9 Most Disturbing Animals on Earth

1.Gumprecht's Green Pit Viper

2.Snakefish

3.Giant Isopod

4.Aye-aye

5.Star-nosed Mole

6.Frilled Lizard

7.Giant leaf-tailed Gecko

8.Kerivoula Kachinensis

9.Desert Mole Rat

__________________

10 Futuristic Materials..

1. Aerogel



Aerogel protecting crayons from a blowtorch.

This tiny block of transparent aerogel is supporting a brick weighing 2.5 kg. The aerogel's density is 0.1 g/cm^3.

Aerogel holds 15 entries in the Guinness Book of Records, more than any other material. Sometimes called "frozen smoke", aerogel is made by the supercritical drying of liquid gels of alumina, chromia, tin oxide, or carbon. It's 99.8% empty space, which makes it look semi-transparent. Aerogel is a fantastic insulator — if you had a shield of aerogel, you could easily defend yourself from a flamethrower. It stops cold, it stops heat. You could build a warm dome on the Moon. Aerogels have unbelievable surface area in their internal fractal structures — cubes of aerogel just an inch on a side may have an internal surface area equivalent to a football field. Despite its low density, aerogel has been looked into as a component of military armor because of its insulating properties.


2. Carbon nanotubes



Carbon nanotubes are long chains of carbon held together by the strongest bond in all chemistry, the sacred sp₂ bond, even stronger than the sp3 bonds that hold together diamond. Carbon nanotubes have numerous remarkable physical properties, including ballistic electron transport (making them ideal for electronics) and so much tensile strength that they are the only substance that could be used to build a space elevator. The specific strength of carbon nanotubes is 48,000 kN·m/kg, the best of known materials, compared to high-carbon steel's 154 kN·/kg. That's 300 times stronger than steel. You could build towers hundreds of kilometers high with it.


3. Metamaterials



"Metamaterial" refers to any material that gains its properties from structure rather than composition. Metamaterials have been used to create microwave invisibility cloaks, 2D invisibility cloaks, and materials with other unusual optical properties. Mother-of-pearl gets its rainbow color from metamaterials of biological origin. Some metamaterials have a negative refractive index, an optical property that may be used to create "Superlenses" which resolve features smaller than the wavelength of light used to image them! This technology is called subwavelength imaging. Metamaterials would used in phased array optics, a technology that could render perfect holograms on a 2D display. These holograms would be so perfect that you could be standing 6 inches from the screen, looking into the "distance" with binoculars, and not even notice it's a hologram.


4. Bulk diamond



We're starting to lay down thick layers of diamond in CVD machines, hinting towards a future of bulk diamond machinery. Diamond is an ideal construction material — it's immensely strong, light, made out of the widely available element carbon, nearly complete thermal conductivity, and has among the highest melting and boiling points of all materials. By introducing trace impurities, you can make a diamond practically any color you want. Imagine a jet, with hundreds of thousands of moving parts made of fine-tuned diamond machinery. Such a craft would be more powerful than today's best fighter planes in the way an F-22 is better than the Red Baron's Fokker Dr.1.


5. Bulk fullerenes



Diamonds may be strong, but aggregated diamond nanorods (what I call amorphous fullerene) are stronger. Amorphous fullerene has a isothermal bulk modulus of 491 gigapascals (GPa), compared to diamond's 442 GPa. As we see in the image, the nanoscale structure of the fullerene gives it a beautiful iridescent appearance. Fullerenes can be made substantially stronger than diamond, but for greater energy cost. After a "Diamond Age" we may eventually transition to a "Fullerene Age" as our technology gets even more sophisticated.


6. Amorphous metal



Amorphous metals, also called metallic glasses, consist of metal with a disordered atomic structure. They can be twice as strong as steel. Because of their disordered structure, they can disperse impact energy more effectively than a metal crystal, which has points of weakness. Amorphous metals are made by quickly cooling molten metal before it has a chance to align itself in a crystal pattern. Amorphous metals may the military's next generation of armor, before they adopt diamondoid armor in mid-century. On the green side of things, amorphous metals have electronic properties that improve the efficiency of power grids by as much as 40%, saving us thousands of tons of fossil fuel emissions.


7. Superalloys



A superalloy is a generic term for a metal that can operate at very high temperatures, up to about 2000 °F (1100 °C). They are popular for use in the superhot turbine areas of jet engines. They are used for more advanced oxygen-breathing designs, such as the ramjet and scramjet. When we're flying through the sky in hypersonic craft, we'll have superalloys to thank for it.


8. Metal foam



Metal foam is what you get when you add a foaming agent, powdered titanium hydride, to molten aluminum, then let it cool. The result is a very strong substance that is relatively light, with 75-95% empty space. Because of its favorable strength-to-weight ratio, metal foams have been proposed as a construction material for space colonies. Some metal forms are so light that they float on water, which would make them excellent for building floating cities, like those analyzed by Marshall T. Savage in one of my favorite books, The Millennial Project.


9. Transparent alumina



Transparent alumina is three times stronger than steel and transparent. The number of applications for this are huge. Imagine an entire skyscraper or arcology made largely of transparent steel. The skylines of the future could look more like a series of floating black dots (opaque private rooms) rather than the monoliths of today. A huge space station made of transparent alumina could cruise in low Earth orbit without being a creepy black dot when it passes overhead. And hey... transparent swords!


10. E-textiles



If you meet up and talk to me in 2020, I'll likely be covered in electronic textiles. Why carry some electronic gadget you can easily lose when we can just wear our computers? We'll develop clothing that can constantly project the video of our choosing (unless it turns out being so annoying that we ban it). Imagine wearing a robe covered in a display that actually projects the night sky in realtime. Imagine talking to people over the "phone" just by making a hand gesture and activating electronics in your lapel, then merely thinking about what you want to say (thought-to-speech interfaces). The possibilities of e-textiles are limitless.

Always-on laptop

Qualcomm's four-year, $350 million effort to design a chip that goes into small notebooks and handhelds will come to fruition next year when device makers deliver products based on the Snapdragon processor.

I spent Friday morning at Qualcomm discussing the San Diego company's quest to build a processor for very small, very lightweight notebooks--what the Intel camp calls a Netbook.
Though Qualcomm's prototype looks like a Netbook on the outside, the Snapdragon technology inside is quite different from Intel's Atom silicon, which powers dozens of Netbooks on the market today.

And what's inside goes to the heart of how Qualcomm separates itself from Intel.
"Intel is a great company. I think they have great talent. But we believe there are limitations in the (Intel) architecture," said Manjit Gill, director of product management, Connected and Consumer Products Group, at Qualcomm. In short, he thinks Intel technology is wrong for this market, which values connectivity above processing power.
"Our vision is that (the device is) always connected. Even when you shut it down, it's still 'on.' (The laptop) goes to your Exchange server, gets your e-mail, puts it on the drive--solid-state or hard drive--and then when you're ready to do e-mail, you flip it open and it's right there. Instant on, always connected," Gill said.

More here

Two headed Snakes!!

The two-headed monsters of myth may have a basis in reality. Two-headed snakes are rare but not unheard of, and one recently found in Spain is giving scientists an opportunity to study how the anomaly affects their ability to hunt and mate.

Fuel Cells!!

How many times have you come across the dreaded situation where you have to make an all-important call and find yourself in the midst of nowhere with a dead cell phone battery? You do not have a charger and you are miles away from access to a plug point. What could you possibly do in such a scenario?

Well, there are a couple of solutions available. One could carry along a spare charged battery, and voila! you have a fully charged phone as soon as you replace the discharged battery. However, this might not always be possible. Oh, and I know quite a few people (whom I shall call Mobile Killers) who can make the most powerful batteries bite the dust in a matter of a few hours. They are people who use the multimedia capabilities of the cellphones of today and remain connected to the Internet via 3G, WiFi or GPRS simultaneously -- insatiable battery resource hogging features.

Other options include devices like these, which certainly do the job, but are not reliable, and guess what? I feel these are "stop gap" arrangements. What we need is a permanent solution to this issue. So, here's something that's futuristic enough to feature on Future Watch!

Enter fuel cells. Now, automobile buffs might be aware that fuel cell powered cars and buses are being used in many countries; as far as I know, this is the most popular application for fuel cells. However, there have been continuous advancements in this field over the past few years, and we have seen instances of fuel cell usage migrating to other applications, ranging from fuel cell powered submarines to concepts of portable "on the fly" chargers for your gadgets.

To date, fuel cell powered chargers were restricted by legislation - being banned on flights because of the presence of methanol, butane, and formic acid in the fuel cell apparatus. This legislation has stunted the growth of the "compact" fuel cell industry all these years; it was recently scrapped by the US Department of Transportation. This has, as expected, lead to a heightened interest in this field due to the financial rewards that can be reaped by targeting this untapped market. So, what is in store now?

Companies like Lilliputian Systems and Medis Technologies are already working on little fuel cell based "generators" that will keep your gadgets powered for a long time with its cigarette lighter sized fuel cell based charging devices. These devices are expected to see the light of day sometime in the last quarter of 2009. Some others, on the other hand, have already introduced products that might be a bit ungainly to look at now. Hey, that's OK. They are new devices. Remember the first cellphone? You might not want to be seen dead with it now. These products, according to Lilliputian Systems, will be sold for $100 and $150 with recharge cartridge prices ranging from $1 to $3.

Expect a slew of devices by the end of next year, and you could finally have a futuristic 'charging point on the go' at your disposal!

Source: http://www.techtree.com

Mosquito Bites!

See This is How a mosquito bites you and sucks your blood, now I wonder why I am I getting Slimmer day by day!

A Letter to The PM !

Dear Mr. Prime minister

I am a typical mouse from Mumbai. In the local train compartment which has capacity of 100 persons, I travel with 500 more mouse. Mouse at least squeak but we don't even do that.

Today I heard your speech. In which you said 'NO BODY WOULD BE SPARED'. I would like to remind you that fourteen years has passed since serial bomb blast in Mumbai took place. Dawood was the main conspirator. Till today he is not caught. All our bolywood actors, our builders, our Gutka king meets him but your Government can not catch him. Reason is simple; all your ministers are hand in glove with him. If any attempt is made to catch him everybody will be exposed. Your statement 'NOBODY WOULD BE SPARED' is nothing but a cruel joke on this unfortunate people of India .

Enough is enough. As such after seeing terrorist attack carried out by about a dozen young boys I realize that if same thing continues days are not away when terrorist will attack by air, destroy our nuclear reactor and there will be one more Hiroshima .

We the people are left with only one mantra. Womb to Bomb to Tomb. You promised Mumbaikar Shanghai what you have given us is Jalianwala Baug.

Today only your home minister resigned. What took you so long to kick out this joker? Only reason was that he was loyal to Gandhi family. Loyalty to Gandhi family is more important than blood of innocent people, isn't it?

I am born and bought up in Mumbai for last fifty eight years. Believe me corruption in Maharashtra is worse than that in Bihar . Look at all the politician, Sharad Pawar, Chagan Bhujbal, Narayan Rane, Bal Thackray , Gopinath Munde, Raj Thackray, Vilasrao Deshmukh all are rolling in money. Vilasrao Deshmukh is one of the worst Chief minister I have seen. His only business is to increase the FSI every other day, make money and send it to Delhi so Congress can fight next election. Now the clown has found new way and will increase FSI for fisherman so they can build concrete house right on sea shore. Next time terrorist can comfortably live in those house , enjoy the beauty of sea and then attack the Mumbai at their will.

Recently I had to purchase house in Mumbai. I met about two dozen builders. Everybody wanted about 30% in black. A common person like me knows this and with all your intelligent agency & CBI you and your finance minister are not aware of it.. Where all the black money goes? To the underworld isn't it? Our politicians take help of these goondas to vacate people by force. I myself was victim of it. If you have time please come to me, I will tell you everything.

If this has been land of fools, idiots then I would not have ever cared to write you this letter. Just see the tragedy, on one side we are reaching moon, people are so intelligent and on other side you politician has converted nectar into deadly poison. I am everything Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Schedule caste, OBC, Muslim OBC, Christian Schedule caste, Creamy Schedule caste only what I am not is INDIAN. You politician have raped every part of mother India by your policy of divide and rule.

Take example of former president Abdul Kalam. Such a intelligent person, such a fine human being. You politician didn't even spare him. Your party along with opposition joined the hands, because politician feels they are supreme and there is no place for good person.

Dear Mr Prime minister you are one of the most intelligent person, most learned person. Just wake up, be a real SARDAR. First and foremost expose all selfish politician. Ask Swiss bank to give name of all Indian account holder. Give reins of CBI to independent agency. Let them find wolf among us.. There will be political upheaval but that will better than dance of death which we are witnessing every day. Just give us ambient where we can work honestly and without fear. Let there be rule of law. Everything else will be taken care of.

Choice is yours Mr. Prime Minister. Do you want to be lead by one person or you want to lead the nation of 100 Crore people?