Air-fuelled battery stores 10x more

Researchers say a new type of air-fuelled battery being studied could provide up to 10 times the energy storage of designs currently available, and someday be used to power electric cars, mobile phones and laptops, says CNet.

"Our results so far are very encouraging and have far exceeded our expectations," says professor Peter Bruce, of the University of St Andrews' chemistry department.

The new idea the researchers are examining is to replace the lithium cobalt oxide electrode in today's rechargeable lithium batteries with a porous carbon electrode. This allows lithium ions and electrons in the cell to react instead with oxygen in the ambient air.

Apple was granted a flurry of patents this week, including one that outlines a flat-panel display that doubles as a camera, says The Register.

Essentially, the patent describes a flat panel in which each display element (pixel) is accompanied by an imaging element (sensor) with either a fixed-focus or zoomable lens.

So the display can act as a traditional display while simultaneously imaging an object - such as your face - in front of it.

Google co-founder Larry Page said forcing Google to delete user data after six months could dent its ability to predict pandemics such as swine flu, reports the BBC.

The European Commission wants data ditched after six months, but Page said more debate was needed around the issue of storing user data.

A US judge has postponed the sentencing of a woman who used a fictional online personality to bully a 13-year-old girl who later killed herself, says the BBC.

Lori Drew, 50, posed as a boy on the MySpace Web site to befriend Megan Meier, who hanged herself after their virtual relationship ended.

A California judge postponed sentencing to 2 July, saying he needed time to review testimony from two witnesses.