Colour e-reader mimics butterfly wings
Creating a colour e-ink display is a lot more difficult than it looks, but Qualcomm might have found the solution in the wings of butterflies, writes Dvice.
Taking advantage of the same iridescent reflectivity found in butterfly wings, Qualcomm's Mirasol prototype displays colour images without a backlight.
The 5.7-inch screen is smaller than the Amazon Kindle's, but instead of the putty-coloured background with grey text, this screen appears to glow with unusually vibrant colours. It's a colour screen that uses even less power than a monochrome e-ink display, claims Qualcomm.
Incubation hub for 'technopreneurs'
Technology-based start-up businesses and venture capitalists now have a venue to develop new emerging technologies through the incubation facility developed by the University of the Philippines in the Visayas-Cebu College (UP Cebu), reports Manila Bulletin.
The institution has introduced its Technology Business Incubation facility, which was granted to the school by the Department of Science and Technology and the Philippine Council for Advanced Science and Technology Research and Development.
“This is where we give IT start-ups or businesses the right environment complete with facility and services, and the right mix of elements to nurture and help start-up businesses in Cebu, specifically technology-based businesses to succeed,” said Pauline Wade, the UP-Cebu incubator manager.
Solar cell efficiency boosted
The solar efficiency problem may be solved, not by some amazing new material, but by existing and surprisingly cheap components, says SolveClimate.
Such were the findings of IBM researchers who recently achieved 9.6% efficiency with cells made from copper, tin, zinc, sulphur and selenium.
The efficiency of any solar cell refers to its photoelectric conversion rate - its ability to convert sunlight into electricity. While higher efficiency rates have been posted in the solar world (the highest so far is a 19.3% efficiency announced by Mitsubishi), the IBM cell set a record for solar cells made with such low-cost and readily available materials.
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