Nokia, take note: this is the kind of flexible, wraparound technology we want to see - something that doesn't look like it's going to burrow into your skin when you're not looking. There's a YouTube demo that showcases the possibilities of the technology (we particularly love the wrist-based smartphone), but the great news is the technologies are here and now. 3M is now producing the flexible touch sensors that underpin this technology, and while flexible AMOLED screens have already been showcased elsewhere in this feature, it all adds up to one thing - future tech that's sexy and curvy in all the right places.
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pharoah88 ( Date: 24-May-2011 10:10) Posted:
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H-energy harvester
Hybrid energy harvester
The headline is that Fujitsu has developed the first energy harvesting device capable of generating power from both heat and light sources. It's incredibly efficient and cheap to produce too. That's all well and good, but look at the photo - sure, the hybrid harvester will be doing mankind a favour by allowing medical devices such as blood pressure monitors to draw all the power they need from the person wearing them. But hey, it's all still a bit creepy. It's like we're slowly being transformed into Cybermen.
F-solar panel
Flexible solar panels
The idea of free energy is an appealing one, but when it comes to sucking up the sun's rays, traditional solar panels can be seen as somewhat inflexible - rigid, fragile and suitable for permanent installation only.
Thankfully times have changed, and Select Solar has a wide range of flexible panels covering all kinds of needs. Its Flexi Panel series are lightweight, malleable and virtually unbreakable (you can even walk over them), plus are engineered to make the most efficient use of the UK's variable conditions. Although designed for boats, where they can be placed on the deck or a suitable hatch cover, we envisage them being used on sheds, caravans and anywhere you need access to portable power too.
R-piano
Rollup piano
It was the early 1990s, and Star Trek fans everywhere gasped at the ingenuity of the writer who came up with the concept of a flat, rollup piano that delivered realistic keyboard sounds. How very 24th century, we thought, little realising we were in touching distance of the dream.
Not only do rollup pianos exist, but they're cheap as chips too - Maplin sells a 49-key model for under £30. It goes without saying that if you expect to get the experience and tactility of a real piano or keyboard, then prepare to be disappointed. But at least you can roll it up, stuff it in your rucksack and pretend to be a time-travelling adventurer on a secret mission, 300 years in the past.
FF Loudspeaker
Flat flexible loudspeaker
Chalk this one up to a blow for British ingenuity. Engineering boffins at the University of Warwick have developed a speaker just 0.25mm thick, made from flexible, low-cost materials. Designed for a variety of uses - hang them from walls, mount them in the ceiling or even wrap them round irregularly shaped objects - the Flat Flexible Loudspeaker claims to deliver big, clear sound using a fraction of the space or power required by traditional speaker systems.
They're not available to Joe Public yet, but spin-off company Warwick Audio Technologies is busily pushing the concept to OEM manufacturers - so don't be surprised if you see them adorning the inside of your next car or helping make rail-delay announcements that little bit clearer soon.
F - TV
Curved displays that claimed to provide a more immersive experience to the viewer were big news in 2008, but despite some big announcements -
NEC's CRV-43 (pictured) among them
- the concept never really took off. If the technology appeals, an equivalent 43-inch display from Ostendo Technologies will set you back a cool US$6,500.
That's by no means the end for bendy displays, although current research is aimed at smaller devices. Samsung's research arm recently demonstrated a flexible AMOLED display that can be folded over 100,000 times without creating a permanent crease, paving the way for future foldable tablets and smartphones.
HOW many
P M E Ts
are taxi drivers
in SINGAPORE ? ? ? ?
mIs-allOcatIOn Of PMET mAnpOwer ? ? ? ?
mAnpOwer pOlIcy faIlUre ? ? ? ?
| pharoah88 ( Date: 23-May-2011 20:10) Posted: |
http://forums.vr-zone.com/chit-chatting/470427-the-straits-times-phd-holder-cai-ming-jie-now-cabby-blog.html
| The Straits Times: PhD holder Cai Ming Jie now a cabby + Blog Christine Aug 15th, 09, 10:58 AM | #1 |
COULD this be Singapore's most well qualified taxi driver?
Dr Cai Ming Jie became an SMRT cabby last November after spending 16 years as a researcher at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star).
His career switch has become a talking point online after he started a blog earlier this year. Alongside his experiences as a cabby, he takes issue with the circumstances of his departure from IMCB last May.
An SMRT spokesman confirmed that the former researcher is a driver with SMRT Taxis, but Dr Cai declined to add more beyond this: 'All that needs to be said is on the blog online...It should be IMCB that needs to be asked questions, if any.'
The China-born Dr Cai, who became a Singapore citizen, obtained a PhD in molecular biology from Stanford University in 1990. The Straits Times learnt that he did a two-year postdoctoral fellowship after leaving Stanford at the University of Washington, under famed genetist Professor Lee Hartwell, who won a 2001 Nobel Prize in physiology.
He joined IMCB two years later and worked as a principal investigator in the field of cell genetics up till his departure.
A spokesman for A*Star, meanwhile, said renewal of all its researchers' contracts is based on a number of factors, including the time taken to train PhD students, their performance and their contributions to the research institutes and the agency in general.
Dr Cai's work, like that of all A*Star researchers, was assessed by an external Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), which recommended his contract be terminated.
Still, in spite of the submission of countless curriculum vitaes and applications to universities, government agencies and companies since he was told he would be let go in 2007, Dr Cai failed to get a successful response.
The former researcher now drives a four-year -old Toyota Crown. 'At a time like this, the taxi business is probably the only business in Singapore that still actively recruits people,' he said.
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Introduction:
Probably the only taxi driver in this world with a PhD from Stanford and a proven track record of scientific accomplishments, I have been forced out of my research job at the height of my scientific career, and unable to find another one, for reasons I can only describe as something " uniquely Singapore" . As a result, I am driving taxi to make a living and writing these real life stories just to make the dull job a little more interesting. I hope that these stories are interesting to you too.
Would he be a gOOd MP ? ? ? ?
http://www.a-star.edu.sg/AboutASTAR/CorporateProfile/ChairmansOffice/tabid/179/Default.aspx
Message from A
STAR Chairman, Lim Chuan Poh
Chairman's Office
Message from A
STAR Chairman, Lim Chuan Poh
The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) has a mission to drive and sustain world-class scientific research that will be meaningful and impactful for Singapore.
Here at A*STAR, we have cultivated an international and diverse community of scientists with a passion and purpose to uphold the highest standards of scientific research in their various areas of expertise. By providing robust research and commercialisation infrastructures, we enable the knowledge created by our scientists to be exploited to expand existing industries and create new ones.
We also take pride in our scholarship and training programmes dedicated to nurturing future generations of scientists and scientific leaders.
A*STAR's activities are centred in Biopolis and Fusionopolis, Singapore's twin research hubs of biomedical, physical science and engineering research.
This provides unique opportunities for scientists to interact and develop collaborations across institutes, organisations and other communities of researchers. Our spectrum of capabilities in the biomedical, physical and engineering sciences, all in one compact location, also allows us to conduct truly groundbreaking interdisciplinary research.
Together, we strive to break down boundaries to open up more space for knowledge creation and innovation to meet the challenges of tomorrow.
We invite you to explore Biopolis, Fusionopolis and our exciting research programmes that will play a crucial role in the creation of a knowledge-based, innovation-driven Singapore.
Lim Chuan Poh