US Computer Named World’s Fastest
According to reports released on November 15, 2012, a Cray supercomputer at the US Government’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been an IBM supercomputer at another American research center. Titan, a Cray XK7 system installed at Oak Ridge achieved 17.59 Peta flops (quadrillions of calculations per second). The system is funded by the United States Department of Energy, and is used for research in energy, climate change, efficient engines, materials and other advanced scientific research.
Titan knocked the IBM Sequoia at the Lawrence Liver more National Laboratory, California, to second place. Sequoia, which was declared the world’s fastest system in June 2012, could manage only 16.32 Peta flops in the contest. In the top five, the others were Fujitsu’s K computer in Kobe, Japan; an IBM Blue Gene/Q system named Mira in Chicago, USA; and another IBM Blue Gene/Q system named Queen in Germany. The survey found that 251 of the fastest 500 systems in the world were in USA, 105 in Europe and 123 in Asia, including 72 in China.
Scientists Discover How To Change Color Of Gold
Scientists have for the first time found a way to change the color of gold, the world’s most iconic precious metal. Researchers from the University of Southampton, USA, have discovered that by embossing tiny raised or indented patterns onto the metal’s surface, they can change the way it absorbs and reflects light. The result is that the human eye does not see it as “golden” in color at all.
The breakthrough finding is equally applicable to other metals such as aluminum and silver. It opens up the prospect of coloring metals without having to coat or chemically treat them, delivering valuable economic, environmental and other benefits.
The technique could be harnessed in a wide range of industries which includes manufacturing jewellery. It can also be used to make banknotes and documents that are harder to forge. It can be used to produce a wide range of colors on a given metal.
Gloves That Allow The Hands To Function As Wireless Keyboard
Researchers from the University of Alabama, USA, have designed a new glove that allows the users hands to turn into a wireless keyboard. Instead of tapping keys on a keyboard, the user simply touches their thumb to certain points on their fingers which are assigned a letter or other keyboard functions. Conductive thread carries the command to the matchbox-sized Printed Circuit Board (PCB) affixed to the back of the glove. The PCB transmits it to the targeted device via Bluetooth.
The name of the glove is Gauntlet, which is an acronym for Generally Accessible Universal Nomadic Tactile Low-power Electronic Typist. It features a beehive of conductive threads running through the fingers and palm.
