Digital ants are an application of Swarm Intelligence. Using SI, these digital ants adapt to the variations of viruses that hackers routinely introduce. When one ant detects a threat, he is soon joined by many others to overwhelm their opponent. The “digital ants” will wander through computer networks looking for invaders. When an ant detects one, it calls for an army of reinforcements to join the fight.

This is critical since security programs gobble up more resources, and antivirus scans take longer and machines run slower when anti-virus packages discover new threats and issue updates. Researchers believe the new ant-based system will run faster than conventional security programs which have to be updated constantly to recognize new infections.

Digital ants cannot survive without software “sentinels” located at each machine, which in turn report to network “sergeants” monitored by humans, who supervise the colony and maintain ultimate control.”They can ramp up their defence rapidly, and then resume routine behaviour quickly after an intruder has been stopped. We were trying to achieve that same framework in a computer system.”

“As they move about the network, they leave digital trails modelled after the scent trails ants in nature use to guide other ants.

“Each time a digital ant identifies some evidence, it is programmed to leave behind a stronger scent. Stronger scent trails attract more ants, producing the swarm that marks a potential computer infection.”

The new security approach is best suited for large networks that share many identical machines, such as those found in governments, large corporations and universities.

Controller–area network (CAN or CAN-bus) is a vehicle bus standard designed to allow microcontrollers and devices to communicate with each other within a vehicle without a host computer.
CAN is a message based protocol, designed specifically for automotive applications but now also used in other areas such as industrial automation and medical equipment.The development of CAN began when more and more electronic devices were implemented into modern motor vehicles. Examples of such devices include engine management systems, active suspension, ABS, gear control, lighting control, air conditioning, airbags and central locking. All this means more safety and more comforts for the driver and of course a reduction of fuel consumption and exhaust emissions.
To improve the behavior of the vehicle even further, it was necessary for the different control systems to exchange information. This was usually done by discrete interconnection of the different systems. The requirement for information exchange has then grown to such an extent that a cable network with a length of up to several moles and many connectors was required. This produced throwing problems concerning material cost, production time and reliability. The solution to the problem was the connection of the control systems through a serial bus system. This bus had to fulfill some special requirements due to its usage in a vehicle.With the use of CAN, point-to-point wiring is replaced by one serial bus connecting all control systems. This is accomplished by adding some CAN-specific hardware to each control unit that provides the “rules” or the protocol for transmitting and receiving information via the bus. CAN or Controller Area Network is an advanced serial bus system that efficiently supports distributed control systems, It was initially developed for the use in motor vehicles by Robert Bosch Gmbh, Germany, in the late 1980s, also holding the CAN license. CAN is most widely used in the automotive and industrial market segments. Typical applications for CAN are motor vehicles, utility vehicles, and industrial automation. Other applications are trains, medical equipment, building automation, household appliances, and office automation.

When you’re busy using your PC, you don’t want to be bothered by needless alerts. Security Essentials runs quietly in the background, only alerting you if there’s something you need to do. And it doesn’t use a lot of system resources, so it won’t get in the way of your work or fun.
Requirements:

· For XP – CPU with clock speed of 500 MHz or higher
· For XP – Memory: 256 MB RAM or higher
· For Vista / W7 – CPU with clock speed of 1.0 GHz or higher
· For Vista / W7 – Memory: 1 GB RAM or higher
· VGA (Display): 800 x 600 or higher
· Storage: 140 MB of available hard-disk space
· An Internet connection is required for installation and to download the latest virus and spyware definitions for Microsoft Microsoft Security Essentials
· Internet Browser (IE or Firefox)

Why should I download Microsoft Security Essentials?

Comprehensive protection—Microsoft Security Essentials helps defend your computer against spyware, viruses, worms, Trojans, and other malicious software.
Easy to get, easy to use—Because Microsoft Security Essentials is available at no cost, there’s no registration process that requires billing or personal information collection. It installs after a quick download and Genuine Windows validation and then stays automatically up-to-date with the latest protection technology and signature updates.
Quiet Protection—Microsoft Security Essentials doesn’t get in your way. It runs quietly in the background and schedules a scan when your computer is most likely idle. You only see alerts when you need to take action.

Nuclear battery technology began in 1913, when Henry Moseley first demonstrated the Beta Cell. The field received considerable research attention for applications requiring long-life power sources for space needs during the 50s and 60s. Over the years many types and methods have been developed. The scientific principles are well known, but modern nano-scale technology and new wide bandgap semiconductors have created new devices and interesting material properties not previously available.Batteries using the energy of radioisotope decay to provide long-lived power (10–20 years) are being developed internationally. Conversion techniques can be grouped into two types: thermal and non-thermal. The thermal converters (whose output power is a function of a temperature differential) include thermoelectric and thermionic generators. The non-thermal converters (whose output power is not a function of a temperature difference) extract a fraction of the incident energy as it is being degraded into heat rather than using thermal energy to run electrons in a cycle. Atomic batteries usually have an efficiency of 0.1–5%. High efficiency betavoltaics have 6–8%.

The batteries have always been the Achilles’ heel of the mobile devices. Usually, the designers of electronic devices for mass consumption (like laptops or media players) use small displays or screens that are not very bright in order to save the scarce energy resources that are provided from the regular batteries. But the new nuclear battery would bring a solution based on a liquid semiconductor (rather than a solid semiconductor) that will produce a much longer lifetime for the battery. The reason is the solid semiconductors are attacked constantly by some radioactive elements used by other types of batteries, while the liquid semiconductor is quite resistant  to these attacks. Although the term “nuclear” can be a little perturbing, the fact is that these batteries are not very different from those batteries used in, for example, medical pacemakers.

One important thing is the batteries need to be small and thin in order to be practical and useful; this way, they could be used to power watches and small electronic devices. As mentioned before, the prototype (which you can see in the picture below) has the size and thickness of a penny, but the researchers think they can achieve a thinner battery. In order to do this, Kwon has required the collaboration of another professor: J. David Robertson (chemistry professor and associate director of the MU Research Reactor). Together, they hope to maximize the power of the nuclear batteries as well as reduce the size and test other materials to make additional improvements. Kwon thinks that the final battery, which would be used in commercial gadgets, could be thinner than a human hair. For the moment, the research team have required a provisional patent in order to protect the exclusive right to use this invention.

The most interesting automobile to hit the “market” of incredible prototypes that actually work is the BMW H2R Record Car. You wouldn’t think a hydrogen car could do so much, but this is not just an electric car.

She’s a fine example of German craftsmanship combined with the latest technology in the field of alternative fuel sources and it was built with the intention of setting new records in hydrogen performance.

After spending incredible amounts of time, money and energy to spearhead the production of hydrogen-powered vehicles, the result is worthy of the name BMW. The groundbreaking result set nine world records and proved that hydrogen has the best chances to become the fuel of the future.

The exterior design is as futuristic as the general theme of the car. Having smooth lines, aerodynamic design and gleaming silver body, it looks more like a
marine predator from the future. The car has a lightweight aluminum chassis, a monocoque aluminum space frame and an outer skin composed of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic.

This gives her a superb stability and a truly impressive top speed, with a greatly appreciated support from the 245/40/19 tires and from the suspension system, which uses a double-wishbone, spring-strut front axle, rack-and-pinion steering, forged-aluminum track control arms (with two ball joints for superior wheel guidance and directional stability), a tie bar and an anti-roll bar.

Technical specifications are also remarkable, as she uses a 6-liter V12 liquid-hydrogen-powered engine, generating 232 horsepower. This technological wonder can propel the car to a top speed of over 187 mph (301 km/h) and makes her accelerate from 0 to 62 mph (0-100 km/h) in 6 seconds, which is quite a performance for most cars using the classical internal combustion engines.

The H2R attained world best times and speeds for a hydrogen-powered car in the flying-start kilometer, flying-start mile, standing-start 1/8 mile, standing-start 1/4 mile, standing-start 1/2 kilometer, standing-start mile, standing-start 10 miles, standing-start kilometer and standing-start 10 kilometers.