Microsoft Xbox One launched in India on 23 September

Just as expected Microsoft has officially launched the Xbox One, its latest generation gaming console in India. The Xbox One is being exclusively sold through Amazon.in and available in a couple of variants.

The Xbox One without the Kinect is priced at Rs 39,990, whereas the Xbox One with Kinect motion detection system is retailing for Rs 45,990. Fifa 15 is free on both systems, while the latter will also get a DLC for Dance Central Spotlight.
There are other goodies as well for those who pre-order, such as a Rs 2,000 Amazon gift coupon, which gives you Rs 2,000 off on the Xbox controller (retail price: Rs 3,999), and Blu-ray discs of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Captain America- The Winter Soldier, worth Rs 2,500. For those who are considering buying the Xbox One, the launch titles that will be available tonight onwards include Forza Motosport 5, Forza Horizon 2, Ryse: Son of Rome, Dead Rising 3 and Destiny, besides Fifa 15.

The full edition Xbox One box set includes the console and the Kinect motion controller, a single Xbox One Wireless Controller, an Xbox One Chat Headset, a high-speed HDMI Cable, a 500GB Hard Drive, two AA Batteries, a power supply unit, and an AC Power Cord. In addition, the box comes with a 14 Day Xbox Live Gold Trial Card. Microsoft launched its Xbox Live Gold Rush programme in India in April to offer gamers free access to Xbox 360 titles and entertainment apps, as well as exclusive game content. The Gold subscription package is available for Rs 3,400 for the year and you can purchase it at authorised retailers or via the console itself.

Tiny implants to give humans self-healing powers

US researchers are developing a revolutionary new device that can be implanted in the body to heal organs when they become infected or injured.
The implant, which uses electrical impulses to monitor the body's organs, is being developed under a project known as Electrical Prescriptions, or ElectRx.
The programme could reduce dependence on pharmaceutical drugs and offer a new way to treat illnesses, according to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the branch of the

US Department of Defense responsible for developing the programme.
DARPA hopes to develop a device so tiny that it can be implanted using only a needle.
The implant would be something akin to a tiny, intelligent pacemaker, according to Doug Weber, programme manager for DARPA's biological technologies office, 'Live Science' reported.

The device would be implanted into the body, where it would continually assess a person's condition and provide any necessary stimulus to the nerves to help maintain healthy organ function, he added. 
The idea for the technology is based on a biological process known as neuromodulation, in which the peripheral nervous system (the nerves that connect every other part of the body to the brain and spinal cord) monitors the status of internal organs and regulate the body's responses to infection and disease.
When a person is sick or injured, this natural process can sometimes be thrown off, according to DARPA.

With the help of an electrically charged implant, DARPA said it can keep neuromodulation under control.
Electric impulses from the device will stimulate the nerve patterns that help the body heal itself and keep the out-of-whack nerve stimulus patterns that cause a sick person even greater harm from doing damage.

India to take part in tsunami drill

Hyderabad: India, along with 23 other countries, will be participating in a major mock tsunami drill on September 9 and September 10. The drill is aimed at testing the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System.

The mock drill, conducted by the Hyderabad-based Indian National Centre for Ocean Informatics Services, and organised by the Unesco’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, is aimed at increasing preparedness, evaluate response capabilities of each country and improve coordination across the region. The drill will also evaluate the system’s operational capacity, the efficiency of communications systems, and the state of preparation of national emergency services.

Dr Srinivas Kumar of INCOIS said that during the drill, 15 tsunami notifications will be generated and information will be disseminated to national and regional contacts.

The recipients at the national level include control rooms of NDMA, MHA, disaster management offices of all coastal states/UTs, NDRF, Indian Coast Guard, Indian Navy and critical coastal installations.

How to hold your pizza slice

Do you know why despite your best efforts, the slice of pizza you are about to enjoy flops over and dangles from your fingers?
It has nothing to do with either a non-stiff crust or extra toppings. You just need to learn a bit of science about how to hold your slice right.

The cue lies in a powerful mathematical result about curved surfaces invented by the German mathematical genius Carl Friedrich Gauss in the 19th century.

He named it Theorema Egregium - Latin for excellent or remarkable theorem.

This is how it works for pizza.

When the pizza is flat, it has zero curvature.

When you pick up a slice, fold the pizza slice sideways in a U-shape.

This way, you are forcing it to become flat in the other direction - the one that points towards your mouth.

This will keep the slice from flopping over.

The theorem assures that one direction of the slice must always remain flat - no matter how you bend it, the pizza must retain a trace of its original flatness, wired.com reported.

New graphene-based light detector can unearth everything hidden

Terahertz radiation can be brought to market with the help of a new detector. Terahertz radiation is a type of light with far longer wavelengths compared to infrared rays and may be helpful in examining almost everything very effectively.
Researchers have concluded that this latest graphene-based light detector may be able to calculate wavelengths of light that human eye may not see.
A report while talking about terahertz says, “The terahertz range refers to electromagnetic waves with frequencies between 100 GHz and 10 THz, or wavelengths between 3 mm and 30 μm. Light between radio waves and infrared has some unique properties. Terahertz waves pass through a variety of amorphous substances – many synthetics and textiles, but also paper and cardboard are transparent to terahertz waves. Many biomolecules, proteins, explosives or narcotics also feature characteristic absorption lines, so-called spectral “fingerprints”, at frequencies between 0.1 and 2 THz. The two main advantages of terahertz radiation are thus the penetration of conventionally opaque materials on one hand, and a high chemical selectivity on the other hand”.
Researchers have said that Terahertz radiation that is located in between infrared and microwave frequencies on the electromagnetic spectrum and detectors may be able to work at the two given frequencies to come up with more sensor equipment with much greater sensitivity than today’s technology.
There is no denying the fact that graphene, a sheet of carbon one atom thick, has without doubt great electronic and physical properties. It also has the capability to absorb a wide range of electromagnetic frequencies, making it ideal for use as a terahertz detector.
In a press release Center for Nanophysics and Advanced Materials says, “University of Maryland researchers have discovered a way to control magnetic properties of graphene that could lead to powerful new applications in magnetic storage and magnetic random access memory”. Light hitting graphene in the detector excites atoms of carbon in the material. According to them the excessive energy is then drained very fast to surrounding molecules. According to them if electrical contacts are placed on the graphene, this energy will consequently move toward the metal. They say that applying two varying materials for the contacts, like chromium and gold, creates a current in the device. This helps the new detector to measure the amount of terahertz energy.

Intel Core M processor Offers Faster Performance, Longer Battery Life

The Intel Core M processor can handle more than eight hours of video play and doubles the battery life of the average 4-year old PC

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) introduced its new Intel Core M processor, which offers a faster performance and longer battery life, during the IFA consumer electronics trade show in Berlin today.

“We’ve been on a multi-year mission to address end-user requirements and transform mobile computing. Core M is the first of a new product family designed to deliver the promise of one of the world’s thinnest laptops and highest performance tablets in a single 2 in 1 device,” said Kirk Skaugen, senior vice president and general manager of personal computing at Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC).

Intel Core M processor capabilities

According to Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), the Intel Core M processor will power 2 in 1 devices from different manufacturers. It is designed to deliver an optimal blend of mobility and performance to the thinnest, fan-less ultra-mobile devices.
The Intel Core M processor can handle more than eight hours of video play, which is 20% longer than the 4th generation Intel Core processor and doubles the battery life of the average 4-year old PC.
The Intel Core M processor delivers up to 50% computing performance and 40% faster graphics performance than the 4th generation Intel Core processor.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) emphasized that consumers will notice a significant improvement with Intel Core M processor because their computing performance will be two time faster, and graphic performance is seven times better than a 4-year old PC.

The Intel Core M processor is 50% smaller, and it has 60% lower thermal power than its predecessor allowing OEMs to design sleek, fan-less systems (less than 9mm thin).
According to Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), the Intel Core M processor is a “conflict-free product. It does not contain conflict minerals such as tin, tantalum, tungsten or gold that directly or indirectly finances or benefit armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) or adjoining countries.

Intel Core M processor based devices

At present, there are already more than 20 OEM products powered by Intel M Core processor in the development pipeline. According Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INCT).
Different manufacturers including Acer Incorporated (TPE:2353), ASUSTEK Computer Inc. (TPE:2357), Dell Inc., and Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) unveiled their upcoming devices powered by Intel Core M during the IFA.
Acer Incorporated (TPE:2353) introduced its latest 2-1 notebook called Aspire Switch 12 featuring a 12.5-inch FHD display with a unique kickstand and magnetic keyboard to move smoothly between five modes.
In Q4, Acer will expand its popular 2-in-1 series of notebooks with the Aspire Switch 12*, featuring a 12.5-inch FHD display with unique kickstand and magnet keyboard to move smoothly between five modes.
ASUSTEK Computer Inc. (TPE:2357) unveiled its ASUS Zenbook UX305, an Ultrabook with 13-inch QHD display, and the ASUS Transformer Book T300FA, a high-performance 2-in-1 notebook, which will be available in Europe for €599 this fall.
Dell Inc. launched its Latitude 12 7000 Series, 2-in-1 and lightweight business Ultrabook and detachable tablet.
Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) introduced two new HP ENVY x2 detachable PCs (13.3-inch and 15.6-inch).

'Telepathy' experiment sends 1st mental message - brain-to-brain communication

 

First brain-to-brain communication in humans demonstrated.

 

For the first time, scientists have been able to send a simple mental message from one person to another without any contact between the two, thousands of miles apart in India and France.

Research led by experts at Harvard University shows technology can be used to transmit information from one person's brain to another's even, as in this case, if they are thousands of miles away. "It is kind of technological realization of the dream of telepathy, but it is definitely not magical," Giulio Ruffini, a theoretical physicist and co-author of the research, told AFP by phone from Barcelona. "We are using technology to interact electromagnetically with the brain." For the experiment, one person wearing a wireless, Internet-linked electroencephalogram or EEG would think a simple greeting, like "hola," or "ciao." A computer translated the words into digital binary code, presented by a series of 1s or 0s. Then, this message was emailed from India to France, and delivered via robot to the receiver, who through non-invasive brain stimulation could see flashes of light in their peripheral vision. The subjects receiving the message did not hear or see the words themselves, but were correctly able to report the flashes of light that corresponded to the message. "We wanted to find out if one could communicate directly between two people by reading out the brain activity from one person and injecting brain activity into the second person, and do so across great physical distances by leveraging existing communication pathways," said co-author Alvaro Pascual-Leone, professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School. "One such pathway is, of course, the Internet, so our question became, 'Could we develop an experiment that would bypass the talking or typing part of Internet and establish direct brain-to-brain communication between subjects located far away from each other in India and France?'" Ruffini added that extra care was taken to make sure no sensory information got in the way that could have influenced the interpretation of the message. Researchers have been attempting to send a message from person to person this way for about a decade, and the proof of principle that was reported in the journal PLOS ONE is still rudimentary, he told AFP. "We hope that in the longer term this could radically change the way we communicate with each other," said Ruffini.