Purdue's 'self-calibrating' MEMS could produce the most accurate sensors yet

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/12/purdues-self-calibrating-mems-could-produce-the-most-accurate/

Micro electromechanical systems, or MEMS, aren't anything new. But Purdue University's Jason Vaughn Clark has ideas that are far grander than those we've seen already. Mr. Clark has purportedly developed a new take on an old spin, with electro micro metrology (EMM) enabling engineers to "account for process variations by determining the precise movement and force that's being applied to, or sensed by, a MEMS device." These self-calibrating machines are the first to do so without any external references, which would allow nanotechnologists, crime forensics researchers and a whole host of others to determine what actually happens at a microscopic level. In theory, the gurus working on this stuff long to improve the accuracy of atomic force microscopes and to eventually create a diminutive AFM-on-a-chip, which -- according to Clark -- could "open the door to the nanoworld to a much larger number of groups or individuals." We're waiting.

Purdue's 'self-calibrating' MEMS could produce the most accurate sensors yet originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 11:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Notion Ink Adam priced at $498, lives up to promise of being below $499

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/12/notion-ink-adam-priced-at-498-lives-up-to-promise-of-being-bel/

Notion Ink, the plucky Indian startup intent on shaking up the tablet industry, was most recently spotted turning over the sofa cushions looking for spare change, but that isn't stopping the company from announcing pricing for its mythical first product. The Adam, it has now been revealed, will be available for $498 with WiFi, 3G, GPS, and a Tegra 2 system-on-chip powering things, with prices dipping down to $449 if you exclude either the 3G or Pixel Qi display option, and $399 if you drop both and make do with a WiFi-only LCD-based tablet. That certainly adheres to the promise of aggressive pricing, but the Q3 launch -- which in itself was a slip from a Q2 pledge -- has now also been definitively scratched off the board of possibilities, as the device won't be submitted to the FCC for certification until November. Notion Ink claims that from there on it'll be just a matter of waiting on the FCC to clear the Adam for its US launch, which could happen in late 2010 or CES 2011 at the latest. Or, you know, never.

Notion Ink Adam priced at $498, lives up to promise of being below $499 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 11:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DeviantART Muro is an HTML5 Drawing App that Works On Your iPad [Drawing]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5609478/deviantart-muro-is-an-html5-drawing-app-that-works-on-your-ipad

HTML5 online painting app Muro is a surprisingly capable drawing app that doesn't require Flash, plug-ins, or anything else—just a browser that supports the latest technologies.

The application works well in any HTML5-compatible browser, which is basically all of them except for Internet Explorer—though it's obviously a lot easier to use if you've got a drawing tablet as well. The application also works surprisingly well on your iPad—the touch screen is an ideal platform for a drawing application. There's a good set of drawing tools, and a whole slew of filters for blurring, sharpening, embossing, or any other image editing type of task once you're done with your image. It's a great tool worth a look, if for no other reason than to see what HTML5 is capable of.

deviantART Muro [via How-To Geek ETC]

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Someone Built the Perfect Green House in a Perfect Paradise [Architecture]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5609575/someone-built-the-perfect-green-house-in-a-perfect-paradise

Playa Carate, Peninsula de Osa, Costa Rica. 5% of the world biodiversity is in this place, a perfect paradise on Earth. Somehow, someone built this house in it. Loaded with green technology, it's not only pretty but 100% self-sufficient.

Created by Robles Arquitectos, the house is so isolated from civilization that it has no access to public power cables, sanitation, or water. For the latter, the house uses water from the forest, which also serves as a power source thanks to two low-impact hydroelectric turbines that crank 800kWh. In addition to the generators, the roof can provide up to 10,800kWh of electricity thanks to its panels. Additional panels heat up the water.

Everything else in the house has been designed to be energy efficient and easy to maintain:

All the proposed materials were tested in order to evaluate its behavior on the difficult environment that the Osa peninsula has because of its humidity, high percentage of rain, mould, fungi and its flora and fauna.

The whole house—which is 1 meter over the ground so it's away from its humidity—uses thermal panels, built around a steel structure. The structure itself has been designed following the same principles that make insects energy efficient, to enhance ventilation, reduced sun exposure, and provide with natural illumination for as long as possible during the day.

According to the architects, the house is the "first stage" of the ISEAMI Institute (Institute of sustainability, ecology, art, mind and investigation):

The house is the main area of the institute, therefore, it's design will serve as a multifunctional place in order to host activities as Investigation, meditation, training, Yoga and joy at the terrace located in the first level. At the same time, the Institute director will habit the house on the second level.

This whole institute feels like an excuse to build an amazing house in an amazing place, but whatever. I want to join it as much as I wanted to join those bastards of the Dharma Initiative. [Archdaily]

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The Sun May've Belched Plasma, But the Sky Looked Gorgeous [Image Cache]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5609916/the-sun-mayve-belched-plasma-but-the-sky-looked-gorgeous

Last week's geomagnetic storm produced some wild photos of aurora borealis, otherwise known as the Northern Lights. Thankfully Flickr users were on hand to shoot the effects of the sun's expelled plasma, like this one seen here.

This particular photo, shot by Shawn Malone from LakeSuperiorPhoto.com, shows the aurora borealis over the Lake Superior in Marquette, Michigan. My absolute favorite though is Ian Diamond's, who was out shooting in Quebec, Canada.

The Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory Ahead telescope at NASA shot an impressive HD video of the sun's ejection of plasma, which chucks 10 billion tons of the charged gas into the air. Over the course of three and a half days, the gas soared the 93 million miles from the sun to the Earth, resulting in some amazing affects only seen by those living in the Northern parts of the world. [National Geographic via Boing Boing]

Image Credit: LakeSuperiorPhoto

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