Animal-spotting app could help save threatened species

Jacob Aron, technology reporter

(Image: Zoological Society of London)

A new iPhone app that lets you spotould also help conservationists identify new species or determine whether populations are under threat.

The Instant WILD app, released today by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), connects users to motion-sensitive cameras set up near animal habitats in Kenya, Sri Lanka and Mongolia. New images are sent to the app in real-time when a camera senses a nearby animal, which then tasks users to pick which species it belongs to. You can also follow a specific camera to get alerts whenever a new image is captured, or access a version of the app online.

It would normally takes days for a conservationist to sift though these animal images, but ZSL hopes that crowdsourcing the results will help speed up the work. “By asking people to help us identify species through the app, we are turning wildlife conservation into the massive team effort that it needs to be,” says ZSL conservation director Jonathan Baillie.

Description: A new app was created and this App could help save endangered species! This iPhone App lets the user spot leopards, elephants and other animals in the wild.

Implications: This app will help us save lots animals and it’s also nice to see an app made to save animals and endangered species, instead of just angry birds that makes people angry.

marahs Ethics Research Assignment

3D printer

 

 

 

 

This is really cool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQHnMj6dxj4

 

 

Weekly Blog 9

This week we got into our new unit Software Piracy. I learned about how dangerous piracy is and that you could go to jail for it. I also learned that most people don’t know that they are downloading pirated movie’s and such. Downloading pirated movies can also give your computer viruses,worms, trojans etc.

This is the Chrome App that I chose:

I chose the App iGenius because it is a free, fun, educational game. With this game you can learn geographical locations and enhance your English vocabulary.

 

Weekly Blog 8

This week has been jam packed with Excel. I learned several new things such as formulas and graphing. Some new formulas I learned are the IF statement, SUM, MAX, MIN etc.  I also learned how to sort my spreadsheet and attach clip part pictures. I enjoyed learning new things about Excel. We have also been introduced to the new unit Piracy. This new unit seems very interesting since it is a very common issue and is happening all over the world.

Green Machine: Recycled cans to make cheap fuel cells

Jesse Emspak, contributor

A fuel cell-powered car at the International Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Expo 2010 (Image: Junko Kimura/Getty)

Hydrogen fuel cells for cars are still wildly expensive, mainly because they have to use costly noble metals such as platinum. Now researchers have demonstrated that aluminium can be treated to store and release hydrogen – making it far cheaper than existing methods.

There have been several attempts at a cheaper alternative, involving materials such as carbon nanotubes and organic crystals. Storing hydrogen and separating it from other substances for use presents other problems – hydrogen either has to be very cold (on the order of -250 °C) or pressurised.

Irinder S. Chopra, a physics PhD student at the University of Texas, Dallas, led a team that tried depositing a tiny bit of titanium on pure aluminium, resulting in an arrangement of aluminium atoms broken up by the occasional titanium atom in a regular pattern.

When the doped aluminium is exposed to molecular hydrogen at 90 degrees kelvin (-183 °C), the H2 breaks up and binds to the metal forming a hydride. When the metal is heated, the hydrogen is released and makes H2 again. Doped aluminium can store up to 10 per cent of its weight in hydrogen – much better than other options, says Yves Chabal, a professor of materials science and one of the co-authors.

There are still challenges. How much contamination the doped aluminium can be exposed to before it won’t bind to the hydrogen anymore is one. How dense the hydrogen can be – the initial experiments were done in near vacuum conditions – is another. That said, a fuel cell using aluminium would use a widely available and recycled metal (and give one more reason to bring the cans back).

Description:

Researchers have demonstrated that aluminium can be treated to store and release hydrogen – making it far cheaper than existing methods. The article pretty much explains how recycled cans can make fuel cheaper.

Implications:

I think this affects everyone because a lot of the world uses cars,buses,motorcycles etc. to travel and everyone seems to be worrying about gas prices nowadays. So perhaps this method will be of some help lower the cost of gas and lower the usage of fossil fuels.

Journal reference: Nature Materials DOI: 10.1038/nmat3123

 

 

This made me laugh because it reminded me of info tech

Weekly Blog 7

This week I learned several interesting things about Microsoft Excel. I discovered many new formulas on excel such as IF, SUM etc. Excel is one of my least favourite software programs but I believe I am beginning to like it a bit as I discover new things about it.

Apple Loses Some of Its Shine

Apple Inc. hit a rare bump in the road, just as it began to transition to life without Steve Jobs.

The company didn’t sell as many iPhones as Wall Street was hoping for in the recent quarter, a period during which co-founder Mr. Jobs handed the reins to new Chief Executive Tim Cook. Mr. Jobs died after a long battle with pancreatic cancer earlier this month.

Apple said Tuesday it sold more than 17 million iPhones in its fiscal fourth quarter ended Sept. 24, up from more than 14 million a year ago but lower than the 20 million or more that analysts had been expecting.

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Apple’s shares, which have been climbing to record highs recently, dropped 6.5%, or $27.43, to $394.81 in after-hours trading Tuesday following the results.

Mr. Cook, speaking on a conference call, said iPhone sales slowed toward the end of the quarter amid speculation over the debut of a new model. Mr. Cook was optimistic about the new iPhone 4S, which Apple began selling on Friday after the quarter closed.

We are “very confident that we will set an all-time record in the December quarter for iPhone sales,” he said.

Maker of iPhones and iPads posts earnings growth of more than 50% for the quarter, but even though consumers were seen likely holding off to wait for the new iPhone, expectations were very high, tech editor Dan Gallagher tells Stacey Delo.

The results show how important the iPhone franchise has become to the Cupertino, Calif., company, just as competition in the smartphone arena intensifies—and how the unrelenting buzz around the company’s new products can come back to bite it. In recent quarters, the iPhone has contributed more than a third to nearly half of Apple’s revenue, according to analysts, and its business depends on consumers continuing to buy or upgrade to new versions of the more than four-year-old device.

Some analysts said the results shouldn’t be seen as too negative. “We don’t think this is a slowdown in [market] share gains, it’s a pause,” said Brian Marshall, an analyst ISI Group.

More

• Heard: Too Soon to Redial Expectations
• SmartMoney: Apple ‘Disappoints’? Blame Wall Street
• Analysis: Apple Reports Quarterly Earnings
• MarketBeat: Analysts React With Forgiveness

Overall, Apple posted fiscal-fourth quarter revenue of $28.27 billion, a 39% jump from the year-earlier quarter, but a slowdown from 82% year-over-year revenue growth in the fiscal third quarter.

Profit rose 54% to $6.6 billion, missing analysts’ expectations—a rarity for a company that has been experiencing gangbuster growth. The company said it sold 11.1 million iPads, compared with 4.19 million a year ago.

One big question shareholders have for Apple’s new chief executive on Tuesday, as he presents earnings for the fiscal fourth quarter, is what he plans to do with Apple’s cash hoard, Rolfe Winkler reports on Markets Hub. Photo: AP.

Apple’s results add to a mixed picture of how the tech industry is weathering the economic slowdown. International Business Machines Corp. this week reported weaker-than-expected results, fueling concerns among investors that tech spending is softening. Internet advertising giant Google Inc.’s growth remained brisk, with ad sales accelerating during the quarter ending in September.

The results come as Silicon Valley has been mourning the loss of Mr. Jobs, whose passing has industry watchers asking whether Apple can continue its streak. Mr. Jobs is credited with transforming the company by consistently pioneering new products and marketing them with pizzazz.

Meanwhile, the competitive landscape around Apple has been heating up. Apple has leapfrogged BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion Ltd. to become the top seller of smartphones in the U.S., with 27% of such sales in the first half of the year, according to research firm IDC.

But Apple’s position on the software side of the market is weaker. Google’s Android software, which is used by a variety of hardware makers, powered 54% of smartphones sold in the U.S. during that period while Apple’s iOS software powered 27%, according to IDC.

One of the top draws to Apple’s iPhone 4S is its new speech recognition software, called Siri, that’s designed to talk back. In San Francisco, Ian Sherr hears some new owners’ favorite questions.

Still, Apple executives continued to ratchet up expectations for the current quarter that ends in late December. In an interview, Apple’s chief financial officer, Peter Oppenheimer, described early sales of the iPhone 4S as “blow-away,” and said “we enter the holiday quarter with tremendous momentum.”

The company, which is known for issuing low guidance, said it expects fiscal first-quarter earnings of about $9.30 a share on revenue of about $37 billion, higher than some analysts had predicted.

Gene Munster, a research analyst with Piper Jaffray & Co., said recent sales for the iPhone 4S —which has a similar look to the iPhone 4 but also new software features such as the talking “intelligent assistant” Siri— are encouraging. He said the sales show consumers are willing to buy new iPhones not just for the hardware but new software too. “People out of contract will upgrade,” he said.

On the conference call, Mr. Cook, who handled most of the questions from analysts, added that Mr. Jobs’s “spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple” and expressed thanks for the myriad condolences the company had received. Apple is holding an employee memorial for Mr. Jobs on Wednesday.

Description:

Apple’s sales have gone down. They are not doing as well as they had hoped, and Google’s Android software is doing better than Apple. It is stated that the tech industry is weathering the economic slowdown.

Implications: This would affect people if they worked in Apple or if they bought any Apple products.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204346104576639444061077086.html#ixzz1bISJURFb

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204346104576639444061077086.html#ixzz1bIIItaUS

Weekly Blog 5

This week I learned a lot about buying a computer. I learned about the several important things needed when purchasing a computer. This assignment really opened my eyes to the importance of purchasing the right computer and knowing the requirements needed. It helped me see what kind of hardware and software I would need for the type of computer I would want. I also learned about computer consultants. I did not know that there were people who recommended and helped you purchase a computer as a job.

This is my QR code: