the honeypot. Cohen believes that this might deter adversaries.

Books and Resources

• Honeypots and Deception Books
• Honeypots for Windows by Roger Grimes
• Virtual Honeypots
• Honeypots, Lance Spitzner, Book - Barnes & Noble
• Honeypots Tracking hackers
• Whitepapers and Resources
• Creating Intrusion Detection signatures using Honeypots

External Links

• Distributed Open Proxy Honeypots Project: WASC
• The Honeynet Project
• Know Your Enemy: Everything you need to know about honeypots
• SANS Institute: What is a Honey Pot?
• mwcollect Project
• nepenthes Project
• honeytrap Project
• Developments of the Honeyd Virtual Honeypot
• Open source client honeypot
• Open source low interaction client honeypot
• Canadian Honeynet Project | Canadian Honeypot Security Research
• Incident Analysis of OpenBSD Honeypot
• European Network of Affined Honeypots
• Mexican Honeynet Project
• Honeypots Information (Shadowserver Foundation)

Tags: Honeypots, Firewall, Intrusion Detection, Deception, Network Security, Hackers, Tracking Hackers

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Help Upgrade Maps and get PAID for the effort!

SatNav Technologies, a city-based leader in geographic information systems, has launched a ‘Citizen Mapper’ programme, in which customers or lay users can help to upgrade its maps of different cities across the country, adding information about new Points of Interest (POI).

For every POI notified by customers, SatNav will credit Rs. 5 into their accounts, which they can use to buy or upgrade map databases to fuel Global Positioning System-based phones or other navigation tools.

Mail feedback

Users can visit the site www.roadsofindia.com and find information on roads from one place to another in India. It will indicate POIs en route: hospitals, ATMs, malls, theatres and hotels. If, during their journeys, they come across new points or changes in the points indicated, they can mail their feedback to SatNav – and be rewarded for their efforts. A customer notifying 200 changes in his/her locality will be entitled to Rs.1,000. SatNav has already recruited 150 ‘Citizen Mappers’.

“With our customer base set to increase from 15,000 at the end of the last financial year to 1.2 lakh in the next financial year and POIs set to cross 30 lakh, we are hopeful of recruiting about 20,000 mappers by the end of the next fiscal year,” says chief executive officer Amit Prasad.

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World's Smallest Thumb-Sized Walking Robot Unveiled

Japanese toymaker Tomy Co on Saturday unveiled the world's tiniest, thumb-sized walking robot that will debut in Japan next spring.

The two-legged toy, dubbed "Robo-Q", is only 3.4 centimeters high, but its artificial intelligence can detect obstacles and navigate through a maze using built-in infrared sensors. Using a controller, it can also play games like soccer.

Robo-Q is being displayed at an exhibition in Yokohama, where more than 100 different types of robots are being showcased by 43 companies, universities and organisations, including Honda Motor Co and Fujitsu Ltd.

"It just looks like a clump, but it's impressive that so many functions are built into that thing," Kazuhiko Oda, 55, from Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, said after watching an exhibition of Robo-Q at the Robo Japan 2008.

"It shows how much technology has advanced and it's cute so I want to buy it," said his wife Minako.

Robo-Q comes in four colours and will be sold in Japan from around February for 3,500 yen (USD 29) excluding tax. The robot is expected to be sold in other Asian countries soon afterwards and in the United States and Europe at an unspecified date, Tomy officials said.

"This is a toy both parents and children can play with," said Gen Nagashima, manager of Tomy's boys toy team. "We hope to propose other ways of having fun (with robots)."

Another popular robot by Tomy, called "i-Sobot", is listed by the Guinness Book of Records as the world's smallest humanoid robot in production.

See Youtube Video:

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Microsoft Windows Cloud - Operating System that runs in the Internet

Mr Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive, has hit the European press circuit in full-on tease mode. He’s talking up a new version of the Windows operating system that will cater to so-called "cloud computing" technology, where people use software that’s running in a data centre rather than on their local machine.

Mr Ballmer has mentioned this operating system, dubbed Windows Cloud, at events in London and Paris. The name-dropping comes ahead of Microsoft’s Professional Developers Conference later this month in Los Angeles.

So what exactly is Windows Cloud? Well, Microsoft won’t budge on exact details just yet.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announces that within a month, MS will release a new operating system he described as "Windows Cloud"—for webapp developers working on "cloud computing" apps like Zoho Suite and, um, Gmail (except not those). Computerworld reports:

The operating system, which will likely have a different name, is intended for developers writing cloud-computing applications, said Ballmer, who spoke to an auditorium of IT managers at a Microsoft-sponsored conference in London.

The Windows Cloud OS is a separate project from the upcoming Windows 7. Sheesh, this fall is shaping up to be a real tech humdinger, what with Google making browsers and Microsoft making light operating systems especially for webapps. Would you be interested in running "Windows Cloud," or is a light XP (or, ahem, Linux) install with Firefox or Chrome good enough for you? Tell us what you think in the comments.

But Mr Dave Cutler, one of the company’s top software engineers, has spent years working on a project code-named Red Dog that some suspect will serve as the underpinning for the new operating system. Mr Cutler has a knack for developing sophisticated code, and he may have come up with an operating system tailored to this notion of distributing software across thousands of servers and letting customers tap into all that horsepower from their home or office computers.

Google’s vast data centres rely on a modified version of the open-source Linux operating system and the MySQL database. By going with open-source software, Google can tweak code to suit its needs. In particular, Google has been able to create lightweight versions of Linux and MySQL that spread well across myriad machines. Microsoft may now have taken a similar approach with Windows and its own SQL Server database by developing a thinner, faster version of Windows that server makers like Dell and Hewlett-Packard could offer with their systems. Presumably the new version of Windows would also make use of Microsoft’s server virtualization software, which today lets customers run many applications on a single physical system, and will soon let them move those applications around from server to server at will.

"Just as we have an operating system for the PC, for the phone, and for the server, we need a new operating system that runs in the Internet," Mr Ballmer said during a speech in France on Thursday. "I bet we’ll call it Windows something. We’re going to announce it in four weeks. We might even have a trademark by then. So, for today I’ll call it Windows Cloud. And Windows Cloud will be a place where you can run arbitrary applications up in the Internet." I’ve done a search through Microsoft’s trademarks, and, as Mr Ballmer indicated, there doesn’t appear to be a name for the software.

Tagged Under: cloud, computing, windows, microsoft, steve, balmer, operating+system, google, linux, sql, ubuntu, mysql, dell, hewlett+packard, windows+7, techstrings

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Are your eating habits "Eating Away The Environment"??

Iam a veggie and Iam proud to be one! afterall Iam not contributing to the deterioration of the environment(as far as my eating habits are concerned) . Yes, its a fact and the recent research states that the meat-industry contributes to the 27% of the Global Warming!! Isnt this alarming to know that you are simply eating away your own environment. You might now argue that there are a hell a lot of other issues which contribute to pollution but lemme also put a fact that Only 10% of vegetarians die of heart disease and veggies are known to live longer. Doesnt this make you see yourself a 50 years from now?!! Even as I post this my fellow blog-contributors would get this hard but dear readers this is the Truth of the Day and its High-Time you realize...

Ok, let me advocate you not to go for non-veg on the ground of ethical and human values. Iam not trying to bring about any philosophical issues but rather like to bring about a practical survey..

As we know most of the world is starving to death. One cow consumes enough corn in its lifetime to feed 20 people--their entire life! The gallons of water a cow consumes in its lifetime is enough to fill a Naval Destroyer to its brim! If anyone is in to biology you know the energy pyramid. Even more energy is wasted by feeding, caring , and slaughtering beef. It would be so much more efficient if we all just switched to veg. That's only counting beef. If we no longer slaughtered pigs, chicken, etc., we could export food to starving nations we could solve world hunger just by switching.
The practice of raising animals is actually bad for the economy. One acre of land can raise 1-3 cows, which are worth much less than an acre of business. We would actually need less land devoted to agriculture because Veggies feed more people on less space.

This is what the Rajendra Pachauri-United Nations Chief Climatic Expert had to say :-

Our appetite for animal flesh is boosting fertilizer production, pollution and emission of greenhouse gases to dangerous levels, Pachauri has told The Observer. Give up meat - at least for one day a week - and we can help to save the Earth, he added.

Nor is Pachauri, the chairman of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, alone in his complaints. A host of campaigners have united to condemn meat-eaters for bringing environmental mayhem to the world. 'The human appetite for animal flesh is a driving force behind virtually every major category of environmental damage now threatening the human future: deforestation, erosion, fresh water scarcity, air and water pollution, climate change, biodiversity loss, social injustice, the destabilization of communities and the spread of disease,' the Worldwatch Institute has warned.

'The average meat eater in the US produces about 1.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide more than a vegetarian every year. That's because animals are hungry and the grain they eat takes energy, usually fossil fuels, to produce,' he says

A citizen of UAE eats nearly 100 kg of poultry products and an American consumes 46 Kg chicken per person annually while an average Indian just eats 2.1 kg of poultry products per person per year according to the US Department of Agriculture.

You may find it quite difficult to give up meat-eating right now but lemme suggest you an alternative. Donot eat Non-Veg for at least one day in a week and this applies majorly for the US citizens so that you can contribute something positive for the Environment.

Here is another issue where you might find a point above me saying that if the animals aren't killed then they ruin the greenery coz there rises the chance of unbalanced Eco-System and if everybody on this planet start eating Veg. then there would be a food shortage. Yes, its true but invest the same amount of resources that you otherwise lay on the Animals to make them healthier and eatable on the Agriculture i.e to cultivate the vegetables and I bet you'll reap more and can certainly meet the appetite of this World!!

Think.....???

And finally I would like to wrap up the post by thanking Bawa ji for inspiring me to write this article. I was there at the 'Utsav' conducted by Mr.Bawa on behalf of YES! at Hyderabad(24-27th Sep 08), to light up the Young Minds who is a follower of Guruji Sri Sri Ravi Shankar better known by the organization-Art of Living.

Further Resources

Are we so Barbaric?? ==> allphilosophy

Is you taste for Sunday roast killing your planet?? read more

Economic Times-- Will going veggie help to save the Earth??

Mind Body n Soul

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NASA's Nuclear Reactor for moon base

NASA is tip-toeing once again into what was once called the N-word -- nuclear -- with a technology development program aimed at powering its planned base on the moon.

The goal of the Fission Surface Power Project, which is based at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, is to produce a non-nuclear prototype unit within five years.

NASA's last foray into nuclear technologies was a project that began in 2003 known as Prometheus, which focused on both nuclear propulsion and nuclear-powered generators that ultimately could be used to support a manned mission to Mars and for deep-space probes, such as a mission to Jupiter's ocean-bearing moon Europa.

Prometheus was preceded in the 1950s and 60s by the NERVA, Project Orion and other initiatives.

Prometheus ended, but a small-scale effort to develop a compact, highly autonomous fission reactor as part of the agency's new exploration initiative, Project Constellation, survived. The program aims to return U.S. astronauts to the moon by 2020 and establish a base before moving on to manned missions to Mars and other bodies in the solar system.

Supported at a cost of about $10 million a year, the Fission Surface Power Project this week awarded two contracts for power conversion units, used to turn the heat of nuclear reactions into electricity.

NASA envisions needing a system capable of providing about 40 kilowatts of electricity -- about what's used to power eight average homes in the United States.

It would be launched cold and without radioactive elements until operations were to begin on the lunar surface.

NASA is thinking about burying the system so the lunar soil can serve as shielding.

The converter design by Sunpower Inc., of Athens, Ohio, uses two opposed piston engines coupled to alternators to produce a total of 12 kilowatts of power. Barber Nichols Inc. of Arvada, Colo., is developing a closed Brayton cycle engine that uses a high-speed turbine and compressor coupled to a rotary alternator. It also generates 12 kilowatts.

The ground system would not use any nuclear materials, said project manager Lee Mason.

"Our goal is to build a technology demonstration unit with all the major components of a fission surface power system and conduct non-nuclear, integrated system testing in a ground-based space simulation facility," he said.

A space-based reactor would have to be much more compact than fission reactors currently operating on Earth and would generate far less power. The agency also is looking at solar-powered technologies, fuel cells and other systems.

Among engineers' challenges are the harsh, radioactive environments and the extreme temperature ranges of space.

The moon's 29.5-day rotational period produces long, cold nights lasting 354 hours, which presents a formidable challenge for solar-powered systems. On Mars, the night-time is just 12 hours, but its distance from sun means only 20 percent of the energy that reaches the moon makes it to Mars.

"As you get further and further out, the missions get longer and longer, and you're going to have to have higher and higher power levels," said John Warren, who oversees the program at NASA headquarters in Washington D.C. "You're probably going to have to have nuclear, and I think that will be recognized not only here in the U.S., but around the world."

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August carries this hoax

So when have you last seen the Mars-Earth close approach?? But let me remind you that it is not an annual event such as a birthday or an anniversary that it keeps happening every year! Yes it is a matter of fact that during this august there seems the hoaxers are busy forwarding a message which is just not accepted by the space community!

*Two moons on 27 August*

27th august is what the whole world is waiting for.....

Planet mars will be the brightest in the sky starting august.

It'll look as large as the full moon to the naked eye.This will cultivate on Aug.27 when Mars comes within 34.65M miles of Earth.Be sure to watch the sky on Aug27 12:30 AM.It will look like the earth has 2 moons.The next time Mars may come this close in 2287.

Share this with your friends as NO ONE ALIVE TODAY will ever see it again.

Well.. then that e-mail or an IM must have raised many eye-brows and if you have planned a sky hunt then I am afraid you wont find any spectacular scene. Lemme put some facts regarding this issue just in case you still go with the e-mail. :D

• Mars did make an extraordinarily close approach to earth several years ago, culminating on 27th Aug 03, when the Red planet came within 35 Million miles-its nearest approach in 60000 years.
• And it appeared 6 times larger and 85 times brighter than its normally seen.
• But it wasn't as huge as a moon(This was just a wrong interpretation)
• Mars had another close encounter in 2005 but it was in October not August and the Red planet appeared 20% smaller than it did in Aug 03.
• It had made yet another closer approach on December 07 but it was still 55 Million miles away from us .
• Mars has a year that equals 1.88 Earth years and as a result only comes close to us once every 26 months.

So the next time forward a message be sure that u are not following a group of innocents. :P

Further Info

Snopes.com

Yahoo Answers

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How maglev trains work

Trains have always fascinated me, I bet this is the case with most of you, I sometimes get a feeling 2 have my hand over to one of those beauties(trains ofcourse!!!). May that be France's TGV or Japan's The Series N700 ,, they have always been there to be followed n looked upto, I really wish traveling on one of these.. But the Maglev is something special, A step above, technological feat of the recent times. So, lets have a deeper look at this Maglev....



A few countries are using powerful electromagnets to develop high-speed trains, called maglev trains. Maglev is short for magnetic levitation, which means that these trains will float over a guideway using the basic principles of magnets to replace the old steel wheel and track trains. In this article, you will learn how electromagnetic propulsion works, how three specific types of maglev trains work and where you can ride one of these trains.




Electromagnetic Suspension(EMS)

If you've ever played with magnets, you know that opposite poles attract and like poles repel each other. This is the basic principle behind electromagnetic propulsion. Electromagnets are similar to other magnets in that they attract metal objects, but the magnetic pull is temporary. As you can read about in How Electromagnets Work, you can easily create a small electromagnet yourself by connecting the ends of a copper wire to the positive and negative ends of an AA, C or D-cell battery. This creates a small magnetic field. If you disconnect either end of the wire from the battery, the magnetic field is taken away.

The magnetic field created in this wire-and-battery experiment is the simple idea behind a maglev train rail system. There are three components to this system:

• A large electrical power source
• Metal coils lining a guideway or track
• Large guidance magnets attached to the underside of the train

The big difference between a maglev train and a conventional train is that maglev trains do not have an engine -- at least not the kind of engine used to pull typical train cars along steel tracks. The engine for maglev trains is rather inconspicuous. Instead of using fossil fuels, the magnetic field created by the electrified coils in the guideway walls and the track combine to propel the train.

The Maglev Train

The magnetized coil running along the track, called a guideway, repels the large magnets on the train's undercarriage, allowing the train to levitate between 0.39 and 3.93 inches (1 to 10 cm) above the guideway. Once the train is levitated, power is supplied to the coils within the guideway walls to create a unique system of magnetic fields that pull and push the train along the guideway. The electric current supplied to the coils in the guideway walls is constantly alternating to change the polarity of the magnetized coils. This change in polarity causes the magnetic field in front of the train to pull the vehicle forward, while the magnetic field behind the train adds more forward thrust.

Maglev trains float on a cushion of air, eliminating friction. This lack of friction and the trains' aerodynamic designs allow these trains to reach unprecedented ground transportation speeds of more than 310 mph (500 kph), or twice as fast as Amtrak's fastest commuter train. In comparison, a Boeing-777 commercial airplane used for long-range flights can reach a top speed of about 562 mph (905 kph). Developers say that maglev trains will eventually link cities that are up to 1,000 miles (1,609 km) apart. At 310 mph, you could travel from Paris to Rome in just over two hours.

Germany and Japan are both developing maglev train technology, and both are currently testing prototypes of their trains. (The German company "Transrapid International" also has a train in commercial use -- more about that in the next section.) Although based on similar concepts, the German and Japanese trains have distinct differences. In Germany, engineers have developed an electrodynamic suspension (EMS) system, called Transrapid. In this system, the bottom of the train wraps around a steel guideway. Electromagnets attached to the train's undercarriage are directed up toward the guideway, which levitates the train about 1/3 of an inch (1 cm) above the guideway and keeps the train levitated even when it's not moving. Other guidance magnets embedded in the train's body keep it stable during travel. Germany has demonstrated that the Transrapid maglev train can reach 300 mph with people onboard.

Electrodynamic Suspension

Japanese engineers are developing a competing version of maglev trains that use an electrodynamic suspension (EDS) system, which is based on the repelling force of magnets. The key difference between Japanese and German maglev trains is that the Japanese trains use super-cooled, superconducting electromagnets. This kind of electromagnet can conduct electricity even after the power supply has been shut off. In the EMS system, which uses standard electromagnets, the coils only conduct electricity when a power supply is present. By chilling the coils at frigid temperatures, Japan's system saves energy. However, the cryogenic system uses to cool the coils can be expensive.

Another difference between the systems is that the Japanese trains levitate nearly 4 inches (10 cm) above the guideway. One potential drawback in using the EDS system is that maglev trains must roll on rubber tires until they reach a liftoff speed of about 62 mph (100 kph). Japanese engineers say the wheels are an advantage if a power failure caused a shutdown of the system. Germany's Transrapid train is equipped with an emergency battery power supply. Also, passengers with pacemakers would have to be shielded from the magnetic fields generated by the superconducting electromagnets.[more...]

Maglev Technology in use

While maglev transportation was first proposed more than a century ago, the first commercial maglev train made its test debut in Shanghai, China, in 2002 , using the train developed by German company Transrapid International. The same line made its first open-to-the-public commercial run about a year later in December of 2003. The Shanghai Transrapid line currently runs to and from the Longyang Road station at the city's center and Pudong airport. Traveling at an average speed of 267 mph (430 kmh), the 19 mile (30 km) journey takes less than 10 minutes on the maglev train as opposed to an hour-long taxi ride. China is building an extension of the Shanghai line that will run 99 miles (160 km) to Hangzhou. Construction is scheduled to begin in fall 2006 and should be completed by the 2010 Shanghai Expo. This line will be the first Maglev rail line to run between two cities.[more...]

More on Maglev

wiki link

Maglev System development homepage

Intro 2 maglev

Shanghai's Official maglev

Maglev's overview

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