Archive for April, 2013
Any good smartphone fanboy has likely had an argument over which mobile OS is best, but there’s a good chance that those fights focused on the dominant players: Android vs. iOS. In its latest commercial (below), Microsoft takes a page from Samsung and makes fun of its competitors, positioning Windows Phone as the more civilized choice. No need to argue; just switch to Windows. Continue reading
French scientists successfully used a laser to find the Soviet-era Lunokhod 1 rover on the surface of the moon, 42 years after the first planetary exploration vehicle to land on another celestial body roamed the moon’s surface, media reports said Monday. Continue reading
The story behind “Makalu from the third step on Everest”
Makalu is the 5th highest mountain on earth. Looking down on it means you are higher, in this case about the 3rd ‘Step’ on Everest.
Seeing the sunrise chasing away the nightly cold over the cloud sea is incredible and makes you feel more alive than ever, even when being in the center of the ‘Death Zone’..
Image Credit : Harry Kikstra
Source: Milky Way Scientists
Quantum computing is controlled by the laws of quantum physics. Nevertheless, such technology offers the potential to perform complicated calculations, or search large amounts of data, at a speed that exceeds by far those that today’s fastest supercomputers are capable of.
“You could say that a quantum computer can think several thoughts simultaneously, while a traditional computer thinks one thought at a time,” explained Weimin Chen, professor in the Division of Functional Electronic Materials at the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology at LiU.
A traditional computer stores, processes and sends all information in the form of bits, which can have a value of 1 or 0. But in the world of quantum physics, at the nano- and atomic level, other rules prevail and a bit in a quantum computer – a qubit – can have any value between 1 and 0. Continue reading
The first Eurostar satellite, Inmarsat-2 F1, was retired from operational service this week and safely decommissioned after it had completed a long and flawless mission in geostationary orbit. It operated for 22.5 years – far outliving its projected life-span of 10 years.
Launched in October 1990, Inmarsat 2 F1 was the first of Astrium’s Eurostar satellite series, and the first commercial satellite in the world to rely entirely on a digital system which could be reprogrammed in orbit. Operators benefited from a new concept in the ease of satellite operations, with solar sailing and autonomy providing a much reduced risk of operational errors, resulting in an excellent availability record for this class of satellite. Continue reading
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