Research unveils a paper battery

Think about your current battery, big, bulky, hard, and full of chemicals. Somehow, it seems battery research does not move much, otherwise why would you need to have a mobile phone whose smallness is limited by the size of the battery. Cars running on fuel cells have similar large batteries, and even electric cars can only store batteries that will allow 50-60 miles of travel without re-charging. But as we develop newer devices, the demand on batteries to be more capable and to do more is going to grow. So, in a sign that research in this area is alive and kicking, here is a new paper based battery that still has some time to get into production:

Researchers at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York have come up with a working prototype of a battery made out of cellulose, a coating of lithium and carbon tubes the size of a virus: a sheet of black paper that stores an electrical charge. While it works on the same principle as any battery for sale in a corner store, the paper battery from Rensselaer is much different than a typical AA. For starters, it can be as large as a newspaper page, or cut to the size of a postage stamp. It can be inserted under human skin, and be powered in part by body fluids.
Dr. Linhardt says the device works, but cost will be the biggest barrier – which is why use in the extreme cold of outer space by customers with budgets running into the billions is the most promising takeoff point for the technology. “If you need something to work in outer space, money is no object,” he said. The paper battery also holds promise in medicine, where it could be implanted under a patient's skin and used to power medical devices such as pacemakers. And it can use electrolytes in bodily fluids such as sweat or blood to draw power. In a paper published yesterday, the Rensselaer team details its efforts, including the use of urine to power a test version in the lab.

As always, the development of such technologies take time, and go through several stages of on / off development, with many such technologies getting actually dumped because of infeasibility, but as long as research remains alive, and the demand for such battery solutions remains high, things will continue to improve.

Nintendo to expand game makers club

Building on its high selling rate, Nintendo has opened the platform and the innovative controller for any game maker who wants to get a chance to build games for the Wii console. Not everybody can start making games immediately, they will need to know programming. People can start creating their games on their computers, but final work needs to happen on the console. The plan is to allow a lot more people to start making games based on their ideas, and these games will be available via the Wii shop channel so that Wii owners can buy these games. This is not a new initiative, since Microsoft's Xbox also introduced a smaller version of its game making tools called XNA for making games for the Xbox.

Home and independent game makers are getting a chance to put together titles for Nintendo's Wii console. The hi-tech firm has released a game making tool called WiiWare that gives budding game makers the data they need to use the console and its innovative controller.
The company said it expected game makers to use the Wii's motion sensitive controller to create "fresh takes on established genres". "Independent developers armed with small budgets and big ideas will be able to get their original games into the marketplace to see if we can find the next smash hit," said Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America president in a statement.

This is a bright idea from Nintendo to try and do further consolidation of its leadership position. It could also benefit from an approach where some independent title catches customer fancy (you never know!) and Nintendo sales also benefit from this approach.
Of course, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and it will be good to evaluate the situation in 2008 to see how many new titles have emerged.

Using cell phones to lose weight

Cell phones have lots of uses nowadays; you use them for making and receiving calls (still number one use), for sending and receiving messages, for using as an alarm, for music and radio, for viewing movies, as a viewer for text books, for internet connectivity and browsing on the move, and so on. Well, add one more use to this list. You use a cell phone for losing weight ! Surprise, read this article:

Wondering how much of a diet-buster that banana cream pie on your plate is? Some Japanese have a novel way to find out: Photograph it with your cell phone and send the image to an expert.
With cell phones ubiquitous in Japan and rising concern over expanding waistlines, health care providers have put two and two together to allow the calorie-conscious to send photos of their meals to nutritionists for analysis and recommendations.
Nutritionists can work with photos from one day's meals to several weeks' worth, he said. Results come back in three days. Participants also can log onto a Web site to get further dietary information and upload photos from digital cameras.
"Patients used to fill out meal logs, but people tend to forget things or underestimate their portions," Kimura said. "Photographing meals and e-mailing them in is easier and gets more accurate results."

This seems like a very interesting use. You make full use of the data plans, you lock customers into an additional service that can provide a cut to the carrier, and has a peer pressure level. You see a friend or colleague doing this, and such a service will appeal to you as well.
Also, with obesity increasing, customers are more likely to use such a service, and if it can help reduce the obesity levels, then it will be a big boon for people.

Something to keep watching on Google: Top searches

Google came out with new information that will typically bring in a large number of people on a regular basis. People running blogs geared about adsense, researchers looking at social trends in terms of large searches, culture icons and their fans, etc. So what is Google doing ? It is going to start listing 100 top searches of the day at this website on Google Trends, HotTrends. Refer this story:

A feature listing the day's 100 fastest-rising search requests has been unveiled by Google.
The chart, part of the search system's trends service, will be refreshed several times a day using data from millions of searches, the company said.
Requests for pornography, the weather, popular websites like MySpace.com and some celebrities will not be included.
Instead, Hot Trends will provide a glimpse of what is baffling and interesting web users from day to day. The service merges elements of Zeitgeist and Trends - two existing products which give a glimpse of search habits but only based on weeks-old data.

Can you imagine the trends coming out from this ? Some examples I can think of:
1. Like 15 minutes of fame, you will now get your 15 hours of Google Top 100 ranking
2. Celebrities will be able to rank themselves on how many people search for them: Britney Spears telling Paris Hilton, "Sorry Paris, more people hunt for me, you are an also-ran!"
3. Serious writers bemoaning people in the US searching for what a celebrity said rather than hunting for information about Darfur or global warming
4. PR agents will be evaluated for how they can somebody into the Google top 100
You can just let your information run riot

Using PS3 computing power for good

For a long time, PC users have been to able to contribute the power of their machines during idle time through projects such as SETI, and now the Sony Play Station 3 can do the same.
One area of research that requires a large amount of computing power is the study of how 2 dimensional protein strands in the human body folds into the three-dimensional molecules that determine their biological functions. So Sony has launched the PS3/Folding@home initiative such that PS3 participants will be able to lend the massive computing power of their consoles. This project is expected to start on March 23, and be able to access Folding@home
via the PS3's XrossMediaBar. Read more about this.

Chimps use tools while hunting

We normally believe that some of the distinguishing characteristics of mankind are the ability to effectively communicate, advanced mental capability, the ability to use tools and having a hand with an opposing thumb. In a recent discovery, a researcher studying chimpanzees in Africa has discovered that chimapanzees have some rudimentary capabilities in using tools during hunts. Now this ability may not be so advanced as being able to create a space station, but it does give an insight into how humankind may have slowly developed the ability to use tools.

Chimps would typically use around 2 foot long tree branch that they would have stripped with their teeth to make sharper, and then use these as makeshift spears to hunt their prey. This ability had been reputed for quite some time, but this was the first time that such behaviour was documented.

Such behaviour also shows how close chimps are to humans genetically, and also a chance to be able to figure out that they have a high level of intelligence. Read this whole article to know more about this research.