Researchers create electronic rose complete with wires and supercapacitors

Taking advantage of natural plant physiology to grow electronics.

Enlarge (credit: aling_)

Everything from solar power panels to everyday electronics relies on advanced materials and manufacturing processes. But some interesting things are also being made with some old-school tech: plants. Recently, researchers have demonstrated the ability to create electronic plants, or e-Plants, which made their own localized analog and digital circuits. These technologically savvy plants were produced using the existing plant vascular system, so first-generation models are limited by the nature of their leafy hosts.

Now, a team of researchers has developed a new method to produce e-Plants, in this case getting a rose (Rosa floribunda) to produce its own wiring and even supercapacitors.

Energy transport

To make an effective e-Plant, you need a system for energy transport. In the past, development of long-range conducting wires within plants has been a challenge due to material limitations. In particular, the chemicals used to make the wiring within a living plant have suffered from issues such as clotting, toxicity, or failure to spread throughout the plant.

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This may be the next BlackBerry phone (without a keyboard)

This may be the next BlackBerry phone (without a keyboard)

TCL made the first major announcement of this year’s Mobile World Congress by unveiling the BlackBerry KeyOne smartphone with Google Android software and a physical keyboard. But the company is also expected to launch a few other BlackBerry-branded phones this year, and it looks like the folks at CrackBerry have already spotted a pre-release version […]

This may be the next BlackBerry phone (without a keyboard) is a post from: Liliputing

This may be the next BlackBerry phone (without a keyboard)

TCL made the first major announcement of this year’s Mobile World Congress by unveiling the BlackBerry KeyOne smartphone with Google Android software and a physical keyboard. But the company is also expected to launch a few other BlackBerry-branded phones this year, and it looks like the folks at CrackBerry have already spotted a pre-release version […]

This may be the next BlackBerry phone (without a keyboard) is a post from: Liliputing

ISP Blocks Pirate Bay But Vows to Fight Future Blocking Demands

Swedish ISP Bredbandsbolaget has begun blocking The Pirate Bay but it will not give up the fight. The provider says that in order to ensure that private players “do not have the last word regarding content that should be accessible on the Internet,” it will be forced to fight any new blocking demands. Meanwhile, several of the blocked domains appear to be linking to legal sites.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

Two weeks go after almost three years of legal battles, Universal Music, Sony Music, Warner Music, Nordisk Film and the Swedish Film Industry finally achieved their dream of blocking a ‘pirate’ site.

The Patent and Market Court ordered Bredbandsbolaget, the ISP at the center of the action, to block The Pirate Bay and another defunct site, Swefilmer. A few hours ago the provider barred its subscribers from accessing them, just ahead of the Court deadline.

This pioneering legal action will almost certainly open the floodgates to similar demands in the future, but if content providers think that Bredbandsbolaget will roll over and give up, they have another thing coming.

In a statement announcing that it had complied with the orders of the court, the ISP said that despite having good reasons to appeal, it had been not allowed to do so. The provider adds that it finds it unreasonable that any provider should have to block content following pressure from private interests, so will fight all future requests.

“We are now forced to contest any future blocking demands. It is the only way for us and other Internet operators to ensure that private players should not have the last word regarding the content that should be accessible on the Internet,” Bredbandsbolaget said.

Noting that the chances of contesting a precedent-setting ruling are “small or non-existent”, the ISP added that not all providers will have the resources to fight, if they are targeted next. Fighting should be the aim though, since there are problems with the existing court order.

According to Bredbandsbolaget, the order requires it to block 100 domain names. However, the ISP says that during the trial it was not determined whether they all lead to illegal sites. In fact, it appears that some of the domains actual point to sites that are either fully legal or non-operational.

For example, in tests conducted by TF this morning the domain bay.malk.rocks led to a Minecraft forum, fattorrents.ws and magnetsearch.net/org were dead, piratewiki.info had expired, torrentdr.com was parked and ViceTorrent.com returned error 404. Also, Swefilmer.com returned a placeholder and SweHD.com was parked and for sale.

“What domains should be blocked or not blocked is therefore reliant on rightsholders’ sincerity, infallibility and the ability to make proportionate assessments,” Bredbandsbolaget warns.

“It is still unclear which body receives questions and complaints if an operator is required to mistakenly block a domain.”

In the wake of the blocking ruling two weeks ago, two other major ISPs in Sweden indicated that they too would put up a fight against blocking demands.

Bahnhof slammed the decision to block The Pirate Bay, describing the effort as signaling the “death throes” of the copyright industry.

Telia was more moderate but said it has no intention of blocking The Pirate Bay, unless it is forced to do so by law.

—

The full list of domains that were blocked this morning are as follows:

thepiratebay.se
thepiratebay.org
accesspiratebay.com
ahoy.one
bay.malk.rocks
baymirror.date
baymirror.win
bayproxy.date
bayproxy.pw
fastpiratebay.co.uk
fattorrents.ws
gameofbay.org
ikwilthepiratebay.org
kuiken.co
magnetsearch.net
magnetsearch.org
pbp.rocks
pbproxy.com
piraattilahti.net
pirate.trade
piratebay.click
piratebayblocked.com
piratebayproxy.tf
piratebays.co.uk
piratehole.com
pirateportal.xyz
pirateproxies.info
pirateproxies.net
pirate-proxy.info
pirateproxy.online
pirateproxy.wf
pirateproxy.vip
pirateproxy.yt
pirateproxybay.tech
pirates.pw
piratesbay.pe
piratetavern.net
piratetavern.org
piratewiki.info
proxypirate.pw
proxytpb.nl
thebay.tv
thehiddenbay.xyz
thenewbay.org
thepbproxy.website
thepiratebay.ar.com
thepiratebay.bypassed.live
thepiratebay.bypassed.red
thepiratebay.bypassed.video
thepiratebay.casa
thepiratebay.immunicity.live
thepiratebay.immunicity.video
thepiratebay.immunicity.red
thepiratebay.je
thepiratebay.lv
thepiratebay.mg
thepiratebay.red
thepiratebay.run
thepiratebay.skillproxy.com
thepiratebay.skillproxy.net
thepiratebay.skillproxy.org
thepiratebay.unblockthis.net
torrentdr.com
thepiratebay.uk.net
thepiratebay.unblocked.rocks
thepiratebay.unblocked.video
thepiratebay.unblockerproxy.xyz
thepiratebay-proxy.com
thepirateproxy.co
thepirateproxy.info
thepirateproxy.website
thepirateproxybay.xyz
theproxy.pw
theproxybay.pw
tpb.dashitz.com
tpb.patatje.eu
tpb.portalimg.com
tpb.proxyduck.co
tpb.retro.black
tpb.vrelk.com
tpbay.co
tpbmirror.us
tpbpro.xyz
tpbproxy.cc
tpbproxy.pw
tpbproxy.website
tproxy.pro
ukpirate.click
ukpirate.org
ukpirateproxy.xyz
unblockbay.com
unblockthepiratebay.net
unblockthepiratebay.org
urbanproxy.eu
vicetorrent.com
battleit.ee/tpb
thepiratebay.gg
bayproxy.org
thepirateproxybay.site
bayproxy.net
swefilmer.com
www.swefilmer.com
swehd.com
www.swehd.com

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

For the first time, the Gulf of Mexico didn’t fall below 73° this winter

More tornadoes? Probably. But there’s no link between winter heat and hurricanes.

Weather Bell

Houston meteorologist Matt Lanza recently noted that a city on the upper Texas coast, Galveston, had been setting a staggering number of high temperature records this winter. About one-fourth of the days saw record highs, so Lanza reached out to the local forecast office of the National Weather Service to see if they had any concerns about thermometer calibration or recent land-use changes at Scholes Field in Galveston, where the temperature is recorded. No, he was told, it has just been that "sort of winter."

From the period of November through February, Galveston ended up setting a total of 31 record high temperatures. And it is not like Galveston is a recently thrown-up beach community; the city it has a history that goes back two centuries. It formerly served as the capital of the Republic of Texas, and it has formal meteorological records that date all the way back to 1874.

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Samsung Galaxy S8 launches March 29th, this is what it looks like

Samsung Galaxy S8 launches March 29th, this is what it looks like

Samsung’s next flagship phone will be unveiled at an event on March 29th. But thanks to a series of leaks, we already know a lot about the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S8 (probably). Now we also have a pretty good idea of what it will look like, thanks to a leaked press picture from @evleaks and […]

Samsung Galaxy S8 launches March 29th, this is what it looks like is a post from: Liliputing

Samsung Galaxy S8 launches March 29th, this is what it looks like

Samsung’s next flagship phone will be unveiled at an event on March 29th. But thanks to a series of leaks, we already know a lot about the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S8 (probably). Now we also have a pretty good idea of what it will look like, thanks to a leaked press picture from @evleaks and […]

Samsung Galaxy S8 launches March 29th, this is what it looks like is a post from: Liliputing

Nintendo Switch review: Meet the Game Boy Entertainment System

Hybrid system merges an amazing portable experience with a middling TV console.

Video host: Mark Walton (video link)

Since the release of the Game Boy in 1989, there has been a pretty fundamental split between playing games on a TV-based console and playing games on a portable system. Aside from pricey experiments like the Turbo Express, playing on the go meant making significant and understandable sacrifices in graphical and computational power (and, often, controls) compared to contemporary home consoles.

With the Switch, Nintendo seems to be betting that the continued drum beat of Moore's Law and miniaturization has made that dichotomy moot. The Switch is an attempt to drag the portable gaming market kicking and screaming to a point where it's literally indistinguishable from the experience you'd get playing on a 1080p HDTV. Nintendo is betting that a system that fits in a diminutive tablet form factor is now powerful enough to feel acceptably modern when you throw it into an included dock and blow it up to full size on your living room wall.

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Nintendo Switch needs more software—so here come the (really good) indies

New release strategy, wave of exclusive content, and focus on peculiar system’s strengths.

SAN FRANCISCO—For many games fans, Nintendo has plenty to prove with its Switch console. The biggest issue, arguably, is the flow of new content. The Wii U stopped receiving games much too quickly from first- and third-party creators. That followed more than a decade of pitiful third-party support for other Nintendo systems.

Executives are insisting—yet again—that this time, Nintendo has got it right. But so far, we've mostly heard about Wii U ports and a spread-thin release schedule. Are we already back to déja vú before the new console is even out?

Don't cancel your pre-order yet. In at least one major category, Nintendo just might be getting its act together—and in a giant surprise for longtime Nintendo fans, the company's most promising initiative, and one poised to capitalize on the Switch's strengths, appears to be coming almost entirely from its North American office.

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Nintendo Switch im Test: Klack und los, egal wie und wo

Die Nintendo Switch lässt sich als Handheld, Tablet oder Konsole nutzen. Wir haben Nintendos Neue in allen Szenarios ausführlich getestet: unter bewölktem Himmel und Sonnenschein, auf der Couch mit TV und Hi-Fi-Anlage, auf dem Küchentisch und im Bett. Ein Test von Michael Wieczorek, Andreas Sebayang und Marc Sauter (Nintendo Switch, Nintendo)

Die Nintendo Switch lässt sich als Handheld, Tablet oder Konsole nutzen. Wir haben Nintendos Neue in allen Szenarios ausführlich getestet: unter bewölktem Himmel und Sonnenschein, auf der Couch mit TV und Hi-Fi-Anlage, auf dem Küchentisch und im Bett. Ein Test von Michael Wieczorek, Andreas Sebayang und Marc Sauter (Nintendo Switch, Nintendo)