Science Links
First off, more proof that Albert Einstein was an absolute bad-ass:An international research team led by Prof. Michael Kramer of the University of Manchester's Jodrell Bank Observatory, UK, has used three years of observations of the "double pulsar", a unique pair of natural stellar clocks which they discovered in 2003, to prove that Einstein's theory of general relativity - the theory of gravity that displaced Newton's - is correct to within a staggering 0.05%. Their results are published on the14th September in the journal Science and are based on measurements of an effect called the Shapiro Delay.
Here's a link to the full article.
From Matt Bradford, a link to an absolutely stunning video about an autistic genius who has photographic memory. He's known as "The Living Camera," and after he's taken on a helicopter ride over Rome, he reproduces the city in exacting and almost perfect detail in a drawing that was over five yards wide. The video is five minutes long, it's amazing, and you can see it here.
Finally, a link to an article in the NY Times (reg required) about using lasers instead of wires to transmit data between silicon chips. Here's an excerpt:
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 17 — Researchers plan to announce on Monday that they have created a silicon-based chip that can produce laser beams. The advance will make it possible to use laser light rather than wires to send data between chips, removing the most significant bottleneck in computer design.
As a result, chip makers may be able to put the high-speed data communications industry on the same curve of increased processing speed and diminishing costs — the phenomenon known as Moore’s law — that has driven the computer industry for the last four decades.
The development is a result of research at Intel, the world’s largest chip maker, and the University of California, Santa Barbara. Commercializing the new technology may not happen before the end of the decade, but the prospect of being able to place hundreds or thousands of data-carrying light beams on standard industry chips is certain to shake up both the communications and computer industries.
Amazing, and you can read the full article here.
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