Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

So far I have looked at two sections of Obama’s policies: an open Internet and his aim for a connected democracy and infrastructure so it comes the turn of the final section: teaching adults and children of the world of technology.

But what does teaching children and adults actually mean?  Let’s first address the children.  The first thing that Obama will put in place is to make teaching Math and Science a priority and although this may not seem like it will affect IT, not only will this have subsequent effects to this industry, but remember that we are talking about technology as a whole, not just IT.  Keep reading for the conclusion of this series.

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If you didn’t already know, the Mars Phoenix mission came to a close yesterday.  You may remember the Mars Phoenix as the robot that found water on Mars over the summer.  When the Phoenix outlived the original estimates, those in charge pushed it a little further until it finally stopped communicating with Earth yesterday.  Normally this might make an interesting story about the fact that it died, but would really only depress those that were involved.

This time was a bit different, though.  The Mars Phoenix was giving updates through its time through Twitter.  Through Twitter the Phoenix told us how its mission was going, when he went into safe mode, instances when its solar panels were blocked by a sandstorm, and even answered questions that other users posed.  Continued after the break.

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Sections: Gaming, Miscellaneous, Web

Popular science just awarded Pacemaker, a mp3 player that turns anyone into a DJ, as a “Best of what’s new” winner in the Gadgets category.  The device is part of a larger platform that encompasses a user community which provides legal uploading and mix sharing as well as a desktop application.

The Pacemaker at its gadget-y heart is a 120GB mp3 player with display and touchpad.  Various inputs allow some crazy stuff, all in a very mobile little unit.  The device features multifunction buttons that allow different inputs on the touchpad.  I am certain it is easier to use than the diagram which outlines all the functionality shows. 

Keep reading to find out some more about the Pacemaker.

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In the last few years there has been an influx of fun/pointless/interesting/small/useful USB powered devices, and you will be hard pushed to find something you can’t power using USB.  However, amid the rubbish that you can find (like the USB powered fragrance oil burner) there is occasionally one that is genuinely interesting, and this is one of them.

For those of you who think science is cool and wish you had a microscope or who just like looking at small stuff, the USB Microscope is for you. Although perhaps designed for the younger generations, people of any age can have fun looking at anything under a microscope, and in pretty good quality too.  It has a resolution of up to 1600x1200 which is not bad and looking at a screen definitely beats looking into a tiny hole.  Naturally, there is a pretty good zoom.  Keep reading for more details.

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I have to admit, recently, if text is not staring at me from a screen I become uninterested very quickly.  Although, from reading about this upcoming book, I might have to actually read a book, or find a Kindle to read it on.  The book is called “iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind,“ by Gary Small.  Small is a neuroscientist from UCLA.  The idea of actually reading the book somewhat defeats the point made in the book, however.

The book says that through technology, we are learning to use more parts of our brains.  Through doing simple things most of us probably take for granted such as sending text messages and Internet searching our brains become “more adept at filtering information and making snap decisions.“  The book also claims that technology is increasing creativity and and accelerating learning.  Sounds pretty good to me.  Find out more after the break.

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Sections: Communications, Computers, Gadgets / Other, Lifestyle, Web

Widely used in devices like the iPhone, mini notebooks, digital cameras, Flash-based SSD hard disk drives and more, flash memory chips usually have a lifetime of about ten years. This is even being optimistic. When you are using applications that need a lot of repeat writing and rewriting however, this can cause the cells to wear out even faster, and you can find your flash device useless in only a couple of years. So, a flash memory chip that is purported to work for up to a century? Literally unheard of. But that is just what Japanese scientists say they have developed. Scientists from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology and the University of Tokyo also claim that the new chips work at a lower voltage than conventional chips.

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Photo: New York Times

Walter L. Wagner and Luis Sancho of Hawaii seem to have been smoking to much stuff lately. I’m saying this because on March 21, they filed a lawsuit in a district court in Honolulu against the European Center for Nuclear Research or CERN. This lawsuit aims to place a temporary restraining order on CERN’s latest and greatest project ever: the Large Hadron Collider. What is it that the L. H. C. does, you ask? Oh, nothing. It just recreates the Big Bang. You know, that awesome explosion that started the Universe?

For those that don’t know (or haven’t read Dan Brown’s Angels & Demons), a large hadron collider has the ability to supercharge protons up to seven trillion electron volts and then afterwards let them collide to recreate the energies and conditions resulting from a “Big Bang.“ CERN aims to further understand these forces and presumably apply them for the good of mankind, but the two concerned Hawaiians are worried about something else occurring in the aftermath: black holes that could quite possibly eat up the earth, and even the whole universe. What?

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Forget concepts! An instructional (albeit a bit creepy) video from Hila Science Camp shows you how to make live, working batteries out of ordinary pieces of lemon. The process is faily simple: all you’ll need are a few inches of wiring, a nail that’s coated in Zinc, a copper penny, and of course, the lemon itself. Where would we be without Science?

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