DEEP GREEN PLAYS COOL POOL
While IBM鈥檚 Deep Blue supercomputer had the lofty aim of beating a world chess champion, Deep Green鈥檚 purpose is far more lowly 鈥� shooting pool. The world鈥檚 first pool-playing robot comprises a long slender box containing a computer that glides along a set of tracks fixed above a pool table. A camera-guided cue, which shoots out an electromagnet-powered bolt to hit the ball, is attached to an arm on its base (see ).
The prototype鈥檚 shot-planning software can 鈥渓ook ahead鈥� and set up shots three or four turns in advance, says developer Michael Greenspan of Queen鈥檚 University in Kingston, Ontario. However, Deep Green pots only half the balls it goes for 鈥� the same as a below average player. Greenspan hopes to improve its aim with better vision-analysis software.
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PHONECALLS FOR FREE
A cellphone that can switch a call from a paid-for mobile network to a free Wi-Fi internet connection as the user nears a Wi-Fi hotspot was launched by Motorola last week. The CN620 could slash cellphone bills and make a severe dent in mobile operators鈥� revenues.
While cellphones that only use Wi-Fi connections are already on the market, the CN620 is the first that also works with a GSM network. Motorola says the biggest challenge was to find a way of making the network switch between systems imperceptibly to the user.
WIRE ON A BIRD
The University of Delaware in Newark has found a way to make printed circuit boards (PCBs) using the vast quantities of chicken feathers discarded by the poultry industry. The boards are not only strong, light and biodegradable, but also have a novel electrical property.
Keratin is stripped from the quills of the feathers and pressed into thin mats. These are coated with soybean resin to make a strong board that is then etched with copper wiring tracks like any other circuit board.
The project is the brainchild of Richard Wool, the University of Delaware鈥檚 鈥済reen professor鈥�, who says the keratin/soybean combination has a very low dielectric constant compared to existing PCBs. This means his chicken-based circuits can switch signals on and off much faster and so support faster processor speeds. Intel is now investigating the technology.
