Knowledge Update

New York, Jan 17 (IANS) A new patent filed by Microsoft hints at a device supported by flexible hinge that would transform a phone into a tablet.

The flexible hinge will also let users set up the device in tent mode similar to Lenovo's Yoga tablet.

​London, Jan 17 (IANS) The world's lightest mechanical watch revealed is a key step forward into the development of more widespread applications of graphene, officials at the University of Manchester said. Graphene, first isolated in 2004 by Nobel-winning scientists at the university, is just an atom thick, and is expected to revolutionise the automotive and aerospace industries. The watch was unveiled Monday in Geneva, Xinhua news agency reported. In a statement issued in Manchester, the university said the watch was a unique collaboration with watchmaking brand Richard Mille and racing team, McLaren F1 to create world's lightest mechanical chronograph by pairing leading graphene research with precision engineering. A spokesman at the university said: "The RM 50-03 watch is made using a unique composite incorporating graphene to manufacture a strong but lightweight new case to house the delicate watch mechanism." "The graphene composite known as Graph TPT weighs less than previous similar materials used in watchmaking." The strap of the watch has also been improved by the addition of graphene material. The rubber of the strap was also injected with graphene which has shown to improve its mechanical properties and its resistance to wear. Overall the ultralight watch weighs just 40 grams. Professor Robert Young from the University of Manchester said: "The striking watch has been precisely designed and inspired by the wishbone suspension structure of a McLaren-Honda Formula 1 car. Combining the design and materials the casing of the watch has withstood tremendous shock damage and survived unscathed in tests."

​New York, Jan 17 (IANS) Aiming to cater to the needs of professional users, Apple is predicted to offer up to 32GB of "potentially desktop-class" RAM in its high-end MacBook Pro models in 2017 and 16GB of RAM in its 12-inch MacBook. According to the report in AppleInsider, Apple's 2017 laptop line will focus on internal component updates, notably platform-wide adoption of Intel's Kaby Lake architecture. Essentially, the Intel Skylake CPUs used in Apple's MacBook Pro only support up to 16GB of LPDDR3 RAM. Apple is also predicted to start manufacturing of a 15-inch MacBook Pro with up to 32GB of RAM in the fourth quarter. Beyond the high-end 15-inch model, Apple is expected to start production of new 13 and 15-inch MacBook Pros in the third quarter of 2017. Cupertino-based Apple in October introduced the thinnest and lightest MacBook Pro ever with Touch Bar. The MacBook Pro features sixth-generation quad-core and dual-core processors, up to 2.3 times the graphics performance over the previous generation, super-fast SSDs and up to four Thunderbolt 3 ports. The new 15-inch MacBook Pro, at just 15.5 mm thin, is 14 per cent thinner and has 20 per cent less volume than before, and weighing just 1.83 kg is nearly half a pound lighter. The 15-inch MacBook Pro, also features Touch Bar and Touch ID, a 2.6GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.5GHz, 16GB of memory and 256GB of flash storage. The 13-inch MacBook Pro features a 2.0GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.1GHz, 8GB of memory and 256GB of flash storage. The 13-inch MacBook Pro with the Touch Bar and Touch ID features a 2.9GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.3GHz, 8GB of memory and 256GB of flash storage.

New York, Jan 17 (IANS) At a time when existing LEDs are helping to keep electricity bills low, a group of scientists has developed a more efficient and low-cost alternative to the materials used in traditional LEDs.

Princeton engineering researchers refined the manufacturing of light sources made with crystalline substances known as perovskites that provide more efficiency, lower-cost and long life to the new LEDs.

In this technique, nanoscale perovskite particles self-assemble to produce more efficient, stable and durable perovskite-based LEDs and the working was published in journal Nature Photonics.

"Our new technique allows these nanoparticles to self-assemble to create ultra-fine grained films, an advance in fabrication that makes perovskite LEDs look more like a viable alternative to existing technologies," said lead researcher Barry Rand. 

Rand's team and others researchers are exploring perovskites as a potential lower-cost alternative to gallium nitride (GaN) and other materials used in LED manufacturing. Lower-cost LEDs would speed the acceptance of the bulbs, reducing energy use and environmental impacts.

Perovskite is a mineral originally discovered in the mid-1800s in Russia and named in honour of the Russian mineralogist Lev Perovski. 

Sydney, Jan 17 (IANS) Australian astrophysicists have come a step closer to solving a galactic murder mystery on Tuesday when they studied the effects of dark matter in 11,000 galaxies, a media report said.

They saw that when gas was rapidly stripped from a galaxy, the building block of stars was lost and the galaxy was "effectively killed", said study leader Toby Brown of Melbourne's Swinburne University of Technology.

The study was conducted by researchers from the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, a joint venture between Curtin University and The University of Western Australia, Xinhua news agency reported. 

"Galaxies are embedded in clouds of dark matter that we call dark matter halos. During their lifetimes, galaxies can inhabit halos of different sizes, ranging from masses typical of our own Milky Way to halos thousands of times more massive," Brown said.

"As galaxies fall through these larger halos, the superheated intergalactic plasma between them removes their gas in a fast-acting process called ram-pressure stripping. 

"You can think of it like a giant cosmic broom that comes through and physically sweeps the gas from the galaxies," Brown explained.

The study combined the world's largest galaxy survey -- the Sloan Digital Sky Survey -- with the largest ever set of radio observations for atomic gas -- the Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA survey in order to solve the case.

But according to Brown, ram-pressure stripping is not the only way a galaxy can die, galaxies can also be "strangled."

"Strangulation occurs when the gas is consumed to make stars faster than it's being replenished, so the galaxy starves to death," he said.

"It's a slow-acting process. On the contrary, what ram-pressure stripping does is bop the galaxy on the head and remove its gas very quickly -- of the order of tens of millions of years -- and astronomically speaking that's very fast." 

​Beijing, Jan 17 (IANS) China will launch a satellite this year to gather electromagnetic data which may be used in monitoring and forecasting earthquakes.

According to China's earthquake administrative agencies on Tuesday, the satellite will be launched in the latter half of this year, Xinhua news agency reported. 

Movements of the Earth's crust generate electromagnetic radiation which can be observed from space.

By collecting data on the Earth's electromagnetic field, ionosphere plasma and high-energy particles, the satellite will be used in real-time monitoring of earthquakes and possible seismic precursors in China and neighbouring regions.

The satellite will be China's first space-based platform for earthquake monitoring, providing a new approach for research.

According to Shen Xuhui, deputy chief of the mission, it is designed to remain in orbit for five years and record the electromagnetic situation of earthquakes above 6 magnitude in China and quakes above 7 magnitude all over the world.

Scientists are expecting to find common factors that may be used to develop earthquake forecasting technology, Shen said.

​Beijing, Jan 16 (IANS) China will quadruple its new energy vehicle annual output to 2 million by 2020, a Cabinet Minister said.

Citing a government plan, Industry and Information Technology Minister Miao Wei said at a Beijing forum over the weekend that by 2025, at least one in every five cars sold in

​London, Jan 16 (IANS) As members of the European Union back a draft resolution to grant legal status to robots, in order to understand this proposal one needs to look at corporations which carry legal responsibility but aren't recognised as having human rights or seen as individuals, say experts.

​Beijing, Jan 16 (IANS) The Airbus is expected to deliver its first A330 aircraft in September 2017, a company statement said on Monday.

According to Airbus, by 2019 the Airbus China site in Tianjin, which is next to Beijing, will reach stable production capacity, completing and delivering two A330 wide-body

​Rome, Jan 16 (IANS/AKI) The world's largest glasses maker Luxottica has agreed to a 46 billion euro merger with rival French eye wear firm Essilor to create a global colossus with revenues of more than 15 billion euros, the firms said on Monday.