Have you ever heard of ‘time capsules’? Well, it just got a serious upgrade!
Researchers at Southampton University in the UK developed a tiny glass disc that can store data up to 360TB (that’s 368,640 GB of data) which can be preserved for 14 Billion years. Yes, you heard it right!
The technique uses femtosecond laser pulses to write data in the 3D structure of quartz at the nanoscale. These pulses can write data in three layers of nanostructured dots separated by 5 micrometres (that’s 0.005 mm).
The team behind the new 5D discs says these discs could be most useful for institutions who deal with large archives: libraries, museums, and anywhere else extensive records are kept (like a Facebook data centre).
So where do the five dimensions come from? First there’s the three-dimensional position of each dot within the layers, and then the extra dimensions are the size and orientation of the dot. The nanostructures created by the technology can be read using an optical microscope in tandem with a polariser (a filter designed to block specific polarisations of light).
The team has now written a series of major works to small glass discs— including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Newton’s Opticks, the Magna Carta and the Kings James Bible. They also point out that the data is extremely stable: It could endure for as long as 13.8 billion years at temperatures up to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
A few days ago, a user posted a video online showing him bending his brand new Huawei Nexus 6P. It did create a lot of ripples over the internet, but a simple analysis would suggest that bending a smartphone with sufficient force applied deliberately is no indication of its weakness. Bending of Nexus 6P is definitely nothing to worry about unless someone with an insane mind would try to break it deliberately.
And now another news is doing the round. The glass at the rear panel of the phone that covers the camera is being touted as susceptible to spontaneous cracks! The glass covering the rear camera is named “visor” due to its appearance. Four users on Reddit have claimed that the visor of their Nexus 6P shattered spontaneously without exerting any external force.
This weird phenomenon has been taken seriously by several users who have been asking for clarification both from Google and Huawei. These claims cannot be validated due to the lack of any proper evidence and any confirmation from either Google or Huawei. But what is weirder is the fact that neither of the companies has refuted these claims either. So, what is the truth behind these so-called spontaneous shattering of the glass and what could be the probable reasons?
Well, for now we will look at both the possibilities. There is insufficient proof to prove the shattering phenomenon or to disprove it. Since the time users of Nexus 6P are reporting the cracks in the visor of their phone, various theories are doing the round.
According to one theory, the cracks are due to overheating and sudden cooling of the glass. It happens when the phone camera is used for a longer period resulting in the heating of the visor. As it would happen with any glass that is warm and suddenly cools, the visor also breaks “spontaneously”. This theory assumes that the poor management of heat is the reason for the cracks in the visor. Another theory suggests that the tempering method used for the glass could be the reason it cracks when there is a shear force impact. There could be some structural flaw in the glass resulting in the cracks.
Both these theories seem far-fetched. There is a very low probability of the cracks due to sudden heating and cooling phenomenon as the glass used to manufacture the visor is a gorilla glass. Such glasses are robust enough to withstand such fluctuations in the temperature. The second theory sounds even more outrageous. A glass of this quality used in a phone like Nexus 6P must have undergone various stress testing thereby nullifying any chances of it breaking due to any structural faults.
Having said that, why would anyone take a chance with a $600 smartphone, especially when there are reports of shattering of the visor? Instead of worrying whether to buy Nexus 6P or not due to these reports, it is a good idea to wait probably for a while before this news can be validated. Alternately, you may buy a Nexus 6P with a protective case and a Nexus protection program.
Google introduces Glass for prescription lenses and hopes that it will be a way for increasing the reach of their product and Glass maybe will be considered by the non-Glass users.
According to the reports, four prescription frames will be released for Google Glass. “Titanium Collection” is what Google call these frames because of the metal they are produced from. Google preferred themselves over any other traditional glass designers for designing these frames which have the necessary shape.
Definitely, you want to know the cost of these frames. Don’t you? Well, according to the reports the frame might be on sale today and it will cost you $225 and Google will charge you additional $1,499 for Glass which means that the whole set, frame and Glass, will cost you $1,724. Still, something is missing. Isn’t it? That’s your prescription lens. Google will not help you with that. For that, you have to stop by an eyeglass shop and get the lens cut in the shape that fits in your prescription frame that you bought for your Glass.
Glass comes already mounted on a frame and till now, for the ones using prescription lenses it was like wearing two glasses. With the introduction of these new prescription frames for Glass, Google is hoping to reach a wide range of people and invite them to purchase Glass.
