Travolution enables traffic lights to talk to cars

Waiting at traffic lights is one of the primary reasons why city mpg is so much lower than highway mpg. Automakers have attempted to address this issue with start-stop technology, but what if you could eliminate the stop altogether? The experimental "Travolution" system, developed with Audi support by traffic management experts in the brand's German hometown of Ingolstadt, aims to do just that and make long traffic light waits a thing of the past.
The system consists of a network of 46 "intelligent" traffic lights (with 50 more light installations planned) installed in the center of Ingolstadt, the software to which they are all linked optimizing their phasing to bring stopping times down to a minimum, and specially modified A5 and A6 Avant models provided by Audi. Communications modules built into each traffic light are able to send messages to cars in the vicinity, alerting them to the time remaining until their next green phase. The car's onboard system is then able to calculate the speed which the driver must maintain in order to pass through the light during this green phase, and displays this via the multimedia interface display.
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Use the "force" to control your cell phone

Cell phones may or may not mess with our brains, but now our brains can mess with them.

NeuroSky, a San Jose, Calif.-based company that focuses on developing brain-controlled interfaces, recently created a prototype of a system that reads brain waves and uses them to control mobile phone applications. Basically, the brain dictates the action of the device without the help of the middleman: the fingers.

This is how it works: Software algorithms deduce from your brain waves what you intend to do and pass on the appropriate commands to the cell phone. During the demo of the prototype, NeuroSky exhibited a game in which users moved a video game character to an intended place on the cell phone's screen. The more the person concentrated, the faster the character would move.

Right now the system still requires multiple parts, but the company, is working on making a single integrated chip that can perform all the functions.

This is a first step toward a silent world where we don't really need to talk anymore. Just think and you are understood. Now that's scary.

Via Crave CNET | Source: Fashionfunky

Large Hadron Collider downed by faulty transformer

Not long after the Large Hadron Collider was launched last week, the world's largest particle collider experienced a malfunction that affects its cooling operations.

The European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, the organization that built the LHC, announced Thursday that a transformer that helps cool part of the collider had malfunctioned, forcing operations to be suspended.

As explained by CERN:

The transformer, weighing 30 tonnes and with a rating of 12 MVA, was exchanged over the weekend. During this process, the cryogenics system was put into a standby mode with the two sectors kept at around 4.5 K. Since the beginning of the week the cryogenics team have been busy re-cooling the magnets and preparing for operation with beam, which is currently forecast for today.

No word on why it took CERN so long to let us know about the malfunction, though.

The LHC, a massive particle accelerator 17 miles in circumference built along the French-Swiss border, is designed to help scientists explore particle physics theories.

However, it has also spawned fears that the experiments could prompt natural disasters or black holes that would swallow Earth, which have led to threatening phone calls and e-mails, CERN said.

Via CNET News

Epic's Tim Sweeney predicts future of 3D gaming

If you're a fan of those John Carmack interviews that pop up every once in a while, you'll probably enjoy the interview with Tim Sweeney over at Ars Technica. Tim is one of the co-founders of Epic Games, and also one of the creators of the technology behind the Unreal and Gears of War series. We think we even understood most of it.

The gist of the interview focuses on the future of 3D-graphics programming, but this one section we found particularly interesting:

Jon Stokes (from Ars): I'd like to chat a little bit about Larrabee and software rendering. I'm sure you're NDA'd on it, but Intel just did a pretty substantial reveal so we can talk in more detail about it. So first off, I'm wondering if you're looking at any of the Larrabee native stuff. What do you think about the prospects of this whole idea of not doing Direct3D or OpenGL, but writing directly to Larrabee's micro-OS?
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Future Sony Ericsson Xperia phones may not do Windows Mobile

Oh, snap. On Monday, Sony Ericsson kicked off its digital marketing campaign for its Xperia X1 smart phone, but the most interesting news to come out of the launch is that future Xperia models may not use Windows Mobile. Magnus Andersson, product manager for the X1, said, "The brand is not tied into any specific technical platform," but did not expand on what other mobile operating systems the company may consider.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 made quite a splash at GSMA 2008, not just for its unique panel interface but also for the fact that it was the company's first Windows Mobile device. (Previous Sony Ericsson smart phones used Symbian's UIQ OS.) Not sure what it means that Sony Ericsson is already considering other operating systems before the Xperia X1 has even shipped, but it doesn't look all that good for Microsoft.

One other noteworthy tidbit: According to a company spokeswoman, there will be announcement on November 3 for the North American market, so mark your calendars. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Sweden will be able to get the smart phone on September 30, while it should roll out to the rest of Europe, Asia, and Latin America in Q4.

Via Crave CNET | Source: Reuters

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