“(PhysOrg.com) — During the past few years, CERN physicist Dragan Hajdukovic has been investigating what he thinks may be a widely overlooked part of the cosmos: the quantum vacuum. He suggests that the quantum vacuum has a gravitational charge stemming from the gravitational repulsion of virtual particles and antiparticles. Previously, he has theoretically shown that this repulsive gravity can explain several observations, including effects usually attributed to dark matter. Additionally, this additional gravity suggests that we live in a cyclic Universe (with no Big Bang) and may provide insight into the nature of black holes and an estimate of the neutrino mass. In his most recent paper, published in Astrophysics and Space Science, he shows that the quantum vacuum could explain one more observation: the Universe’s accelerating expansion, without the need for dark energy.”
…

“The series of publications shows that the quantum vacuum, enriched
with the hypothesis of the negative gravitational charge for antiparticles, has the potential to explain the observed phenomena in astrophysics and cosmology without invoking dark matter
and dark energy and mysterious mechanisms for inflation and
matter-antimatter asymmetry,” Hajdukovic said. “If antimatter really has
negative gravitational charge (which could be revealed by the AEGIS
experiment at CERN), the above papers have started a new scientific
revolution. But the papers are important even if antimatter has no
negative gravitational charge, because they encourage reconsidering the
quantum vacuum as a key for the understanding of the Universe.”

In addition to the AEGIS experiment in CERN,
which is designed to reveal the gravitational properties of
antihydrogen, Hajdukovic said that other experiments are also
investigating the gravitational properties of antimatter. For instance,
physicists at the University of California, Riverside, have recently
begun studying the gravitational properties of positronium (an
electron-positron pair).

Repulsive gravity as an alternative to dark energy (Part 2: In the quantum vacuum)

“For decades, chemists considered a chemical pathway known as the formose reaction the only route for producing sugars essential for life to begin, but more recent research has called into question the plausibility of such thinking. Now a group from The Scripps Research Institute has proven an alternative pathway to those sugars called the glyoxylate scenario, which may push the field of pre-life chemistry past the formose reaction hurdle.”

Study proves plausibility of new pathway to life’s chemical building blocks

Prezentare:

• Proiectata pentru silentiozitate si ventilatie maxima
• Carcasa cu panel frontal din aluminiu, sasiu din aluminiu
• Include fan-controller pentru controlul pana a 10 ventilatoare
• Conectori 2x USB 3.0, 4x USB 2.0, 1x e-SATA, Audio In and Out
• Compatibila cu Micro-ATX / ATX / E-ATX / XL-ATX / SSI CEB / SSI EEB
• Include 4 ventilatoare: unul de 200mm cu led, unul de 140mm si doua de 120mm

Cooler Master Cosmos II Carcasa – PC Garage

“LG Display will begin mass-production of its large-scale OLED panels, such as those used in the 55-inch OLED HDTV the company demonstrated at CES earlier this month, in July 2012. CFO Jeong Ho-young confirmed the production plans after LG Display revealed its Q4 2011 financial results, Korean site Asia Economies reports, with the line capable of up to 48,000 panels per month.”

LG OLED TV mass-production in July as Q4 panel losses narrow – SlashGear

Looking forward to the next super-narrow display from LG? Well, you’ll be able to catch a glimpse of it at the ISE 2012 – Europe’s largest professional AV and Electronics Systems trade show. The company announced today that it will be showing off a variety of products at the event – from the 55″ Super Narrow bezel display panel with FPR (Film-type Patterned Retarder) 3D to its other displays such as a high brightness 47″ outdoor display and its 26″ window display. The 55″ display makes use of FPR 3D glasses which feature curved lenses like regular glasses so they are much lighter, cheaper and healthier than shutter glasses.

The 47″ LED backlight LCD panel makes use of a fiber optic display with 2000 nit high-brightness – four times brighter than a general TV, which makes it more visible outdoors when compared to other types of displays. It also makes use of Local Dimming technology that helps it reduce power consumption to levels lower than that of existing LCD panels by turning off the darker parts of its backlights. The panel works even temperatures above 230 degrees F, which means hot, sunny days are definitely not a problem for it.

The 26″ Window Display isn’t new but nevertheless an interesting creation. It will be usable as a regular glass window or transparent touch display. It has a brightness control function for sunlight when used as a window and can even be used as a display during the night via an embedded LED backlight. Can’t wait until we start seeing these windows being used in our cars.

LG Display to unveil latest in public display technology at ISE 2012 | Ubergizmo

Invented by engineers at the US government’s Sandia National Laboratories, the self-guided bullet homes in on a laser spot trained on a target from up to 1.4 kilometres away from its firing point. If the target is a moving truck, say, and it moves after the bullet is fired, the laser illumination as seen by a laser sensor in the bullet’s nose instructs the bullet to finely twist tiny rudder-like fins on its rear end to keep it on target. The LED test proved that the sensor can remain powered after firing.

In a patent filing, Sandia says: “Computer simulations showed an unguided bullet under real-world conditions could miss a target more than 1,000 metres away by nine metres, but a guided bullet would get within 0.2 metres.” You can read more about the specialised bullets here and watch them being fired here.

Short Sharp Science: Light test for laser-guided bullet

Breakthrough: South Korean scientists have developed new technology which they believe could result in smartphones – such as an iPhone – being able to diagnose diseases

Doctor in your pocket…How smartphones may be able to diagnose diseases from just a drop of blood or saliva on the screen | Mail Online

“Dahon MU N360 Variable Transmission Alloy Folding Bike 2012 Introduction The All-New NuVinci N360 CVT Drivetrain hub delivers easy, intuitive, ultra-smooth shifting across a wide range of gears.”

Dahon MU N360 Variable Transmission Alloy Folding Bike

“But the Breezer has an ace up its sleeve. At the back end of the drivetrain sits a Fallbrook Technologies NuVinci N360 “seamless shifting” hub.

This thing is a marvel. It’s a continuously variable transmission hub. Instead of offering a fixed selection of gear ratios that you mechanically shift between — as in other multispeed hubs — the NuVinci just glides up and down through the range of the transmission as you twist the grip shifter. It uses a circuit of freely rotating spheres instead of a standard planetary-gear system. (Rather than try to explain its inner workings in detail here, I’ll direct you to our previous coverage of Fallbrook and some YouTubery).

You get all the same advantages of a traditional internally geared hub — sealed case, low maintenance, the ability to shift while stationary — but you can shift under force, and you aren’t limited by the selection of stops on the shifter.

Pedaling it around town is a kick. You twist your right hand towards you to go harder, and away from you to go easier, just like a motorcycle’s accelerator. It’s very easy to get used to. After only about 10 minutes on the Breezer, I was instinctively going back to the easiest setting at every stop light, then twisting the shifter as I sped up.

The entire concept of “shifting gears” is eliminated. Accelerating through the range of the transmission is much more pleasurable than the choppy, click-click-click routine we’re all used to. Getting the Breezer up to speed from a dead stop is smooth and quick, even when you’re pushing the cranks as hard as you can.”

Breezer Packs Billions of Gears Into This Comfy Commuter Bike | Product Reviews | Wired.com

“Fallbrook Technologies released the NuVinci Continuously Variable Planetary (CVP) N170 transmission for bicycles in 2007. The rear hub-based system does away with distinct, defined gears, it’s sealed against dirt and other contaminants (unlike a derailleur), and it allows riders to change drive transmission ratios even when standing still. Last year, the company unveiled the NuVinci N360, which is smaller and lighter than the N170, yet has a wider range of ratios. Fallbrook has now announced yet another incarnation of the technology – the NuVinci Harmony – which is an auto-shifting version of the N360 aimed specifically at e-bikes.”

NuVinci Harmony brings automatic shifting to e-bikes