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Xbox at 10: A Decade of Gaming

By Guest PostNovember 16, 2011Technologydecade of gaming, kinect for xbox, video game console, xbox, xbox concept, xbox live, xbox video game

*A decade after its introduction, Xbox has grown into a global gaming phenomenon. A selection of highlights from the past 10 years.*

REDMOND, Wash. (Nov. 15, 2011) –– It’s hard to believe, but 10 years ago today, Microsoft introduced the world to Xbox, noting that the gaming system was “erupting” on the scene. The gaming system set sales records, with 100,000 units per week shipping to retailers in the first weeks after its launch. According to NPD Group, Microsoft sold 1.5 million Xbox units in North America between the Nov. 15 launch and the end of calendar year 2001, making Xbox the best-selling video game console launch on record. (more…)

Tiny Worms Change Direction Using Two Human-Like Neural Circuits

By Guest PostNovember 16, 2011Sciencecommand interneurons, gas pedal circuit, motion change, motor control, movement disorders, roundworm

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— A University of Michigan biologist and his colleagues have found that the strategies used by the tiny C. elegans roundworm to control its motions are remarkably similar to those used by the human brain to command movement of eyes, arms and legs. (more…)

Yale Research Reveals Ancient Moth’s True Colors

By Guest PostNovember 15, 2011Natureancient moth, camouflage, daytime moths, original colors, structural colors

A research team led by Yale University scientists has for the first time determined the original colors of an ancient moth, based on nearly 50 million-year-old fossils from Germany. (more…)

Voyager 2 Completes Switch to Backup Thruster Set

By Guest PostNovember 15, 2011Sciencebackup thrusters, deep space network, earth, engineers, heliosheath, interstellar space, NASA, power requirements, pressure of interstellar gas, rate of energy, solar system, spacecraft, voyager 1 and voyager 2, voyager 2

PASADENA, Calif. — NASA’s Voyager 2 has successfully switched to the backup set of thrusters that controls the roll of the spacecraft. Deep Space Network personnel sent commands to the spacecraft to make the change on Nov. 4 and received confirmation today that the switch has been made.

The change allows engineers to reduce the amount of power that the 34-year-old spacecraft needs to operate by turning off the heater that keeps the fuel to the primary thrusters warm. Although the rate of energy generated by Voyager 2’s nuclear power source continues to decline, by reducing its power requirements, engineers expect the spacecraft can continue to operate for another decade. (more…)

IBM Announces Supercomputer to Propel Sciences Forward

By Guest PostNovember 15, 2011Technology10 petaflop system, 16 compute cores, aging nuclear deterrent, blue gene family of supercomputers, blue gene q, bob meisner, brian connors, Chicago, climate change, electric car batteries, energy efficient supercomputer, energy research, evolution of the universe, green500, grid and network management, high-performance computing, hpc, ibm, ibm powerpc, lawrence livermore national laboratory, llnl, mike papka, mira, multi threading for long code sections, national nuclear security administration, next generation supercomputing project, nnsa, powerful supercomputers, President Obama, sequoia, ultra scale technical computing platform, united states

*Blue Gene/Q tackles major challenges of the day, delivers up to 100 petaflops at peak performance*

ARMONK, NY – 15 Nov 2011: IBM today announced its next generation supercomputing project, Blue Gene/Q, will provide an ultra-scale technical computing platform to solve the most challenging problems facing engineers and scientists at faster, more energy efficient, and more reliable rates than ever before. Blue Gene/Q is expected to predict the path of hurricanes, analyze the ocean floor to discover oil, simulate nuclear weapons performance and decode gene sequences.

When it is fully deployed in 2012 at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), the system, named “Sequoia”, is expected to achieve 20 petaflops at peak performance, marking it as one of the fastest supercomputers in the world. The capabilities this system represents will help ensure United States leadership in high performance computing (HPC) and the science it makes possible. Moreover, Blue Gene/Q is expected to become the world’s most power-efficient computer, churning out 2 gigaflops per watt. (more…)

Evidence Emerges of Ancient Lake in California’s Eel River

By Guest PostNovember 15, 2011Environment, Scienceairborne light detection and ranging, ancient landslide, benjamin mackey, california institute of technology, catastrophic landslide, dam burst, diverse phenomena, ecological changes, eel river, gene flow, genetic introgression, genetic trajectories, genetics of steelhead trout in the eel river, geological history, global positioning systems, gps, humboldt county, interbreeding, joshua roering, lakebed, late pleistocene, lidar, michael lamb, modern landslide hazard, mountainous region, national science foundation, northern california, pacific ocean, paul cutler, populations, remote sensing technology, steelhead trout, university of oregon

*Ecological changes from lakebed may have led to two different populations of once-related steelhead trout*

A catastrophic landslide 22,500 years ago dammed the upper reaches of northern California’s Eel River, forming a 30-mile-long lake which has since disappeared. It left a living legacy found today in the genes of the region’s steelhead trout.

Using remote-sensing technology known as airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and hand-held global-positioning-systems (GPS) units, scientists recently found evidence for a late Pleistocene, landslide-dammed lake along the river. (more…)

Rising Air Pollution Worsens Drought, Flooding UMD-Led Study Shows

By Guest PostNovember 14, 2011Environmentaerosol particles, aerosol pollution, air pollution, cloud development, cloud drops, public health, solar radiation

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Increases in air pollution and other particulate matter in the atmosphere can strongly affect cloud development in ways that reduce precipitation in dry regions or seasons, while increasing rain, snowfall and the intensity of severe storms in wet regions or seasons, says a new study by a University of Maryland-led team of researchers. (more…)

comScore Releases Overview of European Internet Usage in September 2011

By Guest PostNovember 14, 2011Technologycareer services and development category, Comscore, czech portal seznam, dublin based digital media company, ea online, espace emploi international, european markets, european online audience, Facebook, france, Germany, Google, internet usage in europe, italy, jobrapido, Microsoft, mozilla organization, populis, russian social network, top european web property, turkey, united kingdom, vkontakte

30 Percent of European Internet Users Seek Career Information Online
Russia Overtakes Germany as Market with Largest Online Audience

LONDON, UK, 14 November 2011 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released an overview of internet usage in Europe, showing 373.4 million unique visitors went online in September 2011 for an average of 26.4 hours per person. This release highlights internet usage in 49 European markets aggregated into the European region and provides individual reporting on 18 markets. Amongst its findings, the study showed strong growth in September 2011 for the Career Services and Development category with a 14 percent increase in unique visitors from the previous month. (more…)

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