Semantic Search for Corporate E-Mail

IBM Labs is releasing OmniFind Personal EMail Search for free which uses UIMA and provides semantic searching of Outlook/Notes email archives. Announced here in InformationWeek. Since I use IBM OmniFind Yahoo! Edition (free version) which works great, this should be another high-quality search product.

300MPG Hybrid Gas-Electric in 2009 ?!

This has been all over the internet the past few days. I first saw this in this TomsHardware article which normally just covers computer hardware technology. Also, see this Engadget article. Aptera, a small electric vehicle startup from California, will be releasing an electric vehicle (Typ-1) in late 2008. Then in 2009, they plan to produce a gas-electric hybrid that will get a whopping 300MPG! This sounds a bit skeptical until I saw the PopularMechanics test drive article and video.

Auto-Drive is Geting Closer Thanks to Nissan

Nissan is integrating "Intelligent Cruise Control" which uses GPS to control the car's speed when approaching curves. See "Nissan's GPS enabled cruise-control foreshadows robot car". So when do we get auto-drive is my question. It is not a matter of technology but more a matter of when. The technology is already here. Come on Honda or Toyota, you can do it!

Sickle Cell Cured by Stem Cells

Using stem cells derived from skin, scientists have cured sickle cell in mice. This was only announced a month after the ground-breaking technique for generating stem cells from skin cells. "Scientists Cure Mice of Sickle Cell using Stem Cell Technique".

LIBS Identifies Elements From a Distance

This sounds like science fiction but apparently is here today. "LIBS sniffs out explosives" mentions some technology that the U.S. Army Research Labratory is doing. Whoa!

Google Android

Google bought this small company called Android back in 2005 (BusinessWeek article). Very little was known about it at the time. Now we have the mobile platform strategy that Google is pushing called Android. Ah, that's what happened. The world will be changing soon.

Were North America's First Inhabitants Japenese Fisherman?

There is an alternative viewpoint based on anthropological research I found online, here. They mention that these seafarers made the journeys 12-16000 years ago following fish and the kelp highway in the Pacific.

Wind-up (kinetic) PMP

Here is an alternative energy (kinetic) Personal Media Player (PMP). "Ecodigital's windup PMP". This is very cool and can't wait to get into these alternative energy devices. Now Sony or Nintendo need to make their PSP and DS work this way.

Navy Preparing Unmanned Combat Aircraft

This is inevitable. Nice picture.

Scaled Composites Now Owned by Northrop Grumman

I was this over at Space.com. "Northrop Grumman Buys Builder of SpaceShipOne". This is interesting, Scaled Composites, the company that Burt Rutan and Richard Branson formed to create SpaceShipOne and are currently working on SpaceShipTwo is now 100% owned by Northrop Grumman. "SpaceShipTwo Development Benefits By New Equity Deal". Northrop Grumman previously had a 40% equity ownership.

Water Found on Extrasolar Planet

You knew this was inevitable. Astronomers have evidence on an extrasolar planet. Still waiting for the discovery of the first Class M planet.

SpaceShipTwo

I just found these great conceptual pictures of SpaceShipTwo at Gizmodo. Check them out, very detailed and shows relative size to SpaceShipOne. Additionally here is a pretty cool YouTube video animation of SpaceShipTwo (13 mins).

Irish Company Claims Energy Breakthrough

I am not sure how to take this one but here is the article anyway. Yet another free energy claim. If it works, would be awesome. I saw this while perusing my Google News.

D-Link First Draft 2.0 802.11n Certified Products

D-Link has the first with draft 2.0 802.11n certified products. Enough said. We just got the DIR-655 802.11n router a few days ago and it rocks!

Thermoacoustic engines and the future

Some grad students at the University of Utah have built prototypes that turn heat into thermoacoustic engines that generate electricity. See this Engadget article. They call these 'screaming gadgets'. Looks like another promising technology we might see.

Breakthrough Flexible Color Display OLED Technology

Sony just announced a major breakthrough in flexible color OLED displays. See the CNN article. What is more impressive is this short YouTube video. The possibilities are intriguing and I can't wait to see the wearable gadgets they come up with in the near future.

Tiny, Power Efficient, Super Cheap Computers

While online looking at Gizmodo (article), I stumbled upon these Norhtec computers. They have a family of efficient and small computers. One of them is the MicroClientJr that costs about $100. Really cool.

Japan to Create Wireless Island

This is actually ambitious. "Wireless Island". Target island is Hokkaido or Okinawa. The Japanese want to create a wifi zone that covers the entire island and links everything. This is definitely a 21st century vision.

Antibody That Detects Only Known Cause of ALS Developed

Progress in the ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) research. I saw this article, "First Antibody That Only Known Cause of Lou Gehrig's Disease Developed", at the ScienceDaily site. My aunt has ALS so this is good news.

Radical New Engine Design, No Pistons

This is pretty cool.. would save about 15-20% over current internal combustion engines based on pistons. Check this out! Wonder if we will ever see this on the market?

Stem Cells and ALS Research

Stem cell research is making it some inroads in the fight against ALS (aka Lou Gehrig's disease). Saw this posted in this article at ScienceDaily.

Water Found in Exoplanet's Atmosphere

This was only a matter of time. I saw this at Slashdot. Next is a 'class M' Earth like rocky planet with an atmosphere.

Biobutanol, An Efficient BioFuel

As a biofuel, ethanol has it's negatives. Biobutanol is another alternative biofuel that is closer to gasoline in efficiency. "Better Than Ethanol" is a good introductory read on this biofuel. This stuff is still years off but at least progress is being made.

25.6TB per second Data Transfers

Over at Gizmodo, this article says it all. A new speed record!

Water In Mars' South Pole

Recent discoveries by scientist indicate that there is enough frozen water in the form of ice in the Martian South Pole to cover the entire planet. "Huqe Ice Deposits Cover South Pole of Mars"

PS3 Folding@home Screen Saver

Stanford University reseachers and scientists have created a screen saver for the PS3 that will aid in medical research. It is called Folding@home. "Use Your PS3 To Aid Medical Research With Folding@home". This project is similar to the SETI@home project.

M-Hull Ship

The Navy is testing a new type of hull design, the M-Hull, which is designed by MShipCo. This new design concept allows greater speeds with less wake. The Stiletto ship is silent but deadly. "SEAL Ship: Silent But Deadly".

Scientists Say Our Nerves Use Sound Not Electricity

This is a pretty radical paradigm shift for neurophysics and the medical field. Check out this article based on Copenhagen University researchers' work. It is a common held view that our nerves transmit impulses using electricity.

Multitouch Interaction Interface Research

You just have to see this video which explains it all. This is like the Minority Report user-interface.

67-kilowatt Solid State Laser

Just saw this at Slashdot in this article. Scientists as Lawrence Livermore Lab have developed a solid state laser which can sustain a 67-kilowatt beam. In less than a year the laser is anticipated to be in the 100-kilowatt range which will put it in battlefield range. This research is funded by the DoD. "Record power for military laser". At this rate of progress, by 2008 there will probably be battle ready prototypes.

Five-Gear Rocket Engine

This is a pretty cool innovation. Georgia Tech researchers have produced a rocket engine that implements a transmission system similar to a car that can potentially save 40% of fuel. "A five-gear rocket engine". This is DoD funded research so details are a bit sketchy but it does open up the potential for more innovation.

iRobot Next Generation Explosive Ordinance Robot

iRobot has been hard at work and have adapted their technology to explosive ordinance disposal. Here is the iRobot press release, iRobot Introduces Next-Generation Explosive Ordinance Disposal Robot. I originally saw this at i4U, Packbot 510. Good to see our tax dollars at work and pushing forward with new technology.

Buffalo MicroSD Reader

I really like the MicroSD form factor. These flash memory cards are about 1/4 the size of a stamp. Buffalo has made a USB reader that does not require any adapters and is just tiny. Cool for mobile stuff. "Buffalo's Incredibly Shrinking MicroSD Reader". "Buffalo's Micro MicroSD Reader". Too bad is only available in Japan right now. Can't wait till these are available in US.

X-Hawk Flying Vehicle

Where are the flying cars? Looks like the X-Hawk may be it if all goes well for this Israeli company. "Flying seen as solution to rescue". If all goes well these may be available by 2010 at the earliest. Here is more info about the X-Hawk.

Robot Detects Snipers in Real-Time

RedOwl is the name of a new robot that can detect the location of a sniper in real-time. "Robot gives snipers owl eyes". According to this Engadget posting, this is old news. Anyway, is pretty cool stuff.

China tests anti-satellite missle

China recently demonstrated to that is has the capability to knock out low-orbit satellites. Chinese test missle obliterates satellite. This appears to be the start of a new space arms race. This was inevitable.

Possible Cancer Solution We May Never See

As usual, here's an interesting article about a relatively non-toxic molecule that appears to reverse the effects of cancer. "Cancer Drug May Not Get A Change Due to Lack of Patent". Oh well, did you think big pharma was in business to cure cancer? Anyway, is an interesting read.

Autonet Mobile In-vehicle WiFi

This is really cool, Autonet Mobile will be marketing a device that plugs into your cigarette lighter which creates an in-vehicle wifi hotspot. Avis will start providing this for $11 per day. The cool part is that AutoNet will make this available in Spring 2007 for the public. It uses Verizon and Sprint's wireless 3G data network. "This device brings broadband to the car".