Google! Google! Goooooooooogleeee!
Just a test run on Google Docs embedded powerpoint player
Let's
what we like with people.
Let's
what we like with people.
Let’s party on Moon!
In this video of CNN, "Anthony Colaprete" a scientist of NASA is explaining how they could find water on Moon ,analyzing the data gathered after the impact of the moon in October 2009. The data has been gathered using telescopes and satellites in LCROSS project of NASA (Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite).
As it's been said, the amount of water they found is very large and it rises the hope of moon settlement.
Let's
what we like with people.
Let's
what we like with people.
Back from Vacation
My busy schedule kept me a way from updating this magazine for a quite long time, at least more than what I had promised. Now I'm back and wanting to keep here up. There will be slight change in the theme and time schedule though which you will get to know it in the following posts. The first and most important change is that, from now on, there won't be any strict schedule for updating here. I will be updating here once a week (instead of every other day) but in case if there is any big scientific or technological news, I will post something about it as much as it is possible for me.
Let's
what we like with people.
Let's
what we like with people.
On Vacation! (Updated on October 27)
Due to some technical and non-technical issues, we will not be able to update this magazine for next 10 days. We will be back on October 27, with more articles and a tiny bit of change in the theme. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Update:
Since our problems have not been solved yet, we will be back on November 1, 2009. Sorry for any inconvenience!
Let's
what we like with people.
Let's
what we like with people.
Google Wave
Google Wave Logo
Google Wave is a the newest tool released by Google and it's a communication-collaboration tool which handles all the communications in real-time. It's been said that it will change the way people communicate as well as E-Mail dominated Snail Mail and phone calls have been dominated by instant messaging! Here, there is a long demonstration video of Google Wave, performed by Rassmusen Brothers at Google I/O conference in May 2009. These brothers are well known for their amazing work at Google Maps.
Let's
what we like with people.
Let's
what we like with people.
LED and OLED Display Technology
After LCD and Plasma TV display technologies, LED displays are the newest technology in the market. In this technology, the main bulb is being replaced by a matrix of LEDs which provide brighter and more efficient color spectrum and also the contrast between white and black is much more significant than other technologies. Picture in these displays looks colorful, bright and artifact free. Color wheel does not anymore exist and you won't see the rainbow effect. There is no warming up cycle (close to zero). Theses displays also consume a lot less energy than the other competing technologies (almost 40% less). In this technology in contrast to LCD technology, there is no need to blacklight to function, and lots of other advantages comparing other technologies such as Plasma and LCD displays. Samsung, AKAI and Toshiba are the main manugacturers of LED TV displays.
SAMSUNG LED TV Display
But, we are not still at the edge of the technology in TV displays!
OLED: Organic LED TV Displays
OLED or Organic LED technology which has been used in cell phones, now has started to show up in TV display technology market! First OLED TV dispaly was being introduced by SONY. Imagine a TV display as thick as only three credit cards thikness! (almost comes to 3 milimeters). The power usage is almost nothing and the picture quality is incomparable with LCD and plasma TV displays. The contrast ratio in these TV displays is 1000,000:1 (one million to one). It is amazing, isn't it?
The price of an eleven inches display XEL-1 introduced by SONY is now 2500 dollars which is high but this will be the future of TV displays and sooner ot later the price will become more reasonable.
This is a video from www.digitaljournal.tv showing a SONY XEL-1
Let's
what we like with people.
Let's
what we like with people.
LED Technology
Oleg Vladimirovich Losev, a Russian high-ranking family born scientist, invented LED (Light-Emitting Diode) in the mid 1920s. Regardless of the distribution of his invention in different languages, for a while there was not any application found for LEDs. In 1955, Rubin Braunstein, a Radio Corporation of America, reported on infrared emissions from some semiconductor alloys such as gallium arsenide (GaAs). For the first time, in 1961, Robert Biard and Gary Pittman received the patent for the infrared LEDs.
The General Electric employee, Nick Holonyak Jr. developed the first visible LED (red) in 1962 and now he is known as the father of LED technology.
RGB LED
The first yellow LED also was developed in Holonyak's lab by his graduate students. Inventing new semi-conductors imprived the brightness and efficiency of new LEDs. The incredibly high cost of LEDs (200$ dollars per unite) made Monsanto Company to start mass production of LEDs and make them price-wise available for common usages. Hewlett Packard then got involved in LED mass production using GaAsP supplied by Monsanto and even they used LEDs in their first handheld calculators.
Applications:
LEDs started to be used commercially as replacements for incandescence and also 7-segment-displays (those digits you could find in calculators or digital watches). Untill the invention of new materials for LEDs, the brighness of LEDs was not enough to be used as an illuminator, though the invention of high power white light LED, entered LEDs in this area. Some car companies such as Audi, started to use LEDs for head light in their cars. Also you can find these LEDs in traffic lights, street lights, car signals, etc.
LED Street Light
How does LED work?
In LEDs such as other diodes, there is a flow of electrons from anode (p-side, containing electron holes) to the cathode (n-side), but this won't happen in the reverse direction. Charge carries electrons from cathode electrode and holes from the anode electrode to the junction site and then when an electron meets an electron-hole, it falls to the lower level of energy and releases the energy as light emmision (photons).
How a diode works!
PS: The electron-hole is a concept and mathematical perception refering to the opposite of electron as well as positron which is know and anti-matter. Electron-hole describes a situation of lack of an electron in a position where one could exist in an atom.
Let's
what we like with people.
Let's
what we like with people.
Hologram Technology
Do you remember "Holograms" in "Star Trek" TV series? Eventhough that was a part of a fiction TV series only to entertain you, but in real world, it was not the first time, when, CNN made this technology public in their 2008 election coverage. You might have seen those interviews with people in Chicago while we could see their 3D body presense in CNN studio in New York. In case you have missed this, watch this video:
In lisbon, portugal, at the 2005 MTV Europe Awards, Gorillaz performed as holograms with Madona and you could see Madona was walking through the Gorillaz, sometimes in front of the them masking them and sometimes behind them being masked by a Gorillaz performer. You can find this video here.
More about Holography and Holograms:
You are most probably familiar with the rainbow holographic security badge, which was developed in 1968 by Dr. Stephen Benton, appearing on the back of your credit card. The 3D holograms use a series of cameras to regenerate the 3D image of the object in front of you. Holography was first invented in 1947 by Hungarian physicist Dennis Gabor, for which he received Nobel prize in Physics in 1971. This invention was a part of researches done in electron microscopy and it is still being used in electron microscopy (as electron holography). Though this technology had a lot more to be improved after invention of lasers. Here in this video David Boherman senior vice president of CNN explains how the remote interviews worked at the time of the election using 40 cameras in a semicircle Green room to record the details from different angels to make different perspectives.
Telepresence is going to be a commonly used technology in near future in media and holography is the basis of this technology. Do not be surprized, if in a very near future, you are able to seat in a circle with your friends around your living room watching the same movie while each of you can watch it from a different angle!
The lady in this picture is a 3D hologram which in fact presents in Chicago but virtually presents in New York CNN studio!
Let's
what we like with people.
Let's
what we like with people.
Surface Computing Technology
Sheraton hotel, Disnelyland, Rio iBar, MSNBC, Hard Rock Cafe, Hotel 1000 and some other companies started using this new Microsoft technology which is a multi-touch computer which responds to both natural hand gestures and real objects such as a glass or even your credit card to interact with their clinets!
A surface computer by Microsoft
Imagine you are in your hotel room in Sheraton hotel and you want to order something! You only need to touch your coffee table and browse all the options and then drag your items in the "ORDER" botton in the middle of the table! Then easily can close this ordering program and continue playing the game you were playing on the table!
Here, (www.surface.com) you can find some videos about this technology which Microsoft introduced for the first time in 2007.
Basically we can compare Surface Technology to a big horizontal "iPod Touch" or "iPhone" which has a big enough screen that makes several users enable to touch and interact with the computer simultaneously. This Technology also makes one capable of transfering data from one or more wireless object which are put on the surface, such as cell phones or other objects to the computer, as soon as we put them on the table
How this technology works?
Microsoft surface in fact uses cameras and very complicated image recognition algorithms in infrared spectrum to recognize gestures and objects. These data then are being processed and the resulting image will be projected with a projector underneath the table. Four key capabilities of Microsoft surface are: Direct interaction of the user with digital data, multi-user and multi-touch capability and also the object recognition.
Let's
what we like with people.
Let's
what we like with people.
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2009
Nobel Prize Laureates in Chemistry 2009
What is a Ribosome?
Ribosome is the aparatus which is responsible of converting the genetic code to the shape of a protein. This event which is called "Translation" happens in cytoplasm following an event happening in nucleous, in which the data stored in DNA is transcribed to a form of messenger RNA (Transcription) and transfers from nucleous to cytoplasm.
Translation includes three different steps which happen as soon as Ribosome attaches to mRNA (messenger RNA). These three steps are: Initiation, Elongation and Termination.
The structure of a Ribosome:
Schematic structure of Ribosome
Ribosome has two subunits, small and large subunit. These two subunits only can be seen together when they are attached to mRNA. Ribosome has three sites, P (peptidyl-tRNA site), A (aminoacyl-tRNA site) and E (exit site). P site holds the newly formed polypeptide chain, A site holds the new amino acid-tRNA which is going to be added to the polypeptide chain and tRNA can leave the ribosome-mRNA complex through E site after the new amino acid joins the polypeptide chain.
There are several diseases related to the malfuntion of ribosomes. The most famous one might be Alzheimer diseases. There are some reports mentioning that ribosome dysfunction as an early event in Alzheimer (Ref). Wang and his colleagues published a peper in 2006 mentioning the association of ribosome to gastric cancer. Diamond-Blackfan anaemia and some other diseases found to be associated with ribosomes.
Let's
what we like with people.
Let's
what we like with people.