Super-accurate ultra-micro copter is almost like the real thing

The minute we gazed upon this $180 E-flite Blade mSR RTF Electric Mini Helicopter, we wanted one. It's about the same size as those nearly-impossible-to-steer styrofoam model choppers, but its accurate controls set it a world apart. It weighs less than an ounce, and its 4-channel 5-in-1 control unit gives you the ultimate micro-flying experience.

There's nothing to assemble on the Blade mSR RTF (the RTF means ready to fly), and E-flite includes two batteries so you can fly twice as long. The company touts the micro-copter's unique rotor head design, providing 'the perfect balance between the speed and agility of a single rotor heli and the reassuring stability of coaxial rotor heli.'

It's hard to believe how sophisticated these little helicopters have gotten. With a little practice, you could probably fly it upside down. Just thank your lucky stars you're not a miniature human being sitting inside.
[DVICE]

Scientists Enslave Bacteria to Power Tiny Microsized Motor

Italian scientists from the University of Rome managed to harness free floating E. coli bacteria to turn a tiny crankshaft. Although potential uses for such a tiny and unusual motor drive are not yet clear, no doubt interesting applications in medicine and life sciences should present themselves over time.
The Physics arXiv Blog explains:

Angelani and co say there is in important difference between Brownian and bacterial motion: the former is in equilibrium but the latter is an open system with a net income of energy provided by nutrients. This breaks the time symmetry allowing energy to be extracted in the form of directed motion.

Now Angelani and co have built one these asymmetric and persuaded a bath full of E. Coli to push it round at a of 1rpm. Interestingly, Angelani and co report that most of the work is done by just a few bacteria, saying that only 2 out of 10 bacteria attached to a single tooth seem to be contributing to the torque.
In theory, they could speed up the rotation rate by persuading the others to put their backs into it. The linear motion of the gears is currently about 2 micrometres per second while the maximum speed of the bacteria is about 20 micrometers per second.

More at The Physics arXiv Blog...
Full article in arXiv: A bacterial ratchet motor

[Medgadget]

AMD simplifies its brand again with “Vision”

AMD is sort of becoming the Mac of PC hardware. That is to say, they perform well, but in the end want it to be about a final user experience, not a piecemeal selection of parts and capabilities. In this spirit of simplicity, they’re shifting the bulk of their merchandising over from Turion and X4 and all that to three labels under the brand name “Vision.”
It reminds me of when they simplified their gaming line under “Game!” On that note, it’s not clear what the fate of Game! was, but it doesn’t seem to be present in the current lineup. It’s more of a desktop thing, really, so I’m not surprised either way.

Just as “Game!” had plain Game and Game Ultra, Vision will be divided into three parts, from basic to enthusiast to advanced: Plain, “Premium,” and “Ultimate.” Those particular epithets don’t have the greatest track record (they call Vista to mind primarily), but they do bespeak the small-medium-large idea going on here. There’s also a Vision Black, but we don’t talk about that.

The features differentiating the three levels are mostly video-related. Plain Vision promises dynamic contrast and improved video quality — essentially leveraging the GPU for video enhancement. Vision Premium adds better transcoding, and Ultimate supports improved HD video editing. These rely on packaged utilities like Cyberlink’s Power Director and ArcSoft’s upscaling technology — a necessary evil until GPU acceleration can be better implemented with any app you choose.
The new stuff is looking solid, and I wish them the best of luck with it. They’re also pushing that all their platforms support everything Windows 7 will throw at them (virtualization, hardware effects), so that’s one less thing for Best Buy employees to worry about.

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החלטתי להשתמש במתורגמן של גוגל בעיקר בשביל הבידור (וגם כי אחד מהקוראים של הזהיר אותי מהתחרות - תודה mose).

אז אני מצרף את הלינק למדריך המתורגם אוטומטית דרך  השירות של Google Translate.

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אני מקוה שתהנו ולא תשכחו שפעם קראתם מאמרים גם אצלי בבלוג הגדג'טים :-)

רני