Thought control? How would you like to be able to turn on your television just by thinking? Or have the door to your house open by mind power when your hands were full? This isn't something that will remain science fiction for long. The technology necessary to make this happen is here now.First of all, you have basic thought control now, meaning you can control and direct your thoughts. You can imagine a friend talking in your mind, for example. Then you can choose to hear music in your imagination. If you are hooked up to an electroencephalograph when you do these things, it will also be clear that these two thoughts are handled in different parts of your brain.This electroencephalogram, or EEG, is important, because what we can measure, we can use to do things. Think about this for a moment. Modern electronics has made it possible to easily operate things as a response to measurement. A thermostat measures the temperature, for example, and turns the heater on or off according to that measurement. Security lights turn themselves on when light levels get low.
We can already measure and track what is going on in the brain. Is it inconceivable then, to have that measurement automatically trigger some action? For example, even before the electrical patterns of the brain were made "visible," we measured pulse rate with many different machines. Now, what if instead of sending a signal to a monitor telling a red light to go on when the heart raced, the signal told the TV to turn on? Think of anything that gets your heart racing and the TV would turn on, right?Call it mind power, thought control or whatever. You can see that such a device has been possible for at least a generation now. With new technology, and more detailed measurements of the actual electric patterns of the brain, how much more is possible? Someday, an electroencephalograph type of device will be able to more directly read your mind. The technology will eventually get to the point where it can print out the actual words you are thinking. We are a long way from that, but we are right at the brink of building machines that give us thought control of the things around us.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Pyrolysis-Green technology
Pyrolysis is an emerging technology and its green credentials when the feed is biomass are top notch. Everyone who has lit a wood or coal fire and watched it burn has seen pyrolysis. Pyrolysis is usually the first chemical reaction that occurs in the burning of many solid organic fuels, like wood, cloth, and paper, and also of some kinds of plastic.In a wood fire, the visible flames are not due to combustion of the wood itself, but rather of the gases released by its pyrolysis; whereas the flame-less burning of embers is the combustion of the solid residue (charcoal) left behind by it. Although the basic concepts of the process have been validated, the performance data for an emerging technology have not been evaluated according to methods approved by EPA and adhering to EPA quality assurance/quality control standards.Waste is converted to a fuel by heating the waste which burns just as coal or wood does under the right controlled conditions. Whereas incineration fully converts the input waste into energy and ash, these processes limit the conversion so that combustion does not take place directly.
Waste Plastic under pressure and catalytic cracking produces fuel and can be used as a fuel source. Under certain temperature conditions the plastic macromolecular chains are broken down into small molecular chains (simple hydrocarbon compounds) and those small molecular compounds contain C4 to C20, this compound is a component of petrol, coal oil, and diesel.Anhydrous pyrolysis can also be used to produce liquid fuel similar to diesel from solid biomass.Fast pyrolysis occurs in a time of a few seconds or less. Therefore, not only chemical reaction kinetics but also heat and mass transfer processes, as well as phase transition phenomena, play important roles. Fast pyrolysis is a process in which organic materials are rapidly heated to 450 - 600 degrees C in absence of air. Under these conditions, organic vapors, permanent gases and charcoal are produced.
Waste Plastic under pressure and catalytic cracking produces fuel and can be used as a fuel source. Under certain temperature conditions the plastic macromolecular chains are broken down into small molecular chains (simple hydrocarbon compounds) and those small molecular compounds contain C4 to C20, this compound is a component of petrol, coal oil, and diesel.Anhydrous pyrolysis can also be used to produce liquid fuel similar to diesel from solid biomass.Fast pyrolysis occurs in a time of a few seconds or less. Therefore, not only chemical reaction kinetics but also heat and mass transfer processes, as well as phase transition phenomena, play important roles. Fast pyrolysis is a process in which organic materials are rapidly heated to 450 - 600 degrees C in absence of air. Under these conditions, organic vapors, permanent gases and charcoal are produced.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Optical Microscopes
Optical microscopes use visible light and a system of lenses to magnify small samples that are usually un-seen to the bare eye. The optical microscope is the first, oldest and simples type of microscope (as opposed to the much more advanced electronic microscope). The first optical microscopes were created in the 18th century. Due to it's compact sizes, simplicity and relatively low price, the optical microscope is very popular, and can be found in use in many areas of biology. Optical microscopes mostly magnify objects for up to 1500 times. The first optical microscopes were structured in a way that is called "the simple microscope". This structure utilizes only one pair of lenses to create a magnified image of the sample. Today, the simple structure is in use only in the magnifying glass, hand lens and the loupe.
The more advances optical microscopes, and the ones that are popular today, are what's called "compound optical microscopes". These microscopes use a system of many lenses, in order to "compound" and multiply the magnification, and therefore maximize it. The two main lens systems in an optical microscope are the objective lens (near the examined object), and the eyepiece lens (up near the eye of the scientist). Modern optical microscopes use multiple lenses both in the objective part as well as the eyepiece part. The old optical microscopes also used a mirror to provide illumination below the object. The modern optical microscopes use a strong lamp to provide constant and strong illumination.
The main uses of compound optical microscopes include:
The examining small pieces of material, or even a smear or a squash preparation. This is due to the fact that the optical microscope uses light to pass beneath the object and enter the lenses. That's why the item is better be half-transparent. In other uses the optical microscope may be used to examine metal samples, in order to study the metal's structure.
At low power, microscopes can be used to examine small living animals and plants. At high power, they can be used to examine bacteria. It is important to note that the vast advancement in medicinal fields and biology in general, is owed to a large extent, to the invention of the optical microscopes. For example, the way the blood flows in our body was not fully understood until the microscope made in possible to examine small blood vessels behavior.
The more advances optical microscopes, and the ones that are popular today, are what's called "compound optical microscopes". These microscopes use a system of many lenses, in order to "compound" and multiply the magnification, and therefore maximize it. The two main lens systems in an optical microscope are the objective lens (near the examined object), and the eyepiece lens (up near the eye of the scientist). Modern optical microscopes use multiple lenses both in the objective part as well as the eyepiece part. The old optical microscopes also used a mirror to provide illumination below the object. The modern optical microscopes use a strong lamp to provide constant and strong illumination.
The main uses of compound optical microscopes include:
The examining small pieces of material, or even a smear or a squash preparation. This is due to the fact that the optical microscope uses light to pass beneath the object and enter the lenses. That's why the item is better be half-transparent. In other uses the optical microscope may be used to examine metal samples, in order to study the metal's structure.
At low power, microscopes can be used to examine small living animals and plants. At high power, they can be used to examine bacteria. It is important to note that the vast advancement in medicinal fields and biology in general, is owed to a large extent, to the invention of the optical microscopes. For example, the way the blood flows in our body was not fully understood until the microscope made in possible to examine small blood vessels behavior.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Information Technology Manufacturing Solutions
Rapidly changing market dynamics is pushing all businesses belonging to different industry verticals, especially manufacturing, to come up with innovative ways to streamline the ‘3 D’s of product lifecycle i.e., design, development and deployment, to deliver marketable and reliable products.
Emerging and ever changing consumer tastes, evolving regulations, and ageing demographics call for a partner who can enable technology solutions that generate tangible and measurable value for businesses in order to achieve a strategic edge on their competition. Organizations that envisage co–building along with all its stakeholders, an integrated and sustainable world by leveraging technology, always stay ahead of the rest. Focused commitment and unique business models built around relationships and customer commitment is what wins the race and sustains it till the end. One positive aspect in this race to success is that technology has become more intelligent, safer and eco-friendly.
Irrespective of the industry vertical, companies that can strategically partner with customers to reduce product development lifecycle and hasten the time to market the products, are the call of the ever changing present and the future. And in today’s cut throat drive to stay on top, customers play a major role in leveraging expertise to increase innovation, manage the globalization, besides reducing costs across the manufacturing and production cycle. These factors play a major role in bringing about faster turn around across the entire value chain, which is driven by a proven domain expertise and high knowledge capital. It enables to build a compelling business advantage and deliver end to end services.
To stay ahead of the competition, manufacturers need to globalize their process & systems efficiently through a unique blend of domain-intensive technology and process expertise that ensures delivering products faster to their target markets. In a world where success is related to time & speed to enable, there is a definite need for a partner who can achieve the strategic edge in order to determine the market leadership. That being the case, it is wise to partner with an established IT consulting organization, whose sole focus is on co-creating technology products and solutions to help customers become efficient, integrated and innovative manufacturing enterprises, with maximum attention to uncompromising quality and an initiative to drive Zero-Defects, being the objective.
Emerging and ever changing consumer tastes, evolving regulations, and ageing demographics call for a partner who can enable technology solutions that generate tangible and measurable value for businesses in order to achieve a strategic edge on their competition. Organizations that envisage co–building along with all its stakeholders, an integrated and sustainable world by leveraging technology, always stay ahead of the rest. Focused commitment and unique business models built around relationships and customer commitment is what wins the race and sustains it till the end. One positive aspect in this race to success is that technology has become more intelligent, safer and eco-friendly.
Irrespective of the industry vertical, companies that can strategically partner with customers to reduce product development lifecycle and hasten the time to market the products, are the call of the ever changing present and the future. And in today’s cut throat drive to stay on top, customers play a major role in leveraging expertise to increase innovation, manage the globalization, besides reducing costs across the manufacturing and production cycle. These factors play a major role in bringing about faster turn around across the entire value chain, which is driven by a proven domain expertise and high knowledge capital. It enables to build a compelling business advantage and deliver end to end services.
To stay ahead of the competition, manufacturers need to globalize their process & systems efficiently through a unique blend of domain-intensive technology and process expertise that ensures delivering products faster to their target markets. In a world where success is related to time & speed to enable, there is a definite need for a partner who can achieve the strategic edge in order to determine the market leadership. That being the case, it is wise to partner with an established IT consulting organization, whose sole focus is on co-creating technology products and solutions to help customers become efficient, integrated and innovative manufacturing enterprises, with maximum attention to uncompromising quality and an initiative to drive Zero-Defects, being the objective.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Biotechnology And Agriculture
The methods of biotechnology involved include genetic engineering (GE), genomics and bioinformatics, marker-assisted selection, micropropagation, tissue culture, cloning, artificial insemination, embryo transfer, and other technologies. In producing improved agricultural crops by genetic engineering, researchers aim for strains with the properties such as herbicide resistance, pest resistance, disease resistance, stress resistance and altered composition. All these properties will help farmers and large production companies to grow crops which will benefits in producing new products, increasing quality and quantity of existing products and improving ingredients of crops so that their production will ensure healthy and tasty food. For example, transgenic plants grew better under drought conditions and responded better when brought out of water stress. Next, such crops will allow producing potato starch with high amylopectin content for making paper, textiles and adhesives and rapeseed oil with greater erucic acid levels for plastic and industrial lubricants production.
Biotechnology is proving to be a vital complement to conventional agricultural research, improving breeding and conservation programmes and giving insights into understanding and controlling plant diseases. Aside from making conventional research more precise, GE also gives scientists the dramatic ability to transfer genetic material between organisms that normally cannot be combined through natural methods. Along with this newfound ability, however, comes new issues and concerns that need to be addressed before any large-scale adoption can take place. These include unintended transfer of transgenic genes, development of resistance by weeds, pests and diseases, and potential allergies from exotic proteins. Transparent and impartial evaluation of developed strains to answer these questions rather than rely on media hype will safeguard human health, protect the environment, and facilitate public acceptance of genetically engineered crops.
Biotechnology is proving to be a vital complement to conventional agricultural research, improving breeding and conservation programmes and giving insights into understanding and controlling plant diseases. Aside from making conventional research more precise, GE also gives scientists the dramatic ability to transfer genetic material between organisms that normally cannot be combined through natural methods. Along with this newfound ability, however, comes new issues and concerns that need to be addressed before any large-scale adoption can take place. These include unintended transfer of transgenic genes, development of resistance by weeds, pests and diseases, and potential allergies from exotic proteins. Transparent and impartial evaluation of developed strains to answer these questions rather than rely on media hype will safeguard human health, protect the environment, and facilitate public acceptance of genetically engineered crops.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Wireless Networks- Modulation techniques
Many of the wireless technologies in the WPAN, WLAN, and WWAN categories transmit information using radio waves. For this to take place, the data is superimposed onto the radio wave, which is also known as the carrier wave, since it carries the data. This process is called modulation. There are many modulation techniques available, all with certain advantages and disadvantages in terms of efficiency and power requirements. The modulation techniques are as follows:
1. Narrowband technology - Narrowband radio systems transmit and receive data on a specific radio frequency. The frequency band is kept as narrow as possible to allow the information to be passed. Interference is avoided by coordinating different users on different frequencies. The radio receiver filters out all signals except those on the designated frequency. For a company to use narrowband technology, it requires a license issued by the government. Examples of such companies include many of the wide area network providers.
2. Spread spectrum - By design, spread spectrum trades off bandwidth efficiency for reliability, integrity, and security. It consumes more bandwidth than narrow-band technology, but produces a signal that is louder and easier to detect by receivers that know the parameters of the signal being broadcast. To everyone else, the spread-spectrum signal looks like background noise. Two variations of spread-spectrum radio exist: frequency-hopping and direct-sequence.
a). Frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) - FHSS uses a narrowband carrier that rapidly cycles through frequencies. Both the sender and receiver know the frequency pattern being used. The idea is that even if one frequency is blocked, another should be available. If this is not the case, then the data is re-sent. When properly synchronized, the result is a single logical channel over which the information is transmitted. To everyone else, it appears as short bursts of noise. The maximum data rate using FHSS is typically around 1 Mbps.
b). Direct-sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) - DSSS spreads the signal across a broad band of radio frequencies simultaneously. Each bit transmitted has a redundant bit pattern called a chip. The longer the chip, the more likely the original data can be recovered. Longer bits also require more bandwidth. To receivers not expecting the signal, DSSS appears as low-power broadband noise and is rejected. DSSS requires more power than FHSS, but data rates can be increased to a maximum of 2 Mbps.
3. Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) - OFDM transmits data in a parallel method, as opposed to the hopping technique used by FHSS and the spreading technique used by DSSS. This protects it from interference since the signal is being sent over parallel frequencies. OFDM has ultrahigh spectrum efficiency, meaning that more data can travel over a smaller amount of bandwidth.
1. Narrowband technology - Narrowband radio systems transmit and receive data on a specific radio frequency. The frequency band is kept as narrow as possible to allow the information to be passed. Interference is avoided by coordinating different users on different frequencies. The radio receiver filters out all signals except those on the designated frequency. For a company to use narrowband technology, it requires a license issued by the government. Examples of such companies include many of the wide area network providers.
2. Spread spectrum - By design, spread spectrum trades off bandwidth efficiency for reliability, integrity, and security. It consumes more bandwidth than narrow-band technology, but produces a signal that is louder and easier to detect by receivers that know the parameters of the signal being broadcast. To everyone else, the spread-spectrum signal looks like background noise. Two variations of spread-spectrum radio exist: frequency-hopping and direct-sequence.
a). Frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) - FHSS uses a narrowband carrier that rapidly cycles through frequencies. Both the sender and receiver know the frequency pattern being used. The idea is that even if one frequency is blocked, another should be available. If this is not the case, then the data is re-sent. When properly synchronized, the result is a single logical channel over which the information is transmitted. To everyone else, it appears as short bursts of noise. The maximum data rate using FHSS is typically around 1 Mbps.
b). Direct-sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) - DSSS spreads the signal across a broad band of radio frequencies simultaneously. Each bit transmitted has a redundant bit pattern called a chip. The longer the chip, the more likely the original data can be recovered. Longer bits also require more bandwidth. To receivers not expecting the signal, DSSS appears as low-power broadband noise and is rejected. DSSS requires more power than FHSS, but data rates can be increased to a maximum of 2 Mbps.
3. Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) - OFDM transmits data in a parallel method, as opposed to the hopping technique used by FHSS and the spreading technique used by DSSS. This protects it from interference since the signal is being sent over parallel frequencies. OFDM has ultrahigh spectrum efficiency, meaning that more data can travel over a smaller amount of bandwidth.
Fundamentals of Wireless Networks
Wireless networks can be divided into two broad segments: short-range and long-range. Short-range wireless pertains to networks that are confined to a limited area. This applies to local area networks (LANs), such as corporate buildings, school campuses, manufacturing plants or homes, as well as to personal area networks (PANs) where portable computers within close proximity to one another need to communicate.
These networks typically operate over unlicensed spectrum reserved for industrial, scientific, medical (ISM) usage. The available frequencies differ from country to country. The most common frequency band is at 2.4 GHz, which is available across most of the globe. Other bands at 5 GHz and 40 GHz are also often used. The availability of these frequencies allows users to operate wireless networks without obtaining a license, and without charge.
Long-range networks continue where LANs end. Connectivity is typically provided by companies that sell the wireless connectivity as a service. These networks span large areas such as a metropolitan area, a state or province, or an entire country. The goal of long-range networks is to provide wireless coverage globally. The most common longrange network is wireless wide area network (WWAN). When true global coverage is required, satellite networks are also available.
These networks typically operate over unlicensed spectrum reserved for industrial, scientific, medical (ISM) usage. The available frequencies differ from country to country. The most common frequency band is at 2.4 GHz, which is available across most of the globe. Other bands at 5 GHz and 40 GHz are also often used. The availability of these frequencies allows users to operate wireless networks without obtaining a license, and without charge.
Long-range networks continue where LANs end. Connectivity is typically provided by companies that sell the wireless connectivity as a service. These networks span large areas such as a metropolitan area, a state or province, or an entire country. The goal of long-range networks is to provide wireless coverage globally. The most common longrange network is wireless wide area network (WWAN). When true global coverage is required, satellite networks are also available.
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