Physics news

[Xjmt]

"I thought I was wrong once and I was."

[Henry J]

Einstein Was Right (Again): NIST and MIT Confirm that E= mc2

Albert Einstein was correct in his prediction that E=mc2, according to scientists at the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who conducted the most precise direct test ever of what is perhaps the most famous formula in science.

Henry

[lswot]

Isn't that a waste of 'time'......trying to prove a genius wrong?

[Henry J]

[brian]

Warp four, Mr. Sulu!

AN EXTRAORDINARY "hyperspace" engine that could make interstellar space travel a reality by flying into other dimensions is being investigated by the United States government.

The hypothetical device, which has been outlined in principle but is based on a controversial theory about the fabric of the universe, could potentially allow a spacecraft to travel to Mars in three hours and journey to a star 11 light years away in just 80 days, according to a report in today's New Scientist magazine.

The theoretical engine works by creating an intense magnetic field that, according to ideas first developed by the late scientist Burkhard Heim in the 1950s, would produce a gravitational field and result in thrust for a spacecraft.

Full Article.

They say in the full article that they're working with NASA and the USAF, and that a prototype may be in test within the next five years.

[Henry J]

Robots can travel more safely with new software

Except in fanciful movies like 2003's The Matrix Revolutions, where fearsome squid-like robots maneuvered with incredible ease, most robots are too clumsy to move around obstacles at high speeds. This is true in large part because they have trouble judging in the images they "see" just how far ahead obstacles are. This week, however, Stanford computer scientists will unveil a machine vision algorithm that gives robots the ability to approximate distances from single still images.

[lswot]

They say in the full article that they're working with NASA

.....and Star Trek?

The theoretical engine works by creating an intense magnetic field that, according to ideas first developed by the late scientist Burkhard Heim in the 1950s, would produce a gravitational field and result in thrust for a spacecraft.

....and when they laughed him out of the lab....he started writing for Star Tek!

[Henry J]

Wonder if this is good or bad?

Computers estimate emotions

Many computers are already able to see and hear. However, they have no way of telling whether their users are happy or angry. At CeBIT 2006, researchers will be presenting techniques that could one day enable the digital servant to respond to the mood of its human master.

(So, what should the Sw/Hw do if it "senses" that its "master" is about to throw it out the window? )

Henry

[brian]

That's when SkyNet begins Termination, and claims "self defense".

[lswot]

.....techniques that could one day enable the digital servant to respond to the mood of its human master.

.....have touch sensitive keys?

[Xjmt]

.....techniques that could one day enable the digital servant to respond to the mood of its human master.

.....have touch sensitive keys?

"Not tonight dear, I have a headache."

[Henry J]

There's this tempation to suggest shoving an aspirin into some opening on the computer...

Resist...
Resist...

[lswot]

Thanks, guys.....you make my day!!!!

[Henry J]

Toward a Quantum Computer, One Dot at a Time

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have developed a way to create semiconductor islands smaller than 10 nanometers in scale, known as quantum dots. The islands, made from germanium and placed on the surface of silicon with two-nanometer precision, are capable of confining single electrons.

(and if those electrons show good behavior will they be set free?)

Henry

[lswot]

.....or voted off the island?