13 Dec 2017
31 Oct 2017
10 Aug 2017
LiFi Boom
Li-Fi is a Visible Light
Communications (VLC) system running wireless communications travelling at very
high speeds. Li-Fi uses common household
LED (light emitting diodes)
light bulbs to enable data transfer, boasting speeds of up to 224 gigabits per
second. While the light fidelity technology is still in its early phases, it’s
shown tremendous potential. The global market is projected to expand to $115
billion by 2022 and could conceivably replace Wi-Fi.
Li-Fi Harnesses the Power of
Visible Light Instead of Radio Waves Used by Wi-Fi
Although you can’t see them,
waves are transmitted from our devices, carrying bits of data that allow us to
surf the Internet. They communicate with towers called cellular radio masts, which
you might see disguised as palm trees. There are approximately 1.4 million
cellular radiomasts worldwide, according to the founder of LiFi, Harald Haas.
Li-Fi replaces this bulky
infrastructure, with a elegant, illuminating solution. It depends on LED lights
that send data over visible light via pulses that the human eye can’t detect.
On the electromagnetic spectrum, which measures the frequency of radiation, the
spectrum of visible light is 10,000 times as big as that of radio-waves says
Haas. Using light could eliminate the expenses resulting from the limited range
of radio waves.
`Light has created us, has
created life, has created all the stuff of life. So it’s inherently safe to
use. And wouldn’t it be great to use that for wireless communications?` said
Haas.
HOW IT WORKS?
Li-Fi not only requires LED
light bulbs to transmit data, but also a receiver that can interpret that data.
In January it was reported that Apple had referenced Li-Fi capabilities in
versions of the iPhone, iOS 9.1 and up. Visible light communication has also
been used in a grocery store in Northern France to track the location of
customers with their consent. This provides invaluable data to marketers, who
can offer coupons and other incentives based on shopping habits.
However, Li-Fi has much
bigger applications than simply as a geo-location tool. Incorporating LiFi into
the 14 billion existing light bulbs could provide more accessible and secure
internet service, says Haas. Haas has proposed retrofitting the existing
Internet framework to support Li-Fi bulbs. To that end, he created the company
pureLiFi, which provides internet at speeds of first generation WiFi.
PureLiFi has partnered with
LED light maker Lucibel to develop the technology. The France-based company
heralded the applications of LiFi for the Internet of Things, a network of
devices that communicate with each other. Their first industrialized LiFi
product, the LiFi luminaire, launched in September. Real estate development
company Nexity was the first end user of the LiFi technology. Microsoft will
also be using the technology at its innovation center in Issy-les-Moulineaux.
LiFi is Virtually Hack-Proof
Because light can’t
penetrate through walls, it’s very difficult to tap sensitive data transmittedthrough
LiFi. It’s not uncommon for criminals to steal personal information from
unsuspecting Internet users at a local cafe. Even password protected WiFi can
be hacked, allowing criminals to see what web pages you visit and links you
click on. That said, LiFi offers a more secure alternative to WiFi because
available data can be confined to a room.Of course, there’s a trade-off between
convenience and security. However, smart architecture would allow light to
follow a user, according to Forbes. Scientists are also working on technology
to make Li-Fi work in the dark. Dartmouth University researchers discovered that
dim LEDs would be able to send pulses undetectable by the human eye.
3 Aug 2017
Mosquito free Antarctica
Mosquitoes have be deviled
humans for centuries, spreading disease and death to millions. Today, the
latest plague they bring is the Zika virus.
Mosquitoes are perhaps the
most dangerous animals in the world. It threatens half of the world's population
and causes billions of dollars in lost productivity annually. Other
mosquito-borne diseases include dengue fever, yellow fever, and encephalitis.
There are more than 2,500 species of mosquito, and mosquitoes are found in
every region of the world except Antarctica.
They bite and buzz and suck
your blood. If you hate them, you can move indoors for a temporary escape, but
if you really hate mosquitoes, you'll have to move — and we mean really far
away.
There are only two places in
the world that are completely and utterly mosquito-free: Antarctica and
Iceland.
The conditions in Antarctica
are just too harsh for the annoying pests to survive, says David Denlinger,
distinguished university professor in entomology, evolution, ecology and
organismal biology at Ohio State University.
Denlinger has traveled to
Antarctica several times to study Belgica antarctica, a biting midge that is
the only insect native to the continent.
`They're closely related to
mosquitoes. In fact, they look like little wingless mosquitoes. But they don’t
bite or do anything like that,` says Denlinger.
`It's a hardly little
creature that lives encased in ice most of the year ... They have some pretty
fancy mechanisms to survive the low temperatures.`
Mosquitoes don't have those
fancy mechanisms, so they can't survive the extreme temperatures.
Unfortunately, no one really
lives in Antarctica, considered on average the coldest, driest and windiest
continent on Earth. Instead of permanent residents, there are thousands of
people who spend a few weeks or months atresearch stations studying everything
from the weather to the midges.
Iceland is very nice
If you'd like to go
somewhere a little more people-friendly, consider Iceland. You may run into
some biting midges there, but no mosquitoes.
You may not want to consider
it a long-term plan, however. Some scientists and entomologists are surprised
mosquitoes have not taken up residence there.
`It is very strange. People
have mentioned various possible explanations, for example that Iceland has an
oceanic climate and that they don’t thrive in it, but that’s nonsense,`
entomologist Erling Olafsson commented to ruv.is, a site managed by the Icelandic
National Broadcasting Service. Olafsson said it's likely a chemical composition
of water and ground that keeps the bugs at bay. Olafsson guesses that
mosquitoes could be carried to the country with airplanes or the wind.
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