Latest Invention: The Smallest Laser in the World Created by US Researchers

The latest invention of American researchers is the laser that claims to be the smallest in the world. They managed to develop the laser by squeezing light into a space that is even tinier than a protein molecule. Their latest invention could be a significant breakthrough in the field of optical technology, making one step closer to nanolasers, which can be used to investigate and manipulate DNA. In addition, the laser can lead to the creation of super-fast computers and improved telecommunications.
The team of researchers was led by Professor Xiang Zhang. He mentioned that the plasmon laser constricts light into a gap that is only 5nm wide. An important step was the ability to detain light in a small space for a specific period of time required for light to stabilize into a "coherent" laser state, having all of its waves synchronized.

It is worth mentioning that plasmons are in fact wave-like movements of excited electrons on the surfaces of different metals. By connecting light to these oscillations, scientists managed to compress it further than usually, reports The Telegraph. More information on lasers and latest inventions you can find here at www.IfoNIAC.com, please check the links at the bottom of the story.
Professor Zhang, from the University of California at Berkeley said: "Plasmon lasers represent an exciting class of coherent light sources capable of extremely small confinement. This work can bridge the worlds of electronics and optics at truly molecular length scales." Their latest invention was described in the online version of the journal Nature. The scientist who co-authored the research, Dr Thomas Zentgraf, from the University's Nanoscale Science and Engineering Centre, stated: "The advantages of optics over electronics are multifold. For example, devices will be more power efficient at the same time they offer increased speed or bandwidth."

Whiteman faces big challehges at HP

No one's counting Hewlett-Packard (HP) out. But by any measure, new CEO Meg Whitman faces a mountain of problems as she takes the reins of the world's biggest-selling tech company.

With $126 billion in revenue last year, more than 320,000 employees and a global operation that ships the equivalent of two personal computers every second, HP is still a force to be reckoned with in the tech industry. But the Palo Alto giant is reeling from recent turmoil in the corner office, a disappointing financial performance and a poorly executed effort to revamp the company's strategy for a new era in tech.
Whitman, the former eBay (EBAY) chief who was named CEO of HP on Thursday, faces two immediate challenges: In her own words, "there is no higher priority" than getting HP on sound financial footing, after a series of downward revisions to its sales forecasts caused a steep slide in HP's stock. In addition, analysts say she needs to resolve the question of whether HP will stay in the PC business after last month's announcement that HP might spin off or sell its $40 billion personal computer division.
"Meg has a huge challenge ahead of her.She is going to face big, big challenges," said Peter Bendor-Samuel of the Everest Group, a tech services consulting firm.Many believe Whitman must clarify what HP's strategy will be. She appeared to straddle the fence last week, saying she supports fired CEO Léo Apotheker's controversial decisions, while backing away from his stated goal of "transforming" the company into one focused on software and cloud computing. HP will expand its software business, Whitman said, but it's not going to stop being a hardware company.
Experts warn that several of HP's core businesses, including computer servers, printers and tech services, are threatened by new trends in the way people and companies use technology. In the most obvious example, many people now use mobile gadgets such as smartphones and Apple's (AAPL) iPad instead of PCs to access the Internet.
Despite that trend, Apotheker decided last month to stop selling tablets and smartphones using HP's webOS software after initial sales proved disappointing. That leaves HP with no major product to counter the iPad's popularity.
Whitman may also find challenges inside the company. Critics say HP is ill-served by a board of directors that approved Apotheker's recent moves. Shareholders have already sued the company over Apotheker's decisions and the recent decline in HP's stock, and they may draw more ammunition from a New York Times report that some board members voted to hire Apotheker last year without ever meeting him in person. Whitman joined the board in January.
Some also warn that the board's hasty appointment of Whitman, after deciding to remove Apotheker last week, may have left other top HP executives feeling passed over and eager to leave.
First, however, Whitman "needs to move swiftly, to communicate what is the future of the PC business and get customers to understand what that future looks like," said Crawford Del Prete, a veteran industry analyst with the IDC research firm.
Confusion over the company's plans for the personal computer business has caused HP's corporate customers to hold off on making large-scale purchases of new PCs for their workers, according to Del Prete and others who track the industry. Dell and other rivals have launched new campaigns to lure away those customers.
HP executives have recently said their preference is to spin off the PC division as a stand-alone company that will work with HP to support its products and customers. Some analysts predict that HP, after reviewing the options, will decide to keep the division in-house because it helps HP sell other tech products and negotiate discounts for components used in other computer systems.
Whitman insisted Thursday that she has an "open mind" on the question, but she also promised a resolution by the end of December. "The best thing we can do is get to a decision as soon as possible," she said. "This decision is not like fine wine. It's not going to get better with age."
As for improving the company's financial performance, Whitman gave no hint of specific plans. Chief Financial Officer Cathie Lesjak said Thursday that HP can meet its profit projections for this quarter but said she has "less certainty" about its sales forecast.
At rival Cisco Systems (CSCO), CEO John Chambers confronted declining sales this year by ordering big spending cuts and trimming nearly 13,000 jobs. Without ruling anything out, Whitman and HP Executive Chairman Ray Lane suggested they can improve on Apotheker's performance by taking a more hands-on stance and getting top executives to work "on the same page."
"We're going to function as a team in a way that we haven't for quite some time here," Whitman vowed.
Wall Street analysts mostly applauded the decision to remove Apotheker, after HP's stock lost nearly half its value during his 11 months as CEO. But several voiced dismay over Whitman's statements endorsing the moves Apotheker announced last month, especially the review of the PC business and the deal to buy commercial software-maker Autonomy for a pricey $10.3 billion.
"Despite naming a new CEO, HP's value-destructive strategy remains unchanged," Deutsche Bank's Chris Whitmore wrote in a note to investors.
Whitman insisted that she was excited about the prospects for Autonomy's software, which helps companies manage and search "unstructured" data such as the contents of emails and audio or video recordings.
But she echoed Lane in disavowing Apotheker's intention to "transform" HP.
"Transformation was probably not a good word," she told this newspaper. While the Autonomy deal might add $1 billion or more in revenue to HP's business, she said, "we have almost $130 billion in revenue largely from hardware and services. So adding $1 billion in software revenue isn't going to transform that business. We are in the hardware business and we're going to continue to own that business."
While Autonomy's technology is useful, analysts say, the acquisition makes more sense if HP buys more companies to fill other gaps in its software offerings. Whitman gave no indication that she will pursue other deals, but many believe Autonomy's cost will make it difficult to swing another big purchase for a while.
HP, meanwhile, is one of the world's biggest suppliers of server computers and other tech gear for corporate data centers, as well as computer printers and technology services. But analysts note that each of those businesses is under pressure from new trends.
Profit margins are shrinking in the server business. Printing growth has slowed. And the advent of cloud computing and other new technologies has led to shrinking demand for traditional outsourcing of computer maintenance and other functions that are a big part of HP's $35 billion services business.
Add in the effects of another economic downturn, along with increased competition from Oracle (ORCL), Cisco and other tech giants, and the challenges for Whitman seem huge. But analyst Toni Sacconaghi at Bernstein Research, who said investors are "exasperated" with HP and its board, isn't ready to write the company off.
"We continue to believe that HP is not a broken company," he reported to clients Friday, adding that HP's stock price -- which hit a six-year low Friday -- offers "the potential for meaningful upside for patient investors."

TWO CHALLENGES ON WHITMAN'S IMMEDIATE TO-DO LIST FOR HP

What experts say Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman needs to do to get the Palo Alto tech giant on track:

Clarify the strategy: Some analysts remain skeptical about Whitman's attempt to marry
ousted CEO Léo Apotheker's software-centric
strategy with HP's hardware and services businesses.
Whitman promises to complete the company's
now-infamous review of its PC division by year's end.
Improve the finances: Recent changes in how technology is used have put pressure on HP's core products, including personal computers, servers, printers and tech services.

Latest Science Inventions

Invisible Shield

This latest science invention is a spray-on invisible thin glass coating that sterilizes, protects and strengthens surfaces.

The coating also repels water, dirt, stains, mildew, fungus, bacteria and viruses.

A liquid coating invented at the Saarbrücken Institute for New Materials in Turkey and patented by Nanopool GmbH of Germany, is a flexible and breathable spray-on glass film.

The film is approximately 100 nanometres thick (500 times thinner than a human hair) and has multiple applications and uses in numerous fields.

The coating is environmentally friendly (Winner of the Green Apple Award).

latest science inventions It can be applied within seconds to make any surface very easy to clean and safe from anti-microbes (Winner of the NHS Smart Solutions Award).

The special glass coating known as "SiO2 ultra-thin layering" protects practically any surface against water, uv radiation, dirt, heat, acid, stains, mildew, fungus. bacteria and viruses.

Trials by food processing plants in Germany have concluded that surfaces coated with liquid glass only need hot water for cleaning. In fact, the coating provided higher levels of sterility than surfaces cleaned with bleach or other chemicals.

A year long trial at a British hospital in Southport, Lancashire is to be published soon with very promising results for a wide range of coating applications used on medical equipment, implants, catheters, sutures and bandages.

Trials for in-vivo applications are confidential, but Neil McClelland, the UK Project Manager for Nanopool GmbH, describes the results as "stunning".

"Items such as stents can be coated, and this will create anti sticking features. Catheters and sutures which are a source of infection, will also cease to be problematic," he says.

Colin Humphreys, a professor of materials science at Cambridge University, commented that liquid glass appears to have a wide range of applications and that the product 'looks impressive'.

The investment opportunities for this latest science invention seem endless - buildings, vehicles, appliances, clothing etc. can have dirt and germ free surfaces without using toxic coatings or chemicals.

New HP VirtualSystem for VMware provides foundation for cloud computing
LAS VEGAS, Aug. 29, 2011

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HP today announced HP VirtualSystem for VMware, a highly optimized, turnkey solution that gives organizations a virtualized infrastructure that speeds implementation and provides a foundation for cloud computing.

As virtualization has gained adoption, multitier network architectures, virtual sprawl, inflexible storage, unpredictable workloads and security concerns have increased complexity and limited broad deployment. To help midsize to large organizations address these challenges, HP VirtualSystem for VMware includes virtualized HP Networking solutions, HP Converged Storage, HP BladeSystem servers, HP Insight software with on-site installation services.

Built on HP Converged Infrastructure, HP VirtualSystem features architectural innovations and services that help eliminate virtualization complexity, consolidate IT infrastructure and improve performance, enabling clients to:

* Accelerate virtual machine mobility by up to 40 percent while doubling throughput and reducing network recovery time by more than 500 times(1) with the new HP FlexFabric virtualized networking solution;
* Cut capacity requirements by 50 percent, double virtual machine density(2) and speed deployment with HP LeftHand and HP 3PAR Storage Systems;
* Improve virtual server operations with HP Insight Control for VMware vCenter™ Server, which alerts IT administrators and allows for remote troubleshooting and management;
* Align virtualization strategy and investments to business goals with consulting, planning, preintegration, deployment and support services from HP Technology Services and HP ServiceONE partners.

“Virtualization has become mainstream for clients, but there are obstacles to broad deployment,” said Paul Miller, vice president, Systems and Solutions, Enterprise Servers, Storage and Networking, HP. “With HP VirtualSystem for VMware, clients can simplify and scale their virtualization deployments to provide a clear path to the cloud.”

“Companies need solutions that enable them to move from siloed stacks of infrastructure to pools of technology resources that can be shared and delivered as application services in real time,” said Gary Green, vice president, Global Strategic Alliances, VMware. “HP VirtualSystem for VMware helps customers streamline their virtualization projects today and transition to cloud computing in the future.”

Rapid time to revenue for channel partners

HP VirtualSystem is modular and easily optimized for midsize businesses, helping channel partners to sell and speed time to value. HP VirtualSystem for VMware offers partners faster time to revenue via streamlined and simplified solution sales and delivery of HP-optimized VMware solutions.

In addition to delivering HP VirtualSystem for VMware solutions, partners can customize HP Virtualization Smart Bundles. These are optimized configurations that deliver predictable performance and reduce complexity with modular components to add performance and capacity as needed.

Pricing and availability

HP VirtualSystem for VMware is available now starting at $167,300, including HP Converged Infrastructure, factory integration and three years of HP Support Plus 24.(3) Clients can leverage existing licensing agreements or purchase pre-installed VMware licensing from HP.

Additional information is available at www.hp.com/go/vs4vmware.

More information about HP VirtualSystem, HP CloudSystem and HP Converged Storage is available at HP booth 301 at VMworld® 2011.

HP’s premier client event, HP DISCOVER, takes place Nov. 29 - Dec. 1 in Vienna, Austria. The event showcases how organizations can get started on their Instant-On Enterprise journeys.

About HP

HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world’s largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure at the convergence of the cloud and connectivity, creating seamless, secure, context-aware experiences for a connected world.

U.S. economic woes just a distraction, the real crisis is in Europe

By David Olive Business Columnist

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Among the leading economic indicators to watch right now is the number of police officers deployed today to prevent a fourth straight night of rioting in London. That number is 16,000. The turmoil beginning last Saturday already has yielded one of the year’s iconic images – a woman engulfed in flames leaping from a blazing building in which she is trapped. That was just one of more than 60 fires set by rioters in London alone.
North American stock markets shed about $1 trillion in value Monday in the worst one-day session since 2008. But market losses of the past few weeks have been a mild and overdue correction to irrational exuberance, which by last May had the markets within hailing distance of the all-time 2007 high.
The markets have now fallen more than 10 per cent below their May high. Technically that marks the onset of a bear market. But in the depths of the global financial meltdown of 2008-09, the markets plunged about 40 per cent. Which is why bargain-hunters emerged on the markets by Tuesday.
The earlier market buoyancy wasn’t supported by fundamentals, given the continued anemic recovery in North American GDP and job creation. The downgrading of U.S. debt Friday by credit-rating agency Standard & Poor’s – which set off the markets’ panic selling Monday – was itself an exaggerated reaction to the admittedly prolonged and acrimonious negotiations to lift America’s debt ceiling.
A much fretted-over default by the U.S. was never in prospect, though it’s still commonly warned of by people who should know better. Tax and other revenues flowing into the U.S. Treasury this month are sufficient to cover America’s debt obligations falling due in August about six times over, absent any change in the debt ceiling.
True, the U.S. may be flirting with a double-dip recession. Then again, a stronger second-half performance may avert that outcome. In any case, after 17 consecutive months of job growth as of July, the U.S. is not the basket case suggested by downcast markets of past weeks.
Yet if the recent antics in Washington were second-rate vaudeville, the debt crises across Europe are real.
Distracted as we were by the painful side-effects of America’s unprecedented housing bubble of the 2000s, we’ve paid little heed to similar insanity in Britain, Spain, Ireland and Iceland during that period, when shakily financed new housing construction went on a U.S.-style tear.
Now Europe’s day of reckoning has arrived.
“The crisis in Europe is quickly becoming on par with the [global] financial crisis of 2008,” David Levy, portfolio manager at Kenjol Capital Management, told CNN Money this week. “The [latest U.S.] jobs report shows that things aren’t getting much worse in the U.S., but the focus is clearly on Europe.”
That’s a reassuring outlook for Canada, far less reliant on the $16-trillion (U.S.) European market than exports to the slightly smaller U.S. economy. “We can continue to see a slow rebound in the economy,” said an upbeat Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in Brazil this week for trade talks.
There even are a couple dividends for Canada here. One is that the central bankers of Canada and the U.S. have each signaled they will effectively freeze interest rates at least until next spring. That rules out a long-rumoured increase in borrowing costs by the Bank of Canada.
And there’s talk of a reverse brain drain. With many forecasters plotting a flat line for U.S. GDP growth over the next few years, and with much of Europe fiscally in extremis, the world’s best talent has that much more reason to choose Canada in seeking work abroad.
Close-hand observers don’t yet know what to make of the tens of millions of pounds’ worth of what British PM David Cameron calls “sickening” damage to vandalized buildings and vehicles in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool and other British cities.
Is this Britain’s version of an Arab Spring, driven largely by university graduates without a job for several years? College students and graduates are indeed prominent among those detained by British police, who’ve taken a dim view of BlackBerry use by social-networkers in organizing coordinated protests.
Or is it just spoiled brats venting? BlackBerry is an oddly high-end tool of choice for rioters. “They’re not homeless, these blokes,” said a cabbie calling in to a BBC news show last night. “They’ve run out of bling, is all.”
Anti-austerity protesters have already been taking to the streets of Athens and Madrid for months. Yet the powers that be in European capitals, at the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund are moving at a glacial pace in devising a way out the continent’s fiscal crisis.
Which suggests that social unrest in Europe will intensify before it subsides.

Impact of recession in American economy on India

Past recessions

The US economy has suffered 10 recessions since the end of World War II. The Great Depression in the United was an economic slowdown, from 1930 to 1939. It was a decade of high unemployment, low profits, low prices of goods, and high poverty.

The trade market was brought to a standstill, which consequently affected the world markets in the 1930s. Industries that suffered the most included agriculture, mining, and logging.

In 1937, the American economy unexpectedly fell, lasting through most of 1938. Production declined sharply, as did profits and employment. Unemployment jumped from 14.3 per cent in 1937 to 19.0 per cent in 1938.

The US saw a recession during 1982-83 due to a tight monetary policy to control inflation and sharp correction to overproduction of the previous decade. This was followed by Black Monday in October 1987, when a stock market collapse saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunge by 22.6 per cent affecting the lives of millions of Americans.

The early 1990s saw a collapse of junk bonds and a financial crisis.

The US saw one of its biggest recessions in 2001, ending ten years of growth, the longest expansion on record.

From March to November 2001, employment dropped by almost 1.7 million. In the 1990-91 recession, the GDP fell 1.5 per cent from its peak in the second quarter of 1990. The 2001 recession saw a 0.6 per cent decline from the peak in the fourth quarter of 2000.

The dot-com burst hit the US economy and many developing countries as well. The economy also suffered after the 9/11 attacks. In 2001, investors' wealth dwindled as technology stock prices crashed.

Impact of an American Recession on India

Indian companies have major outsourcing deals from the US. India's exports to the US have also grown substantially over the years. The India economy is likely to lose between 1 to 2 percentage points in GDP growth in the next fiscal year. Indian companies with big tickets deals in the US would see their profit margins shrinking.

The worries for exporters will grow as rupee strengthens further against the dollar. But experts note that the long-term prospects for India are stable. A weak dollar could bring more foreign money to Indian markets. Oil may get cheaper brining down inflation. A recession could bring down oil prices to $70.

The whole of Asia would be hit by a recession as it depends on the US economy. Even though domestic demand and diversification of trade in the Asian region will partly counter any drop in the US demand, one simply can't escape a downturn in the world's largest economy. The US economy accounts for 30 per cent of the world's GDP.

Says Sudip Bandyopadhyay, director and CEO, Reliance Money: "In the globalised world, complete decoupling is impossible. But India may remain relatively less affected by adverse global events." In fact, many small and medium companies have already started developing trade ties with China and European countries to ward off big losses.

Manish Sonthalia, head, equity, Motilal Oswal Securities, says if the US economy contracts much more than anticipated, the whole world's GDP growth-which is estimated at 3.7 per cent by the IMF-will contract, and India would be no exception.

The only silver lining is that the recession will happen slowly, probably in six months or so. As of now, IT and IT-enabled services, textiles, jewellery, handicrafts and leather segments will suffer losses because of their trade link. Certain sections of commodities could face sharp impact due to the volatile nature of these sectors. C.J. George, managing director, Geojit Financial Services, says profits of lots of re-export firms may be affected. Countries like China import commodities from India, do some value-addition and then export them to the US.

The good side of US recession

US recession may be a boon for Indian offshore software companies. Infact, even as America is moving into recession, Indian offshore companies are getting more business than ever before.
The impact of recession is undoubtedly higher to small and medium sized enterprises whose bottom lines get squeezed due to lack of spending by consumers. These thousands of small and medium enterprises are increasingly waking up to cash in on the outsourcing wave, a market opportunity explored by their big daddies for a couple of decades now.