A breakthrough by scientists from the University of Glasgow could see the storage capacity grow by 150,000 times for the same amount of surface area.  To put this into perspective, 160 Petabytes could theoretically fit on the disk that is now in an iPod.

This is a nanotechnology breakthrough where researchers tell us they:

“assemble a functional nanocluster that incorporates two electron donating groups, and position them precisely 0.32 nm apart so that they can form a totally new type of molecular switching device. This is unprecedented and provides a route to produce new a molecule-based switch that can be easily manipulated using an electric field. By taking these nano-scale clusters, just a nanometer in size, and placing them onto a gold or carbon, we can control the switching ability. Not only is this a new type of switchable molecule, but by grafting the molecule on to metal (gold) or carbon means that we can potentially bridge the gap between traditional semiconductor devices and components for nanoscale plastic electronics. The key advantage of the molecule sized switch is information / transistor density in traditional semi-conductors.  Molecule sized switches would lead to increasing data storage to say 4 Petabits per square inch.”

I could have said it better, not.  The geniuses behind this are Professor Lee Cronin and Dr Malcolm Kadodwala.

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Demi Moore ’s boy toy, Ashton Kutcher, seems to have a promising new deal going with his telephony venture - Ooma.  It has been out for a year and they have had to drop the price but it seems to be getting real traction.  The price includes unlimited US calling forever!  While it’s a bit more expensive than the MagicJack you do not need to leave a computer on and Ooma’s call quality is superior.  All the basic features like CallerID and Voice Mail are included, while an optional Premier tier of service ($99/yr) offers additional features such as extra lines/numbers and conference calling.  Hopefully this one will work out better than Kutcher’s crappy movies.

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The Nissan Mori electric scooter is a bit too Fischer Price for my taste but if this independent designer’s vision is produced I think it may be the next iMac (vintage ‘99).  The design incorporates state of the art technology by adjusting itself, while all mechanical and maintenance issues are managed by the on-board computer.  It is electric so there should be air benefits but probably no less carbon footprint. 

How much are you willing to pay for something like this?

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