American computer named world’s fastest
According to reports published on November 15, 2012, a Cray supercomputer at the US Government’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been an IBM supercomputer at another US research facility. Titan, a Cray XK7 system installed at Oak Ridge, achieved 17.59 Peta flops (quadrillion calculations per second). The system is funded by the US Department of Energy and is used for research in energy, climate change, efficient motors, materials, and other advanced scientific research.
Titan knocked out the IBM Sequoia at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California, to second place. Sequoia, which was declared the world’s fastest system in June 2012, was only able to manage 16.32 Peta flops in the contest. In the top five, the others included Fujitsu’s K computer in Kobe, Japan; an IBM Blue Gene/Q system called Mira in Chicago, USA; and another IBM Blue Gene/Q system called Queen in Germany. The survey found that 251 of the world’s 500 fastest systems were in the US, 105 in Europe and 123 in Asia, including 72 in China.
Scientists discover how to change the color of gold
Scientists have for the first time found a way to change the color of gold, the world’s most iconic precious metal. Researchers at the University of Southampton, USA, have discovered that by etching small raised or indented patterns into the surface of metal, they can change the way it absorbs and reflects light. The result is that the human eye does not see it as a “golden” color at all.
The groundbreaking finding is equally applicable to other metals such as aluminum and silver. It opens up the prospect of dyeing metals without having to chemically coat or treat them, providing valuable economic, environmental and other benefits.
The technique could be harnessed in a wide range of industries including jewelry making. It can also be used to make banknotes and documents that are more difficult to counterfeit. It can be used to produce a wide range of colors in a given metal.
Gloves that allow hands to function as a wireless keyboard
Researchers at the University of Alabama, USA, have designed a new glove that allows users’ hands to become a wireless keyboard. Instead of touching the keys on a keyboard, the user simply touches the thumb to certain points on the fingers that are assigned a letter or other keyboard functions. The lead wire carries the command to the matchbox-sized printed circuit board (PCB) that is affixed to the back of the glove. The PCB transmits it to the target device via Bluetooth.
The glove’s name is Gauntlet, which is an acronym for Generally Accessible Universal Nomadic Tactile Low-power Electronic Typist. It presents a beehive of conductive threads that run through the fingers and palm.