Gizmorama
September 6, 2010
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Good Morning,
For details on a new electric car going on sale in the U.K.,
be sure to check out the last article. Plus, find out what
the electronics giant Apple has in store for iTunes users in
the third article.
Until Next Time,
Erin
Questions? Comments? Email me at: mailto:gizmo@gophercentral.com
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Scientists create 'smarter' materials
WATERLOO, Ontario - New "smart materials" could revolution-
ize the manufacture of diverse products ranging from medical
devices to automotive components, Canadian researchers say.
Scientists at the University of Waterloo in Ontario have de-
veloped a process dubbed Multiple Memory Material Technology
that could allow engineers to incorporate far greater func-
tionality into devices, a university release said Wednesday.
Smart materials, also known as shape memory alloys, are well
known for their ability to remember a predetermined shape.
The materials assume one shape at one temperature and take
on a second "remembered" shape at a different temperature.
Until now they have been limited to change shape at only one
temperature, but with the Waterloo process they can be given
multiple different memories, each one with a different shape
triggered by a different temperature. The technology "makes
smart materials even smarter," Ibraheem Khan, a research
engineer and graduate student, said. "We have developed a
technology that embeds several memories in a monolithic smart
material. In essence, a single material can be programmed to
remember more shapes, making it smarter than previous tech-
nologies."
NASA says new satellite ready for service
GREENBELT, Md. - NASA and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmo-
spheric Administration say their newest weather and solar
satellite has completed testing and is entering service. The
Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, GOES-15,
has successfully completed five months of in-orbit testing
of its science systems, instrumentation and communications
services, a NASA release said Wednesday. GOES-15 is the third
and final spacecraft in the GOES N-P fleet of geostationary
environmental weather satellites that will help NOAA forecas-
ters track life-threatening weather and solar activity that
can impact the satellite-based electronics and communications
industry, the release said. "NASA is ecstatic that we were
able to deliver on our promise to provide NOAA and this
nation with three geosynchronous weather satellites," Andre
Dress of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.,
said. The GOES 15 satellite will be placed in a "storage"
orbit location to act as a backup for the operational GOES-11
and GOES-13 satellites should either degrade or run out of
fuel. GOES-15 can be made operational within 24 hours to re-
place an older satellite, NASA said. "With more than 35 mil-
lion Americans living in hurricane-prone areas, we need the
reliable, accurate data GOES provide," Gary Davis, director
of the Office of Systems Development at NOAA's Satellite and
Information Service, said.
Apple bites into rental business
CUPERTINO, Calif. - Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs
made it official Wednesday: The Cupertino, Calif., computer
giant soon will offer 99-cent TV show rentals on iTunes.
Apple said it would offer streaming rentals of shows from
Fox, ABC, ABC Family, Disney Channel and BBC America as part
of the launch of an massive revision of its Apple TV serv-
ices, Variety reported. Users may watch a show for 30 days
from the moment the episode is rented, and once it starts
playing users have 48 hours to finish watching it, Jobs said.
The new hardware, expected to be available in about four
weeks for $99, is the biggest revision of Apple TV since it
was introduced in September 2006, Variety said. While users
can't buy movies or TV shows, they will be able to rent a
video release for $4.99 synced by day and date with the DVD
release, and TV segments for 99 cents. Rentals are expected
to begin in about a month, once the hardware becomes avail-
able, Jobs said. "Users want Hollywood movies and TV shows
when they want them," Jobs said. "They don't want amateur
hour. They want professional content." The new Apple TV will
offer Netflix's instant streaming service, and allow people
to stream content from their home computers. Apple also an-
nounced the debut of Ping, a new social network revolving
around people's music choices. "It's like Facebook and Twit-
ter meet iTunes," Jobs said. "It's a social network all about
music."
Italian electric car to go on sale in U.K.
LONDON - A British retailer of electric vehicles says it will
start selling an Italian-made two-seat electric car in its
showrooms this month. EV Stores -- which sells electric cars,
bikes and scooters -- says the Tazzari Zero will go on sale
for about $33,000 Sept. 12, BusinessGreen.com reported Wed-
nesday. The Zero uses rechargeable lithium-ion batteries and
can go about 85 miles between charges with a top speed of
about 62 mph. Tazzari is an Italian firm with a background
in aluminum casting and engineering services. Use of aluminum
in the Zero means the car, with battery pack, weighs less
than 1,200 pounds. The Zero qualifies as a quadricycle under
European regulations, meaning it is not required to pass
crash tests or meet other safety regulations cars must meet,
the Web site said. Because of its quadricycle designation
the Zero will not qualify for the $7,700 rebate the U.K.
government plans to make available to purchasers of full-
blown electric cars like the upcoming Nissan Leaf, author-
ities say.
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