Science & Tech
22/01/13
The largest thing in the universe billion light years across at its widest point. To put this in perspective, the distance from London to New York is just under 0.019 light seconds. The distance from the Sun to the Kuiper Belt at the edge of the solar system is roughly seven light hours. And the width of the Milky Way galaxy is 100,000 light years across.
“Quasars are formed by the cores of Dominic Burchnall Science writer The thing about space is that since it’s big enough to contain everything, sooner or later, it’ll contain anything. Astronomers have recently discovered what is thought to be the biggest object in the known universe, a 73 strong quasar super cluster. Quasars are formed by the cores of galaxies collapsing in on the black hole at its centre, and blasting out radiation as they do so, in the same way that if you try and tip a lot of water down a drain at once some of it will spill over. Though only persisting for around 10 million years, short lived in astronomical terms, while they live they are the brightest objects in existence. This accretion of galactic furnaces is grouped together in a formation four
galaxies collapsing in on the black hole at its centre, and blasting out radiation as they do so” The cluster is so large it challenges the cosmological principle, a theory forming the basis of modern cosmology put forward by Einstein that, from a wide enough perspective, the universe will look the same no matter how it is observed. However, this super cluster is so enormous you would likely be able to spot it no matter how you viewed the universe. As such, this intergalactic inferno has the potential to necessitate a major re-write of the astronomy rulebook. So if you didn’t manage to stick to your new year’s resolution to go to the gym, and still feel a bit big after Christmas, just remember: at least you’ll never be this big.
Tactile phonescreens on the way Dominic Burchnall Science writer One of the biggest frustrations with modern smartphones and tablets is the lack of tactile feedback when typing a text or e-mail. Unless you’re one of the gifted few who’ve mastered the art of touchtyping with such gadgets, most of us have to either devote complete attention to composing a message, or else have to edit a paragraph of gibberish. However, a company called Tactus is working on circumventing the problem with a new technology which causes tangible keyboard buttons to pop up out of the surface of the screen, returning to their original flat state when no longer needed. The system, called the Tactile Layer, was revealed at the Consumer Electronics Show at the beginning of the year. The invention itself consists of a thin overlay put in place over the top of the surface of the touchscreen device, and when activated with a tiny electrical current, uses a technology called microfluidics, which concerns with the behaviour and control of minute quantities of liquids, to form solid buttons of a pre-determined size and shape on the top of the screen. Once deactivated, the veneer flattens and
smooths to its original shape of its own accord. Rather than vibration alerts for hitting the virtual keys, this would instead offer a physical change in texture to assist in typing. The company plans to integrate this new technology with existing touchscreen devices, and is also planning on expanding to test other possible applications, such as remotes, television and desktop computer interfaces, and internal vehicle controls. Considering how quickly these technologies move, if it strikes a chord with the consumer market, it might not be long before both “pure” touchscreens and the hard plastic keyboards we’re used to are superseded by these memory form bubbles.
Issue 278
concrete.science@uea.ac.uk
15
The great graphene race Rebecca Hardy Science editor Graphene is the new, hot prospect in the technology world, with valid reason too. It is a form of carbon that exists as a sheet, one atom thick with the atoms arranged into a two-dimensional honeycomb structure. Its remarkable qualities make it around 100 times stronger than steel, as flexible as rubber, and able to conduct electricity better than copper. With these exciting properties, it is being touted as a possible replacement for silicon in electronics and opens the doors for the possibilities of roll-away television screens and flexible tablets. There is also scope to mix graphene with materials such as plastic or ordinary cloth, as a mixture of only 1% could make them conductive. The discovery of graphene was announced in 2004 by the journal Science. It was discovered at the University of Manchester by two Russian-born scientists named Andrei Geim and Konstantin Novosolev, and their early work earned them a shared Nobel Prize in 2010, followed by knighthoods. Obviously, following this hype, the race for the rights to this technology is heated. The race for patents, and therefore control over the technology of this
material shows China in the forefront with 2,204 patents, followed next by America with 1,754. However, considering the material was first discovered in the UK, it is in the running with only 54 patents and entitlements. Samsung are making the strongest bid for this innovative technology, where it is thought that the first initiatives will be towards making flexible touch screens, lighting within walls and enhanced life batteries. But the possibilities for the future are endless, including areas such as energy, IT and even medicine.
New site launched by Kim Dotcom
Sidonie Chaffer-Melly Science writer A new file-sharing and storage site has been set up by the owner of Megaupload, Kim Dotcom. The new service, named Mega, allows users to upload and store files to an online cloud. It went up on Sunday morning following the closure of Megaupload in January. Within hours, Dotcom reported on his Twitter account that the site had registered over 250,000 accounts, though restricted server capacity meant that many could not gain access to it. It is set to rival similar sharing websites such as Dropbox as it offers 50 gigabytes of free storage. However, only those who upload data will have access to it.
Megaupload was shut down after police raids on the offices and home of Mr. Dotcom in 2012. US law enforcement accused him and other managers of the site of profiting from piracy after suspicions that users were illegally sharing content and material. The company was run from New Zealand, and Dotcom is currently fighting a legal battle to find out whether he will be extradited to the US. He is accused of costing the entertainment industry $500 million due to the pirated material being available on his website. The case has caused controversy in New Zealand about the methods of gathering evidence the police and intelligence services used prior to the raid, and the country’s prime minister was forced to apologise to Dotcom. Born Kim Schmitz, Dotcom has assured the public that his new site is totally legal and that attempting to remove it would be pointless. He is being supported by prominent figures of the computing world such as Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple. Dotcom has reported that he is working with lawyers to retrieve the data seized in 2012 and return it to users. He is due to undergo a hearing on his extradition to the United States in March.