Archive for the ‘light’ Category
It looks like a team of UC Berkeley researchers led by mechanical engineering professor Xiang Zhang (pictured) have found a way to squeeze light into tighter spaces than ever though possible, which they say could lead to breakthroughs in the fields of optical communications, miniature lasers, and optical computers.
The key to this new technique, it seems, is the use of a “hybrid” optical fiber consisting of a very thin semiconductor wire placed close to a smooth sheet of silver, which effectively acts as a capacitor that traps the light waves in the gap between the wire and the metal sheet and lets it slip though spaces as tiny as 10 nanometers (or more than 100 times thinner than current optical fibers).
That’s apparently as opposed to previous attempts that relied on surface plasmonics, in which light binds to electrons and allows it to travel along the surface of metal, which only proved effective over short distances.
While all of this is still in the theoretical stage, the researchers seem to think they’re on to something big, with research associate Rupert Olten saying that this new development “means we can potentially do some things we have never done before.
Moving forward in PopCrunch’s 50 Hottest Women of Sports, here are positions 31-40. Athletes have extremely toned bodies that very few in Hollywood can match.
40. Danica Patrick
At 5′2 feet tall, and weighting 100 pounds, Danica is a heck of a sexy racing driver. She was born in Wisconsin, and currently competes in the IndyCar series. In 2005 Playboy invited her to get featured on the magazine, but she decline. Damn!
39. Tanith Belbin
Yeah we also think that ice dancing is a lame sport. You can’t deny that watching the performance of this 24-years-old Canadian-American would be pleasant though. She is five-times U.S. National champion, 2006 Olympic silver medalist, and hot!
38. Francesca Piccinini
Francesca is an Italian volleyball player. At a height of 6′1, she is able to spike at 304 cm from the ground (equivalent to 9′11). She also played over 330 official matches with the Italian national team. The woman is beautiful, but with such an athletic performance you can’t help but admire her.
37. Dara Torres
One of the most famous athletes from the United States, Dara was the first swimmer to compete in four Olympic games. Despite having nine Olympic medals, no one ever gave her one for being one of the hottest swimmers around. We would!
36. Amy Acuff
Amy was born in Texas, 1975. She is a high jump competitor for the United States, and she participated in three Olympic games. Lately she also started a career as model, getting featured on magazines like FHM and Playboy (you should check that…).
35. Natalie Coughlin
Alright, no big boobs, we know. She has a really cute face and a toned body to compensate though. Natalie is a professional swimmer, and she won two gold medals on the 2004 Athens Olympic games.
34. Lokelani McMichael
Man, that is a true Hawaiian beauty! Lokelani has already being featured in several magazines like Maxim and GQ. Ah, in the case you want to know what she does, she is competes in the triathlon.
33. Mary Sauer
You would never have thought that pole vaulters could be sexy eh? Well, take a look at Mrs. Mary Sauer. Born in Wisconsin, 1975, she definitely makes watching this discipline more fun.
32. Jamie Sale
Jamie is one of the prettiest things you will ever see on a pair of skates on the ice. She already won both an Olympic gold medal and a world championship. Unfortunately for us, she is happily married since 2005.
31. Gretchen Bleiler
One of the most famous female snowboarders in the world, Gretchen lives in Aspen, Colorado. I am not a fan of cold temperatures, but if she invited me over I would be booking my ticket straight away.
Future directions in computing
Posted on: April 4, 2008
- In: API’s | application | Chemicals | computing | DNA | electronics | industry | killer | light | Plastics | Quantum | Silicon | Spin
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Silicon electronics are a staple of the computing industry, but researchers are now exploring other techniques to deliver powerful computers.
Quantum computers are able to tackle complex problems
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A quantum computer is a theoretical device that would make use of the properties of quantum mechanics, the realm of physics that deals with energy and matter at atomic scales.
In a quantum computer data is not processed by electrons passing through transistors, as is the case in today’s computers, but by caged atoms known as quantum bits or Qubits.
“It is a new paradigm for computation,” said Professor Artur Ekert of the University of Oxford. “It’s doing computation differently.”
A bit is a simple unit of information that is represented by a “1” or a “0” in a conventional electronic computer.
A qubit can also represent a “1” or a “0” but crucially can be both at the same time – known as a superposition.
This allows a quantum computer to work through many problems and arrive at their solutions simultaneously.
“It is like massively parallel processing but in one piece of hardware,” said Professor Ekert.
‘Complex systems’
This has significant advantages, particularly for solving problems with a large amount of data or variables.
“With quantum computing you are able to attack some problems on the time scales of seconds, which might take an almost infinite amount of time with classical computers,” Professor David Awschalom of the University of California, Santa Barbara told the BBC News website recently.
In February 2007, the Canadian company D-Wave systems claimed to have demonstrated a working quantum computer.
At the time, Herb Martin, chief executive officer of the company said that the display represented a “substantial step forward in solving commercial and scientific problems which, until now, were considered intractable.”
But many in the quantum computing world have remained sceptical, primarily because the company released very little information about the machine.
The display also failed to impress.
“It was not quite what we understand as quantum computing,” said Professor Ekert. “The demonstrations they showed could have been solved by conventional computers.”
However, Professor Ekert believes that quantum computing will eventually come of age.
Then, he said, they will not be used in run-of-the-mill desktop applications but specialist uses such as searching vast databases, creating uncrackable ciphers or simulating the atomic structures of substances.
“The really killer application will probably be in designing new materials or complex systems,” he said.
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