31.7.08

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28.7.08

Lie-detector camera looks into your eyes

A new heat-detecting camera can catch a liar in the act - at least 75% of the time, according to a small scientific study out today.

If additional tests confirm its ability, the lie-detector camera might one day be used by airport security to apprehend terrorists before they get on an airplane, says researcher James Levine of the Mayo Clinic.


But one critic questions whether the camera would ever be reliable enough to be used on a large scale, or whether it could spot someone who plans to commit a crime.

Levine's group reported their early findings in today's Nature.

Levine and his colleagues enlisted 20 U.S. Army recruits to help test the camera, which records the heat patterns that are created when blood rushes to the human face. The researchers told eight of the recruits in the study to commit a mock crime. They were told to stab a mannequin, rob it of $20, then lie about the "crime." The remaining 12 people in the study knew nothing about the fake crime.


The researchers took all 20 people into an interrogation room. They asked them whether they had stolen $20 and then recorded their answers with a standard polygraph test and the new camera.

The camera caught six out of eight liars as they were lying - the same lie-detecting ability as the polygraph test. The camera also correctly identified 11 of the 12 people who were telling the truth - a slightly better rate than the polygraph.

The study is so small that it can't be used as proof of the camera's ability to catch a thief or a liar, Levine says. Still, he is hopeful that the camera is recording a subtle flushing of the face that may automatically occur when someone lies.



That flushing may not be caught by the naked eye, but the camera shows a bright red-orange-yellow zone that represents blood rushing to the eyes. "When someone lies, you get an instantaneous warming around the eyes," he says. Levine speculates that people who lie are afraid of getting caught. That fear triggers a primitive response to run away. Blood goes to the eyes so that the liar can more efficiently map out an escape route, he says.

Levine says it may take years before the camera would be ready for a test at a large U.S. airport.



Alan Zelicoff, a senior scientist at the Center for National Security and Arms Control at the Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, says that even if the camera works as well as it did in this study, it would mistakenly label lots of people as liars. At a busy U.S. airport, those mistakes could mean a thousand passengers a day who would get pulled aside by security - a move that would probably mean lots of missed flights and irate passengers, he says.USATODAY

Building Better Ultralight Computers

The Holy Grail of mobile computing is a portable device that has the power of a desktop computer, lasts more than a day on a single battery charge, and weighs next to nothing.



Right now, such a computer is still a myth.



But computer makers are pushing the limits of weight and power.

Today's so-called ultralight computers, which retail from about $1,800 to more than $3,000, are less than an inch thick, weigh less than three pounds, and have the computing power of a typical year-old desktop.




Yet many of the smallest, lightest computers are studded with tradeoffs. They, for example, won't last more than a few hours on a single battery, don't come with built-in CD or DVD drives, and have less powerful processors than "normal" PCs.




"Right now, people do see that you have to compromise to get to the form factor," that is, the ideal size and weight, says Michael Abary, senior product marketing manager for Sony's Vaio line of notebook PCs. "But we're making plans to offset them [the compromises]."


One of the most promising new technologies to help achieve that goal is a new breed of low-powered microprocessors that can vary the speeds at which they operate.


During complex computing tasks - such as crunching a large amount of numerical data in a spreadsheet - the processors might run at their top rate, or "clock speed." But for less demanding tasks - running a word processor or playing music, for instance - the chip can slow way down.



The chief advantage of these processors, including Intel's Mobile Pentium III-M and Transmeta Corp.'s Crusoe, is the power they save. At slow speeds, for example, they typically require less than 1 watt, which means a computer's rechargeable batteries will last much longer between charges.

Meanwhile, labs are testing new battery technologies.



For now, most rechargeable batteries, made of lithium, provide portable computers about four or five hours before they need to be recharged. But research into different, lighter materials - such as zinc combined with air - could produce batteries with greater "energy densities." If more power can be packed into less space, portable computers can be made even lighter than the current crop of ultralights.



"Unfortunately, unlike a lot of electronic technology which sees a doubling in capabilities every 18 months, battery technology growth is only linear," says Tom Bernhard, director of product marketing for Fujitsu. By Bernhard's estimates, really interesting developments won't happen for another three to five years.

While they wait for the battery improvements, computer makers are touting a new type of portable computer called the tablet PC, which they hope to offer for sale by next year. Compaq, NEC and Toshiba all showed off models at this week's Comdex computer trade show in Las Vegas.

These computers - typically the size and shape of an 1.5-inch-thick stack of typing paper - feature a screen that users can "write" on using a plastic stylus. The software, a special version of Microsoft's new Windows XP operating system, can interpret those pen strokes. And, instead of using a computer mouse to click on icons, users will merely tap on the screen to access the Internet or start programs.



Ted Clark, vice president for Compaq's Tablet PC, says such pen-based computers will have all the power, memory and features of an ordinary notebook computer.



Such snazzy portables may not be as cheap as ordinary notebooks, however. Early tablet PCs were priced well above $3,000 because of expensive parts such as the touch-sensitive screen.

23.7.08

Indonesians told to plant trees before marrying

Prospective newlyweds in an Indonesian province are being given one more promise to honor: planting trees to help slow the rapid deterioration of the country's forests.

As Indonesia marks World Environment Day on Thursday, husbands-and brides-to-be in Gorontalo, a rugged mountainous province on Sulawesi island, are being required to plant 10 seedlings supplied by the local government, said Hasyim Alidrus, head of the religious affairs office.

It is part of a nationwide "re-greening" initiative launched by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the Bali Conference in Bali last November and millions of trees were planted across the vast archipelago after the meeting.

The program, critics say, is largely symbolic in a nation that is losing its forests at one of the fastest rates in the world due to illegal logging, mining, new oil palm plantations and slash-and-burn land clearing.

Conservationists say deforestation on Borneo island has claimed an area the size of some European countries and continues virtually unabated.

That has hardly dampened the enthusiasm of 27-year-old Khairul Baso and his fiancee, Andini, who received two 6-month-old teak trees along with palm, fruit and flower seedlings ahead of their wedding this weekend.

The couple is just one of nearly 900 that this year received trees from Gorontalo's religious affairs office, where they are required to register their marriage documents. Couples are required to plant the trees to receive their legal paperwork, Alidrus said.

20.7.08

The Magic Moneybag

Long, long ago there was a young couple who lived in a small thatched hut in a gully. They were so poor that every day they had to cut two bundles of firewood and carry them to market on their backs.

One day, the young couple came back from the mountain carrying the firewood. They put one bundle in the courtyard and planned to sell it at the market the next day to buy rice. The other bundle they kept in the kitchen for their own use. When they woke up the following morning, the bundle in the courtyard had mysteriously disappeared. There was nothing to do but to sell the bundle which they had kept for themselves.

That same day, they cut another two bundles of firewood as usual. They put one bundle in the courtyard for market and kept the other bundle for their own use. But the following morning, the bundle in the courtyard had vanished again. The same thing happened on the third and fourth day as well, and the husband began to think there was something strange going on.

On the fifth day, he made a hollow in the bundle of firewood in the courtyard and hid himself inside it. From the outside it looked just the same as before. At midnight an enormous rope descended from the sky, attached itself to the bundle and lifted it up into the sky, with the woodcutter still inside it.

On his arrival in heaven, he saw a kindly looking, white-haired old man coming in his direction. The old man untied the bundle and when he found the man inside it, he asked, "Other people only cut one bundle of firewood a day. Why do you cut two?"

The woodcutter made a bow and replied, "We are penniless. That's why my wife and I cut two bundles of firewood a day. One bundle is for our own use and the other we carry to the market. With it we can buy rice to make porridge."

The old man chuckled and said to the woodcutter in a warmhearted tone of voice, "I've known for a long time that you are a decent couple and lead a frugal and hardworking life. I shall give you a piece of treasure. Take it back with you and it will provide you with your livelihood."

As soon as he had finished speaking, there came seven fairies who led the young man into a magnificent palace. Its golden eaves and gleaming roof tiles shone so brightly that the moment he entered, he could no longer open his eyes. Inside the palace there were many kinds of rare objects on display that he had never seen before. Moneybags of all shapes and sizes hung in one room. The fairies asked him, "Which one do you like best? Choose whichever you please, and take it home."

The woodcutter was beside himself with joy, "I'd like that moneybag, the one full of precious things. Give me that round, bulging one." He chose the biggest one and took it down.

Just at this moment, the white-haired old man came in and, with a stern expression on his face, said to the y


oung man, "You cannot take that one. I'll give you an empty one. Every day you can take one tael of silver out of it, and no more." The woodcutter reluctantly agreed. He took the empty moneybag and, clinging onto the enormous rope, he was lowered to the ground.

Once home, he gave the moneybag to his wife and told her the whole story. She was most excited. In the daytime they went as usual to cut firewood. But from then on, whenever they returned home after dark, they would close the door and open the moneybag. Instantly, a lump of silver would roll jingling out. When they weighed it on the palm of their hand, they found it to be exactly one tael. Every day one tael of silver and no more came rolling out of the bag. The wife saved them up one by one.

Time went slowly by. One day the husband suggested, "Let's buy an ox."

The wife didn't agree. A few days later, the husband suggested again, "How about buying a few acres of land?"

His wife didn't agree with that either. A few more days elapsed, and the wife herself proposed, "Let's build a little thatched cottage."

The husband was itching to spend all the money they had saved and said, "Since we have so much money in hand, why don't we build a big brick house?"

The wife could not dissuade her husband and reluctantly went along with his idea.

The husband spent the money on bricks, tiles and timber and on hiring carpenters and masons. From that time on, neither of them went into the mountain to cut firewood any more. The day came when their pile of silver was almost exhausted, but the new house was still unfinished. It had long been in the back of the husband's mind to ask the moneybag to produce more silver. So without his wife's knowledge, he opened the bag for a second time that day. Instantly, another lump of snow-white silver rolled jingling out of the bag onto the ground. He opened it a third time and received a third lump.

He thought to himself, "If I go on like this, I can get the house finished in no time!" He quite forgot the old man's warning. But when he opened the bag for the fourth time, it was absolutely empty. This time not a scrap of silver came out of it. It was just an old cloth bag. When he turned to look at his unfinished brick house, that was gone as well. There before him was his old thatched hut.

The woodcutter felt very sad. His wife came over and consoled him, "We can't depend on the magic moneybag from heaven. Let's go back to the mountain to cut firewood as we did before. That's a more dependable way of earning a living."

From that day on, the young couple once again went up to the mountain to cut firewood and led their old, hardworking life.

14.7.08

Deformation behavior of dispersion-strengthened copper at high temperature

The deformation behavior of dispersion-strengthened copper with different compositions was investigated by hot compression simulation tests on a Gleeble-1500 thermal-mechanical simulator. The microstructure during deformation at high temperature was also studied. The result shows that at the beginning of hot compression simulation, the flowing stress of the dispersion-strengthened copper quickly attains a peak value and the stress shows a greater decrease when the temperature is higher and the strain rate is lower. The dispersion particles lead to an obvious increase in the recrystallization temperature. Under experimental conditions, dynamic recovery is the main softening method. The constitutive equation at high temperature of 1.2﹪Al2O3-0.4﹪WC/Cu is obtained.

11.7.08

All Superman

Superman (played by Will Smith) in making a lot of trouble, become a headache for the hearts of the public figures difficult. In order to regain the people, Superman decided to find a new public relations to deal with the crisis, to improve its public image. Can not think of, the public relations of his wife Mary (played investigation Erziselong) actually were anonymous female Superman! On the sparks between two people together to make a wonderful occasion, Superman aware of their supernatural power was gradually fading, in the end how his hands and Mary, will soon release a group of common revenge against his villain »

9.7.08

Micro Heat Exchanger with a Novel Sintered Ni Microfibrous Structured Wick and Its Performance

Ni micro-fiber used sintering porous structural material (Ni-defibrillators) of the micro-heat exchanger, heat transfer and flow of their properties have been studied, inspected the micro-structure of heat exchangers and heat transfer coefficient resistance movement of the impact test The results show that the fiber-filled Ni could significantly strengthen the micro-heat exchanger performance, than the air flow under the same conditions, the size of micro-heat exchanger heat transfer coefficient increased 2 times more; Ni-defibrillators to reduce the porosity and by Small flow depth can significantly improve the micro-heat exchanger performance, but the result of the heat exchanger to increase pressure drop;Use of high thermal conductivity and thickness of the small copper heat exchanger film will help improve the micro-heat exchanger performance. Ni micro-fiber porosity of 95.1 percent, flow depth of 0.3 mm, heat transfer copper film thickness of 0.1 mm, water The volume of traffic to 14.6 L / h, the size of micro-heat exchanger heat transfer coefficient of up to 40.0 MW / (m3 K), heat transfer coefficient of up to 20 kW / (m2 K), pressure drop of about 0.2 MPa.

7.7.08

Experimental Study on Heat Production Mechanism during Fatigue Process

The traditional method of determining the fatigue test of pilot fatigue limit at the long cycle, the need for more samples, the high cost of a fatigue test pilot in a difficult issues. The use of text with accurate, rapid and convenient, low-cost advantages of the thermal imager Determination of a wide range of load condition of fatigue limit of Q235, and different sticky and / or plastic effects of heat-led mechanism. Materials in the course of fatigue, fatigue limit under the load caused by temperature fluctuations from Heat elastic effect, the temperature rise from non-bomb material, plastic effect (such as the stickiness effect), and fatigue limit on the total load from plastic work, have led to fatigue damage, making a downward adjustment mechanism of temperature rise. Through the test data The analysis calculated the stickiness of the material factor, given the use of plastic determine the starting point of energy consumption

6.7.08

Sister Venus to win war

Seventh seed Venus in the U.S. yesterday's temperature Budden tennis tournament women's singles final, 5, 6 to 7 than 4 Licuo than her sister Serena, successfully defending champion.

This became the focus of attention in the "family of civil war," the 28-year-old Venus Although the first set was the first sixth seed Serena broke serve, but she then calmly battle, gradually catch up, Recovering a 4 to 4 tie, and thrilling to win the first set.

Competition is also the second set, both sides played Nanfennanjie, lead has increased stalemate, with Venus finally better stamina, hard to play a beautiful victory. With the victory, Venus has won seven Grand Slam tournament title attached.

4.7.08

The future of one of the most professional - British electronic engineering analysis

In the United Kingdom's revenue, at least half are from engineering, electronic engineering in which occupy a significant share. This is extremely rich in expertise and skills in Formula One motor racing has been most obvious in the performance: this movement can be said to be testing some of the most remarkable mechanical and electronic engineering invention of the touchstone, and the British engineers To dominate this industry. British engineering and technology but also in the magic of the development of new fighters, new fighters on the application of such a voice activated receptors and the integration of electronic technology, but also able to take advantage of global long-distance wireless communication network. Britain's electronic engineering also deal with today's problems to find a more environmentally friendly, cleaner solutions, and make unremitting efforts.

3.7.08

Abdullah: To Increase Production If Oil Prices Will Not Drop

Kuwait local newspaper "Arab Times" recently quoted the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah as saying, due to speculation, as well as heavy tax burden on oil prices is the main reason behind the continuing rise, so, even if oil prices do not increase oil production Will be reduced.
Saudi Oil Minister Ali Yimi June 30 that Saudi Arabia is ready to provide its consumer market by the quantity of oil, but now the market's oil supply is adequate.
Riyadh has already promised in July, producing 9.7 million barrels of oil per day, making the country since the May crude oil output has increased by 550,000 barrels.

2.7.08

Computer Crashes What Are The Reasons For

I bought a new computer assembly machine, often crashes. Dead when the screen may freeze 2 to 3 seconds fixed, and then on a blank screen, after the resumption of self-inspection system will then be normal use. Heavy equipment after the system has the same problem, expert advice, thank you