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own your own: luxury personal jet STEVE JOBS.

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SPARK THE CONVERSATION facebook.com/sparkmagazineuk OR @ReadSparkMag SPARK ISSUE 1

EDITOR Andre Rowell

STAFF WRITERS Heemi Katene-Hill LAUNCH ISSUE Nick Ward

LAYOUT TOP Anderson Mar 31TECH TOYS PROOFING Rhonda Snelgar

ADVERTISING SALES HOW TO: BUILD THE WORLD’S LONGEST Greg Sinclair RAILWAY TUNNEL MARKETING MANAGER Summer Hamilton

BRAND DEVELOPMENT Paul Voss

OWN YOUR OWN: PRINT LUXURY PERSONAL JET Warners

CONTRIBUTORS Ben Guild, Elana Kluner, Frances STEVE JOBS. Gordon, Heloise Garrity, Kelvin Hayes, Michael Gardner, Michael Toon

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NETWORK MANAGING DIRECTOR Tim Lawrence

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Andre Rowell

ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Greg Sinclair

DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of M2 Magazine UK Limited or its staff and no liability is accepted. No responsibility is accepted for unsolicited material. All letters or materials forwarded to us will be assumed intended for publication unless otherwise stated. 2011 M2 Magazine UK Limited All rights reserved. The contents may not be reproduced in any form, in whole or part, without our prior written permission.

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rom space travel, to energy generation, to new types of combat suits, technology in all of its many forms is the ever evolving, ever changing contextF in which we live. It shapes our world in ways which just a few generations ago we could never have imagined; it shapes our homes, our jobs, our leisure time. It shapes us. Welcome to the very fi rst issue of Spark. An inspiring collection of the latest and greatest innovation that mankind is capable of producing. Every issue in fact will be a celebration of the latest technology in all of its many guises from all corners of the world and far beyond. CONTENTS

8: UPDATE – THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY UPDATES AND QUIRKY DESIGNS 20: MAN MADE: SUPER KAMIOKANDE – THE REAL TIME MACHINE 22: SPACE: AN INFRARED VIEW OF THE GALAXY 24: SCIENCE: TELEPORTATION – FANTASY OR DISTINCT FUTURE POSSIBILITY? 26: SCIENCE: INVENTIONS THAT CHANGED OUR WORLD 28: SUCCESS: MIND READERS – YOUR LAPTOP COULD SCAN YOUR BRAIN 30: ARCHITECTURE: THE WORLD’S TALLEST BUILDING 32: SUCCESS: IS STEVE JOBS THE NEW DISNEY 38: WEB: THE FUTURE OF THE WEB – WHAT ROLE FIBRE OPTICS? 42: MAN MADE: FUTURE FORCE – MEET THE NEW BATTLE READY WARRIORS 46: MAN MADE: CIRRUS JET – STATE OF THE ART FLYING 50: SPACE: THE GALAXY HAS BECOME EARTH’S JUNKYARD 54: ARCHITECTURE: SILK ROAD MAP EVOLUTION 58: THE ONLINE REVOLUTION – IS THE WEB OUR PUREST FORM OF DEMOCRACY? 62: WHEELS: LIGHTWEIGHT LAMBORGHINI TO THE MAX 66: SPACE UNREAL ESTATE – LUNAR NEIGHBOURHOODS 74: ENVIRONMENT: WHAT SURPRISES LURK BENEATH OUR POLAR REGIONS? 80: THE FUTURE OF ENTERTAINMENT – HOW TECHNOLOGY GUIDED OUR CHOICES 88: MAN MADE: CODE X BOAT IS A BABE MAGNET ON WATER 92: MAN MADE: SOLILOQUY – SUPER GREEN SUPER YACHT 96: STYLE: WATCH SUPPLEMENT – TIMELY INVESTMENTS 102: FILM: X-MEN 2011 – HOW THE MUTANTS EVOLVED INTO A BLOCKBUSTER 108: WHEELS: SAAB CONCEPT – WHEN CRAFT & CAR COLLIDES 112: WHEELS: VW CONCEPT – FRUGAL, EARTH FRIENDLY & FAST 116: MAN MADE: SHEENE BIKE – AN ICONIC TRIBUTE TO AN ICONIC RACER 120: SCIENCE: NANOTECHNOLOGY – THE ULTIMATE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 126: ADVENTURE: STORM CHASERS – THESE ARE REAL CHAMPIONS OF DISASTER 130: ADVENTURE: TREASURE HUNTERS – WHAT LIES BENEATH? 136: MAN MADE: THE WORLD’S LONGEST RAIL TUNNEL 144: ARCHITECTURE: TURBINE CITY – WIND THAT PEOPLE CAN LIVE WITH 148: ENTERTAINMENT: SMART TVS ARE THE NEW SMARTPHONE – JUST MUCH BIGGER 158: GADGETS: IPAD APP GUIDE – THE TOP 19 IPAD APPS TO ENJOY AND IMPRESS 162: GADGETS – HERE’S YOUR GUIDE TO THE BEST BOY’S TOYS AVAILABLE 172: GAMING – WE REVIEW THE LATEST AND GREATEST... AND NOT SO GREATEST 176: LAST TECH LAUGH – TECHNICALLY SPEAKING, THESE ARE FUNNY SMELL-O-VISION POSSIBLE AFTER NEW CONCEPT DEVICE DEVELOPED Ever watched something on TV and wished you could smell what you were seeing? Well, a collaboration between the University of California in San Diego and Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology may soon make this a reality. Smell-O-Vision is one step closer to becoming a reality after researchers created a concept device that emits scents using special water-based solvents when clipped to the back of a TV. While the device is only in the testing stages, researchers believe the device will be able to release up to 10,000 different scents. Let’s hope they only use it for the good smells…

GUILT-FREE SHOPPING THANKS TO NEW WEBSITE Ever purchased that expensive new laptop or DSLR camera, only to find there’s a newer, better model a month later that you had no idea about? A new website is soon to eliminate buyer’s remorse by making big purchases simple and straightforward. Decide.com works by allowing users to search for a specific gadget they are interested in buying and then comparing that gadget with price observations, consumer trends and information from the manufacturer. While Decide.com is limited to laptops, TVs and cameras at the moment, it does have plans to expand and could prove to be a very useful tool for all those who suffer from indecisiveness. It could also get a lot of people out of trouble with their other half. DOOR KNOB CRYSTAL BALL An award-winning Japanese architect has taken an everyday item and completely redesigned it to become both an artform and a household feature. Architect, Hideyuki Nakayama’s collaboration with British family-run company, Union, has given entranceways a glimpse into the future, and into the next room. The door handle manufacturer has helped Nakayama design a glass globe doorknob that reflects the inside of the room you’re about to enter. The crystal ball effect is colourful and strangely inviting from a distance and when you draw closer to the unique handle, you get a glimpse into a miniature world living within it. The glass globe reflects whatever is happening on the other side of a door and although both designer and manufacturer are keeping the details of how the mechanism works behind their own closed doors for now, the artful device has generated a lot of buzz from prospective customers around the world.

MITOCHONDRIAL GENOME COULD BE THE KEY TO CANCER A new study by Virginia Commonwealth University’s Massey Cancer Center has opened a whole new field of exploration that could have implications for age-related diseases, such as cancer, Parkinson’s disease, heart disease and hypertension. They recently discovered enzymes in mitochondria, when it was thought the enzymes only existed in nuclei. This opens doors for new fields of research and means researchers may be able to create new forms of gene therapies to treat cancer and other age-associated diseases.

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RADIATION OF A NATION When a country is devastated by an earthquake, then a tsunami, you would hope the worst was over right? But as they say, bad things come in threes. That third challenge for the people of Japan is dealing with the release of radioactive material into the surrounding environment, from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. What is radiation and why is it so dangerous to us humans? “Radioactive material, unlike most matter, is inherently unstable. Over time, the nuclei of radioactive atoms emit what’s known as ionising radiation, which can come in three primary forms: alpha particles, beta particles and gamma rays. Under certain circumstances, any of the three can harm humans, stealing electrons from atoms and destroying chemical bonds. Unlike alpha and beta particles, however, gamma rays can pass directly through the body, wreaking havoc in the process.” Indeed, faulty attempts by the body to repair that damage can lead to cancerous cells. It is apparent that cleaning up radioactive material under any circumstances is a complicated and expensive undertaking. Fukushima Daiichi will be no exception to this with Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesperson for Japan’s nuclear safety agency, announcing that it will be months before the agency will have the situation at the plant entirely under control, and some experts estimate the clean-up effort could last years or even decades.

IMAGE COURTESY OF GEOEYE

READ SPARK UK: IN PRINT // iPAD // iPHONE // ANDROID // ReadSpark.co.uk / 9 MISSING MOON ROCKS A woman who tried to sell what she said was a rare piece of moon rock for $1.7 million, was detained when her would-be buyer turned out to be an undercover NASA agent. The grey rocks, which are considered national treasures and are illegal to sell, were given to each U.S. state and 136 countries by then-President Richard Nixon after U.S. moon missions and can sell for millions of dollars on the black market. NASA investigators and Riverside County sheriff’s deputies detained the woman after she met with an undercover NASA investigator at a restaurant in Lake Elsinore, about 110 kilometres southeast of Los Angeles, the sheriff’s office said. The investigation was conducted over several months. Authorities swooped after the two agreed on a price and the woman, whose name has not been released, pulled out the rock. NASA planned to conduct tests to determine whether the rock came from the moon as the woman claimed. “We don’t know if it’s lunar material,” said Gail Robinson, deputy inspector general at the space agency. Joseph Gutheinz, a University of Phoenix instructor and former NASA investigator who has spent years tracking down missing moon rocks, said a lunar curator at a special lab at Johnson Space Center would carry out the testing. Among the substances the rock could contain is armalcolite, a mineral first discovered on the moon and named after Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, who were on the Apollo 11 lunar mission crew. The woman has not been arrested or charged. It was unknown how she obtained the rock or came to the attention of NASA.

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INTERNET REVOLUTION A worldwide internet revolution is taking place as you read this – web addresses are expanding beyond the dot.com format. The new way to navigate and consult the internet will be using “dot.anything” The move will reduce confusion and cut reliance on search engines like Google, Australian expert Adrian Kinderis says. “Ultimately, this will be a new way we use the Internet,” said Mr Kinderis, CEO of the domain name registry services provider AusRegistry International. “Rather than a dot.com boom, it’s now a dot.anything boom.” Governments, businesses and entrepreneurs are expected to rush to apply for signature domain names. Hundreds of international organisations have publicly signalled their intent to apply for their own brand, including Deloitte, Canon and Motorola. Trademark holders will be protected when applying for a domain name, and no one will be allowed to apply for a city name, such as London, without written approval from the relevant government. While Mr. Kinderis has not sounded the death knell for search engines like Google, “It would take a very brave man to do that” – he believes there will be serious implications. “Search engines have come around to sort out this clutter of everything that’s in this big bucket called dot.com,” he said, adding that dot.com would still be relevant. Under the new system, users will be brought straight to their destination without having to use a search engine.

MORE POWER PLEASE As the world population continues to grow exponentially and with environmental and sustainability concerns at an all-time high, the production and preservation of energy is a major concern of our time. Now would be a really good time to develop the technology to create electricity from water in a more efficient manner. MIT chemistry and engineering researcher Daniel Nocera, has done just that. Nocera has found a way to create electricity from water in a more efficient manner than conventional solar cells. According to the results, it seems that this method can provide enough electric power for a whole house for an entire day, from just one and a half bottles of wastewater. This remarkable discovery was inspired by plants and their photosynthesis process. Just take this into account when your wife has a go at you for forgetting to water the house plants.

MICROSCOPIC GRAFFITI When your job involves microscopic circuit work, you’ve got to find a way to lighten things up around the workplace – which probably explains the “chip art” that can be found on microchips in a range of devices. Chip art, also known as silicon art, refers to microscopic artwork built into integrated circuits, also called chips or ICs. Designers put all kinds of artwork on the chips, ranging from designers’ initials, to complex drawings or “in jokes”. Given the small size of chips, these images cannot be seen without a microscope. To put them into perspective, the average human hair measures around 25 nanometres in diameter, and some of these images are less than a quarter of that size.

READ SPARK UK: IN PRINT // iPAD // iPHONE // ANDROID // ReadSpark.co.uk / 11 GOING UNDERGROUND There are wind farms spread across the globe which generate energy for millions of homes. This is all very well and good but there needs to be somewhere to store this energy before it is consumed. Big transformers could be an option in this respect, but a United States company has thought of a slightly more wind-based storage facility. General Compression (the name here should give you a pretty good indication of what it does) has developed a new way to store compressed air underground. The system involves taking air from the wind farms, pumping it underground and releasing the high-pressure air through turbines to generate electricity on tap. They have made two installments so far, but are now raising money to help further this development and expand into new territories. The improved version of these would have a response time of one second and a round-trip electrical efficiency of up to 75 percent. They will also be activated by wind rather than generators. An agreement of meeting specific milestones secured the company’s first portion of their investment, US$54.5 million. General Compression’s plans to expand will not burn fuel, so emissions and operating costs will be reduced. The underground air energy compression system will speed up the integration of renewable electricity resources into the grid.

A

D

B

E

THE GENERAL COMPRESSION ADVANCED ENERGY STORAGE The General Compression Advanced Energy Storage (GCAES ) system is a series of 1.5 megawatt near-isothermal compressor/ expanders that follow rapid variations in the power output from renewable energy sources. Excess electricity from wind farms or off-peak grid power is used by the GCAES system to compress air and deliver it to subterranean storage caverns. To despatch power, the compressor/expander unit operates in reverse to expand the air and convert it into electricity without burning any fuel. The round trip C system efficiency is 75 percent. A wind farm B pipe to storage C subterranean salt storage (Salt dome depicted. The system works with bedded salt too.) D electrical grid transmission E GCAES compressor/expander system

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HERO HACKERS Needing criminals to stop crime isn’t something we hear about every day, but a recent report says this oxymoron is true. According to The Guardian, the FBI has formed a league of former hackers to catch cybercriminals. The publisher of The Hacker Quarterly 2600, Eric Corley, says that hackers can be threatened with long prison sentences and are usually easy to break. These cyber-crims turn cyber- rats are still hacking, but they’re hacking for a good cause. Sort of. The FBI recruits have been taking over forums and exposing government official emails, all in the name of the law. With recent high level hacking, this is a worrisome time for many companies. But given the insidious nature of the crime, just going out and locking up all the bad guys is even harder than in the case of normal crime. Here’s to the future.

DR. I LIKE YOUR MEDICINE BOTTLE US company, Vitality created this particular product to help remind people to take their medication on time. It’s easy to be flippant about something that seems so... straightforward. But consider that half of the population in the US alone are on prescribed medication, and you can start to appreciate the opportunities for this nifty invention. “Glow Caps”, are internet connected pill caps that fit onto regular pill bottles. The special units come with a wireless plug-in-the-wall, internet connected link that will flash when it’s time to take the medication and if the cap hasn’t detected any movement after a short time it will sound a reminder alarm much like the ring of a cellphone. If the user still hasn’t reacted, the device will phone the person’s elected home or mobile phone. Other enhancements include sending the recipient a printed monthly account of their progress, with a copy also being sent to their doctor. An online version of the same report is also sent to a nominated family member. Apart from the support advantages of this device, there is also data collection reinforcing the health benefits and health-related cost incentives the system provides. That’s aside from the peace-of-mind family members would experience. vitality.net

READ SPARK UK: IN PRINT // iPAD // iPHONE // ANDROID // ReadSpark.co.uk / 13 COMPUTER SCULPTURE ROOM DREAM BECOMES A REALITY Most people have an old, defunct desktop computer lying around their house somewhere gathering dust. Polish sculptor, Marek Tomasik has put his to good use. After three years of collecting various computer parts, Tomasik has created a walk-in sculpture inside a castle in Swiecie, Poland called Sometimes You Have To Be Open. The cabin-like structure is around fi ve metres wide, four metres long and 4.5 metres high.

LULZSEC DECLARES WAR AGAINST GOVERNMENTS The group that took down Sony earlier this year are at it again. LulzSec, the super-secretive group of hackers who have also claimed responsibility for taking down the CIA website and hacking PBS, have now launched an anti- government crusade against UK government websites, including the UK’s Serious Organised Crime Agency. In a statement released by LulzSec, they encouraged others to follow suit: “Welcome to Operation Anti-Security (#AntiSec). We encourage any vessel, large or small, to open fi re on any government agency that crosses their path. We fully endorse the fl aunting of the word, ‘AntiSec’ on any government website defacement or physical graffi ti art.” Better keep an eye on your computer.

OUTLET OF THE FUTURE It’s so obvious we’re all left thinking, “Why didn’t I think of this sooner?” How often have you asked someone if they have a USB port you could use to juice up your iPhone, iPod or other USB device? It was a smart move by FastMac to make a power socket that can charge your USB device, without the need for a computer. These wall outlets have a USB port as part of the wall plate. Brilliant. Each plate has not one, but two USB ports. The current input voltage is AC 100 to 125V 50/60Hz with an output voltage for the USB port at 5.0V 2100mA. Translated, it means you can charge your iPhone from the traditional wall power system. Again, brilliant. So much so, that The New York Times applauded it as one of the best tech ideas, and we agree. fastmac.com

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FLY FROM PARIS TO TOKYO IN 2.5 HOURS – WITH SEAWEED FUEL European aerospace company, EADS has unveiled a new rocket plane that could drastically change the way we fly. The Zero-Emission Hypersonic Transportation (ZEHST) rocket plane is a low-pollution plane that will carry 50 to 100 passengers, using biofuel made from seaweed. With rocket engines powered by hydrogen and oxygen, the only exhaust will be water vapour. The super-fast plane is expected to drastically cut flight times, with a journey from Paris to Tokyo taking only 2.5 hours. EADS are hoping to have a prototype built by 2020. The plane should enter the commercial market in 2050, making long-haul flights a thing of the past.

READ SPARK UK: IN PRINT // iPAD // iPHONE // ANDROID // ReadSpark.co.uk / 15 TWO BY TWO Natural disasters have been in focus around the world of late, so the timing couldn’t be better for this life-saving design. Russian architect, Alexander Remizov, from Remistudio is the mastermind behind The Ark, a concept hotel, which could also be used as a safe house during a natural disaster. This floating “slinky” can hold up to 10,000 people and is made from timber, steel and high-strength ETFE plastic, and it is built to handle land and/or water. The Ark was also designed to be a bioclimatic house with independent life-support systems, including elements ensuring a closed-functioning cycle. We wouldn’t be surprised if certain 2012 enthusiasts want this built before “doomsday.” remistudio.ru

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PREMIER POWERTRAIN Lamborghini is famous for its sculpted testosterone-fuelled designs, but they’re also concerned with what goes on underneath the bonnet too. Their all new V12 power plant might not look like art, but its specs are enough to leave even the most hardened automotive snob shaking. This powertrain features a completely new transmission concept for super sports cars. The “Lamborghini ISR” automated manual gearbox combines minimal shift times and convenience with low weight and dimensions to guarantee the intuitive gearshift that you expect from a super sports car. This is then bolted to a 6.5 litre 12-cylinder engine pumping out 525 kW (700 hp) and maximum torque of 690 Newton metres. Developed with state-of-the- art technology, the pairing offers a high performance, high-revving exhilaration, low weight and moderate gas emissions. The new powertrain will emerge this year.

READ SPARK UK: IN PRINT // iPAD // iPHONE // ANDROID // ReadSpark.co.uk / 17 Eyes of Daddy Long Legs (Harvestman) / Dr. Igor Siwanowicz

Beetle leg / Dr. Jan Michels

Eye of a Common Blue Damselfly / Dr. Igor Siwanowicz Wildflower Seeds / Yanping Wang

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Living Licmophora juergensii on red alga / Wolfgang Bettighofer

Primordium (bud) of the weedy flower / Dr. M. Reza Dadpour Solitary Coral, Fungia sp. / James Nicholson OLYMPUS BIOSCAPES When you see everyday parts of nature such as insects, seeds and algae, you may not bat an eyelid. However the Olympus Bioscapes competition has allowed scientists to transform everyday natural subjects into works of art. Now in its seventh year, the competition is a platform to celebrate images and movies of human, plant and animal subjects as captured through light microscopes. Any life science subject was deemed eligible for entry and each image was judged based on the science it depicts, its aesthetics and technical merit. Dr. Igor Siwanowicz of the Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology in Munich, Germany captured the winning image, which was selected from about 2000 images and movies to earn First Prize – US$5,000 worth of Olympus equipment. The image shows the eyes of a Daddy Longlegs, revealing not only the eyes’ lenses but also the retinae and optic nerves of the spider. The second prize image was taken by Thomas Deerinck of the University of California, San Diego’s National Centre for Microscopy and Imaging Research. His image of a rat hippocampus resembles an ocean wave that has been painted in impressionist style. The third prize went to a brilliant orange coral image from James Nicholson of the Coral Culture & Collaborative Research Facility, in South Carolina. The top ten and Honourable Mention images this year came from five continents and many nations including Brazil, Canada, Korea, Pakistan, Poland and Spain, with specimens including plants, human and animal subjects. Now next time you see another household spider, you might think twice about squashing it with your shoe. olympusbioscapes.com Rat Hippocampus / Dr. Thomas Deerinck

READ SPARK UK: IN PRINT // iPAD // iPHONE // ANDROID // ReadSpark.co.uk / 19 Super Kamiokande

While the recent earthquake wreaked utter destruction on many parts of Japan, this amazing and seemingly fragile house for physics experiments containing thousands PGHMBTTCVMCT TVSWJWFE5IJTHJHBOUJDTDJÎ dome is just like a time machine that can take us back to the very beginning of the universe – 13.7 billion years ago. Not in a Back to the Future, Marty McFly kind of way maybe, but the Super-Kamiokande does allow scientists to observe solar neutrinos, atmospheric neutrinos and man-made neutrinos, in order to understand how matter was created in the early universe.

Kamioka Observatory, ICRR (Institute for Cosmic Ray Research), The University of Tokyo SCIENCE

ocated 1,000 metres underground in the Kamioka mine, Hida-City, Gifu, Japan, L the detector consists of a stainless steel tank, 39 metres in diameter and 42 metres tall, fi lled with 50,000 tonnes of ultra-pure water, with about 13,000 glass photo-multiplier tubes (PMTs) installed on the tank wall. So how exactly does it work? The structure measures Cherenkov radiation, which is created when neutrinos react with the electrons or nuclei of water, and produce a charged particle that moves faster than the speed of light in water, and appears as a cone of light. The Cherenkov light is projected as a ring on the wall of the detector and recorded by the PMTs. Using the timing and charge information recorded by each PMT, scientists can determine the interaction vertex, and the ring direction of the neutrino, allowing them to infer the type of particle. By investigating solar neutrinos, scientists are able to understand the activities inside the sun, and by detecting neutrinos from a supernova burst, they can learn the details of the explosion mechanism of a star. The Super-Kamiokande is operated by an international collaboration of about 110 people and 30 institutes from Japan, the United States, Korea, China, Poland and Spain. an infrared view of the Galaxy This composite colour infrared image of the centre of our Milky Way galaxy, reveals a new population of massive stars and new details in complex structures in the hot, ionised gas. This sweeping panorama is the sharpest infrared picture ever made of the Galactic Core and offers a laboratory for how massive stars form and influence their environment in the often violent nuclear regions of other galaxies. SPACE

his view combines the sharp imaging of the Hubble Space Telescope’s Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) with colour imagery from a previous Spitzer Space Telescope survey done with its Infrared Astronomy Camera t (IRAC). The Galactic Core is obscured in visible light by intervening dust clouds but infrared light penetrates the dust. NICMOS shows a large number of these massive stars distributed throughout the region. A new fi nding is that astronomers now see that the massive stars are not confi ned to one of the three known clusters of stars in the Galactic Centre, known as the Central Cluster, the Arches Cluster and the Quintuplet Cluster. These three clusters are easily seen as tight concentrations of bright, massive stars in the NICMOS image. The distributed stars may have formed in isolation, or they may have originated in clusters that have been disrupted by strong gravitational tidal forces. The winds and radiation from these stars form the complex structures seen in the core, and in some cases, they may be triggering new generations of stars.

Image Credits: Hubble: NASA, ESA, and Q.D. Wang (University of Massachusetts, Amherst); Spitzer: NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and S. Stolovy (Spitzer Science Center/Caltech)

SCIENCE

nfortunately, there wasn’t enough money in the “Intelligent” telephone networks route calls more efficiently than budget to achieve this. So the Transporter was any human operator. Cars are constructed in largely unmanned devised as a less expensive alternative. The factories by automated robots. Artificial Intelligence is even being Transporter special effect was created by mixing integrated into common household items, such as the humble glitter with water, then agitating the solution vacuum cleaner. and incorporating it into special camera effects. But with teleporting quantum computers, we can look forward Characters could teleport to the planet’s surface to AI that allows for computers that don’t just solve problems quickly, without a whole lot of fuss, and all for the through a series of trial and error exercises or by relying on simple price of a glass of water and a bit of glitter. lists of tasks. With advanced AI, computers will solve and address U From this simple, little cost-cutting exercise, problems by thinking about them. came an idea that seized the imaginations of Think of it this way – one of the drawbacks for voice-recognition fans and scientists the world over. It’s a neat idea being able to technology has been that computers have to learn our individual jump from one point to another without the cramped economy voice patterns. Voice recognition exists but it’s clumsy, slow and class, screaming kiddies kicking the back of your seat or the horror unreliable. We identify words quickly and easily because the human of airline “food.” brain (our non-artificial intelligence) knows they are words and Teleportation. It’s a sweet concept but let’s face it, complete fantasy. understands how they work. We know that “get that” means the Or it was? same as “grab that.” We know that a “mate” is also a “friend.” We can also identify words spoken by different voices, female voices, Scientists have successfully performed teleportation on atoms. male voices, different accents and so on. If a computer could do That’s right, fantasy has become reality. But let’s not get too this, it would mean an entirely new interface for us. Imagine it. We tell excited about it just yet. No one’s going to be beaming you to the TV to turn on and what channel to turn to. We speak our emails Spain in the not-too-distant future. out loud and the computer writes them down. We tell our house The feat was achieved by two teams of researchers working what temperature it needs to be. We can say goodbye to remote independently on the problem in the US and Austria. Transferring controls, buttons and dials. A world, which we tell what to do – and the key properties of one particle to another without using any it does it. Effortlessly. All thanks to “wireless” quantum computing. physical link has been achieved in the past by using a laser light. That’s only one small example. Superfast computers that The teams haven’t actually transported atoms; instead, they’ve “think” rather than “compute” can change our lives in hundreds moved “qubits.” – thousands – of different ways. It might sound far-fetched but who So what the hell are qubits? Okay, bear with me because it gets a would have thought by 2001, we’d have at least four computers little bit hairy, here. A qubit (Quantum Binary Digit) is a quantum bit, a in every kitchen. Think about it, there are computer chips in our unit of quantum information, which, to put it in the simplest of terms, coffee makers, refrigerators, stoves and radios. Now imagine if is the “stuff” of atoms – part of the atom’s “programme,” if you like. those items could think for us. A radio that tunes to news that’s What the teams at the University of Innsbruck and the US National important to us – like an accident on our usual route to work. Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have done, is teleport A coffee maker that identifies who’s in the kitchen and makes qubits from one atom to another with the help of a third auxiliary a coffee specifically to that person’s taste. A refrigerator that atom. Please don’t ask me to explain it, but the system relies “senses” what’s inside it and can suggest recipes. Or a stove that on a strange behaviour that exists at the atomic scale known as – well – cooks our meals for us. “entanglement,” whereby two particles can have related properties This is just in our homes; the applications for intelligent computers even when they are far apart. Einstein called it a “spooky action.” can extend to every aspect of our lives. Medical, communications, We call it extremely difficult to understand. All you need to know transport, entertainment and social interaction will change beyond is that on a quantum level, the Scottys have beamed Kirk up. recognition with the advent of quantum computing. Computers The teleportation took place in milliseconds and at the push of a that make a diagnosis the minute you walk into your doctor’s button, the first time they’ve been able to do this. office. Trains that drive themselves. Femmebots... Oh, maybe I’m So what does this mean? getting a bit carried away but let’s remember, the only thing that It could well be the road to transporting atoms and maybe – we’re currently limits the capability of present-day computers is simply talking a long way in the future, here – even complex chains one of speed. With transporting qubits, we are talking about data of atoms. But for right now, it’s limited to the teleportation of transfer that isn’t just ten or 20 times faster than our present-day information and it’s got the world of computing very excited. “supercomputers,” it will be over a billion times faster. These landmark experiments are being viewed as a major advance The experts from the University of Michigan, U.S. Naval Research in the quest to achieve ultrafast computers, inside of which, Laboratory and the University of California at San Diego have teleportation could provide a form of invisible “quantum wiring.” revealed that the use of lasers helped create an initialised quantum state of the solid-state qubit at rates of about a gigahertz or a These machines would be able to handle far bigger and more billion times per second. So from this, we must surmise that complex loads than today’s supercomputers and at many times teleporting qubits will be even faster. their speed. In a quantum computer, it’s straightforward enough to move quantum information around by simply moving the qubits As for other, wilder dreams of using quantum physics in order to but you might want to do things very quickly, so you could use beam yourself from A to B, the possibility is rather less exciting and teleportation instead. would disappoint poor old Spock and Scotty. If large-scale quantum computers can be built, they will be able to Quantum computation is still in its infancy. Teleportation, so far, is solve problems insanely faster than any of our current computers. only restricted to the teleportation of information. So, the possibility Obviously, one of the limitations for creating superior Artificial of sending yourself instead of an e-mail to someone is limited. What Intelligence (AI), has been the speed of processing. is clear, however, is that the next 30 years will be an exciting and challenging time in the field of quantum computing and quantum AI has already had a significant impact on our world, enabling teleportation. We’ve come a long way from a glass filled with glitter. developments that were unimaginable only a century ago. NICK WARD

READ SPARK UK: IN PRINT // iPAD // iPHONE // ANDROID // ReadSpark.co.uk / 25 An Invention that Changed the World: THE TRANSISTOR The 20th century was the century of electronics and no single invention played a bigger part than the transistor.

1947: Bell Labs’ John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William Shockley invent the transistor, replacing vacuum tubes and mechanical relays and revolutionising the entire electronics world. The team was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1956. SCIENCE

The inventors of the transistor in 1948: William Shockley (seated), John Bardeen and Walter Brattain. Images courtesy of Bell Labs.

he transistor paved the way for the explosion of It proved to be much more effi cient than having the transistors and electronics that occurred over the last 60 years. Without other various components separate. The advent of the integrated the transistor, the world as we know it would be a circuit allowed computers to become much smaller (a computer in the very different place. Millions of geeks and nerds would late 1940s occupied a large room). The commercial use of integrated have nothing to do, as the transistor is at the heart of circuits began in 1961 and their use spread rapidly. Within a very short computers. Almost all of the electronic devices that we time, all computers were using integrated circuits. Jack Kilby would ubiquitously take for granted, have a transistor as one of go on to receive the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics “for his part in the itsT primary active components. Without the transistor, there would invention of the integrated circuit.” be no space travel, no internet and no iPhone. In 1960, Sony released the fi rst portable, transistorised television; A transistor is a three terminal, solid state electronic device composed it had an enormous fi ve-inch screen and used 23 transistors. In of semiconductor materials that amplifi es a signal or opens or closes 1965, Moore’s Law was established when Gordon Moore, co- a circuit. Transistors switch and modulate electronic current. What founder of Intel Corporation in 1968, predicted that the number makes the transistor so useful and effective, is its ability to control of transistors on a computer chip will double every two years. a large electrical output signal with changes to a small input signal. This prediction was remarkably accurate and it proved to be the Transistors were crucial to the expansion of electronics because of beginning of exponential growth in transistor numbers. Moore’s their small size, modest cost, reliability, low power requirements, low Law still holds true today as computers become faster and more heat generation and speed of operation. effi cient as a result of this exponential growth. The transistor was the fi rst device designed to act as both a In 1971, Intel launched the fi rst microprocessor that contained transmitter, converting sound waves into electronic waves, and just over 2,000 transistors. In 1982, the high performance 16-bit resistor, controlling electronic current. Hence the name, transistor, microprocessor from Intel was released and it contained 134,000 comes from the “trans” of transmitter and the “sistor” of resistor. In the transistors. In 1983, the fi rst commercial mobile phone became year 1947, World War II was over and the world had turned its focus available with the release of the Motorola DynaTAC 800x. The to improving the future, as opposed to destroying it. The computer phone was powered by transistors and was the beginning of a revolution and information age were just around the corner and the revolution in mobile communication. invention of the transistor would prove to be an integral part of it. In 1993, the internet made its long overdue debut (what the hell From 17 November to 23 December 1947, the emergence of the fi rst did people do on computers before the internet?). Intel recognised transistor would transpire. There were three men who contributed to the need for speed with the introduction of the Pentium processor, the invention of the transistor (known as the point-contact transistor): which had 3.1 million transistors. In 2006, Intel was at it again; John Bardeen, William Shockley and Walter Brattain. These three men this time, they created the Dual-Core Intel Itanium 2, which boasts all shared the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics “for their researches on more than 1.72 billion transistors. semiconductors and their discovery of the transistor effect.” Since 1947, many different transistors have been created. The two In 1953, the fi rst commercialised product utilising the transistor most commonly used transistors today are the bipolar junction is released on the market – the Sonotone 1010 hearing aid. The transistor and fi eld-effect transistor. Typically made from silicon, they next year, the fi rst transistor radio goes on sale. It contains just four are very inexpensive to produce and purchase. transistors. Sony released their fi rst portable radio in 1955, and many other companies followed suit. With the introduction of the fi rst Modern society is shaped by electronics, particularly computers, and portable radio, the potential of the transistor was realised. Beginning this trend is set to continue. It is diffi cult to imagine the world without in the mid-1950s, a new era was born: the era of mass-produced, all the electronic gadgetry that surrounds us on a day-to-day basis. low cost, portable electronics. The internet has had a greater impact on the world than most people could possibly have imagined. The transistor is responsible for all In 1958 and 1959, Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments and Robert of this. The progression from the transistor to the integrated circuit Noyce at Fairchild Camera, evolved the transistor into something resulted in an even more rapid expansion of electronic products. even more effective: the integrated circuit, also known as Everything from your calculator to your iPod to your car has an the computer chip. The integrated circuit is a combination of integrated circuit that is composed of millions of transistors. transistors and other necessary circuit componentry onto a single crystal (chip) made of semiconductor material. MARK TAYLOR

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Mind Readers

magine for a moment that you could plug defence, truly feared for his life. your imagination into a computer. Too There is an obvious flip-side to all of this, which relates to the profound? What if you could read my mind technology raising serious ethical concerns about privacy and from your laptop? Well, it’s not as pie in its vulnerability to hackers and snoops. It’s worth some serious the sky as you might first think. A few, very dialogue but not now, as there is a lot of work in the interim for smart neuroscientists with highly skilled Gallant and his brains trust fellowship. numeric abilities and a very powerful brain “Seeing” doesn’t just happen in the conscious realm, he explains. Iscanner machine, are currently able to see pictures “The visual cortex works like a camera, automatically absorbing created by your brain. The hope is that soon, they information through the retina and registering the imagery in the will be able to pluck the very thoughts from your brain.” If you could see this activity, it would appear as clusters mind directly. Neuroscientist, Jack Gallant and his of neurons firing and as the latest research suggests, about team have developed scanners that can see your 300 million of these minute explosions occur in the visual cortex thought images by translating and converting your alone. The brain scanner represents the images – shapes – into brain’s cortex activity into images, from a Magnetic a grid of three dimensional cubes called volume pixels, or voxels. Resonance Imaging or MRI machine. The images Gallant’s computer model is able to define the data into a matrix of zeroes and ones (did I just say matrix)? The team then has are highly pixelated and this current method takes the ability to precisely transform the information into accurate hours of analysis but Gallant’s objective is to hone renderings of the original images. “It’s not perfect,” says Shinji the technology to the point where it can deduce what Nishimoto, one of Gallant’s post-doctoral fellows, “but we’re people are seeing in real time. The implications of getting pretty close.” achieving this successfully, could influence just about everything we do. It’s remarkable that scientists can predict with a degree of accuracy, the last thing you saw just by analysing your brain Mind-reading machines could help doctors understand the activity. This technique is called neural decoding. But with the ambivalent world of people who suffer hallucinations, cognitive work that Gallant is doing, it will take brain images beyond the disabilities, post-traumatic stress disorder and other impairments. fuzzy, to one day being able to – in Gallant’s words – “decode Court judges could look into suspects’ brains while they re- the visual content of mental processes like dreams, memory and enact their experiences, to “see” if their visions are plausible. The imagination”. It might be that one day, you have to think twice machines could also be used to determine whether someone using before you think anything. the insanity defence is faking it, or whether someone claiming self-

SPARK / 29 The world’s tallest building holder, Taipei 101. over the508metres ofprevious record metres high,Dubai’s BurjKhalifa,towers in Januarylastyear. Atawhopping828 world’s highestbuildingoffi days afterconstructionbegan,the Twenty-two millionmanhoursand1,325 Burj Khalifa the ending. only heraldtheriseofDubai’s excessesbutalso 2004, it’s highlylikelythattheBurjKhalifawillnot markedly sincethetowerbeganconstructionin Given thattheeconomicclimatehaschanged an amazingtenmetres persecond. can carryupto14peopleperdeckandtravelat taken care ofbythedouble-levelelevators,which Travelling almostakilometre verticallyisataskwell people are expectedtoliveandworkinthetower. fi rst Armani-brandedhotel.Approximately 12,000 apartments, 57lifts,49offi ce fl oors andtheworld’s swimming pools,aprivatelibrary, 1,044luxury the ground, BurjKhalifawillbehometofour The centrepiece ofa500-acre developmenton tapering metal-and-glassspire. which forminspirationforthefootprintto architecture andtheopenpetalsofadesertfl ower, incorporates infl uences from traditionalIslamic Turner thebuilding ConstructionInternational, Merrill, andconstructedbyNewYork-based by Chicago-basedSkidmore Owings& Developed byEmaarProperties, designed can beseenfrom 95kilometres away. fl oor buildingloomssohighaboveDubaithatit Clad withatotalof28,000glasspanels,the160- debts. $10 billionbail-outpackage,tohelpitpayoff its about thetimethatAbuDhabigaveDubaiaUS leader ofDubai’s neighbour, AbuDhabi–around during construction,itwasrenamed afterthe Although thetowerwasknownasBurjDubai cially opened, cially ARCHITECTURE

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SUCCESS TOY STORY WHY WE LOVE STEVE JOBS

“Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything. It’s very fortunate if you can work on just one of these in your career. Apple’s been very fortunate in that it has introduced a few of these.” – Steve Jobs announcing the introduction of the iPhone.

WORDS BY NICK WARD

READ SPARK UK: IN PRINT // iPAD // iPHONE // ANDROID // ReadSpark.co.uk / 33 ere’s a Now you’re probably wondering who iPods have won several awards, ranging story about on earth The Graphics Group is and from engineering excellence, to most a small what the heck it did in those 20 short innovative audio product, to fourth best computer years to increase its value by over 7,000 computer product of 2006. iPods often company, percent. Well, it might help if I told you receive favourable reviews, scoring on but while that in that time, The Graphics Group looks, clean design and ease of use. Steve changed its name to Pixar. What’s more, PC World says that the iPod line has Jobs’ in 1991, Pixar made a US$26 million deal “altered the landscape for portable picture with Disney to produce three computer- audio players.” Several industries are is on the animated feature films, the first of which, modifying their products to work better H cover was called Toy Story. At this time, the with – or outright copy – both the of this company was costing Jobs so much iPod line and the AAC audio format. magazine, this is not the company money that he considered selling it. It Examples include CD copy-protection you’re thinking of. In 1979, a small was only after confirming that Disney schemes and mobile phones, such as division of a much larger company would distribute Toy Story for the 1995 phones from Sony and Nokia, which set itself up under the name, The holiday season, did he decide to give play AAC files, rather than WMA. Graphics Group. it another chance. The film went on Besides earning a reputation as a They were a high-end computer hardware to gross more than US$350 million respected entertainment device, company whose core product was worldwide. the iPod has also been accepted a system – Image – primarily sold to It was Disney that ultimately purchased as a business device. Government government agencies and the medical Pixar. Once the deal closed, Jobs departments, major institutions and community. Sadly, the Image Computer became The Walt Disney Company’s international organisations have turned never sold well. Some argued that there largest single shareholder with to the iPod line as a delivery mechanism was a very small market for that kind of approximately seven percent of the for business communication and system, while others pointed out that it company’s stock. Jobs’ holdings in training. In spite of this, the iPod has still was a product so far ahead of its time, Disney far exceed those of Eisner, who managed to remain an effortlessly cool, that people struggled to find a use for holds 1.7 percent, and Disney family “must-have” product. it. They were both right. However, all of member, the late Roy E. Disney, who However, to truly appreciate the genius this meant very little to the small cash- held about one percent of the company’s of the iPod, you have to look beyond the strapped company that was struggling to stock and whose criticisms of Eisner circuitry and designer stylings. You need stay afloat. They started looking around included the soured Pixar relationship to stop seeing the plastic cover and see for someone to invest in their dream. and accelerated Eisner’s ousting. Jobs it for what it really is – a pot of instant In 1986, they found their knight in joined the company’s board of directors noodles. You see, when Pot Noodle went shining armour. Steve Jobs bought upon completion of the merger. on sale in the UK, they flew off the shelves The Graphics Group for the price of Over the last ten years or so, Pixar but – here’s the rub – there was a drop in US$10 million, US$5 million of which, has produced a raft of box-office hits the sales of soups, noodles or any other was given to the company as capital. including A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, similar products. Pot Noodle had created That was a lot of money but Jobs had Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The a demand where previously, there had confidence not just in the company Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, WALL- been none. It created its own category, and its product, but also in its people. E, Up and Toy Story 3, so Jobs’ “toy” making money out of nothing. Yes, there The rest of the industry thought he had turned out to be one of the shrewdest was already a market for portable media lost his mind. The Graphics Group, on investments that has ever been made. players, but it took the iPod to make PMPs paper, was a poor investment. It was But then Jobs knows the value of a good a consumer essential. In fact, now we call just another example of Jobs acquiring toy. After all, a lot of Apple’s “toys” have any audio device an iPod regardless of an expensive toy to play with. But they gone on to revolutionise not just the way who manufactured it. Knock-offs followed had forgotten the old adage: “The one we use computers, but the way we live suit. Companies wanted a slice of the with the most toys, wins” and you had our lives. The iPod, for example. Can you action but what they didn’t realise is that better believe that this toy would turn remember a time when we wandered putting an “i” in front of your product name, out to be a winner. the Earth without our own personal doesn’t make it cool. In 2006, The Graphics Group was soundtrack playing 24/7? Carrying every Apple, however, has a knack for bottling bought for approximately US$7.4 billion song we ever bought with us in a box cool. So naturally, the manufacturers in an all-stock deal. So from his initial smaller than a matchbox? of phones got a wee bit worried when investment of US$10 million, Jobs had Apple announced that they were building made very tidy profit for himself. the iPhone. SUCCESS

The iPhone, for people who have The products keep growing, which 1972 been living in a cultural vacuum for means that iPhone customers are finding Steve and Woz build and sell blue boxes the last two years, is a mobile phone new uses for their phone virtually every to Berkeley students, which allow them to that has all the whistles and bells. single day. make free phone calls. It functions as a camera phone. It How many products do you own that handles text messaging and visual can do that? It’s like pressing a button 1973 voicemail, a PMP (like the Pot Noodle and being able to use your washing Steve spends one semester at Reed iPod), it also has email, web browsing machine to watch the news. College, Oregon, then drops out. and Wi-Fi connectivity covered. This It’s a cool toy and like the iPod, it has clever little multi-tasker can pack re-invented the category. The iPhone 1974 all this in and still maintain its sleek is the gadget of the decade. It took Steve gets his first job at Atari. simplicity due to its multi-touch elements of all the best gadgets – iPod, He makes a trip to India with Dan Kottke to screen, which provides a virtual Flip, Razr, USB drive, Wii – and put it seek enlightenment. keyboard and an interface that has in your pocket. It’s not as robust as all unlimited flexibility. iPhone 3GS and of those gadgets yet but it’s on its way. 1975 iPhone 4 kicked things up another As we enter a new decade, the iPhone Woz finishes his Apple I design. Woz and notch with improved performance, provides the clearest roadmap of what Steve start assembling Apple Is in the a camera with higher resolution and might be next. The world in our pocket Jobs’ garage and sell them to personal video capability, and voice control. and at our finger tips. No small amount computing enthusiasts. Note to self: buy a new iPhone. of the iPhone’s success is because of Rubicon Consulting released a survey the great technology wrapped around 1976 of iPhone users, detailing the impact a creative business model. However, Mar. Woz and Steve show the early Apple I the device has had on their usage this business model is not very new board at the Homebrew Computer Club. and the market in general. Included to Apple as it had a similar business Apr. 1 Apple Computer Inc. is officially in the survey are some unexpected model, which worked well with iPod and started by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and patterns that have sprung up around iTunes. A good product is okay but a Ron Wayne. They show the Apple I at the the iPhone. good product marketed in the right way, Personal Computing Festival in Atlantic Here’s the good news for Mr. Jobs: becomes a great product. It becomes a City. Woz starts working on the Apple II. 1. Users report high satisfaction with game-changer. 1977 the device. 2. iPhone users report A very clever man – Henry David Thoreau increased mobile web browsing. – had this to say about inventions: “Our Jan. Ron Wayne sells his Apple shares. Mike Markkula invests in Apple and hires Mike 3. One quarter report it displacing inventions are wont to be pretty toys, Scott as CEO. Woz is forced to leave HP. notebook computer usage. which distract our attention from serious Here’s the unexpected news for Mr. things. They are but improved means Apr. Apple makes a huge sensation at the West Coast Computer Faire with their Jobs: 1. Email is the #1 function… for to an unimproved end.” Rest assured, prototype Apple II computer reading emails, not writing them. 2. One Jobs isn’t just giving us pretty toys. The third of iPhone users carry a second iPhone is changing the way we design phone. Why? According to the study, products, the way we do business and 1978 for making voice calls and composing the way we live our lives. That’s one hell Steve’s first daughter with his ex-girlfriend, emails. 3. It increases phone bills. The of a toy. Chris-Ann Brennan, is born out of wedlock. She calls her Lisa. Work starts on the Apple survey cites an average increase of 24 III and Lisa. Jef Raskin begins writing The percent annually. Book of Macintosh. Perhaps the most exciting element THE TIMING OF A GENIUS of the iPhone, isn’t actually on the 1955 1979 phone at all. The App Store is a VisiCalc is introduced. It is the first service for the iPhone, iPod Touch Feb. 24 Steven Paul is born in San spreadsheet software and only available on and iPad created by Apple Inc., which Francisco, California. He is soon adopted the Apple II platform. allows users to browse and download by Paul and Clara Jobs. Dec. Steve Jobs gets a tour of Xerox applications from the iTunes Store that PARC with Apple engineers. They are were developed with the iPhone SDK 1967 shown the world’s first working graphical and published through Apple. These The Jobs family moves to Los Altos, heart user interface. “Apps” range from everything from GPS of the growing Silicon Valley. locators to simulated whips. 1969 Steve Jobs meets Steve Wozniak. >> Steve discovers his biological mother and 1980 sister, novelist, Mona Simpson. His first 1993 Jef Raskin’s, Macintosh project is daughter, Lisa Brennan-Jobs, moves in Feb. 11 NeXT gives up its hardware green-lighted. Lisa moves toward a with him at the Woodside mansion. operations. 300 employees are fired. The GUI-computer. company is renamed NeXT Software Inc. May The launch of the Apple III, which will 1987 and specialises in server software. prove a disastrous flop. Feb. Investor, Ross Perot invests US$20 Nov. Jeffrey Katzenberg puts a halt to the Dec. 12 Apple’s initial public offering. Steve million in NeXT. Pixar makes animations for development of Toy Story. Jobs is worth over US$200 million. TV commercials in order to make money. Nov. Pixar unveils a new short film, 1994 1981 Red’s Dream. Nov. Pixar starts working on Jef Raskin is forced out of his Macintosh Toy Story again. project as Steve Jobs takes over. 1988 Feb. 25 “Black Wednesday”: CEO Mike Pixar launches the Pixar Image 1995 Scott fires several Apple employees Computer II and starts working on the Feb. Steve names himself President & CEO without the board’s consent. He is soon RenderMan language. of Pixar Animation Studios. fired himself. Sep. NeXT and IBM form a partnership to Nov. 22 Toy Story’s opening weekend. Aug. 12 IBM launches its PC. have NeXT’s system run on IBM machines. Nov. 29 Pixar goes public. Steve Jobs, Oct. 12 Steve Jobs introduces the NeXT who owns 80 percent of its stock, is now 1982 Computer at Davies Symphony Hall in worth US$1.5 billion on paper. Feb. Steve makes it to the cover of Time San Francisco. Magazine but fails to be named Man of the Dec. Pixar releases its short film, Tin Toy at 1996 Year, because of his bad temper and his SIGGRAPH. It will win the 1988 Academy Steve Jobs re-negotiates the deal out-of-wedlock daughter, Lisa. Award for Best Animated Short Film. between Pixar and Disney with Michael Eisner. He gets split production costs 1983 1989 and revenues, total creative control and Jan. Launch of the Lisa computer. The Mar. NeXT extends its distribution network equal billing. Lisa team joins the Macintosh project. with Businessland, the nation’s largest Dec. Apple buys NeXT for US$400 John Sculley is chosen by Apple’s board computer retail chain. NeXT is now targeting million. NeXTSTEP will serve as the basis of directors as the company’s CEO. businesses in addition to higher education. for Apple’s future operating system, and Jun. Canon invests $100 million in NeXT. Steve Jobs is named “informal advisor” to 1984 Apple CEO, Gil Amelio. Jan. 24 Macintosh is launched in great 1990 fanfare at Apple’s shareholder meeting. 1997 Apr. 30 Steve shuts down all of Pixar’s hardware operations. Jul. Gil Amelio is ousted by the Apple Board. Steve Jobs is named interim CEO. 1985 Sep. 13 Steve introduces the NeXT Feb. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak both Station, a cheaper computer the shape of Aug. 6 Steve Jobs introduces the new receive the National Technology Medal a pizza box, and announces a partnership Apple Board of Directors at Macworld from President Reagan. Woz leaves Apple with Lotus to make Improv available only on Boston. He then reveals a partnership soon afterward. the NeXT platform. between Apple and Microsoft, including a May Steve tries to get John Sculley fired US$150 million investment from Bill Gates’ from Apple. The board sides with Sculley. 1991 company. Steve Jobs entirely reviews all The company is soon reorganised and aspects of Apple. Mar. Steve Jobs fires almost half of Steve is stripped off of any executive Pixar’s staff and takes back all of the duties. Alan Kay first introduces the Pixar 1998 employees’ stock. team to Steve. Jan. 8 Steve Jobs announces that he has Mar. 18 Steve marries Laurene Powell. Sep. 13 Steve announces his plan to found managed to make Apple profitable again. May Pixar signs a deal with Disney to make NeXT to the Apple board. May 6 He introduces the iMac at the a computer-animated feature film. Sep. 17 Steve Jobs resigns from Apple. Cupertino Flint Center. Laurene gives birth to Steve’s first son, Apple announces it will sue NeXT. Nov. 25 Pixar’s A Bug’s Life opening day. Reed Paul. 1986 Ross Perot leaves NeXT. 1999 Jan. 30 Steve Jobs buys the Pixar team 1992 Jan. 5 Steve Jobs introduces the new from George Lucas for US$10 million and Power Mac G3 and the colour iMacs at Jan. NeXT licences its operating incorporates it as Pixar Inc. Pixar launches Macworld San Francisco. system, NeXTSTEP. Peter Van Cuylenburg its Pixar Image Computer later that year. is named NeXT COO at the request of Jul. 21 The original iBook is unveiled at Aug. Pixar unveils John Lasseter’s short Canon. He tries to have NeXT bought Macworld New York with the tagline: “iMac film, Luxo Jr. at SIGGRAPH. by Sun and Steve Jobs removed to go.” from management. Oct. 5 The introduction of the iMac DV and the first iApp, iMovie. Nov. 19 Pixar’s Toy Story 2 opening day. SUCCESS

Aug. Steve Jobs has his pancreatic cancer CFO, Fred Anderson because of 2000 removed by surgery. option backdating. Jan. 5 Steve Jobs officially takes over as Nov. 5 Pixar’s The Incredibles opening Jun. 29 iPhone is released in the US, the Apple’s CEO (stripping “interim” off his title) day. It will win the Academy Award for Best same day as Pixar’s Ratatouille, which at Macworld San Francisco. He also makes Animated Feature of 2004. will win the Academy Award for Best the first public demo of Mac OS X with its Animated Feature Film. revolutionary new user interface, Aqua. 2005 Sep. 5 The introduction of the second Jul. 19 The Power Mac G4 Cube is unveiled multitouch device, the iPod touch. at Macworld New York. Pixar moves to its Jan. 11 At Macworld San Francisco, Steve new headquarters in Emeryville, California. Jobs unveils iWork, the Mac mini and the Dec. 5 Steve Jobs is inducted into iPod shuffle. the California Hall of Fame by Gov. 2001 Mar. 13 Disney announces that Bob Iger will Schwarzenegger. replace Michael Eisner as Disney’s CEO. Jan. 9 Steve Jobs unveils Apple’s Digital 2008 Hub Strategy at Macworld, San Francisco. Apr. 29 Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger is released. It The personal computer is envisioned as is widely adopted by Mac users and marks Jan. 15 Steve Jobs introduces the world’s the centre of the user’s digital lifestyle. The the end of the transition from Apple’s older thinnest notebook, the MacBook Air, second and third iApps, iTunes and iDVD Mac OS platform to OS X. at Macworld. are introduced. Jun. 6 Steve Jobs announces that Apple is Mar. 6 Apple announces it will open the Mar. 24 Mac OS X 10.0 ships. going to switch to using Intel processors in iPhone platform to outside developers and future Macs at WWDC. launch the App Store. May 19 Apple opens its first retail stores in Tysons Corner, Virginia and Glendale, Jun. 12 Steve Jobs makes the Aug. The SEC clears Steve Jobs of California. commencement speech at Stanford University. any responsibilities in the options backdating scandal. Jul. Apple discontinues the G4 Cube. Sep. 7 The iPod mini is discontinued, replaced by the new iPod nano. Dec. 16 Apple announces in a press Oct. 23 Steve Jobs unveils the first iPod. Oct. 12 After introducing the iPod video, release that the company will not take part Nov. 2 Pixar’s Monsters, Inc. opening day. Steve Jobs invites Disney’s new CEO, Bob in any Macworld in the future, and that Iger on stage to discuss Apple’s new online Phil Schiller, not Steve Jobs, will be the 2002 iTunes Video Store. keynote speaker at Macworld 2009. Jan. 7 Steve unveils the stunning iMac G4 and the fourth iApp, iPhoto, at Macworld, 2006 2009 San Francisco. Jan. 10 Steve Jobs introduces the first two Jan. 5 Steve Jobs writes an e-mail to all Apple employees, announcing he will take a May 14 Apple enters the server market Intel-based Macs at Macworld: the iMac and medical leave of absence for six months. with Xserve. the new pro laptop, the MacBook Pro, as well as iWeb, the fifth iApp in the iLife suite. Apr. Steve has surgery for a liver transplant Jul. 17 In a bold move, Apple makes iPod at the Methodist University Hospital in Jan. 24 The Walt Disney Company compatible with the Windows platform. Memphis, Tennessee. acquires Pixar Animation Studios for US$7.4 billion. Steve Jobs becomes the Aug. 28 Apple releases Mac OS X 10.6 2003 company’s largest individual shareholder Snow Leopard. It is the first Intel-only version Apr. 28 Apple opens the revolutionary and sits at their board of directors. of the operating system, and is stripped off online iTunes Music Store in the US. It any legacy from the original Mac OS. Feb. 28 Apple releases its first living-room quickly garners a 70 percent market share product, the iPod Hi-Fi. Sep. 9 Steve Jobs makes his first of legally downloaded music. public appearance of the year, at an Apple Apr. 18 Steve Jobs announces Apple’s May 30 Pixar’s Finding Nemo opening Music Event. intention to erect a second campus in day. The movie will be Pixar’s first Best Cupertino to the city council. Animated Feature Academy Award. 2010 May 19 Opening of the Apple Retail Store Steve Jobs announces that Pixar is seeking on 5th Avenue in New York. Jan. 27 Steve Jobs launches the iPad, the a new distributor to replace Disney, mainly much-anticipated Apple tablet. because of tensions with Disney CEO, Aug. 7 With the introduction of the Intel- Michael Eisner. based Mac Pro and XServe at WWDC, Apple completes the transition of its entire 2011 Jun. 23 At WWDC, Steve Jobs unveils the product line to the Intel platform. Power Mac G5, the world’s fastest and Mar. 2 Apple launches the iPad 2. The all first 64-bit personal computer, based on new design is thinner, lighter and faster an IBM chip. 2007 Jun. 7 Steve Jobs unveils Apple’s next Oct. 16 iTunes for Windows is launched Jan. 9 At Macworld, Steve Jobs campus at the Cupertino City Council. Steve Jobs is diagnosed with introduces Apple TV, Apple’s second It makes Google’s campus look like pancreatic cancer. product for the living room, and the long- something designed out of Lego. awaited iPhone. Jul. 19 Apple announces financial results 2004 Apr. The SEC files charges against Apple’s for its fiscal 2011 third quarter ended former legal counsel, Nancy Heinen and June 25, 2011. The Company posts a Jan. 6 The iPod mini is introduced at record quarterly revenue of US$28.57 Macworld San Francisco, as well as iLife, billion and a record quarterly net profit of the software suite of digital-life applications US$7.31 billion. (including a new one, Garage Band). allaboutstevejobs.com

FASTER INTERNET

“LIGHTNING SPEED INTERNET” A VISIONARY STEP OR A WASTE OF MONEY?

The internet is arguably an invention that has changed the world as much as electricity or the motorcar… maybe more so. Shopping, banking, chatting, gaming and numerous other activities are now no further away than a keyboard and mouse. Heck, you don’t even need to leave the house anymore to meet someone or get a date and with the way the world is evolving, we will use the internet more and more to manage the activities in our daily lives. It won’t be long before we consider a personal computer with internet access as necessary as a household appliance, such as a stove or a fridge.

WORDS BY MICHAEL GARDNER

READ SPARK UK: IN PRINT // iPAD // iPHONE // ANDROID // ReadSpark.co.uk / 39 REMEMBER DIAL-UP? BIGGER PIPES If you currently have broadband, you probably won’t remember the When we talk about the speed of internet delivery to the home time when your web browser used to display the message, “Waiting or business, what we are actually referring to is the capacity of for reply…” every time you clicked a hyperlink. But don’t be scornful. a network to move packets of data back and forth, much like Dial-up users will be happy to tell you about all the other things they water fl owing through a pipe. Dial-up is limited by the amount can do while they wait for web pages to load – like making a cup of of data that can be transferred as a telephone call and uses coffee – or feeding the cat – or watching paint dry. the full capacity of the phone line to do so, which is why it has Certainly, there is a big difference to be had by upgrading to a maximum delivery rate of 56 kilobits per second. Well, it was broadband. It comes down to the why, what for, and how we better than two tin cans connected by a piece of string… but use the internet now. When dial-up was the only method of not by much. getting online, internet technologies focused mainly on e-mail and The broadband we know and love is a different technology light website browsing. If you needed to send someone a large altogether even though it still uses the phone network to get you computer fi le, you copied it onto a CD (or a fl oppy disk), put it in an on the internet. Broadband transfers data packets digitally through envelope, and took it to the post offi ce. the copper wire, and so acts like a much bigger pipe. Through Broadband is about 20 times faster than dial-up and has done copper, digital signals can transfer data at rates of up to a megabit away with the need to use CDs and envelopes. More so, it has per second, without disrupting normal telephone service. allowed us to surf elaborate multimedia websites, participate in Now while copper-based broadband isn’t too shabby, fi bre- interactive gaming, make video calls, and so much more. However, optic cables work differently again. They are made up of 100 or as internet technologies develop, they are getting hungrier for more incredibly thin strands of glass or plastic known, strangely bandwidth, and will probably continue to need more as time goes enough, as optical fi bres. Each one is less than a tenth as thick by. Currently, the global demand for bandwidth is growing by as as a human hair and can carry ten million telephone calls. Now much as 100 percent every year. The solution to this problem then, that’s an even bigger pipe! Data is then transferred through these is to install bigger “pipes” without delay, with priorities given to cables as light. This gives them a much larger and faster capacity schools, health facilities and businesses. than copper-based broadband networks.

40 / READ SPARK UK: IN PRINT // iPAD // iPHONE // ANDROID // ReadSpark.co.uk FASTER INTERNET “Are we going to end up paying for a flash toy that won’t really make a difference to the profit margin?”

13 million UK homes are covered at the moment by Virgin Media’s WHAT’S THE CATCH? fi bre optic broadband network. By the end of 2012, they all should The promise sounds good, almost too good but isn’t there always a be covered by this 100Mb broadband that Virgin Media are rolling catch? Well, potentially, there are a few to consider. out. There are over 100 towns across the UK that have access to The fi bre-optic network is just that, the conduit between you and their super fast broadband network. your Internet Service Provider. Your ISP can infl uence the speed you This means that this 100Mb fi bre optic broadband service can offer send and receive data by factors such as the load on their servers 16 times faster broadband speed than the UK average. But wait, or the software they employ. A large fi le still isn’t going to download there is more. Virgin Media is already trying a 200Mb broadband any faster if it’s stuck on your ISP’s server being scanned for viruses. service and seem to be confi dent that, in the future, their network So, the ISPs have to make upgrades as well to meet the increased might be able to support up to 400Mb broadband speeds. capacity of a fi bre-optic network. Generally, those sorts of upgrades In fact, the quantity of data that can be moved through fi bre are passed on as a cost to the consumer. That’s us. optics potentially goes into the range of gigabits per second, so Secondly, given that most ISPs have fi gured out that the best way the difference in speed for the user will feel much like that fi rst to profi t from internet usage is by charging for volumes of data wonderful day on the internet when you made the decision to used, are we in fact, going to see an increase in costs by having upgrade from dial-up to broadband. In addition, signals can be the ability to download more? transferred over a greater distance with optical fi bres without Maybe not in the short-term but as internet technologies grow to the need to be refreshed or strengthened, so the loss of speed suit the fi bre network, a ten gigabyte plan might not deliver quite relative to your proximity to an exchange or relay station, is greatly what it used to, and before you know it, you’ll get a call from your reduced. It is also more secure, less susceptible to interference ISP asking you if you’d like to upsize your internet combo. and cheaper to maintain than copper. And you have to ask the question, what do we really need in terms If we had to give it a ten words or less review, it would go of internet speed? Many smaller businesses probably don’t need something like this: to transfer data at a rate of a gigabit per second. It’s like buying Fibre-optics are cool. Get them now and download fast! the latest computer with a honking great processor and tonnes of memory when all you need is something to send a few emails. Are WHAT’S THE BENEFIT? we going to end up paying for a fl ash toy that won’t really make a • That we would achieve increased business productivity. Effective difference to the profi t margin? video conferencing would reduce the need for business people Then there’s the continued impact on traditional media. For better to travel to meet colleagues in other cities. Unfortunately (I add or worse, this is the way of the changing world. Where traditional as a personal note), this might mean we still have to attend media hasn’t been able to adapt to the internet, it has become those tedious and long-winded meetings. obsolete. Faster broadband will compound this trend. It’s not • That we would have cheaper telecommunications, which is necessarily a bad thing but it will force media organisations to especially benefi cial for small businesses that are reliant on change rapidly, and nobody likes change (except from vending making expensive toll calls. machines, of course). • That there would be opportunities for entrepreneurs to work with leading technology. VISIONARY OR TRENDY? While technology seems increasingly fl eeting a fi bre network is • That more people would have the ability to work from home, becoming the basis for the information highways of the future. reducing their travel costs and providing a better work / life Light is the fastest thing we’ve got until someone proves Einstein balance. This would have the added benefi t of reducing fuel wrong, and fi bre-optics aren’t just the latest technological trend. emissions and so help the environment. The origin of fi bre-optics goes back over 150 years and like many • That there would be enhanced teaching and learning capabilities other technologies, it has taken a while to perfect and mass- for our children both at school and at home. produce at a feasible cost. It is the kind of infrastructure that • That there would be increased productivity in the health sector by might seem to be a waste of taxpayer’s money right now but one providing enhanced communications with overseas counterparts. that would make future generations extremely grateful if it was put in place. • And fi nally, that we would gain greater global connectivity, bringing us closer to our trading partners. Another point to consider is that other countries have already made this investment. We live in a have it / want it / get it now world. Unless we’re prepared to keep up, we’ll soon be left behind. The mighty Bill Gates himself said that nobody would ever need more than 640K of memory in their computer.

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FUTURE TREND

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ore powerful Just like the movies, the Headgear and advanced Subsystem becomes information central weaponry has – the awareness hub of the uniform. It necessitated would integrate tactical processing like a higher yield maps, routes and surveillance awareness success for information plus allow a 180-degree -combatants on the modern battlefield emissive visor display similar to the and the army’s developments ensure graphic data provided in the helmet of a its soldiers are equipped with advanced jet fighter during combat. In other versions The Army is also working on concept uniforms. The body armour of the new of the helmet, a single dropdown piece of uniforms as an extension to the standard suits will absorb the shock of a bullet eyewear will let the soldier see a 17-inch Future Force model, which uses advanced much better than bulletproof vests, as the computer screen. nanotechnology. To show how incredibly hard armour stands slightly off the body This will display relevant data as a small the devices will be, a nanometre is so if a soldier is shot, the force is evenly see-through image to the infantryman, a metric measurement equivalent to one distributed around the suit, reducing the providing 360-degree situational billionth of a metre. Nanosensors can be likelihood of injuries like rib fractures. awareness for this helmet version. embedded into the suit, which will simulate Soldiers will have the ability to chat online External microphones won’t exist on the the body, allowing the “nanomuscle fibres” with each other as the new system is tied new battle uniforms. Helmet sensors will to give a soldier more strength. From the into tactical local and wide-area networks register vibrations on the cranial cavity, waist down, a “robotic power” system with an onboard computer that sits at the giving the soldier the ability to control the connected directly to the soldier will give base of the soldier’s back. Essentially, entire computer via voice activation. substantial lift and load capability. With this lower body strength, our army personnel the 2020 soldier will become an “F-16 on The onboard computer also monitors becomes a walking gun platform. legs”, as the capabilities are currently only temperature, heart rate, whether the soldier available on aircraft like the F-16 fighter is standing or sitting, and the amount of The Future Force Warrior is a concept jet. Soldiers will also have the ability to water the person has taken. This overall designed to protect and save lives. share data with army vehicles and aircraft. physiological picture will be a vital measure Although fully operational suits for the If an advance Apache helicopter is on of how the soldier is performing in the Warrior are ten-plus years away, we can reconnaissance, it can relay its recorded battle zone. It also lets a medic diagnose all hope that the world will allow science to information back to an individual soldier in and treat soldiers from a remote location, have a more benevolent use for it, without real time. without physically seeing them. the need to prove its warlike intentions.

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CIRRUS VISION SF50

If you just happen to have a private jet and are starting to feel a little conscious about its environmental impact, it might well be the perfect time to look at downsizing a little. But fear not, this doesn’t have to mean giving up those creature comforts or the bragging rights at the club. There is a new option on the horizon (hopefully).

SPARK / 47 48 / READ SPARK UK: IN PRINT // iPAD // iPHONE // ANDROID // ReadSpark.co.uk FUTURE TREND

ntended for personal use, the Cirrus Vision SF50 differs from other aircraft in that it blends the best of both the high-performance single-engine class and the Very Light Jet (VLJ) category. Swanky Iinterior space, single-engine fuel efficiency, flexible seating options for a family of up to seven, state-of-the-art advanced avionics and flight systems, and even an Airframe Parachute System (CAPS), are each hallmarks of the new design. Whilst technologically advanced, the SF50 is, at the same time, designed and engineered to be simple to fly. It boasts optimised cockpit technology for ease of use by a single pilot, the most flexible interior of any general aviation aircraft available and proven, state-of-the-art safety systems as standard equipment. In February 2011, Cirrus was sold to China Aviation Industry General Aircraft (CAIGA) and while the SF50 had its inaugural flight in July 2008, it was only in July of this year after the company’s merger that CEO, Brent Wouters indicated plans to bring the Vision SF50 Jet to market. Considering that Cirrus began taking orders for the aircraft in 2006, there is no doubt that the 431 customers who each paid a US $100,000 deposit for the US $1.72 million aircraft, will be glad to see the SF50 project get off the ground. THE CIRRUS SF50 AIRCRAFT AND PROGRAMME DETAILS: The Cirrus SF50 is powered by a Williams International FJ33-4A-19 engine. The Cirrus SF50 will fly at about 300 knots at a maximum operating altitude of 25,000 feet – well below airline traffic. The unique, angled backpack-mounted engine and vectored thrust makes for smooth handling and engine efficiency. The backpack engine mount design keeps the engine itself outside of the fuselage structure. The spherical, pressurised cabin design accommodates up to seven with flexible seating in a “five plus two” configuration. The rear centre sliding seat and flip-up adolescent child seats make for generous leg room and ample space for carry-on items. The strength of the Cirrus SF50’s airframe has been further substantiated by thorough structural load testing of each sub-assembly. The Cirrus SF50 marks the first application of the V-tail on a major consumer aircraft in 60 years, which was facilitated due to better understanding of aerodynamics. Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) comes as standard equipment.

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SPACE

Scientists are keeping a close eye on orbital debris created when two communications satellites smashed into each other hundreds of kilometres above Siberia in February, 2010. In the same month, a gathering of scientists were already meeting in Vienna to discuss the problem of space junk that is clogging up the Earth’s orbit. It’s a galactic garbage dump up there. Since the launch of Sputnik on 4 October, 1957 approximately 4,600 launches have placed some 6,000 satellites into orbit, of which about 400 are travelling beyond geostationary orbit (GEO) or on interplanetary trajectories. Today, it is estimated that only 800 satellites are operational. Space debris comprise the ever-increasing amount of inactive space hardware in orbit around the Earth, as well as fragments of spacecraft that have broken up, exploded or otherwise become abandoned. About 50 percent of all trackable objects are due to in-orbit explosion events. >> ven though the current space Since the 1957 launch of Sputnik 1, humanity has been blasting debris population may not rockets into orbit – and space debris has been accumulating right represent an immediate and from the start. Sputnik’s upper stage was, itself, discarded into excessive danger, the risk of low Earth orbit. collision with debris is continuously “At that time, space was empty, so no one was thinking about the growing. problem,” says Dr. Klinkrad, one of the debris specialists at ESOC The 10 February 2010 incident who also looks after ESA’s DISCOS database (Database and generated space junk that could Information System Characterising Objects in Space), a catalogue circle the Earth and threaten other of Earth-orbiting objects and debris. satellites for the next 10,000 DISCOS can be used to extract detailed data on all known, years. It has added to the already tracked objects. This data is used to predict potential collisions worrying amount of debris surrounding the planet. These include with ESA satellites. The database has been painstakingly built up old spacecraft, other satellites, rocket bodies and large fragments through data supplied by USSPACECOM (US Space Command), from past break-ups. which operates dedicated tracking radars, and by several They are tracked by a number of countries including Germany, European sources. France, the UK and the USA, as well as by the European Space Additional information on objects of sub-catalogue size is provided Agency (ESA) itself, using both optical telescopes and radar. So far, by Germany’s FGAN (Research Establishment for Applied Science) there are some 10,000 catalogued debris objects surrounding Earth. radar, in Wachtberg, Germany and by ESA’s own Space Debris While tracking space debris is one thing, the situation is unlikely to Telescope in Tenerife, Spain. improve unless concentrated, coordinated and with systematic steps Typical of the debris impact assessment work done at ESA, Dr. taken to mitigate the risks that are now so clearly understood. “Too Gerhard Drolshagen at ESA/ESTEC has analysed micro-debris many objects could render space too risky and unusable in the future,” impacts on the solar arrays used by the Hubble Space Telescope. emphasises Dr. Heiner Klinkrad, Head of ESA’s Space Debris Office. The arrays were supplied by ESA and retrieved in March 2002 after At closing speeds reaching 50,000 kilometres per hour, even more than eight years in space. Thousands of impact craters could the smallest bits of space debris can cause serious harm to be seen on the 41-square-metre solar arrays. The biggest were spacecraft; larger ones cause catastrophe. Near-Earth missions, about eight millimetres in diameter. like the International Space Station, now carry ever-more “There were 174 complete penetrations of the 0.7-millimetre-thick sophisticated shielding. array, with impact craters ranging in size from three microns to Professor Walter Flury, the ESA’s resident expert on space debris, eight millimetres,” says Drolshagen. casually uses rather startling terms like “hypervelocity impact” and A chemical analysis of impact crater residue allowed him “spacecraft break-up” as though he investigates such possibilities to distinguish between impacts due to naturally-occurring regularly, which he does. And he is not lacking for work. micrometeoroids and those due to artificial space debris. Together with a team of space debris specialists located in the “From the crater sizes, particle fluxes were derived and compared Mission Analysis Office at ESA’s Operations Centre (ESOC) in with predictions from population models for meteoroids and space Darmstadt, Germany, and in the Space Environments and Effects debris. For most sizes, measurements and models, they agree very Section at the agency’s Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) well,” he says. Flury adds that despite the large volume of impacts, in Noordwijk, Netherlands, Flury is point man for ESA’s efforts to there was no functional degradation of Hubble. study, model and assess the space debris problem and determine how to mitigate risk for current and future missions. Flury argues passionately for an international code of conduct, worldwide-accepted standards and international regulations or “There have been cases of damage and destruction caused by space law, to create a comprehensive framework for reducing hypervelocity impacts,” says Professor Flury. In plain language, space debris and boosting spaceflight safety. space debris is anything “up there” that can interfere with a spacecraft, including other spacecraft. The need for a global framework is becoming widely-accepted given the uneven results of past efforts by individual space-active According to Flury, the 10,000 catalogued debris objects around nations and the growing environment of dangerous debris that Earth, comprise of operational spacecraft (seven percent), old surrounds the Earth. spacecraft (22 percent), rocket bodies (17 percent), mission-related objects (13 percent) and miscellaneous fragments (41 percent). ESA’s policy effort focuses on the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC), comprising space agencies from Artificial debris includes spent satellites, cast-off Yo-Yo de- China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Ukraine, the UK, the spinners (used to de-spin spacecraft after launch), tools dropped USA, Russia and ESA, as well as the Scientific and Technical during spacewalks, discarded rocket upper stages and the Subcommittee of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Use of Outer fragmentary remains of craft that have exploded or otherwise Space (UNCOPUOS). broken up. There are many thousands more uncatalogued objects larger than one centimetre – perhaps more than 50,000; “Once upper stages are discarded and satellites are turned off, no one really knows the exact count. their mission is over. During the first 30 years of space flight, few operators disposed of their spacecraft in a controlled way. This These uncatalogued objects include bits of aluminium slag attitude has gradually changed in the past 20 years,” says Klinkrad. from solid rocket motor propellant and droplets of Sodium- Potassium coolant that escaped from Russian nuclear-powered In 2002, the IADC created Debris Mitigation Guidelines that require reconnaissance satellites when they ejected their reactor cores. spacecraft owners to protect the commercially valuable low-Earth and GEO zones. Requirements include limiting debris during The really dangerous bits are intermediate in size, between one normal operations, suppressing deliberate break-up of rockets or and ten centimetres. These are hard to detect yet pack a kinetic payloads, and properly disposing of spacecraft and upper stages, energy punch sufficient to cause catastrophic damage. One typically by moving them to “graveyard” orbits or by deorbiting centimetre is also the maximum size of debris that can be defeated them into the atmosphere, where most burn up. by modern shielding technology; Space Shuttle windscreens have been damaged by flecks of paint as small as 0.3 millimetres in size While the overall risk of a destructive impact, i.e. involving debris bigger travelling at a mere 14,400 kilometres per hour. The fastest debris, than one centimetre, remains small, Flury argues for action now to at 50,000 kilometres per hour, are travelling about 17 times faster protect scientific and commercial space activity in the future. than a machine gun bullet. SPACE CONTENTS

8: UPDATE – THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY UPDATES AND QUIRKY DESIGNS 20: MAN MADE: SUPER KAMIOKANDE – THE REAL TIME MACHINE 22: SPACE: AN INFRARED VIEW OF THE GALAXY 24: SCIENCE: TELEPORTATION – FANTASY OR DISTINCT FUTURE POSSIBILITY?ANT THE REST? 26: SCIENCE:W INVENTIONSSEE PAGES THAT 56 CHANGED & 57 FOR OUR DETAILS. WORLD

28:TO SUCCESS: BUY THE FULLMIND VERSION READERS IN– PRINT YOUR OR LAPTOP ON YOUR COULD iPAD OR SCANiPHONE, YOUR BRAIN 30: ARCHITECTURE: THE WORLD’S TALLEST BUILDING 32: SUCCESS: IS STEVE JOBS THE NEW DISNEY 38: WEB: THE FUTURE OF THE WEB – WHAT ROLE FIBRE OPTICS? 42: MAN MADE: FUTURE FORCE – MEET THE NEW BATTLE READY WARRIORS 46: MAN MADE: CIRRUS JET – STATE OF THE ART FLYING 50: SPACE: THE GALAXY HAS BECOME EARTH’S JUNKYARD 54: ARCHITECTURE: SILK ROAD MAP EVOLUTION 58: THE ONLINE REVOLUTION – IS THE WEB OUR PUREST FORM OF DEMOCRACY? 62: WHEELS: LIGHTWEIGHT LAMBORGHINI TO THE MAX 66: SPACE UNREAL ESTATE – LUNAR NEIGHBOURHOODS 74: ENVIRONMENT: WHAT SURPRISES LURK BENEATH OUR POLAR REGIONS? 80: THE FUTURE OF ENTERTAINMENT – HOW TECHNOLOGY GUIDED OUR CHOICES 88: MAN MADE: CODE X BOAT IS A BABE MAGNET ON WATER 92: MAN MADE: SOLILOQUY – SUPER GREEN SUPER YACHT 96: STYLE: WATCH SUPPLEMENT – TIMELY INVESTMENTS 102: FILM: X-MEN 2011 – HOW THE MUTANTS EVOLVED INTO A BLOCKBUSTER 108: WHEELS: SAAB CONCEPT – WHEN CRAFT & CAR COLLIDES 112: WHEELS: VW CONCEPT – FRUGAL, EARTH FRIENDLY & FAST 116: MAN MADE: SHEENE BIKE – AN ICONIC TRIBUTE TO AN ICONIC RACER 120: SCIENCE: NANOTECHNOLOGY – THE ULTIMATE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 126: ADVENTURE: STORM CHASERS – THESE ARE REAL CHAMPIONS OF DISASTER 130: ADVENTURE: TREASURE HUNTERS – WHAT LIES BENEATH? 136: MAN MADE: THE WORLD’S LONGEST RAIL TUNNEL 144: ARCHITECTURE: TURBINE CITY – WIND THAT PEOPLE CAN LIVE WITH 148: ENTERTAINMENT: SMART TVS ARE THE NEW SMARTPHONE – JUST MUCH BIGGER 158: GADGETS: IPAD APP GUIDE – THE TOP 19 IPAD APPS TO ENJOY AND IMPRESS 162: GADGETS – HERE’S YOUR GUIDE TO THE BEST BOY’S TOYS AVAILABLE 172: GAMING – WE REVIEW THE LATEST AND GREATEST... AND NOT SO GREATEST 176: LAST TECH LAUGH – TECHNICALLY SPEAKING, THESE ARE FUNNY SPARK

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