Month: April 2016

These Four Laser Beams Will Create the World’s Most Powerful Fake Stars

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These Four Laser Beams Will Create the World's Most Powerful Fake Stars
Image: ESO/F. Kamphues

Set lasers to star mode. The European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory in Chile now has four powerful laser beams with which to create artificial stars in the night sky.

Engineers at the observatory have been testing the system since last September. The first successful use of the lasers yesterday marked the brith of the most powerful laser guide stars ever used for astronomy.

The cutting-edge laser system, called 4 Laser Guide Star Facility (4LGSF), shoots four impressive 22-watt beams at the sodium wavelength of 589 nanometers. Each beam is 11.8 inches wide. Thankfully they won’t be used for annihilating planets, though, as ESO explains:

The Four Laser Guide Star Facility (4LGSF) shines four 22-watt laser beams into the sky to create artificial guide stars by making sodium atoms in the upper atmosphere glow so that they look just like real stars. The artificial stars allow the adaptive optics systems to compensate for the blurring caused by the Earth’s atmosphere and so that the telescope can create sharp images. Using more than one laser allows the turbulence in the atmosphere to be mapped in far greater detail to significantly improve the image quality over a larger field of view.

These Four Laser Beams Will Create the World's Most Powerful Fake Stars
Schematic view of the Four Laser Guide Star Facility installed on the Unit Telescope 4 of ESO’s Very Large Telescope. Image: ESO/L. Calçada
These Four Laser Beams Will Create the World's Most Powerful Fake Stars
Image: ESO/S. Lowery
These Four Laser Beams Will Create the World's Most Powerful Fake Stars
Image: ESO/G. Hüdepohl
These Four Laser Beams Will Create the World's Most Powerful Fake Stars
Image: ESO/S. Lowery
These Four Laser Beams Will Create the World's Most Powerful Fake Stars
Image: ESO/G. Hüdepohl
These Four Laser Beams Will Create the World's Most Powerful Fake Stars
Image: ESO/G. Hüdepohl
These Four Laser Beams Will Create the World's Most Powerful Fake Stars
Image: ESO/F. Kamphues

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How To Cast A Video Or Image From Google Drive And Dropbox

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Chromecast is natively supported on Android and you can cast just about anything, even your entire screen to a TV. If your device is running a much older version of Android that lacks native Chromecast support or you’re using an iPhone, your casting options are limited to those apps that support the Chromecast. This is a […]

Read How To Cast A Video Or Image From Google Drive And Dropbox by Fatima Wahab on AddictiveTips – Tech tips to make you smarter

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How different networking standards are competing to connect the Internet of Things

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screen shot 2015 10 21 at 10.59.24 amThe Internet of Things (IoT) —  a vast network of connected devices — is set to become the world’s largest device market over the next decade, potentially creating trillions of dollars in economic value. However, without a reliable and secure network connection, these devices will fail to deliver that value. Device owners can choose between a number of established and emerging networking technologies to connect their IoT devices and collect data from them for analysis.

BI Intelligence’s new IoT Networks Report examines these different networking technologies, their pros and cons, and how well they are positioned for future growth in the IoT market. We also outline how different networks are best suited for connecting specific types of IoT devices, including connected cars, drones, smart home devices, and wearables.
Zigbeedeviceshipments

 

Here are some of the key takeaways:

  • The need for interoperability — the ability for different devices to share data with each other — is driving the development of new networking technologies specifically designed for IoT devices.
  • How Nest’s Thread network standard is positioned against other standards for connecting the smart home like ZigBee and Z-Wave.
  • New developments in Wi-Fi and 4G LTE technologies could make them more suitable for connecting low-power devices like sensors and smart lights.
  • New standards for low power wide area networks (LPWANs) could make it more cost-effective to connect large numbers of small devices over large geographic areas. 

 

In full, the report:

  • Examines how different networking standards will best fit the needs of different industries and environments.
  • Shows how the lack of interoperability between different IoT devices could damage the adoption of IoT technologies,
  • Forecasts the growth of new and established mesh networking technologies designed specifically for the IoT market.
  • Explains how existing networks that connect PCs, laptops, and mobile devices can be modified to better suit sensors and other small IoT devices. 

 

Interested in getting the full report? Here are two ways to access it:

  1. Subscribe to an All-Access pass to BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report and over 100 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you’ll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. >> Learn More Now
  2. Purchase & download the full report from our research store. >> Purchase & Download Now

 

 

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Our subscribers consider the INSIDER Newsletters a "daily must-read industry snapshot" and "the edge needed to succeed personally and professionally" — just to pick a few highlights from our recent customer survey.

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