Interstellar Object

On December 18th 2017, scientists announced in a paper posted to the journal Nature Astronomy, that an object believed to have come from another solar system may be covered in a thick layer of organic material. The cigar shaped object, which was first observed on October 19th 2017 by astronomers using the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope in Hawaii, was first thought to be a comet. However, the object's path and speed suggested otherwise.

The object first known as 1I/2017 U1 (I is for interstellar), has been renamed Oumuamua. It is believed to be 1,300 ft or 400 meters long and possibly 10 times as long as it is wide. It traveled around our sun at a speed of 196,000 miles per hour. Oumuamua's approach was from outside the plane of the ecliptic, on a trajectory from the direction of the star Vega, in the constellation Lyra. It is thought that its organic covering may protect a water rich interior.

Kepler Discovers A Solar System With Eight Planets

On December 14th 2017, NASA announced that its Kepler Space telescope had discover another solar system that has eight planets just our own. Using Google's Artificial Intelligence (AI), scientists were able to search though "weak" data to find an eight planet orbiting a star that was previously discovered in 2014. Kepler-90 as it is called, is an earth like star that is 2,545 light years from Earth and until now was believed to have only seven planets in its system.

The newly discovered planet is being called Kepler-90i. It is a hot, rocky planet that orbits its star every 14.4 days. The planet was discovered by Andrew Vanderburg of the University of Texas at Austin with the help of Google Machine Learning researcher, Christopher Shallue. The discovery was made by the Machine Learning technology, which mimics a neural network, as in the human brain. It was able to learn to recognize weak transits while it sifted though previously search data.

Disney Buys Fox

On December 14th 2017, The Walt Disney Company announced that is buying 21st century Fox's film, TV and international assets. Disney has agreed to pay $54.2 billion for much of the company owned by Rupert Murdoch. Fox will be keeping its Fox Broadcasting Network, Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, FS1, FS2, and Big Ten Network. As part of the deal, Disney will be getting Hulu which would serve to help the company in its effort to compete with Netflix.

The total value of the deal is $66.1 billion, as Disney will be assuming $13.7 billion of Fox's debt. Bob Iger, Disney's chief executive, will remain in charge of the company until 2021. The deal now awaits approval of federal regulators.

Scientists Create Robot Muscles From Origami

On November 27th 2017, scientists at Harvard's Wyss Institute and MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), announced in the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), that they have successfully created robotic muscles made from metal or plastic skeletons. The muscles, which are covered in liquid or air and then sealed in plastic or fabric, can lift up to a thousand times their own weight. 

The new flexible robots use a folding origami structure combined with the use of a vacuum. Each muscle is filled with either air or fluid that is manipulated with an electric pump. In this way the structures can be expanded or contracted. They can move according to their shape and can grip, twist, and lift, just like the real muscles of a human arm. Professor Robert J. Wood of Harvard says the actuators are scalable and can be made in sizes from a few milometers up to a meter. 

New Earth Like Planet Discovered

On November 15th 2017, European scientists announced in the journal, Astronomy & Astrophysics, that they had discovered a nearby planet that appears to be Earth like in nature. The planet orbits a small red dwarf star that is 11 light years from here and has been named Ross 128. The planet, which has been named Ross 128b is believed to be a rocky planet that is one and a half times the mass of the Earth, and may be in the star's habitable zone.

Although it is 20 times closer to it star than the earth, Ross 128b is still in a region where life maybe possible. The red dwarf has a relatively low temperature which would give the planet a temperature somewhere between -76 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit. That range could give rise to the presence of liquid water, which essential for life. Ross 128b's parent star is also believed to be a quiet one, not prone to large flares or high energy outbursts of radiation. 

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Just released a new single entitled, "Ready For You," from the album, "Searchin." It's now available on iTunes! You can also preview the tunes on Spotify!

Scientists Confirm Quantum Tunneling In Water

On November 7th 2017, scientists from the University of Sydney announced that they had made confirmation that electrons can tunnel through barriers in aqueous solutions, away from electrodes. This ability leads to the removal of impurities. The theory of quantum tunneling in electrolysis was first proposed by Ronald Gurney in 1931. David McKenzie, one of the researchers and a professor at the School of Physics believes that his teams findings will prove important in the area of biosensing techniques.

Professor McKenzie went on to say, "a better understanding  of electrolysis is becoming more important for applications in alternative energies in what is sometimes called the, 'Hydrogen economy'." One of the methods that is used to extract electricity from solar cells is to produce hydrogen gas by electrolysing water. The gas that is retrieved can be stored and then burned later for use as energy.

Braodcom Wants To Buy Qualcomm

On November 6th 2017, Broadcom Ltd. announced that it has made a bid to buy Qualcomm for $130 billion. If the two chip makers make a deal it will represent the largest takeover within the tech industry. Broadcom manufactures semiconductor chips for computers, laptops, smartphones, set top boxes, and more. Qualcomm is most noted for its Snapdragon chips that power Samsung Galaxy 8, LG V30, and Google's Daydream VR.    

T-Moblie And Sprint Call Off Their Merger

On October 30th 2017, Softbank, the parent company of mobile phone service provider Sprint announced that it was officially calling off its merger with cell service provider T-Mobile. The deal purportedly broke down over the stipulation of which parent company would hold the controlling interest after closing. Originally, T-Mobile's parent company, Deutsche Telekom had insisted that it would be in control, with Sofbank in agreement before it recently, changed its mind.

5G Networks May Arrive In 2019

On October 17th 2019. Qualcomm, Verizon, and Novatel Wireless announced that they are moving forward with their 5G New Radio (NR) speed trials in an effort to bring 5G mobile networks to the masses by the end of 2019. The new 5G networks will use Millimeter Wave Technology, which uses the millimeter band of the spectrum between 30 gigahertz and 300 GHZ. 5G (NR) is an effort of 3GPP or (Third Generation Partnership Project), which is working on a global 5G standard.

Windows Fall Creators Update Has Arrived

On October 17th 2017. Microsoft began the roll out of its Fall Creators Update. This update, preciously code named Redstone 4, is considered a big one, with a long list of features that include, My People, Story Remix, Paint 3D, Windows Mixed reality, and Fluent Design. This will be the fourth feature update since Windows 10's original release two years ago. Its Microsoft's intention to continue releasing updates twice yearly on into the future.

Miles Davis And Deep Purple Are Recorded On DNA

On October 2nd 2017, researchers at the University of Washington, Microsoft, and Twist Bioscience, announced that they had successfully recorded "Smoke On The Water," by Deep Purple and "Tutu," by Miles Davis onto synthetic DNA. The two songs were archived recordings from the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. Dr Karen Strauss, senior researcher for Microsoft said, "The amount of DNA used to store these songs is much smaller than a grain of sand."

The process of storing files to DNA starts with a digital file of the music. The researchers then turn the 1s and 0s into the genetic code or nucleotide bases that make up DNA. Those nucleotides are Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, and Thymine and go by the letters, A, G, C, and T. These chemicals pair up to create base pairs that form long strands that form a spiral structure, that's known as the double helix.

Each segment created containes 12 bytes of data along with a sequence number which is used to indicate the location of specific data within the DNA file. To decode the DNA file, the As, Cs, Ts, and Gs are converted back into 1s and 0s, which can be played as a standard digital file. At present, this method is a proof of concept project. However, researchers believe that as the cost of DNA sequencing comes down, the storage process will become more available to consumers.

Another Asteroid Will Pass Close To The Earth

On October 3rd 2017, it was announced that an asteroid about the size of 30 to 100 feet in size is due to pass close to the Earth on October 12th 2017. The asteroid, named 2012 TC4 is approaching the Earth at a speed of 30,000 mph. It is not expected to strike the Earth. It will, however, come within 27,000 miles, or about one eight of the distance from the Earth to the Moon, as it passes. Asteroid TC4 was first discovered in 2012.

Subscriptions Help Increase Music Industry Earnings

On September 20th 2017, the Recording Industry Association of America announced in its mid year report that more than 30.4 million Americans now get their music through a streaming subscription service. That number is up 20.2 million since the first half of  2016. An estimate of overall retail recorded music sales was up 17% in the first half of 2017, to the tune of $4 billion dollars. While this reflects a growth trend that started in 2016, the report makes it clear that it is still below the levels seen in 1999.

Digital revenue accounted for $3.2 billion which was 84% of the industry's total value, and represented an increase of 21% over the first half of 2016. 62% of this years $4 billion revenue increase came as the result of streaming which amounted to $2.5 billion. Digital downloads sales represented 19% of total revenue but continued to decline, selling $757 million which was down 24% from 2016.

Sales from physical media, which include CDs, represented 16% of the total revenue pie. This was down but only by 1% no doubt due to the increase in the interest in vinyl. Paid subscription services on their own managed to pull in  $1.7 billion and provided the music industry with 43% of it total revenues. Ad based on demand streaming was up 34% with sales of $273 million. 

Apple Introduces The iPhone X With Face ID

On September 12th 2017, at its annual product event, Apple announced the release of the new Apple Watch series 3, the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, and the much talked about iPhone X (pronounced iPhone 10). The big news is that the iPhone X is all screen. This allows the iPhone X to remain the same size as an iPhone 8. The larger 5.8 inch screen features a "super retina" display and also offers "Face ID," to unlock a users phone.

Apple's Face ID works by using a set of light projectors to illuminate your face and infrared sensors that scan your face. These technologies in combination are what Apple is calling its,  "True Depth Sensor." To set up Face ID a user takes several photos of their face from different angles. This is done so that the infrared scanner can build a 3D representation of your face. 30,000 dots of IR light are used to capture the complexity of a human face.

Face ID will only be found on the iPhone X and will not only be used to unlock a users phone but also to authorize payments. The iPhone X will come in two colors, gray and silver. The cost of a new iPhone X will depend on which memory storage capacity you choose. The 64GB configuration sells for $999, while the 256GB model will be sold for $1,149. Apple will start taking preorders on October 27 2017, with shipping of iPhone X's to start on November 3rd.

Cassini Probe Goes End Of Mission

On September 15th 2017, NASA's Cassini Spacecraft  will end its mission to explore the planet Saturn. With its fuel supply depleted, NASA has decided not to allow the spacecraft to drift endlessly through space, but to depose of Cassini in a a more proper, complete, and fitting way. NASA instead has sent Cassini on a months long death spiral called, "The Grad Finale," before crashing the spacecraft into the atmosphere of Saturn.

Cassini was a $3.2 billion mission which was launched on October 15th 1997. It was a joint mission between NASA, the European Space Agency, and The Italian Space Agency. Its purpose was to explore the planet Saturn and its moons. It carried with it the Huygens Probe. Cassini reached Saturn on June 30th 2004. On January 14th 2005, Huygens successfully landed on Saturn's moon, Titan. Cassini has spent the last 13 years making an array of scientific discoveries.

During its mission, Cassini discovered geysers of water vapor coming from the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus. This caused researchers to conclude that the moon possessed an ocean of liquid water beneath its icy surface, and that that ocean may contain life. On Titan, Cassini discovered lakes of liquid hydrocarbons, most notably (methane). While temperatures on Titan are extremely cold, some scientists believe that microbial life may exist there as well. 

Mission controllers at Jet Propulsion Laboratories (JPL) have been maneuvering Cassini into position for the "Grand Finale," since April 2017. They've been using close flybys of Saturn's moon Titan, in order to use it gravity to alter Cassini's trajectory. This has caused Cassini to dive between Saturn's rings. After 22 of these orbits, at 6:31 am ET on September 15th 2017, Cassini will interface with Saturn's atmosphere where the probe will finish its mission as it disintegrates.

Amazon Now Owns Whole Foods

On August 23rd 2017, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) announced that it would end its investigation into the acquisition of Whole Foods by Amazon. With this action, the FTC cleared the way for Amazon's $13 billion purchase of the grocery store chain to become official. Whole foods shareholders voted to approve the sale earlier on that day. The take over of Whole foods is expected to give Amazon a foothold in the $700 billion U S grocery market.

Asteroid To Pass Near The Earth

On September 1st 2017, a massive asteroid will make a close pass near the Earth. According to NASA's Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), the asteroid, which has been named Florence, is the largest object to pass by the Earth in nearly a century and the largest since NASA began keeping track of such objects. The CENOS says that there is no danger that Florence will impact the Earth as it passes at a distance of 4.4 million miles.

Florence, named after Florence Nightingale, is huge. Its size has been measured at 2.7 miles across and is what NASA is calling a "world ender."  Australian astronomer, Schette "Bobby" Bus, was the first to spot the asteroid in 1981, at Australia's Siding Springs Observatory. Using the Spitzer Space Telescope, NASA has determined that Florence came close to the earth in 1890 and has projected that it won't return again until 2500. 

More Water On The Moon

On July 24th 2017, scientists posted a paper in the Journal Nature, that reported that there is evidence of water within the Moon's interior. A team of researchers from Brown University used satellite data retrieved from India's Moon Mineralogy Mapper on board its orbiting Chandrayaan-1 probe, to make their analysis. Measuring reflected sunlight at visible and near visible wavelengths, the Moon Mineralogy Mapper mapped large pryoclastic deposits on the moon's surface.  

Pyroclastic deposits are the result of volcanic activity. In 2008, moon rocks from the Apollo missions were examined and determined to be of volcanic origin. These rocks contained glass beads which held traces of water locked inside. Ralph Milliken of Brown University's Environmental and Planetary Sciences Department, and lead researcher, says that at that time no one was certain whether that finding meant that there was an abundance of water beneath the Moon's surface. 

However, Milliken went on to say that, "By looking at the orbital data, we can examine the large pyroclastic deposits on the moon that were never sampled by the Apollo or Luna missions. The fact that nearly all of them exhibit signatures of water suggests that the Apollo samples are not anomalous, so it may be that the bulk interior of the moon is wet."

The Total Solar Eclipse

On August 21st 2017, the continental United States will experience a total solar eclipse. Eclipses occur all the time, in fact the last partial solar eclipse over the U S took place in June of 2011.  The last time a total eclipse occurred crossing over the U S, from coast to coast, was in 1918.This particular total eclipse is generating a lot of excitement and expectation, because millions of people will be able to view it as it passes over 10 states.   

Everyone in the contiguous U S will be able to view at least a partial eclipse. People who live in a 70 mile wide zone called the "path of totality," will be able to watch the moon totally block out the sun for a period of up to 2 minutes and 40 seconds. The "path of totality," stretches across 10 states that include Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina. 

Eclipse watching experts are warning those wishing to view the eclipse to not look directly into the sun. Doing so will cause irreparable damage to your retina, or optic nerve. NASA is urging those planning to view the eclipse to purchase a pair of  total eclipse viewing glasses. They say that you should make sure that the glasses are ISO certified for safety. If you don't have or are unable to purchase a pair of glasses, you can still do so by the projection method.

Simply take a piece of paper and a piece of cardboard. Make a pin hole in the center of the paper. With you back to the sun, hold the paper so the sun light shines through the hole and onto the cardboard while you adjust the distance between the paper and the cardboard, until the eclipse is clearly visible.

Discovery Buys Scripps

On July 31st 2017 Discovery Communications announced that it is buying Scripps Networks Interactive for $11.9 billion dollars. Discovery has agreed to purchase Scripps for $90 a share and assume its debt of $2.7 billion for a total of $14.6 billon at closing. Discovery not only owns the Discovery Channel, but also TLC and Animal Planet, while Scripps owns Food Network and HGTV. The two companies will come together to produce a combined cable TV viewership of 20%.

Giant Antarctic Iceberg Breaks Free

On July 12th 2017, scientists reported that a giant piece of Antarctic ice had broken free from mainland Antarctica. The trillion ton iceberg, said to be the size of Delaware, with twice the volume of Lake Eire, is a piece of the Larsen C ice shelf. The new iceberg been dubbed A68, is now floating freely with several smaller icebergs each believed to be 11 miles in length each. Scientist had been expecting this development since a huge crack opened in the Larsen C ice shelf in 2014.

Martin Siegert, professor of geosciences at Imperial College in London said, "There is enough ice in Antarctica that if it all melted, or even just flowed into the ocean, sea levels would rise by 60 meters." While this is true, he and most scientists say that A68 is not expected to raise sea levels at all. Researchers go on to say that "calving," of ice shelves on the Antarctic continent goes on all the time, and that this may or may not be due to rising earth temperatures.

A Company Will Implant Chips In Employees

On July 24th 2017, a technology company called Three Square Market, in River Falls, Wisconsin, announced that it will soon begin offering its employees the option of having chips implanted beneath their skin. The company's CEO, Todd Westby says that the chips will allow his employees to buy snack food items from the break room without using cash, coins, or credit cards. The chips will also be able to open doors and unlock computers.

Three Square Market, is a company that makes software that is used in vending machines, and is also known as 32M. On August 1st 2017 it will allow 50 of its employees to voluntarily have the new chips implanted. The chip uses a technology called RFID, or Radio Frequency Identification. Each participating employee will have a chip implanted between their thumb and fore finger by means of injection. Each implant is roughly the size and length of a grain of rice.

The chips are the product of a company called Biohax International which is based in Sweden. The price tag is $300 each, with Three Market Square picking up the fee. All participating employees have been assured that the chips are not GPS capable.... yet.

China Has Teleported An Object Into Space

On July 11th 2017, scientists from the University of Science and Technology of China announced that they have successfully teleported an object from earth into space. In a paper posted to the Cornell University Library, the leader of the team, Professor Chao-Yang Lu said, "Space-scale teleportation can be realized and is expected to play a key role in the future distributed quantum internet."

The experiment involved the phenomenon known as quantum entanglement. In quantum entanglement, when two or more particles interact with one another they become part of a system where the state of one particle can be instantaneously known by the other, even if they are separated by extreme distances. The Chinese researchers were able to establish an ultra long distance up link to an orbiting satellite.

The researchers used a brand new satellite that was launched in 2016 using a Long March Rocket.
The photons in question were beamed from a ground station in Ngari Tibet, up to China's Micius satellite, which was orbiting the earth at a distance of 311 miles. The satellite's sensitive photon receiver detected the states of many single photons, which were part of entangled pairs, that were fired from the ground. The researchers were successful in 900 cases.

Scientists Discover A New Particle

On July 6th 2017, scientists at the Large Hadron Collider at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, in Geneva Switzerland, announced that they have discovered a new particle. The new particle is a baryon. This particular particle is called the Xi-cc++, and has four times the mass of its fellow baryon, the proton. The researchers say that the new particle is predicted by the standard model and may help them understand quantum chromodynamics and the strong forces.

Baryons, such as protons and neutrons are composed of what are known as quarks. There are six types of quarks, up, down, top, bottom, and strange, charmed. Each baryon is composed of three quarks, two up and a down which makes up a proton, and one up and two down which makes up a neutron. The Xi-cc++ is being called a doubly charmed particle because it contains two charmed quarks which are heavy.

The researchers say that they have created charmed quarks in pairs before, but until now have never witnessed a particle in nature that actually possessed them, and say that this is very rare.

New Release!

Just released a new album by Nprogram entitled, "Searchin'." It's available now at iTunes! https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/searchin/id1252731105

Yahoo Is Now Part Of Verizon

On June 13th 2017, Verizon announced that its deal to purchase Yahoo is now complete and that it now officially owns the once internet giant. The $4.48 billion deal will see Yahoo become a part of AOL, which Verizon bought for an estimated 4.4 billion in 2015. The two companies will come together to form a new company called Oath. The CEO of Yahoo, Marissa Mayer will resign and former AOL chief, Tim Armstrong will head the new entity.

Amazon Buys Whole Foods

On June 16th 2017 Amazon announced that is buying the grocery store chain, Whole Foods for $13.7 billion. The Whole foods purchase is actually a merger agreement in which Amazon will assume the grocers debt and buy its stock for $42 dollars a share. The plan, at least for now, is that Whole Foods will continue to be a separate entity, keeping its brand and suppliers intact. John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, will continue to run the company.

Whole Foods is a grocery store chain that emphasizes high quality natural and organic foods as well as low priced daily staples. In purchasing Whole Foods, Amazon will be increasing its brick and mortar presence significantly. There is much speculation as to what Amazon's plans are. Some industry analysts believe that Amazon will use this purchase to try and go head to head with Walmart in the online grocery wars.

Some industry analysts think that Amazon may use its Prime subscription delivery service to offer free two day shipping to Whole foods customers, and give them better prices on groceries. While this may indeed turn out to be the case, there is also the possibility that they could use the Whole Foods purchase to move forward with its plans for a cashierless grocery store called Amazon Go, which Amazon is currently testing in Seattle.  

Scientists Discover 300,000 Year Old Human Bones

On June 7th 2017, archaeologists announced in the Journal Nature that they have discovered the fossilized skull, jaw bones, and teeth of early humans that date back to 300,000  years ago. The bones where found on a hillside in an area known as Jebel Irhoud, in Morocco, between Marrakesh and the Atlantic ocean. The fossils are now the earliest evidence of modern humans or Homo Sapiens, to date.  

The site was first discovered by barite miners the 1961. New finds that began in the late 1980s eventually led to further discoveries that came in 2004. The remains are those of of five early humans, three adults, a child, and an adolescent. The site revealed evidence of sophisticated stone tools and charcoal that may have been used to start fires. The archaeologists also found campsite debris and butchered animal bones.

Multiple dating techniques that included thermoluminescence (TL) were used to determine that the fossils were around 315,000 years old.  Until this find, it had been believed that evidence of the earliest humans, or Homo Sapiens were from remains discovered in East Africa that date back to 200,000 years ago. This raises the question of whether the current understanding of human evolution is correct.

Curiosity Rover Discovers That Mars Was Once Habitable

On June 1st 2017, NASA announced that its Curiosity Rover had determined that Mars was once habitable and that the Gale crater landing site was at one time an ancient lake. Researchers at NASA believe that that lake existed 3.5 billion years ago and that it was warm and may have been the home of some form of microbial life. They say that habitable conditions for life may have been present for a period of 700 million years.

The findings which were published in the journal Science, are the result of an analysis of the stratification of the rocks found in Curiosity's Gale crater landing site. The discovery of thick layers of rock which contained iron rich hematite interlaced with thin layers of rock that contained iron rich magnetite bore evidence of a chemical boundary between deep water and shallow water that once filled the ancient lake.

NASA scientists further theorize that UV light combined with atmospheric oxygen created an oxidizing environment which caused some of the sulfur in rocks near the shore to become acidic. This would have given rise to a lower ph near the shore while the deeper less oxygenated water would have had a ph that was closer to neutral. This mix of conditions coupled with a warm temperate climate may have given rise to life that could survive in low oxygen environments.

NASA's Juno Probe Reveals New Jupiter Details

On My 25th 2017, in a report published in the journal Science, researchers from NASA announced their findings taken from data and photos from their Juno spacecraft. Juno has been orbiting Jupiter since July of 2016. The craft which is in a polar orbit has discovered that Jupiter is a very complex world. New data and photos have revealed that Jupiter's poles are a swirling sea of storms, while the planet has a stronger magnetic field then once believed.

Juno's Junocam and its instruments show that there are massive cyclones and vortexes spinning at Jupiter's north and south poles. Some of these storms measure 800 miles in diameter. The images show that these storms are densely packed together so that they are touching each other. At present, the researchers have no idea how the storms are formed or why the north pole looks different from the south pole.

The instruments aboard Juno have discovered a super deep band of ammonia that surrounds Jupiter's equator. The region has its own climate and researchers can't yet tell just how deep the ammonia band extends. Juno has also discovered Jupiter's magnetic field is not evenly distributed, being stronger in some areas and weaker than others. The researchers believe that this may suggest dynamo action at the planet's surface. Jupiter's magnetic field measures at 7.766 gauss which is 10 times greater that of the Earth's 

Paper Thin Microphones And Speakers

On May 16th 2017, in a paper published in the journal Nature Communications, researchers announced that they have created a new paper thin material that is capable of generating energy from human motion. The material is also capable of acting as a loudspeaker or microphone. The new device is the brainchild and audio breakthrough of nanotechnology scientists working at Michigan State University.

The new material is called a FENG or ferroelectret nanogenerator. It is made of a silicone wafer with several layers of silver, polyimide, and polypropylene electret. Each layer has ions added that hold charged particles. Mechanical energy or human motion is converted into electrical energy when the material is compressed. The FENG material is bidirectional with the ability to turn electrical energy into mechanical energy.

Because the FENG material is so sensitive to vibrations, the researchers believe that their device could one day be used in voice recognition applications. By embedding their material into another object or material, the FENG material can be patched to an audio device, subsequently turning that object or material into a loudspeaker. The researchers say that their breakthrough may also one day make voice activated newspapers, noise cancelling sheets, and voice protected wearables possible.

The MP3 Format Is Done

On May 11th 2017, the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits announced that it was ending its licensing program for the MP3 audio codec. In the wake of their decision, more modern codecs such as AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) and MPEG-H will become the de facto standards for music downloads and mobile video streaming. Fraunhofer also figured prominently in the development of the ACC file type which is used today by iTunes, YouTube, Nokia, and others.

Fraunhofer began developing the MP3 technology in the late 1980's, but by 1995 licensing of the codec was minimal. At that point the company began giving away the software that consumers needed to turn CDs into MP3s. After that, the MP3 format became widely popular. In 2001 Apple released the iPod which lead to even more success of the MP3, as it allowed consumers to buy music downloads and not only store them but also play them right from the device.

It's already being said that the MP3 is not dead, as many believe that just as the CD ROM didn't cause the floppy disc to completely disappear, the MP3 will no doubt take it's time fading from the spotlight. In the meantime newer more advance codecs such as FLAC and OGG Vorbis, as well as high resolution 24bit 192kHz files will undoubtedly have no trouble filling in the void left by the MP3's departure.

Early Man May Have Had An Ancient Cousin

On May 9th 2017, the scientists who discovered the species Homo Naledi announced in the journal eLife two new findings. They say that they have determined a younger age for their original find, and that they have found a second cave full of skeletal remains. The Naledi remains were first discovered in 2013 in a cave near Johannesburg, South Africa, by a team of researchers led by paleoanthropologist Lee Berger of University of Witwatersrand.

Dr. Berger and his team believe the bones from the earlier find in what's been called the Rising Star Cave, are from between 236,000 and 335,00 years ago. If this is true, then Naledi roamed Africa at the same time as Homo Sapiens. This means that while modern humans were evolving from large brained ancestors, a smaller brained version had managed to survive from a much earlier period, that may extend back some 2 million years.

The fossils' age range overlaps the early Middle Stone Age. Dr. Berger and his team speculate that it's possible that the stone-tool record from South Africa may not be just from modern humans. The team also discovered skeletal remains in a second chamber at the cave site that they are calling the Lesedi Chamber. As many as 130 specimens were recovered that are believed to represent two adults and one child. One of the male skeletons is preserved in a state comparable to the Lucy skeleton.

Humans May Have Lived In North America 130,000 Years Ago

On April 26th 2017, archaeologists announced that they had found evidence that humans may have lived in North America 130,000 years ago. A study posted in the journal Nature stated that the recovery of mastodon bones discovered in southern California showed signs that humans may have attacked the animal near the time of its demise. The study has sparked a debate about humans living on the continent 115,400 years before humans were believed to be in North America.

The fossils were first discovered near a freeway construction site in San Diego in 1992. The location of the mastodon's remains has been named the Cerutii Mastodon Site, after Richard Cerutii, the paleontologist who made the discovery.  The animal bones, tusks, and molars were found buried along with stone tools which included hammers and anvils believed to have been used in either extraction of bone marrow, or raw materials for making such tools.

Thomas Demere, Steven Holen, and a team of researchers from the San Diego Natural History Museum, examined the mastodon remains using a technique called, "uranium-thorium dating. This process allowed them to arrive at a date of 130,000 years. Further study of the bones and teeth revealed that some of the remains had a pattern of breakage called "spiral fracturing." The team says that this occurs when the bones are fresh.

They also say that some of the bones show signs of being smashed with very hard objects. Other researchers, such as John McNabb of the University of South Hampton, say that, "Until we actually find a skeleton at this site, or at a site of a comparable age in the Americas, it's all an open speculation and we just don't know."

Neil Young's New High Resolution Streaming Service

On April 22nd 2017, music legend, Neil Young announced that he will be starting a new music streaming service called, Xstream. The move comes as a result of the shut down of his of his Pono Music store in the summer of 2016. Pono is the high resolution music player that Mr Young introduced to the world in 2015. Mr. Young's goal is to create a streaming service that will deliver 24bit 192kHz sound quality at what he calls, "a normal price."

Mr. Young says that Xstream will not be like most of the other streaming music services. Xtream won't use a single low resolution file. Instead, Xstream will stream the highest quality sound based on your internet connection. The file that is streamed will also adapt to any changes in your network. This is done by using a single high resolution, bit perfect file that is compressed as it is needed so that it will never stop playing.

The adaptive stream technology was created by Orastream, a small tech company in Singapore that Mr. Young worked with to conceptualize Xstream. Xstream will not be compatible with the existing Pono players because they don't have a Wi-Fi adapter and only play downloads. Currently, Mr. Young is in talks with the major record companies, so only his music is being listed as available for streaming. No launch date has been given at this time.

NASA Probes Find Elements For Life

On April 13th 2017, NASA announced that two of its space science missions had detected needed elements for the creation of life. Using the Cassini Spacecraft and the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA has determined that Jupiter's moon Europa and Saturn's moon Enceladus are both ocean worlds. Cassini's mission to Enceladus has detected hydrogen gas, which could be a chemical energy source for life, while Hubble has detected more evidence of possible plumes of water vapor spewing from Europa.

The hydrogen gas on Enceladus was discovered in 2015 when the Cassini Spacecraft made its deepest dive through a plume of gas and icy material, that was rising from the moon's surface. Scientists back on Earth were later able to determine that the plume contained 98% water and 1% hydrogen. The other 1% contained a mixture of carbon dioxide, ammonia, and methane. While this is not proof of life it self, it is, however, evidence that the necessary ingredients for life exists on Saturn's moon.

The possible plume of water spewing from Jupiter's moon Europa was discovered with the Hubble Space Telescope in early 2016. It was measured at 62 miles high. An earlier plume candidate was detected in March of 2014. That particular siting was measured at 30 miles high. While the suspected plumes appear to be coming from a warm region of Europa, where there are cracks in its icy surface, NASA is still not ready to say that these are actual plumes just yet.

Streaming Becomes Music Industry's Number One Delivery System

On March 30th 2016, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced that streaming music platforms have become the music industry's number one source for revenue. The news came as the RIAA released its annual report that stated that music sales were up by 11.4% in 2016 to $7.7 billion. The report further stated that streaming led the charge by accounting for more than half, or 51.4% of all reported revenue.

Music industry revenue had been hovering around $7 billion a year, without showing much in the way of growth since 2010. But, that has now changed, due to the rise of on demand streaming services such as YouTube, Apple Music, Spotify, and TIDAL. Online radio streaming services such as Pandora and iHeartRadio followed as the second source of revenue, showing a 10% increase in growth of $883.9 million.

Sales of music downloads were down in 2016 by 21.6% bringing in about $1.6 billion. But, while the sale of both single tracks and albums was down, the report found that more people who chose to buy downloads are now buying full albums more than ever before. In fact, albums made up 49% of all music downloads. Meanwhile, CD sales have fallen sharply. Only 99.4 million full length CDs were sold in 2016, marking the first time since 1986 that fewer than 100 million were sold.

SpaceX Relaunches And Lands Falcon 9

On March 30th 2017, SpaceX made history by successfully launching the world's first reused rocket booster, with the lift off of its Falcon 9. The launch took place at 6:27pm EDT, and was this booster's second flight since launching in April of 2016, and the second SpaceX launch within a two week period. With a new upper stage, a half an hour later, the Falcon 9 successfully placed it's SES 10 Communications payload into orbit.

After making history, the rocket booster was then successfully returned from space to make a perfect landing at sea on one of SpaceX's drone ships. While the turn around time took about a year, the successful relaunch and the landing is a solid proof of concept for the reusable rocket approach for future space flight missions. The rocket that flew the historic flight was the second Falcon 9 that was ever recovered, and was first used to on a cargo resupply mission to the ISS.

The Falcon 9 first stage which houses the main engine and contains most of the fuel needed for lift off, represents 70% of the cost of a single mission. The ability to refly their rockets would serve as a cost saving measure for SpaceX. It took four months to get this historic booster ready for relaunch. SpaceX is looking forward to meeting the challenge of getting the inspection and refurbishing time down to 24 hours.

IBM Stores Data On An Atom

On March 8th 2017, researchers at IBM's Almaden Lab in San Jose, California, announced that they had succeeded in storing one bit of data on a single atom. This was made possible by creating single atom magnets. The new process of storing data atomically could change all of our computing devices radically. IBM says that it's new technique could make it possible to store Apple's entire 26 million song catalog on a single area.

The process involved placing a single atom of the element holmium on the surface of magnesium oxide. A small amount of electric current was used to flip the atom one way or the other. Each flip corresponded to either a 1 or a 0. The researchers then read the data by measuring the electromagnetic properties of that atom. They were also able to demonstrate that two magnetic atoms only one nano meter apart could each be read or written to independently.

IBM's breakthrough could revolutionize the development of quantum computers and PCs, and further increase the miniaturization of smart phones and other devices. IBM says that magnetic storage could also make it possible to store 1,000 times more data in the same area used today. However, they say that for now this project remains as pure research.

Chuck Berry Dies At Age 90

Rock n Roll legend Chuck Berry died Saturday March 18th 2017. He was 90 years old. Police were called to his home in St Charles County Missouri at 12:40pm local time. He was found lying on the floor unresponsive. Efforts to revive him failed and he was pronounced dead at 1:26pm local time. While Elvis was known as the King of Rock n Roll, and Alan Freed gave Rock n Roll it's name, it was Chuck Berry who literally created the genre.

He began his life as Charles Edward Anderson Berry, born October 18th 1926 in St Louis Missouri. He was the third of six children. His father was a contractor, while his mother was a school teacher. His first exposure to music came as a member of his church choir and his school's glee club. In junior high school he began to teach himself how to play guitar. However, before he was able to finish high school, a failed robbery attempt landed him in reform school for three years.

In 1952 Mr Berry got a call from Johnnie Johnson, who played piano, to come play at the Cosmopolitan Club in St Louis. Mr Berry's influence and musical style caused the house band to change their name to the Chuck Berry Trio. The band played the club for three years. Then in 1955, recognizing Mr Berry's potential, the legendary Blues singer Muddy Waters told Mr Berry that he should contact Lenard and Phil Chess at Chess Records in Chicago.

Not really being a Blues man and wanting to impress the Chess brothers, Mr Berry worked out a song called "Ida Red," which was based on an old Country song. Mr Berry kept the 2/4 Country back beat, but added a 12 bar Blues progression and wrote a lyric that featured a guy chasing a girl in a car. He increased the tempo and made the song swing a little. The Chess brothers liked the song, but wouldn't release it unless Mr Berry changed the name, so he changed the songs title to "Maybellene."

Mr Berry went on to have a string of top ten hits that went on into the mid sixties, that included "Roll Over Beethoven," "Sweet Little Sixteen," Reelin' and Rockin,'" and his signature track, "Johnny B Goode." While he was big on the R&B charts, Mr Berry didn't get his first and only number one pop hit until 1972, when he scored with the song, "My Ding-A-Ling." The song was based on double entendre and sold over a million copies.

Mr Berry's music was much emulated by his contemporaries and his style eventually inspired rock artists such as the Beatles, Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, and Jimi Hendrix. He received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1985 and was inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. In 1995, Mr Berry performed at the Rock Hall's inaugural event. In October 2016 he announced that he was working on the release of his first album in 38 years.

Mr Berry is survived by his wife, Themetta Suggs and his four children, Ingrid, Chuck jr, Aloha, and Melody.

Sony Introduces A Touch Screen Projector

On February 27th 2017, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, Sony announced the forth coming release of its touch screen projector, the Xperia Touch. Sony's new projector can turn a simple table top into a 23 inch, 720p touch screen surface or a screen of up to 80 inches on a wall. The Xperia Touch runs on the Android operating system and Sony expects to offer it to the public in the spring of 2017

The Xperia Touch is a 5.3 x 5.6 x 2.7 inch rectangular box that's set up like a smart phone. The difference here, is that the Xperia Touch doesn't have a screen. It has instead an LCoS laser projector with auto focus. An IR array coupled with a 60fps camera allows the Xperia Touch to make use of touch controls. It also dose this through the use of a GPS and ambient light sensor, and temperature, barometer, humidity, and human detection sensors.  

The Xperia Touch has a battery and built in speakers, and its small size makes it very portable. The interface is fluid and easy to use. It can easily pick up your finger and shadows don't appear to cause any problems. The Xperia Touch can even respond to multiple touches at a time, and it also supports swiping. The Xperia Touch is expected to retail for $1,587 and will go on sale in Japan and Europe before making its way to the US.

Scientists Create A Solid State Battery

On February 28th 2017, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin announced that they had created a solid state rechargeable battery that could replace those made with lithium. The team was led by John Goodenough, who is one of the co creators of the lithium ion battery, which is currently used in most portable devices such as cell phones and laptops. Goodenough says that the new solid state battery can charge in minutes instead of hours and will not explode.

The reason that the new solid state battery is better than the lithium ion battery is because it doesn't use a liquid. Instead the solid state battery uses glass electrolytes, which is a chemical structure that can allow electricity to pass between a positive and a negative electrode. This gives the new battery a density that is three times greater than a lithium ion battery, and allows it to perform better at low temperatures.

Tests of the solid state battery revealed that it can be charged and run down for over 1,200 cycles with low cell resistance. The battery has also proven to operate at -4 degrees Fahrenheit, which would make it an ideal choice for some automobiles. And, the solid state battery uses sodium as opposed to lithium, which also makes the solid state battery very cost effective 

Amazing New Exoplanet Find

On February 22nd 2017, researchers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope announced that they had discovered a solar system with seven Earth like exoplanets. The star system is being called TRAPIST-1 which stands for Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope. It was named after an earth based telescope in Chile, which initially discovered three of the exoplanets in May of 2016. The planets are said to be earth like because they are within the habitable zone of their star.

The seven planets of TRAPIST-1 orbit an ultra cool or red dwarf star that is located 40 light years away in the constellation Aquarius. The data from Spitzer was used to determine the sizes of each of the planets. The researchers were then able to use that data to determine the masses of six of the planets, which also led to determining their densities. All of the TRAPIST-1 planets are believed to be rocky like earth, and may possibly be rich with liquid water.

The TRAPIST-1 planets have been named for the letters of the alphabet from b to h. The orbit of the closest planet to the star is just 1.5 days, while the one farthest away takes twenty days. The planets of TRAPIST-1 orbit their star very close to each other. The inner six planets appear to orbit in sync or what is know as orbital resonance. Since these planets are in the habitable zone of their star, it's possible that some or all of them may possess an atmosphere.

Researchers intend to use the Spitzer, Hubble, and Kelper telescopes to further study the planets in an effort to determine if they are suitable for life.

SpaceX Successully Launches From Kennedy Space Flight Center

On February 19th 2017, SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Flight Center in Florida. The launch took place at approximately 9:40am Eastern Daylight Time, from the historic Launchpad 39A . 39A is the site of the last launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, which took place on July 8th 2011. It was also home of the Apollo missions which included the Apollo 11 moon landing.

The Falcon 9 lifted off carrying with it crew supplies, spare parts, and other vehicle parts all totaling 5,500 pounds of cargo intended to resupply the International Space Station. Ten minutes after the second stage boosted the first stage into orbit, the booster stage made its return to earth. Two sonic booms preceded the booster's return for a successful landing at SpaceX's ground based landing area at Cape Canaveral.  

The launch, originally scheduled for February 18th, was delayed due to a minor malfunction. It makes the second SpaceX success since the company's triumphant return to space with a launch on January 14th 2017.

Flexible Solar Cells

On February 1st 2017, an Albuquerque, New Mexico company founded by Sandia National Laboratories, announced that they had made a breakthrough in Microsystems Enabled Photo Voltaics or (MEPV). The new product is a flexible solar panel that appears to be a cross between metallic wrapping paper and a reflective sun shield used on automobile windshields. It is just the width of a human hair, and may one day power everything from satellites to consumer devices.

MEPV technology uses micro design and micro fabrication to miniaturize solar cells that are also know as "solar glitter." The solar cells are made from high efficiency silicon just like regular solar panels, but because the cells are so small, they can be interconnected. This makes them capable of bending without breaking. Andy McIlroy, Sandia's chief technology officer said that the lab has signed a license with mPower to market their new creation, which they are calling Dragon SCALES.

The Dawn Of Inkless paper

On February 2nd 2017, scientists at the University of California, Riverside announced that they had developed a light printable paper. The project included researchers from Shandong University in China and Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory. The research team says that the paper consists of a new solid state photoreversible color switching system, that uses ultra violet light to produce an ink free rewritable print.

Yadong Yin, Professor of chemistry at the University of California, Riverside says that the process incorporates conventional paper that is coated with low cost, environmentally friendly materials. For the research team's experiment, they used a combination of two nano particle layers. One layer is Prussian Blue pigment and the other is titanium oxide. The two substances can applied to the paper by soaking or spaying them on.

Once applied, the plain unprinted paper turns blue. To make text appear on the page, the paper is exposed to UV light. The light excites the titanium oxide particles which causes a release of electrons that are picked up by the Prussian Blue nano particles. This causes the blue layer to turn to colorless. It's easier to read blue text on a clear background, so the background is what gets printed by light.

After the paper is printed, the text will remain for five days before it fades back to solid blue. The paper can also be erased more quickly by heating it for ten minutes. Dr Yin says that their new paper is cost competitive with conventional paper. He said, "Our immediate next step is to construct a laser printer to work with this rewritable paper, to enable fast printing."

Scientists Create Knitted Exoskeleton

On January 25th 2017, a team of Swedish researchers at Linkoping University and the University of Boras, announced that they have created an electroactive "textile muscle," system. The researchers say that they have created actuators, or devices, that convert energy into motion, which can be used to turn fabric into artificial musculature. They believe that their technology could one day power a new type of exoskeleton.

The way that the process works, is that a lightweight fabric is first coated with an electroative material, just as though you were dyeing it. When the material is dry, a low voltage current is applied to it. This can be done by using a wearable battery. The current then changes the shape of the fabric, which produces force in a particular direction. This causes the individual threads to change volume, while the weave in the fabric amplifies and directs the movement.

Dr. Edwin Jager, associate professor at the Division of Sensor and Actuator Systems at Linkoping University, who led the research team said, "We envision these actuators to be integrated into items of clothing." He also said that the actuators would need to be attached to the body. He said, "This could be in the form of an elastic sleeve similar to the ones currently used to give support for injured joints."

The research team hopes to make adjustments to the fabric and coating that will enable them to design a soft exoskeleton suit that could be used to assist someone in walking. Dr. Jager said, "It is our dream to create exoskeletons that are similar to items of clothing that you can wear under your normal cloths."