The new Holy Grail for aerospace design in the future would have to be shape shifting materials, manufactured memory, and new space-age materials built from the bottom-up at the nano-scale. Currently, scientists are learning great things about Bucky Paper, Carbon Nano-tubes, and Graphene coatings which are only one atom thick. Of course it’s not just aerospace design that needs to strengthen its materials and lighten its load, as they could do a great bit of help throughout our transportation sector.

New alternative energy vehicles that weigh a fifth of what cars do today will easily be able to comply with any future miles per gallon mandates, to deal with our nation’s oil usage challenges. In fact, General Motors Labs has come up with a new material, which they hope to use in a fuel-cell membrane, that can maintain for her manufactured memory shapes, which will coincide with four different temperatures.

Physics dot Org online newletter describes it as “The material, a perfluorosulphonic acid ionomer (PFSA) called Nafion – a shape memory material,” and goes on to state; ” These materials can remember shapes set under specific conditions of moisture content, temperature, light, or exposure to a magnetic field.” So far this material is made in small film structures, but this makes it a perfect type of material to use in aviation. I propose using it for;

• Aircraft Wings
• Hypersonic Aircraft Intakes
• Helicopter Blades
• Aircraft Windscreens and Windows
• Aircraft Fuel Tanks
• etc.

After all, why let the automotive industry have all the fun, we can use space-age materials for NASA off planet colonies, bridges and roads, homes and buildings, ships and boats, containers and trucks, and even bicycles and golf clubs. Even a teapot which changes shapes makes a lot of sense. Shape shifting materials are the wave of the future, and it appears that General Motors is finally on the leading edge of this technology.

What they have discovered – and what other top universities and research and development companies are currently working on with such materials will surely change the way we live, and General Motors is pretty sure it will change the way we drive. It appears that this nation will be able to meet all of its goals in the future for alternative energy in vehicles, as well as meet all the goals to reduce fossil fuels in our cars. This is definitely a major breakthrough, so please consider it, and all the potential applications.

Ref; “Tunable polymer multi-shape memory effect,” Tao Xie, Nature, 464, 267-270 (11 March 2010).

Samsung, a global leading provider of consumer electronics and digital media technologies, stole the show at the January CES 2010. Many of the entities that attended the event were in awe of the company’s impressive collection of new TVs, e-readers, and 3D innovations. Samsung showed that it definitely has a lot in store for the consumer market. However, it also unveiled a portfolio of products that small businesses can put to use as well.

4G and Multimedia Integration

Two of the most powerful forces in the telecommunications industry, Samsung and Verizon Wireless have teamed up to deliver products that offer richer user experiences through the use of Long Term Evolution (LTE) 4G technology. At the CES event, Samsung exhibited a variety of innovative products that included digital cameras, digital picture frames and Mobile Internet Devices, each of which connects through the LTE multimedia ecosystem. Ideal for companies looking to engage their audience through the power of rich media, the Samsung LTE Media Frame is a perfect example of how the company is leveraging this ecosystem in consumer electronics, as well as social networks, online galleries, and other platforms. When connected to the ecosystem, users can easily upload their multimedia content on the web over the LTE network. The presence of 4G wireless connectivity means that live video streaming from a mobile device such as an iPhone, to the LTE Frame is also a possibility.

3D-Capable Networking TVs

LCDs, LEDs, and Plasmas comprised the lineup of TVs on display at CES. Loaded with TVs that ranged from 19 to 65-inch models, Samsung certainly came prepared. Each model showcased is complete with AllShare, the company’s proprietary technology that enables business users to boost productivity with the ability to connect a TV to devices such as laptops, desktops, digital cameras, mobile phones and more. Additionally, the high-end versions of these television sets have built-in 3D capabilities. Some models are even capable of processing 2D content in 3D, which means that viewers can watch virtually anything in 3D.

Revolutionary Apps

They also introduced Samsung Apps, the world’s first HDTV-based app store. With Samsung Apps, businesses and individual users will be able to purchase and download applications for select Samsung Blu-Ray players, home theater systems, and HDTVs. Thanks to a flexible API, developers and content owners can create their own applications that function seamlessly across multiple devices, ensuring a more consistent and enjoyable consumer experience. At the CES, Samsung revealed dozens of new apps to show how users will soon be able to enhance the interactivity of other electronics, just as they would their mobile phones.

Their news roster of electronics aims to enrich the consumer experience, while keeping the networking small business in mind. Businesses that are heavily reliant on internet communications and multimedia technologies should be able to find considerable value in these products. For organizations that are still confined to traditional methods, the new lineup could be a sign that is it time to fully embrace the digital era of business.

Looks like 3D TV is coming to a living room near you pretty fast, and all the manufacturers of these electric marvels are working hot and heavy on delivering them to a person-tech early adopter hungry consumer. At this year’s CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas, 3D TV was as popular as the iPhone, Motorola Droid, and the promises of the Google Nexus One Smart Phone.

We all remember as kids going to the movies and wearing those funky 3D paper and flimsy filmed glasses. I can remember the first 3D movie matinee that I saw and how cool it was to watch Jaws III in 3D as a teen – fast forward to today and you’ll be able to watch next year’s World Cup in ED with several sports and movie channels. The makers of 3D glasses are already manufacturing them for all those who wish to partake in the surround-a-sound, flat panel, 3D living room future.

No, it will not be cheap, but as long as we are all going down this path – perhaps, until the next new thing, Holographic TV and living room gaming – I have a proposal. I propose that we build eye-tracking 3D TV goggles or glasses, so when your eye looks to a certain place, that part of the screen becomes bigger and closer allowing the rest of the screen to become less engaged. Why you ask? Well, it makes watching TV in 3D personal, and each person will get a slightly different and unique experience.

• Is such a personal high-tech option even possible?
• Do humans currently have the technological advancements to do this?

Yes, and imagine the uses for military, UAV flying, online or living room gaming, or simulator training? Yes, so many applications indeed. So, do we have this technology now? Yes, actually we do have the eye-tracking technology, which registers eye-gaze, and thus, all we have to do is integrate it into our future 3D TV electronic toys.

Now then, does this require someone like me to point this out to everyone? No, because in my view it is a no-brainer possible future and as soon as everyone starts using 3D TV and/or gets used to the AR or VR (augmented reality or virtual reality) gaming, they are eventually going to demand it. So, it’s time our best and brightest in the electronic toy entertainment sector get cracking and working on this newest technological concept of mine. Please consider all this.

“A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What one can be, one must be” ~ Abraham Maslow

We were having an argument, but it was one of those arguments you can have with a l friend – polite, yet spirited. My friend is a great guy who has dedicated his life to teaching reading, math and science to government school children in Tamil Nadu. He has had a positive impact on thousands of kids over the last decade. But I was putting him on the spot.

“Why are you trying to make everyone an IIT aspirant” I asked him. “Are there not other careers which may be more in line with their natural talents?”

“Yes, there are other possible careers for many kids,” he conceded. “But their parents and peer groups value math and science most. They are afraid their child is dumb if he or she doesn’t score good marks in these subjects. I’ve got to concentrate on math and science to build self-worth in the child.” I was still thinking about this later that day when my wife Girija and I visited my mother. We got chatting with the housekeeper, whose 12-year-old son is in 7th grade in a nearby government school.

The housekeeper complained that her son, although standing 4th in his class, got his highest marks in English and Math, which he liked, while barely achieving pass marks in the other subjects like science, social science and Tamil. She wanted him to go to college, but the boy did not seem very interested in academics; he was more interested in working with on carpentry and other crafts.

I recalled our conversation with Panchayat President Elango about the youth in Kuthambakkam village, and how so many of their parents view education as some kind of a passport to upward mobility. And, in some cases, it is. However, many villages are having problems with youths who fail 10th grade public exams – and then think themselves too good for farm work or other manual labor but cannot get better jobs. These youth tend to hang about as wastrels, living off their parents and falling prey to any corrupting influence in the village.

I am convinced that every human being on earth is born with innate gifts and talents. With effort and guidance, everyone can discover his or her own calling – we each have our own path to excel and make a mark in this world. Unfortunately, our education system interferes with this process with its “one size fits all” approach.

Further, society and economies create their own complications, especially in India, by glorifying and rewarding certain vocations more than others. It’s sad: the further one is from producing something useful to the world, the more the person earns. Thus a person who produces goods and services is worth ‘x”. The person who markets and creates a business out of these goods and services earns ‘10x’. And the person who provides the financial inputs to this venture earns ‘100x’!

The question we need to ask ourselves – and argue, cordially, with our friends and family – is whether this distortion of value needs to persist in the Connected Age – with its reduced asymmetry of information and opportunities. Will the New Age bring new opportunities to pursue one’s true calling and make a good living by doing so, rather than having to pursue specific professions purely for the money, but with no joy?

Will our education system be able to honor the individuality and uniqueness of every one of us, and nurture it rather than lock us to the lowest common denominator under the pretext of leaving no child behind? These are questions that I’d like us to discuss, politely and rationally, as a community.

“A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What one can be, one must be” ~ Abraham Maslow

We were having an argument, but it was one of those arguments you can have with a l friend – polite, yet spirited. My friend is a great guy who has dedicated his life to teaching reading, math and science to government school children in Tamil Nadu. He has had a positive impact on thousands of kids over the last decade. But I was putting him on the spot.

“Why are you trying to make everyone an IIT aspirant” I asked him. “Are there not other careers which may be more in line with their natural talents?”

“Yes, there are other possible careers for many kids,” he conceded. “But their parents and peer groups value math and science most. They are afraid their child is dumb if he or she doesn’t score good marks in these subjects. I’ve got to concentrate on math and science to build self-worth in the child.” I was still thinking about this later that day when my wife Girija and I visited my mother. We got chatting with the housekeeper, whose 12-year-old son is in 7th grade in a nearby government school.

The housekeeper complained that her son, although standing 4th in his class, got his highest marks in English and Math, which he liked, while barely achieving pass marks in the other subjects like science, social science and Tamil. She wanted him to go to college, but the boy did not seem very interested in academics; he was more interested in working with on carpentry and other crafts.

I recalled our conversation with Panchayat President Elango about the youth in Kuthambakkam village, and how so many of their parents view education as some kind of a passport to upward mobility. And, in some cases, it is. However, many villages are having problems with youths who fail 10th grade public exams – and then think themselves too good for farm work or other manual labor but cannot get better jobs. These youth tend to hang about as wastrels, living off their parents and falling prey to any corrupting influence in the village.

I am convinced that every human being on earth is born with innate gifts and talents. With effort and guidance, everyone can discover his or her own calling – we each have our own path to excel and make a mark in this world. Unfortunately, our education system interferes with this process with its “one size fits all” approach.

Further, society and economies create their own complications, especially in India, by glorifying and rewarding certain vocations more than others. It’s sad: the further one is from producing something useful to the world, the more the person earns. Thus a person who produces goods and services is worth ‘x”. The person who markets and creates a business out of these goods and services earns ‘10x’. And the person who provides the financial inputs to this venture earns ‘100x’!

The question we need to ask ourselves – and argue, cordially, with our friends and family – is whether this distortion of value needs to persist in the Connected Age – with its reduced asymmetry of information and opportunities. Will the New Age bring new opportunities to pursue one’s true calling and make a good living by doing so, rather than having to pursue specific professions purely for the money, but with no joy?

Will our education system be able to honor the individuality and uniqueness of every one of us, and nurture it rather than lock us to the lowest common denominator under the pretext of leaving no child behind? These are questions that I’d like us to discuss, politely and rationally, as a community.