Sharp Pantone 5 ICS phone has 8 color choices, 3.7-inch screen — oh, and a radiation detector

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Color us shocked and jealous at the new Android 4.0 phone from Sharp -- strange and wonderful even by Japan's highly elevated standards. The eight colors of the 3.7-inch Pantone branded phone from carrier Softbank are nice for sure, but the ability to sense between .005 and 9.99 μSv/h of radiation is in a new category altogether. Though Sharp has hedged a bit by describing the detector as "non-compliant" with Japan standards at this point, the possibilities seem endless for such a feature -- the ability to constantly report your location and radiation level to Facebook comes to mind, for instance. It will be offered -- in Japan only, we presume -- with a 4-megapixel rear camera, eight Pantone colors, 0.3-megapixel front camera, 854 x 480 resolution, and will be dust-proof and waterproof. The price hasn't been discussed yet, but we can't imagine too much quibbling whatever it is, for a phone that could keep you gamma-ray safe.

Update: We have an image after the break showing how Sharp reduced the radiation circuits into a tiny package needed for the Pantone 5. The phone even has a dedicated button for the feature.

Continue reading Sharp Pantone 5 ICS phone has 8 color choices, 3.7-inch screen -- oh, and a radiation detector

Sharp Pantone 5 ICS phone has 8 color choices, 3.7-inch screen -- oh, and a radiation detector originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 May 2012 02:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Scientists bend gamma rays, could neuter radioactive waste

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Bending most light is easy; bending it in gamma ray form, however, has often been deemed impossible given how hard it is for electrons to react to the extreme frequencies. University of Munich scientist Dietrich Habs and his Institut Laue-Langevin teammate Michael Jentschel have proven that assumption wrong: an experiment in blasting a silicon prism has shown that gamma rays will refract just slightly through the right material. If a lens is made out of a large-atom substance like gold to bend the rays further, the researchers envision focused beams of energy that could either detect radioactive material or even make it inert by wiping off neutrons and protons. In theory, it could turn a nuclear power plant's waste harmless. A practical use of the technology is still some distance off -- but that it's even within sight at all just feels like a breakthrough.

Scientists bend gamma rays, could neuter radioactive waste originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 May 2012 05:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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