5:42 PM
UCLA research group has made a breakthrough for cryptography that is based solely on *physical location* by using quantum mechanics. No cryptographic keys need to be shared in advance, eliminating the difficult task of distributing and storing keys. So, a soldier in the field could communicate with a military base with the guarantee that only someone physically present at the base will have access to the information:
http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/research-group-led-by-ucla-engineering-164077.aspx
There is an estimated one-in-a-thousand chance that a 560-meter-long asteroid will hit the Earth, most likely in 2182. The asteroid will be closely monitored and measures will need to be taken before then if it continues towards Earth:
http://www.rdmag.com/News/2010/07/Astrophysics-Statstics-Potentially-hazardous-asteroid-might-collide-with-Earth-in-2182/
Purdue University will lead a new research center to improve PV solar cells as part of a national effort to bring alternative energy technologies to the market. A University-research consortium called the Semiconductor Research Corporation is funding this alternative energy work:
http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/research/2010/100726LundstromSolar.html
Study found that global warming could drive millions more Mexicans into the US in search of work due to diminishing crop yields in Mexico. Crop yields could drop by 39% to 48%, corresponding to an additional 5.5 to 6.7 million emigrants from Mexico. The finding also apply tomany countries in Africa, south Asia, Latin America, and Australia where climate change drives temperatures up and crop yields down:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gJ4alFIpczjy2HbZFUEwDCQOBXjQ
Rumor is that Motorola will release a 10-inch tablet in November running version 3.0 of Android:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/rumor-mill-motorola-setting-table-android-tablet-november/2010-07-27
Article about how the BlackBerry is losing it hold on corporate America, with more than 80% of Fortune 100 companies testing or deploying the iPhone and Android phones also displacing Blackberries:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/26/business/26views.html?_r=1&src=busln
iPhone App lets people upload music files to Google Docs and then stream them to their iPhone. Google Docs now allows any file to be uploaded and shared with friends, so someone can upload their music to Google Docs and them all of his/her friends could stream that music on their iPhones, iTouches, and iPads:
http://musically.com/blog/2010/07/27/cloud-music-turns-google-docs-into-a-music-locker/
I love how this study found that Twitter has 190 million visitors per month, with users generating 65 million tweets per day, and NOBODY would be willing to pay to use Twitter!
http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/digital-future-study-no-one-would-pay-twitter/2010-07-27#ixzz0uu4dAM1J