No... this isn't a photo shopped image.. this is the real thing. Italian company Covini has confirmed the commercial production of the C6W pictured below - the world's first commercial 6-wheeler sports car.

Originally designed as a Formula One race car, and presented to the public in 2004, the Covini C6W is now to be come street-legal. As pretty obvious, the Covini C6W is very unusual, with 6 wheels, however these give further advantages to the car, namely better road-grip, thus it can corner at higher speeds, and improved absorbtion of street impacts at the front of the car, thus delivering a smoother ride.

The body of the car is made mostly of carbon fibre and fiberglass. The Audi V8 engine, similar to the one used in the Audi R8 4.2, has been specially tuned by Corvini to generate over 430 horsepower, allowing the car to cruise at a whopping 185MPH/300KMPH. The interior of the car exudes luxury, with digital instrument guages and blue leather bucket seats. You can get yours towards the end of 2009.

And if you still aren't convinced that this is not a photoshop arwork, check out the video of the car on the racetrack I uploaded a shot of it on the racetrack in the video section. Enjoy!

Creative Labs, a company that is always on the edge of technology when it comes to multimedia products, has launched a teaser about Zii, claiming that Stemcell computing (whatever it might mean) is going to change everything as we know it (check image below). Whatever it is, you might want to register for further news by going on www.zii.com or www.creative.com. Let's hope it is really some sort of revolutionary new technology, not just a marketing ploy to launch a new gaming console (does it remind you of any console in particular?).

After having given the issue it's fair share of thinking, and trying to dig up what all this could be about, I leave the console option open, however I am also considering the that the Zii could well be an add-on card based on the Cell processor - a branch (stem) of the Cell processor - therefore - Stemcell. The IBM PowerXCell 8i processor (or a similar CPU, in single or multi-unit configuration) will allow super-computing power to the normal desktop PC (and who knows... maybe even a notebook). This would work somewhat like the nVIDIA Tesla add-on cards/systems. The system could allow for new unexplored territory for the standard computing, typically - enhanced decoding for multi video streams in HD for HD TV reception (picture in picture split screen... etc. - will marry well with that hi-def TV you just got for Christmas). It would probably also allow high quality video stream upscaling (for DVD and Youtube/internet videos) for the PC. It could also boost gaming performace, both where it comes to graphics and also in sound. Probably there would be different models, targeted at different audiences/market segments, like it has always been with many other Creative products. 

It could appear as different devices/add-ons, typically:

• A PCI-e add-on card for desktop PCs
• A USB add-on for notebooks/PCs
• A totally dedicated HTPC
• A gaming console???

In the meantime, we welcome your comments on what you think this new product is going to be.

Just hot off the press - the British Royal Navy is now operating their nuclear weaponry control system with Windows - immediately bringing to mind pictures like the one below:

For a full resolution image, go to the Photos section and download file from there.

Jokes apart... The British Royal Navy is ustilising Windows XP and 2000 in the submarine systems. The project is codenamed SMCS-NG (Submarine Command System Next Generation), and takes control over sensor and weapon control applications. The major reason for this move was that software was available off-the-shelf and at a very affordable price, not to mention that the implementation of the system proved to be very quick. Another advantage is that hardware required to run these operating systems is also cheap and widely available, although we can rest assured that they used extremely rugged and resistant hardware for the job.

For those of you who have security in mind - the UK parliament has stated that the use of Windows is low risk and the systems run in an isolated mode - thus there is practically no chance of an outside cyber-attack starting the end of the world .

Definitely a new concept in the automotive industry... and more definitely a new alternative energy to move us around. This is a human-hybrid vehicle, which, by packing an entire health club inside a car, your training, not only helps you staying fit, but allows you to move around.

How does this work? Well... in theory quite simple. The car packs inside it popular gym equipment like a step machine, rowing machine, bench press, pull-up simulator and weights, all within the car's discrete dimensions. While training, the car charges batteries which will then power the four electric motors located in the wheels. Quite an interesting concept I must say.

This car was designed by a Coventry University (Britain for those of you who don't know ) as an idea for a competitions sponsored by P4 Cad Cam, a creative design consultancy and model-making company in England.

The exterior of the car is not humble either. Reminding of a hybrid between an F1 car, the bat-mobile and an F-117A stealth fighter, the designer (Mr. Feng) stated he came up with this design inspired by World War II fighter planes.

What isn't as yet clear is if you can exercise while driving... which could be dangerous, as it would seriously inhibit your ability to steer... and even to see the road ahead (figure - bench pressing and driving). However, the car can provide a good distraction, and something useful to do in traffic jams. For those that are about to dart away and amend their Christmas wish lish, first we must wait and see if this car will ever make it to production.

One thing that totally fascinates me, and which has slowly become one of my major areas of interest is astrophysics. The grandiosity of the universe is so hard to comprehend, and its complexity and mysteries, all waiting to be discovered, have lured scientists from the dawn of mankind.

As you have probably read in the news today (for those of you, which will definitely read this blog in the future, here's a link to the Article), scientists have now confirmed the existance of a SuperMassive Black hole at the centre of our galaxy - the Milky Way. The most difficult thing to comprehend is to understand the magnitude of this stellar giant at the centre of our galaxy, and what role it has in the stability of the whole stellar system within.

An artist's impression of the centre of our galaxy.

First of all, let us talk about it's mass and dimensions. The latest studies have indicated that the mass of this object is 4 Million Solar Masses (compared to the previous 3.7 Million estimate), with a diameter of 44 Million kilometers. But what do these figures represent? Here is a quick comparison:

• Sun - 333,000 times mass of Earth
  Sagittarius-A - 1.33 Trillion (1,330,000,000,000) times mass of Earth
• Sun - 110 times diamter of Earth
  Sagittarius-A - 3350 times diameter of Earth
• Sun - 5.58 Million (5,580,000) times volume of Earth
  Sagittarius-A - 158 Billion (158,000,000,000) times volume of Earth
• Sun - 0.0597 times density of earth (16.7 times less dense)
  Sagittarius-A - 8.41 times denser than earth

The density is also impressive. A volume of 10cm x 10cm x10cm (1000cc) was to be filled with each of the following, here are the respective weights:

• Water - 1Kg
• Gold - 19.3Kgs
• Osmium (densest element known to man) - 22.61Kgs
• Earth (average) - 6.88Kgs
• Sun (average) - 0.41Kgs
• Sagittarius A (average) - 58Kgs

The impressive density of the black hole, which is higher than any known element or material makes its action on the galaxy even more apparent, but this will be tackled in another blog entry.

Relative positioning of Earth and Sagittarius-A in the Milky Way

Britain is about to build its two largest ever war ships - the HMS Queen Elizabeth and the HMS Prince of Wales. The two 65,000 ton bohemots will carry 36 state-of-the-art Joint Strike Fighter stealth jump-sets and four helicopters each, and be able to get 24 planes airporne within 15 minutes. The ships will cost £3.9 Billion for both (compared to the USA spending $ 14 Billion (£ 9 Billion) for EACH ship! A quick list of features includes:

• Two huge lifts, each with a 70-ton capacity, are capable of transporting two aircraft from the hangar to the flight deck in 60 seconds. The ship will be home to 36 Lockheed Martin F-35B Joint Strike Fighters and four EH-101 Merlin helicopters.
• The ground-breaking twin-island layout allows more deck space for aircraft and better visibility of the flight deck. The forward island is for navigating the ship; flight control is based in the aft island.
• The ship's 29,000 sq m hangar is 150 metres in length and has 20 slots for aircraft maintenance.
• There are 11 full-time medical staff on board managing an eight-bed medical suite, operating theatre and dental surgery.
• An onboard water treatment plant produces over 500 tons of fresh water daily.
• Two Rolls-Royce MT30 gas turbines and four diesel generator sets produce 109MW - enough to power a town the size of Swindon.
• Cabins are spacious and cruise-liner style, with en-suite toilets and shower facilities. Officers and senior ratings have single or two-berth cabins. The maximum number of crew in a cabin is six.
• The carrier will carry more than 8,600 tons of fuel, enough for the average family car to travel to the Moon and back 12 times. This gives a range of up to 10,000 nautical miles.
• Top speed will be in excess of 25 knots, sufficient to cross from Dover to Calais in an hour.
• The two five-blade propellers are each 30ft in diameter - that's one-and-a-half times the height of a double-decker bus.

Aerial view, showing the take-off ramp (A), the giant lifts (B), the runway (C), and the helicopter (D)

South Korea - a group of scientists has created a transparent non-volatile memory chip (like the ones used in flash drives), a breakthrough that can open the way for see-through computers and other devices. The technology, named TRRAM (Transparent Resistive Random Access Memory) could take the place of the metal-oxide semiconductors (CMOS), widely in use today. CMOS chips are widely used in USB memory devices, and employed in the manufacture of microprocessors, microcontrollers and various types of digital logic circuits. The technology used to build TRRAM is very simple. The circuit is designed using a transparent oxide film with electrodes on glass or plastic circuit boards. The new transparent memory chip has an operational life expectancy that exceeds 10 years.

The good news doesn't stop here. The full-scale commercial production of the TRRAM chips and other similar technologies could take off in less than 3-4 years, opening a new dimension of the development of electronic appliances and machinery. Below are some transparent gadget designs... the future looks bright transparent .

It has been coming for years now, although nothing confirmed as yet. However, sources indicate that SONY is targeting the release of the PSP-4000, the successor of the PSP, during 2009, with the PSP2 coming a some time after that. What's more is that there are rumours that game developers are already working on new titles for the PSP2. News or speculation? We let you decide. In the meantime, enjoiy some of the most ambitious designs, and probably, how users would want their PSP2 to look like.

Probably the most original look. Larger screen, more portable and very very cool design!

Same as the image below, with the button slider open

A mockup/copy of the Nintendo DS... can never see a PSP like this. However... good try

A slimmer, sleeker PSP, based on the current design

Well... let us know what you think and which model of the above three you like most!

A team of researchers at the ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories in Japan have come out with a technology that is allowing them to reconstruct images from inside a person's mind and display them on a computer monitor. They are indicating that in the non-so-distant future, they will be able to visualise people's dreams while they sleep. The idea behind this technology is nothing complex, and several similar experiments have been tried out in the past utilizing different machinery and sensors, but this is absolutely the first breakthrough of the sort, and an extremly promising one.

The technology utilized was the changes in the cerebral blood flow monitored by a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) Machine. The subjects were given tablets containing various images and texts (shown above and below) in tha 10 x 10 pixel matrix. 400 ot these tablents were shown to the subjects for a period of 12 seconds each, and whilst the fMRI monitored changes in brain activity, and a computer elaborated the data with each of the different designs presented. Then when the subjects were demonstrated the tablets with the words N-E-U-R-O-N, the computer was able to reconstruct the words based solely on the subjects' brain activity.

Even though at present the technology is able to reproduce only monochromatic images, Dr. Kang Cheng, a researcher from the RIKEN Brain Science Instititue, indicated that by improving measurement activity, it will be possible to reproduce images in colour. He also stated that in 10 years time, the advancements of the technology will allow us to read out a person's thoughts within a certain degree of accuracy.

But what are the applciations for such a technology? It would be possible to access quickly and easily images within artists' and designers' heads. The technology might also lead to a new approach in the treatment of some psychiatric disorders involving hallucinations, whereby doctors will be provided with a window on the mind of the patient.

That's more to it. According to the ATR chief researcher Yukiyasu Kamitani, the technology can be applied to other senses, making it possible in not such a so distant future to read feelings and complicated emotional states.

Doesn't this make the famous lie detector machine look absurdly absolete?