Around the world in three-and-a-half minutes
Here is the video check it.....
**Source NASA**
Spectacular solar flare erupts from the sun
The sun erupted in an amazing solar flare on April 16, unleashing an intense eruption of super-heated plasma that arced high above the star's surface before blasting out into space. The powerful solar flare occurred at 1:45 p.m. EDT (1745 GMT) and registered as a moderate M1.7-class on the scale of sun storms, placing it firmly in the middle of the scale used by scientists to measure flare strength. The storm is not the strongest this year from the sun, but photos and video of the solar flare captured by NASA spacecraft revealed it to be an eye-popping display of magnetic plasma.
Google Launches New "PROJECT GLASS"
Internet giant, Google has launched its new "Project Glass", which are augmented reality glasses capable of showing chats, maps and other services.
The company has offered a peek into the new project in the field of wearable computing. The prototype glasses include a small see-through screen and might be able to display maps, take photos or even initiate video calls, according to a concept video released on Wednesday by the company.
The video shows a man having an average day added with the benefits of pictures, information and menu buttons that appeared on the augmented reality glasses. The information guided him through the streets of Manhattan and through a bookstore.
Experts say that the glasses would not offer any feature that is not offered by a Smartphone. The only apparent difference between the two would be that the internet will be included in the field of view through the will save the time to move the arm to take out the Smartphone from the pocket and access its features.
Meanwhile, pop culture hacker Jonathan McIntosh quickly released a spoofed version of the video with ads appearing while the user does various things in his daily life. It is expected that the gadget and service provided on it would include advertisement, which is the source of earning for the internet giant. It is to be seen if the technologically advanced is accepted by the consumers.
A CAR THAT FLIES
A production-type prototype of the world's first flying car took its first test flight. The vehicle — dubbed the Transition - has two seats, four wheels and wings that fold up so it can be driven like a car. The vehicle has a 23-gallon gas tank. It gets about 35 mpg on the road and burns about five gallons of gas per hour when it is at cruising speed in the air. Terrafugia said it has already received about 100 orders for the Transition. The flight was the first successful test of the two-seat personal aircraft that you can park in your garage, drive on the road and fill up at a gas station.
BMW i8 Concept Spyder
What's most stunning about the BMW i8 Concept Spyder the German automaker isn't the 350-hp plug-in hybrid technology, the laser-powered headlights or the auto-show touches such as folding electric kickboards. It's that BMW plans to build something with most of these features, in a car looking much like this, within a few years. This is not a dream. The latest evolution of BMW i-Series concepts expected at this week's New York auto show wears an exterior that while still futuristic, represents a viable look at what BMW will build in two years. When BMW chief designer Adrian von Hooydonk told us in Detroit the production i8s would strongly resemble the concepts, this -- the layered bodywork, the laser headlights and the tri-tone accents -- was what he meant. Even the i8 Concept Spyder's scissor doors look less showy than purposeful here.
Micromax unveils tablet at Rs 6,499
A digital education and entertainment device, "Funbook on Ice Cream Sandwhich", combining learning and fun was launched by eucational publisher Pearson, Micromax Informatics and education company Everonn. Micromax Funbook is available in 2 variants; suave silver and brilliant black. A perfect combination of hardware, content and seamless connectivity for a high-quality and engaging experience, Funbook is poised to change the way fun and learning is consumed on the go. The device is targeted at at nearly 20 million of the total urban youth population in India and costs Rs 6,499.
3D printing with nano-precision
Researchers in Austria have set a new world speed record for the fastest 3D-printed nano-objects. The team from the Vienna University of Technology has been able to create sculptures as small as a grain of sand in a fraction of the time than had previously been required.To demonstrate the process the group created a model of a Formula 1 racing car 0.285mm (0.011in) in length in just over four minutes. The technique could be used to make small biomedical parts.
A handout electron microscope photograph shows a nano-scale F1 racing car model created by a newly developed 3D printing technique for nano structures, made available to Reuters March 29, 2012. Researchers from the Vienna University of Technology have set a new world speed record for creating 3D nano objects. The University team create their grain of sand-size structures in just four minutes, a fraction of the time that other items have previously been printed. Previously making complex large 3D structures would take hours or even days but with the newly developed 3D laser printer the scientists can speed that up by a factor of 500 or in some cases 1,000 times. The process called "two-photon lithography" involves using a focused laser beam to harden liquid resin in order to create micro objects of solid polymer. The scientists said the technique could be developed to make small biomedical parts to be used by doctors. B/W ONLY REUTERS/Vienna University of Technology/Handout.
Oldest blood found in Oetzi, the Iceman
Scientists have discovered the world's oldest blood cells in the remains of a 5,300-year-old iceman.The scientists found traces of blood around an arrow wound that killed the man in the mountains of what is now the Alto-Adige region of northern Italy."Otzi the iceman" was discovered in 1991 at 3,200 metres in a glacier by hikers in the German-speaking region near the border with Austria.His remains were so well preserved that scientists have estimated he was 45-years-old at the time he was killed.A joint study was conducted at the Centre for Smart Interfaces at Darmstadt Technical University in Germany and the Centre for Nano Sciences in Munich, and published by the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.The researchers extracted tissue samples from the arrow wound, and from another wound in the iceman's hand.After using a microscope to identify what appeared to be red blood cells, they confirmed the discovery by using an atomic force microscope which identifies molecules with a laser beam.The mummified body is kept in the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, South Tyrol, Italy.(IANS/AKI)
Inventions
600 B.C.-Thales of Miletus writes about amber becoming charged by rubbing - he was describing what we now call static electricity.
1600-English scientist, William Gilbert first coined the term "electricity" from the Greek word for amber. Gilbert wrote about the electrification of many substances in his "De magnete, magneticisique corporibus". He also first used the terms electricforce, magnetic pole, and electric attraction.
1660-Otto von Guericke invented a machine that produced static electricity.
1675-Robert Boyle discovered that electric force could be transmitted through a vacuum and observed attraction and repulsion.
1729-Stephen Gray's discovery of the conduction of electricity.
1733-Charles Francois du Fay discovered that electricity comes in two forms which he called resinous(-)and vitreous(+). Benjamin Franklin and Ebenezer Kinnersley later renamed the two forms as positive and negative.
1745-Georg Von Kleist discovered that electricity was controllable. Dutch physicist, Pieter van Musschenbroek invented the "Leyden Jar" the first electrical capacitor. Leyden jars store static electricity.
1747-Benjamin Franklin experiments with static charges in the air and theorized about the existence of an electrical fluid that could be composed of particles. William Watson discharged a Leyden jar through a circuit, that began the comprehension of current and circuit. Henry Cavendish started measuring the conductivity of different materials.
1786-Italian physician, Luigi Galvani demonstrated what we now understand to be the electrical basis of nerve impulses when he made frog muscles twitch by jolting them with a spark from an electrostatic machine.
1800-First electric battery invented by Alessandro Volta. Volta proved that electricity could travel over wires.
1816-First energy utility in US founded.
1820-Relationship of electricity and magnetism confirmed by Hans Christian Oersted who observed that electrical currents effected the needle on a compass and Marie Ampere, who discovered that a coil of wires acted like a magnet when a current is passed thorough it. D. F. Arago invented the electromagnet.
1826-Ohms Law written by Georg Simon Ohm states that "conduction law that relates potential, current, and circuit resistance"
1827-Joseph Henry's electromagnetic experiments lead to the concept of electrical inductance. Joseph Henry built one of the first electrical motors.
1831-Principles of electromagnetism induction, generation and transmission discovered by Michael Faraday.
1837-First industrial electric motors.
1841-J. P. Joule's law of electrical heating published.
1873-James Clerk Maxwell wrote equations that described the electromagnetic field, and predicted the existence of electromagnetic waves traveling with the speed of light.
1878-Edison Electric Light Co. (US) and American Electric and Illuminating (Canada) founded.
1879-First commercial power station opens in San Francisco, uses Charles Brush generator and arc lights. First commercial arc lighting system installed, Cleveland, Ohio. Thomas Edison demonstrates his incandescent lamp, Menlo Park, New Jersey.
1880-First power system isolated from Edison. In Grand Rapids Michigan: Charles Brush arc light dynamo driven by water turbine used to provide theater and storefront illumination.
1881-Niagra Falls, New York; Charles Brush dynamo, connected to turbine in Quigley's flour mill lights city street lamps.
1882-Edison Company opens Pearl Street power station. -The first hydroelectric power station opens in Wisconsin.
1883-The electric transformer is invented. Thomas Edison introduces the "three-wire" transmission system.
1886-William Stanley develops transformer and Alternating Current electric system. Frank Sprague builds first American transformer and demonstrates use of step up and step down transformers for long distance AC power transmission in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. The WestinghouseElectric Company is organized. 40 to 50 water powered electric plants reported on line or under construction in the U.S. and Canada.
1887-In San Bernadino, California, the High Grove Station, first hydroelectric plant in the West is opened.
1889-Oregon City Oregon, Willamette Falls station, first AC hydroelectric plant. Single phase power transmitted 13 miles to Portland at 4,000 volts, stepped down to 50 volts for distribution.
1891-60 cycle AC system introduced in U.S.
1892-General Electric Company formed by the merger of Thomson-Houston and Edison General Electric.
1893-Westinghouse demonstrates "universal system" of generation and distribution at Chicago exposition. -In Austin, Texas, the first dam designed specifically for hydroelectric power built across Colorado River is completed.
1897-Electron discovered by J. J. Thomson.
1900-Highest voltage transmission line 60 Kilovolt.
1902-5-Megawatt turbine for Fisk St. Station (Chicago
1903-First successful gas turbine (France). World’s first all turbine station (Chicago). Shawinigan Water & Power installs world’s largest generator (5,000 Watts) and world’s largest and highest voltage line—136 Km and 50 Kilovolts (to Montreal). Electric vacuum cleaner. Electric washing machine.
1905-in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan the first low head hydro plant with direct connected vertical shaft turbines and generators is opened.
1906-In Ilchester, Maryland, a fully submerged hydroelectric plant is built inside Ambursen Dam.
1909-The first pumped storage plant is opened in Switzerland.
1910-Ernest R. Rutherford measured the distribution of an electric charge within the atom.
1911-Willis Haviland Carrier disclosed his basic Rational Psychrometric Formulae to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. The formula still stands today as the basis in all fundamental calculations for the air conditioning industry. R. D. Johnson invents the differential surge tank and Johnson invents hydrostatic penstock valve.
1913-Electric refrigerator is invented. Robert Millikan measured the electric charge on a single electron.
1917-Hydracone draft tube patented by W. M. White.
1920-First U.S. station to only burn pulverized coal is opened. Federal Power Commission (FPC) is established.
1922-Connecticut Valley Power Exchange (CONVEX) starts, pioneering interconnection between utilities.
1928-Construction of Boulder Dam begins. Federal Trade Commission begins investigation of holding companies.
1933-Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) established.
1935-The Public Utility Holding Company Act is passed. The Federal Power Act is passed. The Securities and Exchange Commission is established. The Bonneville Power Administration is established. The first night baseball game in major leagues is played made possible by electric lighting.
1936-Highest steam temperature reaches 900 degrees Fahrenheit vs. 600 degrees Fahrenheit in early 1920s. 287 Kilovolt line runs 266 miles to Boulder (Hoover) Dam. The Rural Electrification Act is passed.
1953-The first 345 Kilovolt transmission line is laid. The first nuclear power station ordered.
1954-The first high voltage direct current (HVDC) line (20 megawatts/1900 Kilovolts, 96 Km). The Atomic Energy Act of 1954 allows private ownership of nuclear reactors.
1963-The Clean Air Act is passed.
1965-The Northeast Blackout occurs.
1968-The North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) is formed.
1969-The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 is passed.
1970-The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is formed. The Water and Environmental Quality Act is passed. The Clean Air Act of 1970 is passed.
1972-The Clean Water Act of 1972 is passed.
1975-Brown’s Ferry nuclear accident occurs.
1977-The New York City blackout occurs. The Department of Energy (DOE) is formed.
1978-The Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) is passed, and ends utility monopoly over generation. The Power Plant and Industrial Fuel Use Act limits the use of natural gas in electric generation (repealed 1987).
1979-The Three Mile Island nuclear accident occurs.
1980-The first U.S. windfarm is opened. The Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act establishes regional regulation and planning.
1981-PURPA ruled unconstitutional by Federal judge.
1982-U.S. Supreme Court upholds legality of PURPA in FERC v. Mississippi (456 US 742).
1984-Annapolis, N.S., tidal power plant—first of its kind in North America (Canada) opened.
1985-Citizens Power, first power marketer, goes into business.
1986-Chernobyl nuclear accident (USSR) occurs.
1990-Clean Air Act amendments mandate additional pollution controls.
1992-The National Energy Policy Act is passed.
1997-ISO New England begins operation (first ISO). New England Electric sells power plants (first major plant divestiture).
1998-California opens market and ISO. Scottish Power (UK) to buy Pacificorp, first foreign takeover of US utility. National (UK) Grid then announces purchase of New England Electric System.
1999-Electricity marketed on Internet. FERC issues Order 2000, promoting regional transmission
