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Deep-fried graphene may be the key to long-lasting batteries

The deep frying process isn’t just useful for livening up your food — it might also be the ticket to better batteries in your mobile devices. South Korean researchers have created highly conductive, stable electrode materials by spraying graphene oxide droplets into a very hot blend of acid and organic solvent, much like you’d dip chicken into oil. The resulting “pom-poms” (what you see above) aren’t at all tasty, but their open 3D structure makes them far better for transferring electrical charges than plain graphene. Other scientists have developed 3D graphene before, with similar energy capacitance. However, this deep-fry method is a lot easier to translate to mass production — it’s simple and scales easily to larger batches. This is just one piece of the puzzle (albeit an important one), so it’ll be a while before you see batteries based on this trick. Should everything pan out, though, your future smartphone or electric car may last much longer thanks to some carbon-based cuisine. [Image credit: Chemical Materials ] Filed under: Science Comments Via: Daily Dot Source: Chemical & Engineering News

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Deep-fried graphene may be the key to long-lasting batteries

New York governor wants statewide 100Mbps internet by 2019

With a $1 billion plan, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo hopes to have every New Yorker hooked up to high-speed internet by 2019. The administration is billing it as the largest state investment in universal broadband in the country. Just how fast are we talking, here? In most cases, the program calls for providers to offer at least 100 Mbps, or as Chief Digital Officer Rachel Haot described it at a press conference, “more than 10 times the federal definition of ‘broadband.'” The plan, known as the New New York Broadband Program (yes, that is two “News”) would include $500 million in capital funds (taken from recent bank settlements). The state wants those funds to serve as an incentive for private companies by offering 1:1 financial matching for broadband providers willing to invest their own money — hence the $1 billion total size. The program is part of Cuomo’s 2015 State of Opportunity Agenda and although those matching funds call for providers to offer at 100 Mbps speeds in most cases, it does allow for as low as 25Mbps in extremely remote areas of the state. According to Ookla’s Net Index Explorer, New York ranks third in the US with an average broadband speed of around 39 Mbps. However, stats from the state’s Broadband Program Office show that large swaths of the population lacked broadband access as recently as July 2014. In Greene County, for instance, the office estimates 91 percent of the county’s 50, 000 residents lack access to 100Mbps broadband — and 79 percent can’t even muster 6Mbps. While it’s obviously very early days for the program, Cuomo’s office seems mighty bullish about its potential, even with the not-so-far-off January 1st, 2019 deadline. “At the end of the next four years, ” New York Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul said, “you’ll see that every business in this community, in this state, is connected and will have the fastest-speed broadband of any state in the nation.” [Image credits: Bloomberg via Getty Images, New York State] Filed under: Networking , Internet Comments Source: New York State

Pirates defeating watermarks, releasing torrents of Oscar movie screeners

When an incomplete and early version of the X-Men Origins: Wolverine leaked to torrent sites in 2009, Twentieth Century Fox announced that the uploader “will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” “We forensically mark our content so we can identify sources that make it available or download it,” the studio said in a statement. Nabbed by a watermark, a New York man subsequently pleaded guilty to making the movie available on Megaupload. Gilberto Sanchez was sentenced to a year in prison in 2011. A triumphant US Attorney Andre Birotte Jr . said that “sentence handed down in this case sends a strong message of deterrence to would-be Internet pirates.” Read 6 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Pirates defeating watermarks, releasing torrents of Oscar movie screeners

New York City’s first commercial wind turbine proves its worth

Sunset Park in Brooklyn is home to New York City’s first commercial-scale wind turbine , and it’s already flexing its green muscle. In under a month, the 160-foot-tall power source produced enough juice to power two homes for more than 12 months. It’s not being used to supplement regular energy use, though, as it feeds a recycling plant at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal — a facility that already gets 16 percent of its power from solar panels. NYC seems like the last place a massive wind turbine would make a difference, but the height of this installation, coupled with the open landscape on the shore of Sunset Park, makes for an effective combo that’s capable of generating up to 100 kilowatts. Attempts to harvest the wind in New York City are nothing new, but they’re typically used to power much smaller buildings, so their size and output are a fraction of this one at Sims Metal Management. Construction costs tallied $750, 000, and the project is expected to pay for itself in five years. [Photo credit: AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews] Filed under: Science Comments Source: New York Times

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New York City’s first commercial wind turbine proves its worth

‘Be My Eyes’ App Crowdsources Help For the Blind

An anonymous reader writes: A new not-for-profit app, Be My Eyes, aims to help the visually-impaired by connecting them with volunteer users who can support them in their daily lives via live video calls. Once downloaded, Be My Eyes asks the user to identify as blind or sighted, to see if you require help or are offering it. When a blind person requests assistance the app scans the system for an available volunteer. The blind user connects with the volunteer over a video call and points to the item they would like described. Be My Eyes was created by Hans Jørgen Wiberg, a visually-impaired entrepreneur, at a startup event. Wiberg teamed up with Robocat, the Danish software studio behind Haze and Thermo, to make his vision a reality. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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‘Be My Eyes’ App Crowdsources Help For the Blind

AT&T took a $10 billion hit, but it’s hoping you won’t notice

In an extra-special Friday-night-before-a-holiday-weekend news dump, AT&T just announced that its Q4 results will include about $10 billion in charges. That includes a $7.9 billion “related to actuarial gains and losses on pension and postemployment benefit plans”, plus a $2.1 billion charge for abandoning some copper lines it says it doesn’t need anymore. Of course, you’re probably already well into whatever your weekend plans are, so you’ll barely even notice this happened once you get back to work on Tuesday — which is just how AT&T hoped it would go. [Image credit: shutterstock] Filed under: HD , Mobile , AT&T Comments Via: Reuters Source: AT&T

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AT&T took a $10 billion hit, but it’s hoping you won’t notice

There’s Millions of Dollars Worth of Gold and Silver in Sewage

There’s gold in them thar sewers —and silver and platinum and copper, too. A study by Arizona State University (ASU) researchers estimates there is $13 million worth of precious elements in the sewage produced by a million-person city every year. Never think of sewage as stinky worthless waste again. Read more…

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There’s Millions of Dollars Worth of Gold and Silver in Sewage

Every X-Men member ever in one video timeline

Check out this detailed video timeline showing every single X-Men member that ever joined the team from September 1963, when Stan “The Man” Lee and Jack “The King” Kirby debuted X-Men #1 with Cyclops, Iceman, Angel, Beast, and Marvel Grey, led by Professor X. Read more…

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Every X-Men member ever in one video timeline

19,000 French Websites Hit By DDoS, Defaced In Wake of Terror Attacks

An anonymous reader writes Since the three day terror attack that started in France on January 7 with the attack on satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, 19, 000 websites of French-based companies have been targeted by cyber attackers. This unprecedented avalanche of cyber attacks targeted both government sites and that of big and small businesses. Most were low-level DDoS attacks, and some were web defacements. Several websites in a number of towns in the outskirts of Paris have been hacked and covered with an image of an ISIS flag. The front pages of the official municipality websites have been covered with the Jihadist militant group’s black flag. In a report, Radware researchers noted that Islamic hacker group AnonGhost has also launched a “digital jihad” against France. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Impressive photo of the F-35 Lightning II with all its weaponry lined up

Lockheed Martin sent us this impressive shot by Matt Short of the F-35 Lightning II showing all the weaponry it can carry. Of course, it can’t carry everything you see at the same time. This is the stuff that has been certified so far. Read more…

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Impressive photo of the F-35 Lightning II with all its weaponry lined up

Ken May

Author: kenmay