21 Oct 09 It Could be Possible to Stop Hurricanes with Supersonic Jets [Weather Control]
Hurricanes, as we've seen, can wreak serious havoc when they strike populated areas. We've never had control over them before, but one researcher thinks they could be broken up with F-4 fighter jets.
In theory, sending in a pair of the jets to do loops around the eye of the hurricane while it's still out over the ocean, creating sonic booms, would break it up before it hits the shore.
Jet fighters flying at supersonic speeds along special trajectories with a hurricane/typhoon at various altitudes would create supersonic booms. In one such embodiment, the trajectories for the supersonic booms of the present invention are counter to the rotational component of the hurricane and/or typhoon being targeted. As such, supersonic booms can be tailored and/or designed to partially and/or fully -negate the basic rotational contribution in a hurricane by slowing down a hurricane's/typhoon's rotation. Additionally, when supersonic booms propagate downward to the surface of the ocean they also destabilize a hurricane's/typhoon's structure by increasing the pressure in the central part of a hurricane's/typhoon's eye.
It's a pretty crazy idea, but I guess it makes sense. It would be pretty amazing to be able to stop any hurricane before it hit shore, saving millions and millions of dollars and who knows how many lives. I can't wait for them to test this out. [Patent via AV Web; Thanks, Jason!]
Tagi: supersonic jets, eye of the hurricane, weather control, fighter jets, web thanks, jet fighters, millis, booms, trajectories, altitudes, embodiment, jas, hurricanes, havoc, researcher, cy, patent
18 Nov 09 64-bit Windows safer, claims Microsoft
Windows users running 64-bit versions of the operating system are less likely to get infected by attack code, Microsoft's security team said yesterday.
But that doesn't mean they won't, countered an outside security researcher.
[ Learn how to secure your systems with Roger Grimes' Security Adviser blog and newsletter, both from InfoWorld. ]
Tagi: versis, code microsoft, adver, security team, 64 bit windows, windows users, researcher, operating system, microsoft, blog
28 Nov 09 Algae Could Be the Key To Ultra-Thin Batteries
MikeChino writes "Algae is often touted as the next big thing in biofuels, but the slimy stuff could also be the key to paper-thin biodegradable batteries, according to researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden. Uppsala researcher Maria Stromme and her team has found that the smelly algae species that clumps on beaches, known as cladophora, can also be used to make a type of cellulose that has 100 times the surface area of cellulose found in paper. That means it can hold enough conducting polymers to effectively recharge and hold electricity for long amounts of time. Eventually, the bio batteries could compete with commercial lithium-ion batteries."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Tagi: university in sweden, stromme, uppsala university in sweden, biofuels, clumps, cellulose, algae, surface area, lithium, polymers, batteries, researcher, electricity, beaches
19 Feb 10 Adobe working to fix security bug in Download Manager
Adobe Systems is working to fix a glitch in software it uses to speed up downloads of its products that could give hackers a way to push malicious programs onto a victim's PC.
According to security researcher Aviv Raff, Download Manager -- a small program Adobe users to speed up the initial installation of its products -- can be misused to force victims to install unwanted software on their computers.
Tagi: adobe users, program adobe, aviv raff, security bug, unwanted software, adobe systems, malicious programs, glitch, researcher, hackers, downloads
10 Mar 10 Interview with Chuck Thacker, PC pioneer
Charles Thacker won the 2009 Turing Award for his work in the early 1970's on the Xerox PARC Alto, a forerunner of the Apple Macintosh and IBM PC, and is now a Microsoft researcher testing out parallel programming concepts on a multi-core FPGA development system he designed.
Tagi: charles thacker, xerox parc, turing award, parallel programming, early 1970, forerunner, researcher, xerox, macintosh, pioneer, microsoft
