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A comet bigger than the Sun!

holmes_jewitt_071109.jpg

From the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy:

Spectacular outbursting comet 17P/Holmes exploded in size and brightness on October 24. It continues to expand and is now the largest single object in the Solar system, being bigger than the Sun (see above). The diameter of the tenuous dust atmosphere of the comet was measured at 1.4 million kilometers (0.9 million miles) on 2007 November 9 by Rachel Stevenson, Jan Kleyna and Pedro Lacerda of the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy.

Link 

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Green data centre uses 93% less energy than a normal collection of servers

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Compellent combines efficiency with low energy use

Wow. Colour me impressed. Compellent Technologies produce network servers and data storage hubs. With the rise of the internet, the amount of power generated by servers and data has grown exponentially, with most internet servers needing vast quantities of power and cooling of the heat produced. Compellent have made a product that only uses power when the data is being accessed, using a load of technologies like Automated Tiered Storage, Thin Provisioning and Advanced Virtualization. This can cut the power usage of the company buying the data centres by up to a massive 93%. If every server used technology like this, a large chunk of every developed country’s electricity usage would disappear.

[via Treehugger, image via Compellent’s website]

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Robotic luggage follows you around, doesn’t eat annoying people…yet

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Robot Suitcase No, it doesn’t have little feet, and it doesn’t occasionally eat annoying people, but otherwise this Russian-invented luggage that follows its owner around sure sounds like the luggage belonging to Rincewind the Wizzard in Terry Pratchett’s novels: (Via Sci Fi Tech.)

Russian specialists intend to become first in the world to launch mass production of robots-suitcases that are able to follow their owner in footsteps. In order to make the mechanism follow its owner, it is enough for the person to put a sensor-card into a pocket and the suitcase will dutifully roll after the owner.

A gyroscope, light sensitive detectors, ultrasound and infrared sensors help the smart suitcase bypass obstacles, to roll in conditions of an inclined surface, and to stop when stumbling upon the edges of staircases and balconies. The robot-suitcase’s accumulator charge is said to be enough for non-stop operation during 2 hours.

The suitcase developers (Robotronic.ru) have given the mechanism a human name – Tony.

The plan is for the suitcase to be available in 2009 for around $1,960 U.S. (Image from Robotronic.ru.)

[tags]robots, novels, technology, Russia[/tags]

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New Petaflop Super Computer From IBM

bluegene.jpgThe world’s fastest super computer is currently Blue Gene/L (pictured left) which is located at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. It is capable of performing 478.2 trillion operations, or 478.2 teraflops, a second. However, IBM (which built Blue Gene/L) has announced plans to build a petaflop (quadrillion operations per second) computer, which essentially will be twice as powerful as Blue Gene/L.

[The] computer nicknamed “Roadrunner” that will combine Cell processors, a family of chips found inside the PlayStation 3, and processors from Advanced Micro Devices.

Roadrunner, which will be delivered to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in summer 2008, will be capable of performing more than a quadrillion operations, or a petaflop, when it’s fully operational. IBM helped design and build the Cell chip and has been looking for ways to expand its commercial potential.

(Image credit: Credit: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

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The Future Fire e-zine’s Second Life short fiction contest

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Wow! Here’s a bit of news that combines two of my favourite things – short-form speculative fiction and Second Life.

Cover art for issue 9 of The Future Fire

The Future Fire is a UK-based speculative fiction e-zine, and they’ve just released their ninth issue as a free-to-download PDF file. Normally that would just be a prime candidate for a Friday Free Fiction mention, but there’s a little extra involved this time round.

The Future Fire is running a short fiction writing competition … but with a twist. Take it away, editor Djibril:

"… in this issue, we launch the The Future Fire / Black Swan writing competition with a first prize of $500.

"There’s a small technical barrier to entry, but no cost involved: the contest requires you to register and enter the Second Life virtual world and visit the Black Swan sim, which is a spooky, atmospheric island with a raised pathway, sculptures, events, and inhabitants.

"Visit for as long and as often as you like, and then write a story of up to 2,000 words inspired by your experience and submit it to The Future Fire by midnight on December 10th 2007."

Full details (and the SLURL for The Black Swan) can be found on The Future Fire‘s website.

So, all you writers who have yet to investigate Second Life, now you have a great excuse! Drop me an email if you’d like some guidance from someone who knows the lay of the land.

Thanks to Ariel at UK SF Book News Network for the heads-up.

[tags]writing, competition, short, story, Second Life[/tags]

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