A Microsoft study finds 42% of teens concerned by their parents posting about them online, 66% report being victim to online risks, even to physical safety — The new school year is well underway in many parts of the world, and parents may be inclined to share news and photos …
If you had to slip a couple AAs into your smartphone every morning to check your email, browse Instagram, and text your friends, chances are the mobile revolution would not have been quite so revolutionary. Fortunately the rechargeable lithium-ion battery was invented — a decades-long task for which three men have just been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
The prize this year honors M. Stanley Whittingham, John Goodenough, and Akira Yoshino, all of whom contributed to the development of what is today the most common form of portable power. Without them (and of course those they worked with, and those who came before) we would be tied to even more wasteful and/or stationary sources of energy.
Lead-acid batteries had been in use for nearly a century by the time people really got to thinking about taking things to the next level with lithium, a lightweight metal with desirable electrical properties. But lithium is also highly reactive with air and water, making finding suitable substances to pair it with difficult.
Experiments in the ’50s and ’60s laid the groundwork for more targeted investigations, in particular Whittingham’s. He and partner Fred Gamble showed in 1976 that lithium ions, after donating electrons to produce a charge, fit perfectly into a lattice of titanium disulfide — where they sit patiently (in their “van der Waals gaps”) until an electron is provided during recharging. Unfortunately this design also used a lithium anode that could be highly reactive (think fire) if bent or crushed.
John Goodenough and his team soon developed a better cathode material (where the lithium ions rested) with a much higher potential — more power could be drawn, opening new possibilities for applications. This, combined with the fact that the metallic lithium anodes could be highly reactive (think fire) if bent or crushed, led to increased research on making batteries safe as well as useful.
In 1985 research by Akira Yoshino led to the discovery of several materials (whose names won’t mean anything to anyone without domain knowledge) that could perform as well while also being able to be physically damaged and not cause any major trouble.
Many, many improvements have been made since then, but the essentials of the technology were laid out by these teams. And soon after lithium-ion batteries were shown to be safe, capacious, and able to be recharged hundreds of times, they were found in laptops, medical devices, and eventually mobile phones. Today, after three more decades of enhancements, lithium batteries are now taking on gasoline as the energy storage medium of choice for human transportation.
The three scholars whose work most powerfully advanced this technology from theory to commercial reality were awarded equal shares of this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry, each taking home a third of the million and, more importantly, the distinction of being recognized in historic fashion.
Apple starts selling Microsoft's Xbox Wireless Controller on its online store for the first time — Apple has added the Xbox Wireless Controller to Apple.com, although the accessory is currently unavailable to purchase at the time of writing. Apple sells a few different gaming controllers …
Xiaomi launched the Redmi 8A in India last month. Now, the company is all set to introduce the Redmi 8 in the country. Recently, Xiaomi India Managing Director and Global VP Manu Jain teased a new smartphone launch for October 9 and it is likely to be the Redmi 8. It will be the successor of Redmi 7. Xiaomi has said that it will be a big upgrade over the Redmi 7.
Redmi 8 launch event will begin at 11 AM today. Those who are interested can watch the event live on Xiaomi India's social media platforms - Facebook, Twitter, YouTube channel and company's official website.
For now, not many details are known about the Redmi 8. However, according to the teasers, Redmi 8 will pack a big battery. The device was also reportedly spotted on TENAA in China. It has a model number M1908C3IC. Based on that, Redmi 8 is expected to 6.26-inch HD+ Dot Notch screen. It may have a resolution of 1520 x 720 pixels and a 19:9 aspect ratio. Redmi 8 could be powered by a 2GHz octa-core processor.
Redmi 8 is said to come equipped with 2GB or 3GB RAM on the 32GB storage variant and 4GB RAM with the 64GB internal storage model. It is likely to have a microSD card slot for expansion of memory by up to 512GB. It may run MIUI 10 based on Android 9 Pie.
Further, in the camera department, Redmi 8 is expected to sport a 12MP camera with Sony IMX 363 sensor and f/1.9 aperture + 5MP dual rear camera setup. It is said to come with an 8MP selfie shooter as well. The phone is tipped to have a fingerprint sensor as well as a 3.5mm headphone jack.
In terms of connectivity, Redmi 8 is expected to have dual 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS + GLONASS and USB Type-C. It may pack a 4800mAh battery.
The Redmi 8 is expected to be priced around Rs 8,000.
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Google's Grasshopper, its learn-to-code mobile app for beginners, is now available on the desktop in the form of a web-based app — Google today announced that Grasshopper, its tool for teaching novices how to code, is now available on the desktop, too, in the form of a web-based app.
New York Times : Sources: the US State Department ordered embassies to push back against foreign influence campaigns, as officials worry ...
