prototype car runs on electricity, not gas

Unbelievable! The price of gas has gone up again! At this rate, I'm gonna be broke. I can't afford to pay $5.00 a gallon for gas. There goes the money for books and tuition. Hell, my car could be the next one to go. With the surging rise of gasoline prices, hybrid car owners are suffering less than non-hybrid car owners because hybrid cars are half-electric/half-gas vehicles. Hybrid car owners doesn't need to pay as much as non-hybrid car owners like myself. I wish I had a hybrid car. Wait, better yet, I wish I had a car that fully runs on electricity alone. This way, I don't have to spend money on gas at all. This article from slashdot provides the idea.

According to the article, there is a prototype car that runs on electricity alone. The car does not even have an exhaust system. The prototype is currently being developed by engineers in the University of Delaware. I think that this is an awesome idea because it eliminates the need for spending money on expensive gas. In addition, I find the system of the prototype to be efficient because of the way it works. The system is called "V2G" which means vehicle to grid. It works by letting "electricity flow from the car's battery to power lines and back." By doing this, the system can store surplus energy which can be used later when surges in usage is needed. I like the system's concept of storing energy because this is helpful in emergencies such as low battery. The stored energy can be used as backup. In addition, the article mentions that the stored energy can provide electricity to utilities.

Since the prototype car does not have an exhaust system, the car will produce no carbon emissions. I believe that this is a positive benefit for the environment because harmful chemicals such as carbon dioxide are not emitted unlike most vehicles that continually pollute our skies with CO2. This prototype car is clearly environmentally friendly.

I really hope this prototype make it to the market soon. Because of the positive benefits it provides, the car will tremendously help me and the public. I guarantee once this car enters the market, I will seriously consider buying it. But, as of my current monetary situation, I guess I have to start saving up.

robo tank

When I was a kid, I received many remote controlled cars. They came with different colors, sizes, and appearances. I'd play with them for hours inside the house or out in the backyard. However, these tiny remote controlled vehicles can't withstand missile or any lethal weapon attacks. It would be awesome to have a remote controlled car that can have these capabilities. According to this article from slashdot, there exists a remote controlled vehicle that are anti-missile and anti-personnel weapons. In fact, this machine is a remote controlled tank.

According to the article, the US Army awarded $14.4 million to Carnegie Mellon improve existing remote controlled vehicles. I think that this is a great idea because the US Army is funding for the development of unmanned tanks as well as preventing injury to military personnel. Basically, these tanks are remote controlled and soldiers don't have to be put in dangerous situations where missiles and bullets are pouring. Instead, these soldiers are somewhere far, controlling the robotic tank from a safe distance.

In addition to the safety of military personnel, these robotic tanks can climb steep hills and negotiate deep ditches. I think that these are important capabilities for a remote controlled vehicle to possess because they can easily maneuver their way out of dangerous situations. Also, as mentioned earlier, I also believe that the anti-missile aspects of the robo tank is a great idea because it can withstand blows from missile attacks. I think that both the maneuverability and anti-missile aspects of the robo tank are important features to have in order to sustain and lengthen the life of the vehicle.

Obviously, these remote controlled tanks are WAY better than those tiny remote cars that I received. It would be awesome to play with a tank than a tiny car. However, chances are that it's not going to happen. Oh well, it was just wishful thinking.

metal detector for nuclear radiation

Imagine being in the military. The general just ordered your team to go to New Mexico because it is suspected that nuclear weapons are somewhere in the vast sands of the country. This mission is very dangerous and risky. Your team needs to find these nuclear weapons and secure them. Basically, the whole world is depending on you. However, it is impossible to locate the nuclear weapons without the proper equipment. Basically, you need a Neutron Scanner Camera. According to this article from slashdot, the Neutron Scanner Camera can not only detect where the nuclear radion is but also how much radiation is present.

As the paragraph above mentions, the Neutron Scanner Camera can detect the location of nuclear radiation as well as the amount of radiation present. In addition, the scanner can also detect presence of radiation meaning that it can indicate if there is any radiation in a particular area. I think that this is breakthrough in science technology field. Obviously, we have had similar devices in the past. But this achievement shows the results of researching advanced technology and improving existing radiation devices to enhance performance. As the scenario above explains, this device can be used to effectively detect and find the location of the radiation.

The article also mentions its ability to scan radiation from far distances as well as scan through various types of shielding. I think this is evidence of advanced technology. Armed with such capabilities, the Neutron Scanner Camera is a reliable tool for detecting radiation. This is very helpful in certain instances such as "in-transit" situations where the device can be used to detect presence of possible radiation onboard a ship. Also, I like the advanced capability of the system where radiation confined in thick, heavily guarded walls can easily be scanned by the device. Basically, any radiation under difficult situations can be found.

However, despite the advanced features of the Nuclear Scanning Camera, the device has a limitation. The scanner is bulky. It is not portable and it is not easy to carry around. I think that this sort of limitation is expected from such a device. I was not expecting a hand-held system that can be easily handled. This device is highly advanced.

I believe the Neutron Scanner Camera is definitely an innovative success in the field of technology.

Nintendo DS phone?

I go to school every weekday by taking the subway. To pass time, I play with my gameboy DS. I always bring my DS with me. I love the DS because of the integration of its touch screen system with the games. It would be an excellent idea if the DS could be used as both a hand-held, video game entertainment system and a mobile phone. This idea from slashdot promotes the possibility.

Personally, I think that if this idea were to happen, it would be the next step to the genre of mobile phone/video game theme. Cell phones nowadays have video games. However, the games in these cell phones are simple and primitive. They are not advanced due to the limited application implemented in cell phones. Obviously, cell phones are meant for purposes of calling and not playing games. But, if a cell phone application is implemented to a hand-held video game system such as the DS, this would be a revolutionary advance in phone/game technology. People can now play highly advanced games with their phone/game device.

However, the downside with this idea is its practicality. Imagine playing your DS while waiting on the bus stop. Suddenly, you get a call in the middle of the game. You answer the call and you hold the DS like a phone. I don't know about you but I would look pretty dumb holding my DS against my ear when I'm talking on the phone. The hand-held system is obviously not shaped like a mobile phone when it comes to appearance. The system is made to used with both hands, not one hand. The picture above is only an imagined version of the fusion between a phone and the DS. If this idea happens, I hope that Nintendo would make changes with the appearance of the phone/game system.

I would certainly cross my fingers and hope this idea happens. I want my DS to be both a game system and a cell phone. So if any people out there are like me and want a fusion of phone/game system, keep the faith alive and hope for the best.

Welcome to video hotel

Man, I'm looking forward to winter break. I've had enough of homeworks, tests, and studying. I need to take a break and travel a little. Let's see, staying in New York or Paris for a week sounds nice. There's nothing better than staying in a nice hotel and enjoying the winter break. But, which hotel should I choose to enjoy my vacation? I'll just google hotels in Paris and...ok, the picture of this hotel looks nice. It has a great rating but I need to see what the rooms inside looks like. What's this? An article in techcrunch about viewing hotels in video. Cool, I can watch a video of hotel from a particular country that includes a tour of what the bedrooms look like or other facilities they offer. With this, I can easily make decisions whether I want to book a hotel in New York or Paris.

The website within the article is called TvTrip. As the paragraph above describes, it is a site that features hotel videos to ease the process of choosing and making hotel reservations easier for the customers. I think that this is a great idea because I like to watch a video guide of a hotel before making my decision. I like to see what the bedrooms look like, what the bathrooms look like as well as what facilities the hotel offers such as bar, gym or pool. This is exactly what TvTrip provides in their site and these features eases my hotel decision making process. In addition, the site also states the amount of the room per night. Price is really important to me because I don't like going over budget.

TvTrip is still in process of making their popularity known. I already cruised their site and there are still some work to do such as upload more video hotels for certain cities or countries. However, I know that this site will do better in the future because it is still in the early stages of development. Despite the video shortages, the site provides a very detailed description of each hotel. I like detailed description of hotels because I want to know the background of the hotel. Moreover, I also want to know the amenities the hotel provides as well as the places near the hotel that I can visit such as shopping centers, museums or parks.

The high quality hotel videos and detailed description of each hotel makes TvTrip a convenient website for booking hotels. So the next time you want to book a hotel, make sure you visit TvTrip and watch the hotel videos before you make your decision.

gas station google

Yikes! I'm gonna be late for Christmas Eve dinner! It's already 5:00 pm on the 24th of December and I'm still on highway 5, driving thru traffic. I just need to continue down this freeway and...damn, I took the wrong exit! Where am I? Oh great, now I'm lost. I'll just stop by this gas station and take out my map out of the glove compartment and ...where the hell is it!? I can't believe I forgot to bring my map. Alright, calm down. I'll ask the gas station owner for directions. What's this? Google is available in this gas station. I also get a printout. Cool, now I can easily navigate my way back to main road and get to LA. This scenario is what this article from techcrunch is about.

Basically, the article is about google being available in gas stations. I think that this a great idea because it can help drivers on the road especially if they get lost and don't have a map to help them find their way. I know that I will benefit from google in gas stations because I often go on seasonal road trips during winter and summer and now & again I get lost and I end up shuffling with my map. With google available, I can just go to a gas station along the interstate and have a them print me a map that I can easily understand and follow.

I also think that this move by google shows the dominance and ubiquity of google in the world. I mean google is everywhere! Google is becoming one of the leading search engines and their popularity is continuing to surge. I believe google will eventually take over the world in the near future and this move with the gas station is a step forward into realizing global dominance.

IBM turns scrap metal into solar energy panels

Oh man! I have not yet started on my science project and it is due in one week! All right, I better start working on that solar powered hot dog machine. Let's go through the materials I have so far. I have the body of the machine as well as the metal trays for the hot dogs. Well, I have a bunch of microchips I can use to run the machine. I'm only going to use some of it so I don't need the rest. The only important material that I need to complete the machine are the solar energy panels. I'll just recycle the excess microchips I have and donate them to a solar industry firm in exchange for solar energy panels. Fortunately, I read this article from slashdot which explains the development of solar energy panels from left over microchips.

According to the article, IBM has "developed a way to easily refurbish scrap material left over from the creation of microchips so it can be used in solar energy panels." Basically, silicon wafers are used to create microchips. These silicons are embedded with intellectual patterns to make the microchip work. IBM developed a polishing system to erase the patterns within the silicon, allowing the wafers to be reused to make solar panels. I think that this development is a major achievement in technology as well as a huge asset for the company because they are able to recycle used materials (microchips) to save money and resources.

I also think that this development is environmentally friendly because of the recycling process. The company does not have to waste additional resources to create new silicon wafers. In the article, IBM comments that this development creates "lower emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases that contribute to global warming." Not only does this new process are used to make solar panels, they also help the environment by limiting carbon dioxide and other gases.