The World's Largest CMOS Sensor Is Recording Meteors at 60FPS [Sensors]

Last year, when we asked what could possibly need an 8-square-inch low light sensor, Canon replied with, "Space stuff". Totally proving them right, the Schmidt telescope at the University of Tokyo's Kiso Observatory now employs it to records faint meteors in the night sky.

The sensor already only requires 1/100th of the light as current sensors need. Not that you're likely to see this thing in anything other than a massive camera. But it can capture smooth video of space at 60fps. This could be what gives Bruce Willis enough time to mount an assault on an approaching meteor AND survive. [Peta Pixel]

Related Stories

View the original article here

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

An Electronic Sensor Could Smell the Stench of Heart Disease [Medicine]

Go ahead and add heart disease to the never ending list of ailments that can be detected by a non-human nose, German researchers have created a sensor that can smell heart disease.

According to Cnet's Elizabeth Armstrong Moore, the device in question is a metal-oxide gas sensor that is strapped on the arm like a blood pressure sensor and can operate with 90% accuracy.

The system includes three thick-film metal oxide-based gas sensors with heater elements. Each is tailored to sense different odorant molecular types. As oxygen reacts to the heated sensor surface, the molecules interact with the sensors and change the free charge carrier concentrations, and thus conductivity, in the metal oxide layer.

Having already collected the relevant parameters for heart failure (BNP, creatinine, clinical history, etc.) in 126 patients in 2010, physicians blinded to those results then used the electronic nose to assign the patients to one of three groups: no heart failure, and then two types of chronic heart failure—compensated (a condition where treatment is able to compensate for the failure) and decompensated (where treatment is not working, and can be caused by arrhythmias, infections, electrolyte disturbances, etc.).

So let's tally, shall we? There's a handheld device that can detect cancer, a dime-shaped device that can detect cancer andHIV, a sensor that can "smell" cancer, a microscope that can spot cancer, dogs that smell cancer as though it were halitosis, and now this, a sensor that detects heart disease. Terminal illnesses can run, but they can't hide. [Cnet]

Related Stories

View the original article here

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Sony NEX-7 Fights Micro Four-Thirds Cameras With a Massive DSLR Sensor [Cameras]

The Sony NEX-7 is a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera that nearly fits in the palm of your hand, yet has the same 24.3-megapixel Exmor APS HD sensor as the Alpha DSLR line and a beautifully designed magnesium alloy body.

Like the new Alpha cams, it's equipped with an OLED viewfinder, captures 1080p video at 60p (AVCHD Progressive) and has an ISO range of 100-16000. It has a 10fps burst mode (an apparent first), as well as low shutter lag (20ms).

The NEX-7 also makes use of an awesome-looking dual-dial control interface which are fully-customizable. Add in lightweight (the body is only 10.3 ounces), and an adjustable screen, and this looks like it could be a promising leap for bite-sized, big-sensor cameras.

The Sony NEX-5 also got a refresh, and is now called the NEX-5N. The updated camera has a 16.1-megapixel sensor (using the same Exmor sensor as the Alpha A77 and NEX-7), AVCHD Progressive video capabilities, 10fps burst mode and an improved shutter response of 20ms.

The NEX-7 will be available in November for $1350 with a 18-55mm kit lens or $1200 for the body alone. Meanwhile the NEX-5N will be available in September with the same kit lens for $700, or on its own for $600. {Sony, Sony]

View the original article here

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.