Technology News

Over a period of years, scientists have been looking for a replacement for the lithium-ion battery.  They have concluded that the sodium-ion battery are safer and cost effective for large scale storage as compared to the lithium-ion batteries. The anode has been incorporated into the sodium-ion battery allowing  for 83 percent capacity over 900 cycles.

Lithium-ion battery technology has improved the standard of living conditions all over. A lot of our daily needs are based on storage technologies and energy production. The Lithium-ion batteries have come to the fore in its use in zero-emission electronic vehicles as well as in most of the cell phones. The drawback, however, is the sparsely available lithium and its consequent price rise. The increasing demand for energy storage applications and sustainability of lithium needs to be considered. To overcome this hurdle, scientists are considering alternative energy storage systems. The sodium-ion battery fit into the scheme of things. They are the best power sources, as sodium is widely available and shows similar chemistry as that of Lithium-ion batteries.  The sodium-ion battery is an addition to the list of renewable energy and clean technology.

The sodium-ion battery use sodium ions as charge carriers. They are rechargeable batteries. Sodium is cheap, non-toxic and found in plenty. A bit of a problem in the sodium-ion battery has been encountered and that is why we do not have sodium batteries today. The cathode in a typical battery consists of metal and oxygen ions that are placed in layers.  On exposure to air, the metals in the sodium battery’s cathode can get oxidized. Hence, the  performance of the battery decreases rendering it ineffective.

The Brookhaven National Laboratory has come out with an energy storage breakthrough with the sodium-ion battery.  Along with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, they are taking this technology one step closer to commercialization.

They  have come out with the sodium-ion battery breakthrough. They tweaked the cathode by introducing  various materials and placing them at various intervals. The National Synchroton Light Source II (NSLS-II) was used for a comparison of the latest and conventional sodium batteries. The NSLS-II provides various types of beamlines. The samples were analyzed using the Inner-Shell Spectroscopy beamline. This beamline helps to track the absorption of light and re-emission by hitting the materials with an ultra bright  x-ray beam. This beamline helps to see the change in oxidation states of the metals in the cathode material and its consequent efficiency and lifetime of the battery. To check the energy storage, it checks the changes in the battery regarding its charging and discharging. The results of the study by the Chinese research team showed a more stable battery.

In the new sodium-ion battery, there is an increase of 20 times its stability on the period of exposure to air and 9 times in capacity retention after 500 cycles. To top it all, they found that when the battery was put in water, there was no loss of capacity.

This sodium-ion battery, energy storage breakthrough, is good news for the US wind and solar industries. The energy planners like the idea of the sodium-ion battery as compared to the lithium-ion battery as sodium is cheap and plentiful. A sodium-ion battery can store the same amount of energy as a lithium-ion battery for less than 80 percent the cost.

 

 

Amazon Fashion, together with the Japanese-Italian fashion label Nicopanda, has developed its own exclusive streetwear collection for the first time with See Now Buy Now option. It consists of six parts and is to be launched during the London Fashion Week in September. Nicopanda will be there for the first time this year with their own catwalk show. Right after the show, all styles of the ” See Now Buy Now ” collection can be hopped at Amazon.com. As the official sponsor of the show, Amazon Fashion hosted the event in its European fashion photo studio in London’s Hoxton district.

The exclusive unisex see now, buy now collection consists of a hoodie, a long-sleeved shirt, a bomber jacket, an oversized scarf, a clutch and leggings and is available from the middle of September on the five European Amazon fashion pages.

“Nicopanda designs twist people on the streets proverbially, and are also particularly popular with stars like Rihanna or Lady Gaga,” said Susan Saideman, vice president of Amazon Fashion Europe. “We are very happy to be able to present such an exceptional brand of see now, buy now collections to our customers at London Fashion Week in our own European photo studio.”

The label Nicopanda was founded by the award-winning Italian-Japanese creative director Nicola Formichetti, who is known for his work with Diesel and Uniqlo as well as his collaborations with Lady Gaga.

Amazon advances with a slow pace but unstoppable in the fashion industry, a sector that until now was not among its main objectives, was in the spotlight of Jeff Bezos. However, for a few months, the news about this not so new niche market for the ecommerce giant succeed. After the revolution caused by the sale of Sarah Jessica Parker shoes, the company announced another action: the association with the firm Nicopanda.

It is a much more complete action that goes beyond selling see now, buy now collection online. To begin with, it is based on a concept that is taking more and more force in the industry and that can turn upside down the gateway as we had known it so far, that of See Now Buy Now. This means, basically, that when a company presents its new collection on the catwalk, it can be bought instantly without needing to wait six months.

Nicopanda, one of those companies whose designs will remain engraved in the memory and the taste of Rihanna or Lady Gaga, among others, parade for the first time on September 16 at London Fashion Week and will do it by the hand from Amazon. The Bezos ecommerce will become its sponsor and, once the show is finished, the see now, buy now collections can be purchased directly on their website. In this way, and at the marketing level, Amazon takes a step that already in its day advanced others like Mercedes Benz or Inditex itself. Although, everything is said, this is at European level, since in Asia, Amazon already has its own catwalk: Amazon Fashion Week Tokyo.

With this action, the signature launched in 2015 by Nicola Formichetti will be available to everyone. “I am delighted to have joined forces with Amazon Fashion, as it is synonymous with fast delivery and great selection: the perfect choice for this exclusive capsule collection.” True to Nicopanda’s DNA, the see now, buy now collection is unisex with an aesthetic that combines the ‘street- culture. “Each piece includes the graphic motifs characteristic of Nicopanda, accompanied by its color palette in bright tones,” explained Formichetti.

The Google Developers Certification Team is happy to publish the Mobile Web Specialist Certification for web developers who tend to desire enhancing their performance from the other web developers in portraying their skills in the creations of responsive together with flexible web applications. Centred on in-depth study of the market the latest certification stresses on the developers has a tendency of having in-demand skills as mobile web developers?

 

However the skills shown in the exam could also be utilised on the desktop and through all browsers.  You could utilise the Mobile Web Specialist Study Guide for any assistance.  When one is prepared to take up the exam they would have to write the code in a timed performance-based exam and the cost of the certification would be $00 USD while for Indian it would be Rs. 6500. Three attempts are permitted for the exam. By earning a Mobile Web Specialist Certification one has the advantage of displaying a digital badge on their resume as well as social media profiles.  Being a member of the Mobile Web Specialist Alumni Community, you stand a chance to access to program aids which are aimed on growing your prominence as a certified developer.

 

Assess Knowledge on Development of Mobile Website

The Mobile Web Specialist Certification is in partnership with Associate Android Developer Certification in the family of performance-based certifications of Google. The Mobile Sites certification exam has been intended to assess one’s knowledge on the development of mobile website and one would need to pass the Mobile Web Specialist exam in order to be qualified in Mobile Sites. At the start one is required to sign up and get registered for Google Partners in order to be eligible to access the Mobile Sites exam. The Mobile Sites certification exam presently is available only in English and comprises of a set of coding challenges together with an exit interview.   The exam has been designed to check your awareness of basic as well as advanced mobile websites perceptions as well as the following details:

• Value plan of mobile websites
• How to progress the speed of mobile website
• How to generate an effective user experience for mobile websites
• Introduction to advanced web technologies

Mobile Web Specialist: Designing & Developing Websites

It is suggested that you have an on-the-job experience designing and developing websites for mobile receptiveness as well as page speed, before appearing for the Mobile Web Specialist exam. One needs to also be familiar with the concepts of web developments together with the best practices.  Moreover he should also have the experience in creating as well as maintenance of the websites. A study guide for the exam is also made available in the Partners Help Centre which tends to cover the various subjects for the exams. In order to access the exam from one’s Partners account, the following steps can be taken:

• You  could sign into your Partners account
• Click Mobile Sites towards the left navigation in the `Certification’ section
• To start with the Mobile Web Specialistexam, you could click `Take exam’.  You can also review the exam study materials that are linked on that page.

On 12/09/2017, was a great day for Apple. The company co-founded by Steve Jobs and based in Cupertino premiered numerous gadgets. That whole arena resides all the employees and developers to one of the largest company event of the world.

But not only that, this 2017 Cupertino celebrated 10 years of launching its first Smartphone with the launch of a very different iPhone that we know, with the release of a new version of Apple Watch and even with an improvement for Apple TV.

A lot of information came from the Steve Jobs Theater at noon on this September 12 and so, here we crumble the most important thing you should know about each of the revelations that Apple released today:

APPLE PARK, a complex for community development

More than 260 thousand square meters is the new headquarters of the company. The great dream of Steve Jobs was finally materialized and although someparts are still under construction. Steve Jobs Theater inaugurated by Tim Cook is the place where the expected conference was held.

The current CEO of Apple talked about the benefits that the building represents for the developers and highlighted the technology that makes it, highlighting the long network of solar panels that will serve for the electrical supply of the plant.

APPLE WATCH SERIES 3, a new cell phone on the wrist

Of the Apple Watch Series 3 there is not much else to say. Apple wearables are the best selling on the market and with the arrival of this new edition of smart watches they will only solidify their leadership.

The design stays the same, what it does change is its processor that makes it able to connect to Bluetooth and LTE, which in its most expensive version integrates an eSIM to make mobile connectivity possible without having to load the iPhone. This way we can make calls directly from the it.

The battery will have a duration of 18 hours of autonomy and will have a water resistance of up to 50 meters, which is why it is ideal for swimmers and any type of athletes. And the new operating system (WatchOS 4) will have improvements in their applications performance and physical monitoring.

The new watches will have a base cost of $ 329 without LTE and $ 399 with the cell phone feature. Its pre-order will start on September 15 to have it in stores on the 22nd of the same month.

APPLE TV 4K, entertainment in the best quality

There is also not much to say here, just that it was an urgent improvement for the Apple TV, as it was not updated for two years. This fifth generation will broadcast content in 4K UHD thanks to its operating system tvOS 11 and a new processor more powerful.

What’s interesting about this update is that Apple announced an alliance with major Hollywood studios to have their content for sale or sale on the App Store available in 4K at a price just like HD.

In addition, and as expected, Netflix and Amazon Prime content can be fully enjoyed in Ultra HD.

Apple, iPhone 8, performance enhancements and cameras

The design remains almost intact. The important thing with this update is on the inside. Its Bionic A11 processor makes it 30 percent faster in graphics and 25 percent faster in processing than its predecessor.

The cameras were improved. They will feature 12 MP and with new sensors, deeper pixels, a new color filter and greater stability. In addition, in its Plus version, its dual camera will have openings of 1.8 for wide and 2.4 for telephoto.

In addition, its video capture improved and now we will have it in 4K to 60fps, Apple promises that it is the best video recording that any other Smartphone in the market. What really interesting with this camera is that it is calibrated for augmented reality. Experiences in AR can be exploited to the maximum with some video games.

Another novelty is the charge via Wireless, which will allow us to charge our cell phone without having to connect any cables.

Its base price in conventional size will be $ 699, while in Plus will cost $ 799. Your pre-order will start on September 15th.

Apple IPHONE X, a smartphone for history

But that was not all. And as always we have been accustomed to it came the moment of “One more thing …”. And that thing more was the iPhone X, the Smartphone that celebrates the tenth anniversary of the launch of the gadget that generates more revenue to the company.

Ten years ago Steve Jobs presented his first model and now Tim Cook does homage with a cell phone whose screen is spread over the entire front surface. The famous Start button and Touch ID disappear to give way to Face ID, a mode that allows the cell to be unlocked by recognizing the user’s face.

This caused the front camera to be greatly improved and now has many more sensors, better approach and an infrared camera not only to take better sefies (even in portrait mode) but to unlock the cell phone immediately and without fail.

Its sensors allow the phone to recognize our face even when we have changed the cut, removed the beard, put on glasses or even aged a little. In addition, the company ensures that its technology is so sensitive that the phone can not be unlocked with masks that simulate the user’s face. In the words of the executives the opportunities to unlock it with a false face go from one in a million.

In addition, just as the Touch ID worked, the Face ID will also allow you to make purchases with Apple Pay and within the App Store.

Along with this update comes Animoji, which are simply emoji that we can modify by the same expression of our face.

The Retina Display disappears to make way for the Super Retina Display that uses OLED technology with high contrast, higher resolution and allows the phone to be thinner.

Its price could be the big problem for many as it will have a base cost of $ 999. It will be in pre-sale from October 27th and in stores on November 3rd.

 

Newspapers have revealed that it seems that artificial intelligence – AI tends to be out to get us.  The Mirror had stated that `Robot intelligence is dangerous’ – experts have cautioned after Facebook artificial intelligence develop their own language. Facebook had shut off artificial intelligence experiment when two robots had begun speaking in their own language which only they could comprehend and experts have called the incident exhilarating though also creepy.

The chatbots had revised English in making it easier for them to communicate, creating sentences which sounded prattle to the watching scientists. Identical stories also seem to show up in the Sun, the Independent, and the Telegraph as well as in various other publications.  Facebook had published a blog post, sometime in June regarding an interesting research on chatbot programs that had short, text-based chats with humans or other bots.

The story had been covered by New Scientist together with the others at that point of time. Facebook had been investigating with bots which had negotiated with each other regarding the ownership of computer-generated items. It was a struggle to comprehend how linguistic tends to play a role with such discussions played for negotiating parties as well as crucially the bot had been programmed to try-out with language to see how that could affect their control in the discussion.

Bot Chatting in Imitative Shorthand

Some coverage had picked up on the fact that in a few cases the exchanges had been initially – absurd, a few days thereafter. Though some of the reports imply that the bots at this point of time had developed a new language for the purpose of evading their human masters, an improved explanation is that the neural networks were just attempting to modify human language for more successful interactions, whether their approach seemed to work or not was another issue.

As Gizmodo, the technology news site had mentioned that `in their attempt in learning from each other, the bot thus started chatting back and forth in a imitative shorthand though while it would seem creepy, that’s all it was’.  Artificial intelligence which tends to rework English as we are aware of, in order to compute a task better, are not new.  Google had informed that the translation software had been done at the time of development.

It had mentioned in a blog that the network needs to be encoding something about the semantics of the sentence.  Earlier in the year, Wired had had reported on a researcher at OpenAI who had been working on a system wherein AIs devise their own language, refining their ability in order to process information rapidly and thereby confront complex issues much more efficiently.

Cultural Uncertainties

The Artificial intelligence story gained more strength recently due to a verbal argument over the possible dangers of artificial intelligence between Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of Facebook and technology entrepreneur Elon Musk.

However, the Artificial intelligence story that has been reported tends to tell more regarding the cultural uncertainties as well as the representations of the machines that it does regarding the facts of this specific case. And the fact remains that robots tends to make for great villains on the big screen.

Though in the actual world that we tend to live in, artificial intelligence seems to be a big area of research at the moment and presently the systems that have been developed and verified seem to be gradually complex. One of the consequences of this is that it is frequently uncertain how neural networks tend to come to produce the output that they tend to do particularly when two are set up in order to interact with each other without the interference of human intervention as in the case of the Facebook experiment. Hence some have been debating that putting artificial intelligence in systems like the autonomous weapons seems to be risky.

Artificial Intelligence, Rapidly Progressing Field

It is also the reason why ethics for artificial intelligence seems to be a rapidly progressing field and the technology would be definitely touching our lives much more directly in the near future.  However the system of Facebook has been utilised for research and not for public-facing applications.

It had been shut down since it had been doing something the team did not seem to be interested in reviewing, not because they believed that they had stumbled on an existential threat to mankind. It is also essential to be recall that in general, chatbots seem to be very difficult to develop.

Facebook, in fact had recently intended to limit the rollout of its Messenger chatbot platform when it had discovered that several of the bots on it had been unable to address the queries of its 70% users.  Obviously, chatbots can be automated which can seem like humans and could even deceive us in some circumstances too. However, it is unlikely to think that they are also capable of plotting a rebellion and at least the one at Facebook would certainly not seem to be risky.

The space exploration will never be the same again with the developed of a new thruster model which is better and aggressive at work than anything available today. This thruster makes use of the ionic liquid ferrofluid which is great for the task of propelling small satellites to the space.

This liquid has been developed by a doctoral candidate named Brandon Jackson from the Michigan Technological University. The computational model designed by Jackson has shown the capability of this liquid which has the characteristic of spiking.It shouldn’t come as a surprise that more than1300 active satellites are there in the earth’s orbit. The size of the satellites ranges from the shoebox or Smartphone to a small school bus. The current advancement in the satellite and computational system has made it possible to build such small satellite which can perform all the functions which are usually done by the large satellites.

Secondly it has been found that maneuvering small satellites are quite easier, quicker and efficient than the large ones.  The method devised by Jackson of the electro spray will be great for propelling the small satellites into the space.

The advantages of using the Ferrofluids

Two prominent professors at Michigan Tech namely L. Brad King and Elaine Starr has been successful a new kind of micro thruster which has the ability to assemble on its won from the propellant when it enters in the magnetic field. The best thing about this tiny thruster is that it doesn’t need fragile needles and happens to be essentially indestructible.

How Ferrofluids works?

King has shown that making use of Jackson’s iconic liquid ferrofluid that they had been able to build a powerful thruster for the small satellites.

When a metal is put underneath a small cup of ferrofluid then it results in creating a beautiful hedgehog structure of the aligned peaks which is quite breathtaking to look at. Later in their research it was found that by simply applying a stronger electric field helps in bringing an array of peaks and it was found that each one of peak emits quite a large sum of micro-jet of ions.

This specifically happens due to the Risenweig instability and in this experiment it is also seen that peak tends to heal them as well as regrow in case it is damaged.

The research on Ferrofluids will go on

In order to boost the study in the physics of the ferrofluids the AFOSR has awarded the King a second contract. King has stressed that they had learned a lot from the liquid and so far they had focused their efforts on modeling a single but now they will be scaling up their research towards modeling multiple peaks.

Now they will be bring new set of experiments on developing working thruster but it should be noted that such thruster are still years away from becoming a reality. The biggest challenge for the team will be to make 100 peaks and above and each of it having identical thrust.

Our reliance on the fossil fuels is causing a major to our planet which has resulted in the research towards finding better alternative fuel. In one such attempt a team of students from Eindhoven University of Technology has designed a new system which allows buses to run on formic acid.

The self-built system consists of a bus and a small trailer wherein formic acid is literally converted into electricity for powering the vehicle. Students had named this small trailer ‘REX’ and they are really proud of their efforts as they had brought a new fuel in form of formic acid which is highly sustainable, safe and happens to be CO2 neutral.

Formic Acid Bringing A New Future

The team of students behind this great invention is called Team FAST and they had come with a noble solution to counteract the rising dependence on the fossil fuels. Their fuel is called Hydrozine which comes loaded with 99% of formic acid along with a performance enhancing agent for better output. Team FAST consisted of 35 students who began working on the system in 2016 on a smaller scale but today they had brought a system which 42 thousand times stronger than their model and the ability to generate 25kW power.

The main process of powering the bus is done in the trailer where the new fuel hydrazine is split into hydrogen and CO2. This hydrogen is then effectively utilized to produce electricity which in turn helps in powering the bus. The trailer has been named REX which stands for ‘range extender’ as it acts as a standalone component and helps in expanding the range of the bus. The initial and final test results have shown favourable results and the team is hopeful of rolling out operational buses by this year end.

Varied Benefits And Commendable Future Application of Formic Acid

Hydrozine offers multiple benefits due to its being a cheap and safe alternative to any conventional or renewable source of energy. Transporting hydrogen has always required large tanks as well as high pressure but this cheaper fuel simply tends to does away all of it. The production of the CO2 in the process of splitting the hydrazine is such that it results zero net CO2 which means no major harm to the environment. The best thing about hydrazine is that the use of formic acid makes it four times rich in the energy density when compared to battery.

Team FAST has unveiled their system and showcased it results and finding at an event conducted on the VDMA premises in Eindhoven. They simply showcased the future to the audience wherein they didn’t brought the hydrozine and buses but also presented the first filling station for hydrazine. At the presentation audience got the chance to walk through the electric bus, understand the uses of hydrozine and what future holds for this unique environment friendly system. Their research on the development of this unique system has shown that the use of formic acid in hydrozine has brought the world a new safe and sustainable source of energy.

Sometimes we prefer to have something changed and in order to restore the peace and normal workflow there has to be change in almost every sector. Recently, hell broke loose for the internet users and the internet providers with regards to the net neutrality. Well, the largest and popular websites are also protesting the plan of US to bring the net neutrality into picture.

The top giant companies are trying their best to inspire the users in order to keep the internet usage same for all users and there should not be any sort of limitations or restrictions. Basically, net neutrality is defined as the principle where all the internet services will be delivered to all the users on an equal note by the telecom sectors. The main objective that they should not impose any sort of restrictions or block any kind of services. The services should be open for all and the speed should be same for all the users.

The Discussions About Net Neutrality

There are certain sites like the Netflix, which use a lot of data gets away with the rules. The America’s Federal Communications Commission is trying to cancel the law which got underway during the throne of Obama where it was decided to enforce the net neutrality. It was also decided that different networks should not charge different rates for the internet services. Now the internet service providers have gone against the law.

By doing this, there are many websites who pay huge amount of money to the service providers so that their website and the content gest loaded in a small amount of time. Here the internet service providers play their own cards.

The Critics of Net Neutrality

The websites are protesting against the law. The people are going crazy in the States and it is really matter of great concern for all. The banners have been spread out, messages have been sent out in order to take actions. Their primary objective is to have the net users send a written message to the FCC to have their say. The banners can be seen on the US soil whereas some have been spread world-wide.

The logo of the Reddit has been pixelated which proves that what slow speed of the internet can do. It can seriously affect in many ways. Well, Twitter has gone ahead and have added a hashtag# Net Neutrality. This is a customised image which is breaking the internet recently.

The Changes

The site Spotify has included a banner on its homepage for the US version and the Netflix will follow the same path. The other top giants like the Google and Amazon will also step into their shoes by doing the same thing but the time has not been decided yet. So, it is matter of great concern as it has created a conflict between the internet service providers and the global users. Well, millions have voiced the protest by writing to the FCC. Time will decide the fate.