Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Scientists create first computer simulation of a complete organism

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/24/first-simulated-organism/

Scientists create first computer simulation of a complete organismEveryone, meet Mycoplasma genitalium, the subject of many scientific papers, even more vists to the clinic and now the first organism to be entirely recreated in binary. Computer models are often used for simplicity, or when studying the real thing just ain't viable, but most look at an isolated process. Stanford researchers wanted to break with tradition and selected one of the simplest organisms around, M. genitalium, to be their test subject. They collated data from over 900 publications to account for everything going on inside the bacterial cell. But it wasn't just a case of running a model of each cellular process. They had to account for all the interactions that go on -- basically, a hell of a lot of math. The team managed to recreate cell division using the model, although a single pass took almost 10 hours with MATLAB software running on a 128-core Linux cluster. The representation was so accurate it predicted what M. genitalium looks like, just from the genetic data. And, despite the raft of research already conducted on the bacterium, the model revealed previously undiscovered inconsistencies in individual cell cycles. Such simulations could be used in the future to better understand the complicated biology of diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's. Looks like we're going to need more cores! in that cluster. If you'd like to hear Stanford researcher Markus Covert's view on the work, we've embedded some footage beyond the fold.

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Scientists create first computer simulation of a complete organism originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jul 2012 09:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Corning and Samsung plan LCD glass plant in China, may toughen up a few laptop screens

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/24/corning-and-samsung-plan-lcd-glass-plant-in-china/

Samsung Series 9 13-inch review head-on

Corning and Samsung were the best of friends well before even the Lotus Glass deal, but the relationship just got a little cozier. The two have agreed to build a plant in China's industry-heavy Wuxi New District focused on making glass to cover LCD panels in laptops and desktop displays. The roughly $600 million factory will be a major production hub for Samsung, not just an expansion: it's planning to stop some of its glass production in South Korea and send that work to the new facility when it opens. There won't even be signatures on the agreement until sometime later this year, so the plant itself is still a distant prospect -- but while the two haven't outlined their exact strategy, the new plant may be the ticket to toughening up that future Series 9 laptop with a touch of Gorilla Glass.

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Corning and Samsung plan LCD glass plant in China, may toughen up a few laptop screens originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jul 2012 10:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Project Holodeck and Oculus Rift hope to kickstart every gamers' VR dream for $500 (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/23/project-holodeck-and-oculus-rift/

Project Holodeck and Oculus Rift hope to make every gamers' dream a $500 reality via Kickstarter video

Star Trek: The Next Generation may be coming to your living rooms soon courtesy of some hot new Blu-ray pressing, but one of the most compelling pieces of the technology shown on that series still remains elusive: the holodeck. Don't get down, sunshine, because we might soon be making our first, tentative steps into a virtual courtesy of Project Holodeck. It's underway at USC's School of Cinematic Arts as well as the Viterbi School of Engineering and starts out with a pair of Project Oculus glasses. These glasses, which were shown off at E3 by none other than John Carmack, cram a 1,280 x 800 display into a pair of glasses that present a wide, truly immersive field of view. Pair that with a PlayStation Move for head tracking and a Razer Hydra controller and you have the beginnings of a proper virtual reality environment.

An early concept of what the complete system might feel like can be found after the break, a couple of people acting out a sequence from Skies of Arcadia, which could be called a spiritual inspiration for the first game designed for Project Holodeck: Wild Skies. In it, two people "pilot a massive airship through a exotic world of floating islands" -- though whether they look as kawaii as their Dreamcast predecessors remains to be seen. When you might actually get your hands on the system is also unknown, but one piece of the puzzle, the Oc! ulus Rif t glasses, are said to be hitting Kickstarter any day now -- for an anticipated price of just $500. Bat'leth and copy of Workin' out with Worf not included.

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Project Holodeck and Oculus Rift hope to kickstart every gamers' VR dream for $500 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jul 2012 20:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Arduino Leonardo finally launches with new pin layout, lower price (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/23/arduino-leonardo-finally-launches/

Arduino Leonardo finally launches with new pin layout, lower price

We caught our first glimpse at the new, simplified Arduino Leonardo at Maker Faire back in September of last year. At the time, we were promised a late October shipping date, but it failed to materialize. Finally, Massimo Banzi has taken the wraps off the slimmed down microcontroller and its now in stock at retailers across the web. The Leonardo sports a new pin layout, dubbed R3 (which the Uno has also been updated with), that will become standard across all Arduino boards. That's a big deal for shield makers who only have to design and manufacture an add-on once to ensure it's compatible with the entire product line. The new layout also adds some extra pins and versatility, especially in the realm of shields, which can use to the new IOREF pin to determine the voltage of the processor and thus its model. That means a shield doesn't have to be designed specifically with the new ARM-based Due in mind. The other big news is that the circuitry for converting USB to serial communication and the processor itself have been combined, which not only simplifies the design and drives down costs, but allows it to communicate directly with a computer and imitate all sorts of accessories (such as keyboards and mice). Best of all, is the price. The Leonardo, complete with headers, costs just $25 -- a good $10 less than the Uno -- while the headerless, solder-friendly! version retails for $22.50. Check out the video after the break for a few more details from Massimo himself.

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Arduino Leonardo finally launches with new pin layout, lower price (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jul 2012 22:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft digs deep into Windows 8's hardware graphics boost, says fast just isn't slick enough

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/23/microsoft-digs-deep-into-windows-8-hardware-graphics-boost/

Microsoft digs deep into Windows 8's hardware graphics boost, says fast just isn't slick enough

While Microsoft has been exploring the sensory experiences that will go into Windows 8, like sight and touch, there's only one thing that many enthusiasts care about: speed. To their delight, Redmond has just devoted one of its pre-release blog posts to showing just how much faster its hardware graphics acceleration will be in a Metro-focused universe. The goal is a hiccup-free 60Hz frame rate, and virtually everything in Windows 8 centers on that ambition. Baked-in transition effects, optimized geometry and even improved font rendering give modern computers a huge jump in performance versus Windows 7. Microsoft is just as keen to expose that power, as well: Direct3D 11.1 is now the root of all video acceleration in the pipeline, making it both easier and faster to mix 2D and 3D. All told, Windows 8 promises to get responsiveness freaks and benchmark lovers all hot and bothered. If either label describes you, the source link might satiate your lust until October 26th.

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Microsoft digs deep into Windows 8's hardware graphics boost, says fast just isn't slick enough o! riginall y appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jul 2012 23:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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