There’s something so uniquely revelatory about an old map.

Consider this to be your dismaying PSA of the day: Apparently, if you're a Kindle owner with a magazine subscription, and you decide to stop subscribing, the back issues you previously downloaded are also lost—for good. More

It’s amazing what an electron can do. Researchers, lead by a team from the University of Pittsburg, have built the world’s first operational single-electron transistor, the SketchSET, which could become an essential component of all sorts of futuristic technologies; from super-dense, high-capacity solid-state drives to quantum processors. More

When you need to reinstall Windows, you shouldn’t have to spend an entire day installing years of updates, drivers, and necessary software along with it. Here’s how to create a Windows installation disc (or USB stick) that’s up to date, customized, auto-installing, and far less time-sucking than your original. More

Fujitsu today announced it has developed the world’s smallest and thinnest palm vein sensor used for authentication purposes. The device is sized at just 29mm on a side and 11.2mm high, which makes it nearly 70% smaller than the smallest sensor that’s currently in Fujitsu’s line-up. It can capture the user’s palm veins at 20 frames per second.

The contact-less sensor was developed in cooperation with subsidiary Fujitsu Frontech, which produces equipment for a variety of industries (including ATMs). The first device to incorporate the sensor will be a laptop aimed at businesses before possibly offering it in computers for the consumer market as well, according to a report in Japanese business daily The Nikkei.

Fujitsu told the Nikkei that the business notebook will be $242 more expensive than comparable devices that don’t come with the sensor (but didn’t reveal when and in which market it will be launched).

View article:
Fujitsu Develops World’s Smallest And Thinnest Palm Vein Sensor

Confusing headline, I know, because this is going to take some explaining. This is the SLG 3000, and it apparently can make old games played on a new TV look as good as they were originally designed. More

Intel’s Z68 Express chipset and its SATA 6Gb/s connections, CPU and memory overclocking, and SSD caching capability weren’t supposed to hit store shelves until the eighth of May. But, at least one Taiwanese retailer didn’t get the memo — or maybe it’s just another instance of Intel’s early far-east distribution on the down-low — because pics from across the Pacific show a shiny new Z68 Express motherboard from Gigabyte can already be had for the princely sum of NT $11,900 (about $407 here in the land of greenbacks). That’s quite a stack of cash for a place to put your speedy Sandy Bridge CPU, but perhaps its expeditious performance can be had for a more reasonable price once it lands on western shores… or maybe we should just start saving now.

[Thanks, Daz]

Gigabyte motherboard with Intel Z68 Express chipset on sale in Taiwan ahead of schedule originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Apr 2011 01:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

Sony just released Crackle, an app that streams full-feature movies and popular TV shows to your iPhone and iPad for free. For free. For free! We’re talking popular TV shows like Seinfeld and Married with Children and big time movies like The Da Vinci Code and Stranger Than Fiction straight to your iPhone and iPad. And all completely free! More

Solid State Drives cost more per gigabyte than standard hard drives but promise better performance, durability, and more. Just how much more? Macworld tested a couple of MacBook Pros (one with typical HDD and the other upgraded with SSD) to find out. More

Many science fiction scenarios have planets with two or even more stars. How would life evolve differently under such a system?

In a new study, researchers have assessed the potential for photosynthetic life in multi-star systems with different combinations of sunlike stars and red dwarfs to figure out what plants might be like. The team has speculated that on an Earth-like planet with two or three suns, the vegetation may appear black or grey.

“If a planet were found in a system with two or more stars, there would potentially be multiple sources of energy available to drive photosynthesis,” said PhD student Jack O’Malley-James from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

“The temperature of a star determines its colour and, hence, the colour of light used for photosynthesis. Depending on the colours of their star-light, plants would evolve very differently.”

If a life form evolved to use two different colors of light for energy, the vegetation would appear black to our eyes. They might even develop the ability to use infrared or ultraviolet light that we can’t see at all to power photosynthesis. Link -via reddit

Read this article:
Life Under a Binary Star