iPhone 5G case design hints to edge-to-edge screen, flash camera repositioning

China-based Kulcase is listing an alleged “Newest design crystal case for Apple iPhone 5g” on the company’s alibaba.com page,  a case which it seems is actually based on leaked plans from Apple.

The design mockup of the case, as well as the technical engineering drawing, shows that the iPhone 5G might have a new edge-to-edge display and a new location for the rear flash.

Of course, this news should be treated like any other rumor, since anyone can make this up basically, but like’s the case with rumors, some turn up to be true. This wouldn’t be the first time an Apple spec would get leaked by analyzing its accessories.

Alibaba.com serves as an international business-to-business trading site and has been the source for a number of Apple product leaks in the past. In March, three employees from Apple partner Foxconn were formally charged with violating trade secrets for allegedly leaking the design of the iPad 2 to third-party accessory makers.

This particular rumor can be considered a bit more trustworthy, due to the fact as well that the engineering model seems similar to an engineering mock-up leaked back in March of the 5G, that showed a bigger screen.

Currently, the iPhone 5G cases are listed at ten cents apiece, as long as you’re willing to buy at least a thousand.

via Apple Insider.

Meet the world’s only immortal animal

If you’re thinking McLeod, you couldn’t be further from the truth. What you have to do is think small; not microscopic, just big enough to see with your naked eye. Turritopsis nutricula is a hydrozoan, and it’s considered by scientists to be the only animal that cheated death.

Solitary organisms are (according to current belief) doomed to die, after they completed their life cycle. Hydrozoa are a huge class of predatory animals that live mostly in saltwater, closely related to jellyfish and corals. Eggs and sperm from an adult jellyfish (medusa) and they then develop into polyp stage. Medusae evolve asexually from polyps.

Still, our Turritopsis nutricula (could we call it Joe??) managed to find a way to beat that. What these little folks do is they revert completely to a sexually immature, colonial stage after they reach sexual maturity. They’re even cooler than that. When they’re young they’ve got only several tentacles, but at a mature stage, they get to 80-90 of them.

They’re able to return to polyp stage due to a cell change in the external screen (Exumbrella), which allows them to bypass death. As far as scientists have been able to find out, this change renders the hydrozoa virtually immortal.

Russia will build world’s first space hotel

Russia’s space program seems do be doing quite well, which is more than we can say about other countries at the moment; they recently announced plans to build a hotel in space.

According to the released plans, the hotel will orbit 217 miles above ground, and it will be able to host 7 guests in 4 different rooms, all of which will have great views of… the Earth. Of course, the stay won’t be for everybody – a five day vacation at the hotel will cost £350,000.

The Commercial Space station, as the hotel will be officially called will open in 2016. Even though if it will be more suited for tourists than the International Space Station, visitors can still expect sealed showers and the usual space food. Alcohol will be firmly prohibited, and even though they didn’t make it quite clear, I presume drugs will be too; also, visitors might be getting some unexpected guests – astronauts from the ISS using the hotel as an emergency. But the hotel won’t only host tourists.

“The hotel will be aimed at wealthy individuals and people working for private companies who want to do research in space.”

In order to reach the space hotel, visitors will have to spend two days aboard a Soyuz rocket, but the view will be definitely worth it; given some half of million dollars, that is.

A candle’s flame burns millions of diamond nano-particles every second

Diamonds are for a nano-second – in the glitter of a candle light, that is. In a stroke of brilliance, Professor Wuzong Zhou, Professor of Chemistry at the University of St Andrews, has found millions of diamond nano-particles in the flickering light of a simple candle.

Since its invention in China thousands of years ago, people have always been fascinated by the candle’s light, inspiring numerous thinkers with its brilliant halo. Zhou’s research has unraveled the mystery that has baffled men for all these years.

As it burns, 1.5 million diamond particles are created every second within its flame. It was already known that at the candle flame’s base hydro-carbon molecules existed, which were ultimately converted into carbon dioxide by the top of the flame. However, the process in between these two states was up to now unbeknownst to scientists.

Professor Zhou, assisted by one of his students Mr Zixue Su, used a novel sampling technique, he developed himself, was able to extract particles from within the middle of the flame for studying. Much to his surprise, he found that a candle flame contains all four known forms of carbon. The whole event is a premier success, after other failed attempts by scientists in the past. Curiously enough, Professor Zhou entered this endevour after he received a challenge from a fellow scientist in combustion.

“A colleague at another university said to me: “Of course no-one knows what a candle flame is actually made of.

“I told him I believed science could explain everything eventually, so I decided to find out,” Dr Zhou said.

As such, there were discovered diamond nanoparticles and fullerenic particles, along with graphitic and amorphous carbon. Dr. Zhou believes that his research might funnel advances towards a better understanding and manufacturing of diamonds, a critical material in the industry. Cheaper, more environmental friendly alternatives might be developed.

Dr Zhou added: “Unfortunately the diamond particles are burned away in the process, and converted into carbon dioxide, but this will change the way we view a candle flame forever.”

Soon, bulletproof human skin made from spider silk and goat milk

London, Aug 22 (ANI): Bulletproof vests have been around for decades but skin that can stop them has only been the preserve of science fiction.

The most famous example is Superman, or the Man of Steel - bullets simply ricochet off of him.

Now, scientists have claimed to be making this science fiction into a reality with the development of bulletproof human skin made from spider silk and goat milk.

They genetically engineered goats to produce milk, which is packed with the same protein as silk spiders, which is then milked out and spun and weaved into a material that is ten times stronger than steel.

The fabric is then blended with human skin to make what the scientists hope will be tough enough to stop even a bullet.

Dutch researcher Jalila Essaidi said the 'spidersilk' project was called '2.6g 329m/s' after the weight and the velocity of a .22 calibre long rifle bullet.

Working with the Forensic Genomics Consortium in the Netherlands, she said the goal was to replace the keratin in our skin with the spider's silk.

The first stage involves growing a layer of real skin around a sample of the bulletproof skin, which takes about five weeks.

"Imagine a spidersilk vest, capable of catching bullets, the modern day equivalent of Genghis Khan's arrows," the Daily Mail quoted Essaidi as saying.

"Now, let's take this one step further, why bother with a vest: imagine replacing keratin, the protein responsible for the toughness of the human skin, with this spidersilk protein.

"This is possible by adding the silk producing genes of a spider to the gnome of a human: creating a bulletproof human.

"Science-fiction? Maybe, but we can get a feeling of what this transhumanistic idea would be like by letting a bulletproof matrix of spidersilk merge with an in vitro human skin," she added.

Murthy steps down as Infosys chairman

Bangalore, Aug. 19 (PTI): N.R. Narayana Murthy today stepped down as the chairman of Infosys, bringing the curtains down on his 30-years of illustrious innings at the helm, even as he sought to inspire the new leadership team and the employees to take the company to greater heights.

At a farewell ceremony at the Nasdaq-listed company's headquarters here this evening, Murthy outlined his vision for the $6-billion IT firm.

Infosys should now aspire to become a $60-billion firm and "who knows, hopefully, a $600-billion company", the iconic business leader said.

"When I thought of (starting) Infosys on December 29, 1980, I frankly did not think I will bid goodbye to an Infosys of this size and this proportion," he added.

Murthy co-founded the company with six professionals 30 years ago and now it has a workforce of more than 1.3 lakh.

He said the company had grown well in the last 30 years in terms of revenues, profits, employee strength, number of investors and market capitalisation.

"However, what is most gratifying to all of us is the respect that this company and its leaders have received over the last several years," said Murthy, who was given a standing ovation at the function. He said Infosys must exist for hundreds of years to add value to society and expand its operations to every country on the planet.

Murthy, who ended his formal operational association with the company and would now don the role of Chairman Emeritus, said he does not believe in any legacy.

"For me, the past is dead and gone. And whatever little work I had to do, I have done to the best of my ability", he said, adding that if lessons learnt in the past are put to use and practices become better, it would create a bright future for the company.

"I don't want to be nostalgic", said Murthy, who was at his usual self and showed no special emotion on the last day in office.

Exhorting the employees to seek excellence, he said performance is the only way to get respect from stakeholders.

"There is no short-cut to this. Performance brings recognition, recognition brings respect and respect brings power," Murthy said.

He appealed to the Infosys leadership team to "resurrect" the fast-track leadership programme started by him which was "somehow abandoned", and stressed the need to measure performance at the individual level and not at the team level.

Murthy said such an approach would give incentive to high-performers in teams, and average performers to strive hard and become high-performers.

"If we don't do this (measure performance at individual level), I personally believe we will bring down our productivity to mediocre levels, average levels", he said.

Google to buy Motorola Mobility for $12.5 bln

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Google Inc will buy phone hardware maker Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc for $12.5 billion to bolster adoption of its Android mobile software and compete with smartphone rival Apple Inc.

In its biggest deal to date, Google said it would pay $40 per share in cash, a 63 percent premium to Motorola Mobility's Friday closing price on the New York Stock Exchange.

"What it says is that Google wants to provide a total experience that's hardware and software (like Apple)," said BGC Partners analyst Colin Gillis.

Shares of Motorola Mobility, which focuses on smartphone and TV set-top boxes, jumped 59 percent on Monday.

Google, maker of the Android mobile phone operating system software, has been forging ahead in the smartphone market but has been hampered by a lack of intellectual property in wireless telephony.

Earlier this month, fresh from losing a bid to buy thousands of patents from bankrupt Nortel, Google Chief Legal Officer David Drummond blasted Microsoft, Apple, Oracle and "other companies," accusing them of colluding to hamper the increasingly popular Android software by buying up patents.

A source close to the deal said Google swooped in to buy Motorola Mobility after losing out on Nortel's patents.

"It is much more than just a patent sale. It is obviously more than a strategy shift for Google that is very significant," the source said.

The Motorola Mobility deal may represent a victory for activist investor Carl Icahn, Motorola's biggest shareholder. He has urged Motorola to consider splitting off its patent portfolio to cash in on surging interest in wireless technology. As of July, Icahn held an 11.36 percent stake in the company.

In a statement, Icahn said the deal is "a great outcome for all shareholders of Motorola Mobility."

Google, which plans to run Motorola Mobility as a separate business, said the deal will close by the end of 2011 or early in 2012, and requires regulatory approvals in the U.S., European Union and other areas, as well as the blessing of Motorola Mobility's shareholders.

Lazard advised Google on the deal, while Motorola used Centerview Partners and Frank Quattrone's Qatalyst Partners, sources told Reuters.

(Reporting by Franklin Paul in New York and Sayantani Ghosh in Bangalore; additional reporting by Nadia Damouni and Phil Wahba in New York; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty, John Wallace, Dave Zimmerman)