Do you google?

It’s official, the verb google is recognized by the Merriam-Webster dictionnary. The Oxford dictionnary, the other heavy-weight in the english language is also considering the word in their next version of the dictionnary. Google joins other tech words such as spyware and the expression computer geek, introduced this year and three years ago, respectively.

Main Entry: goo·gle
Pronunciation: ‘gü-g&l
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): goo·gled; goo·gling /-g(&-) li[ng]/
Usage: often capitalized
Etymology: Google, trademark for a search engine
: to use the Google search engine to obtain information about (as a person) on the World Wide Web

Is Google supposed to be happy about this? While it gives them a publicity boost (as if they needed it…), I’m not quite sure. This entry into the common language might give them a harder time to protect their brand name and image.

Controlling Electrons in Nano-Transistors

Today, all electronics are based on transistors. The smallest transistors are nano-transistors. Two physicists from the Nano-Science Centre and the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen have now attained control of the migration of electrons in a nano-transistor. By using quantum physics, the scientists have made the electrons ‘communicate’ with each other.

In a recent experiment, carried out at temperatures near absolute zero, the scientists show how electrons through their spin establish a quantum mechanic cohesion and thereby help each other through the molecule in the nano-transistor.

This achievement is not only a breakthrough in the fundamental research of nanotechnology; it also influences the development of tomorrow’s electronics, e.g. future super-fast quantum-computers.

The result is attained through an international collaboration with physicists from Harvard University and Universität Karlsruhe, and are published in Nature on the 4th of July 2006.

Digg v3.0 launches

This morning the social-news website digg lauched the version 3.0 of their service. It marks their first step outside the relams of technology news, where they were focusing before. The stories are now divided into 6 containers, which can all be subdivided into smaller categories:

• Technology
• Science
• World & Buisness
• Entertainement
• Videos
• Gaming

What is really nice is that they give the user the possibility to customize which stories are appearing on the main page. The new design also puts a stronger emphasis on the friends you have on digg, with the addition of the “Agreed On” column in the friends panel. It shows stories that you might like based on the fact that two (or more!) people in your friend list have dugg the same story.

Some new features will roll out in mid-july, such as the so-called “Digg-spy-on-crack” and “Digg-incoming”. Both present new way of visualizing the flow of information on the site. Check the latest diggnation podcast for a live demo.