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Friday, January 01, 2010

Thorium, the Next Uranium [Science]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/IHS9_ekRGH0/thorium-the-next-uranium

Wired has a fairly epic look into a material that could make nuclear power both clean and safe called thorium—named after the Norse god of thunder. Of course, scientists recognized its promise back in the 1950s.

Whereas uranium is extremely rare, requires purification and creates waste that will be with us for hundreds of thousands of years, thorium is extremely common, burns more efficiently in reactors and leaves less, less radioactive waste (that can't be turned into a nuke).

In fact, if it weren't for the Soviet Union building uranium reactors in the 60s (and us responding in typical Cold War fashion), we'd probably be using thorium today.

But as Wired explains, thorium may be poised for a comeback. [Wired and Image]

Motorola buys Super Bowl ad spot

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/30/motorola-buys-super-bowl-ad-spot/

Looks like Motorola's fully back in the game: not only does it have the hottest Android device you can (currently) buy in the Droid, word today is that the company's dished out somewhere between $2.5 and $3 million for at least one Super Bowl commercial. It's been a while since Motorola last spent so lavishly on an ad campaign, so we're super curious to see what device the ad is for -- the safe bet is obviously the Droid, but CES could bring both the AT&T-destined Backflip and Sholes Tablet, so it's all up in the air. Our main hope? The return of HELLO MOTO.

Motorola buys Super Bowl ad spot originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nexus One trounces 3D benchmark, gets caught in high-res photoshoot

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/30/nexus-one-trounces-3d-benchmark-gets-caught-in-high-res-photosh/

Just when you thought you'd seen it all with Nexus One, along comes an old friend with some higher resolution shots of the handset (hooray!) and a pretty impressive 3D benchmark test using Qualcomm's Neocore. Video's after the break --that Snapdragon chip outputs a mean framerate, no?

Update: Also on hand after the break is a high-quality video of the UI -- ten minutes of it, to be exact. Just a warning, there's a brief NSFW clip from Californication at around the two minute mark. With that said, grab some popcorn and enjoy!

Update 2: The original YouTube video was pulled. We've uploaded a new copy and embedded below.

Gallery: Nexus One trounces 3D benchmark, gets caught in high-res photoshoot

Continue reading Nexus One trounces 3D benchmark, gets caught in high-res photoshoot

Nexus One trounces 3D benchmark, gets caught in high-res photoshoot originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 21:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use! of feed s.

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A-DATA's USB 3.0 / SATA II flash drive announced for January

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/30/a-datas-usb-3-0-sata-ii-flash-drive-announced-for-january/

We're a few precious breaths from 2010, and if there's anything we're looking forward to, it's some wicked fast USB 3.0 storage -- Intel be damned. Set to hit shelves sometime in January, A-DATA's N002 Combo Flash Drive sports both SATA II and a USB 3.0 connection. Using the latter, the drive boasts up to 200MB/sec read and 170 MB/sec write speeds. Or if you're feeling retro, you can take advantage of that backwards-compatibility and connect via USB 2.0. Now, we don't know how much this bad boy will cost, but it will be bundled with A-DATA UFD to GO software. Of course, this thing is not nearly as cute as the Kissing Octopus USB drive, but we're sure it's not without its charms.

A-DATA's USB 3.0 / SATA II flash drive announced for January originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 23:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mophie iPhone credit card reader coming to a CES near you

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/31/mophie-iphone-credit-card-reader-coming-to-a-ces-near-you/

iPhone accessory maker and recession antidote regular Mophie is about to make the most buzzworthy move of its short history by offering a credit card reader and accompanying transaction app for the Apple handset. Positioned as a direct competitor to Jack Dorsey's Square iPhone Payment System, Mophie's solution looks to be integrated into an iPhone case -- making it possible to keep the reader on permanently, albeit at a slight cost to your device's aesthetics. The decidedly cube-shaped Square system has a less ergonomic design, but we suspect that the winner (if either of these two succeeds) will be primarily determined by the usability of the app and affordability of the service. Look out for more info to emerge at some point during the maelstrom that will be CES 2010.

Mophie iPhone credit card reader coming to a CES near you originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 04:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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