Soon, Self-charging Personal Electronics
Scientists have developed a new device that can charge your smartphoneon the go - without the need for an electrical cord. Incorporated directly into a cell phonehousing, the nanogenerator could harvest and convert vibration energy from a surface, such as the passenger seat of a moving vehicle, into power for the phone. Xudong Wang, an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, researcher Yanchao Mao and collaborators from Sun Yat-sen University in China, and the University of Minnesota Duluth developed the device, a mesoporous piezoelectric nanogenerator that takes advantage of a common piezoelectric polymer material called polyvinylidene fluoride, or PVDF.
New App may Help You Fix Abusive Boyfriend
Good news for victims ofdating violence or an abusive relationship! Researchers have developed a new smartphone app that warns young women of a dangerous partner by helping them examine their relationships and potential behavioural red flags. In an effort to connect more young women with safety information, researchers developed the “One Love My Plan” smartphone application, an interactive tool that helps college-age women in abusive relationships clarify their priorities and customise personal safety plans.
Facebook Buys WhatsApp for $19bn
Facebook has bought messaging app WhatsApp in a deal worth a total of $19bn in cash and shares. It is the social networking giant’s biggest acquisition to date.WhatsApp has over 450 million monthly users and is popular with people looking to avoid text messaging charges. In a statement announcing the deal, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg described WhatsApp’s services as “incredibly valuable”. WhatsApp allows users to send messages over internet connections, avoiding text messaging fees.
World’s Most Powerful Terahertz Laser Chip Developed
British researchers have built the world’s most powerful terahertz laser chip, an advance that may enable improved security scanning and medical imaging. Researchers from the University of Leeds claimed to have exceeded a 1 Watt output power from a quantum cascade terahertz laser. The new record more than doubles landmarks set by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and subsequently by a team from Vienna last year.
New System Tells How Far Your Email has Travelled
A new system that uses GPS technology to calculate the number of miles an email has travelled before reaching an inbox has been developed. The system known as Email Miles, uses Global Positioning System (GPS) technology and internet tracking to determine where a message was sent and where it was received. It then calculates the total distance between the two and displays it on the screen alongside a map. Inventor Jonah Brucker-Cohen, a design lecturer, said he hoped that it would remind people how quickly they can communicate in a digital world, ‘The Times’ reported. The system also shows how indirect the route of many emails can be.
