Technology Briefs

NASA-funded researchers working on tractor beam technology

A team of three researchers has been awarded funding by NASA to research ways in which beams of laser light could be used to trap and move objects. These tractor beams would be used to aid in collecting samples in space such as viruses, cells and molecules. The technology could potentially even reach the point where they are able to move and clear up space debris.

The researchers are also looking into potential consumer or household uses for which the new technology may be used once it is fully developed. Tractor beams could be used for cleaning devices, such as sucking dirt out of a carpet or dust out of a keyboard.

Although the technology is still early in its development, The Star reports that NASA has granted $100,000 to the researchers and that the creation of tractor beam technology is currently plausible and far from being beyond our current means. This could mean that a technology that has been speculated  about in science-fiction for a great part of the twentieth century may finally become a reality.

CRTC revises ISP resale regulations

The CRTC has created a two-tier charging system for large independent Internet Service Provider's (ISP) methods to purchase access to communication infrastructure from large ISPs such as Rogers and Bell. The decision creates two options: a flat fee structure or capacity based offering.

The decision allows the option, for resellers such as TekSaavy and other independent ISP, two choices when purchasing access to current offerings owned by Rogers and Bell. On a flat fee structure, the independents will be charged on how much their customers use and the speeds at which they offer the service. The other capacity based offering allows independent ISP to offer Internet at a specified speed, without limits on how much data is downloaded.

Independent ISPs in the past have been offering unlimited download packages, attractive to people who wish to download much more than the caps imposed on larger ISP plans.

Critics of the decision argue that it will make the flat fee option too expensive for customers and thus useless. There has ever been the concern that although the independent ISPs pay for and sell Internet at a specific speed, the large ISPs have the power to throttle how much of the advertised speeds actually get through to the consumer.

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Canada currently has one of the highest costs per unit of Internet speed amongst approximately 30 countries. OpenMedia is one of a few advocacy groups asking Canadian consumers to dump large ISP companies for independent retailers.

Likely cause of the Late Permian Extinction found

A large international team or researchers, including some from the University of Calgary, have found  massive volcanic eruptions as the cause of a mass extinction nearly 250 million years ago. The extinction reportedly wiped out 95 per cent of life in the oceans and 70 per cent of life on land.

The eruptions took place in an area, presently known as Northern Russia, called the Siberian traps. This area, rich in coal, was likely the place of rich deposits which once burned, created global climate change making the planet inhospitable for many species.

The reported extinction took place less than 200 million years before the more well-known extinction of the dinosaurs, which occurred approximately 70 million years ago. That extinction is well-accepted to be likely caused by a giant meteorite striking the Earth causing lasting stressors on Earth's life.

A long standing debate on the mass extinction of land animals at the same time was given new information in light of this discovery. The heavily carbon filled atmosphere, wide-spread aridity and wildfires all created an inhospitable environment for life resulting in mass extinction. The acidification of the oceans was a major contributor for the 95 per cent of extinctions within the ocean ecosystem.