Comparison iPhone 4S with the Competition: Benchmarked

The iPhone 4S is faster than the iPhone 4. How much faster? And how much faster than its non-Apple kin? We did some benchmark bench pressing to find out. Feel the burn!
First, some synthetic benchmarks, courtesy of Sunspider. How fast could these phones crush JavaScript? We tested each phone on the same Wi-Fi network, inches away from one another. A lower score (faster) is better:

iPhone 4S: 
2237.8ms

iPhone 4: 
3611.8ms

Droid Bionic:
3963.9ms

Samsung Galaxy S II:
3523.2ms

The iPhone 4S is the champ by a wide stretch — and its little brother still beats the beefier Bionic.

But what about some non-synthetic testing? We loaded up two popular, image-heavy sites under the same conditions. Again, lower is better:

iPhone 4S
Awl: 6 sec
NYT: 5 sec

iPhone 4:
Awl: 7 sec
NYT: 8 sec

Droid Bionic:
NYT: 12 sec
Awl: 13 sec

Samsung Galaxy S II:
NYT: 5 sec
Awl: 8 sec

Again, the 4S crosses the finish line first. Is this a completely comprehensive test? No. Is this highly indicative? Yes.

Source : http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2011/10/iphone-4s-versus-the-competition-benchmarked/

The rechargeable nanowire battery that makes nanobots possible

Proving that batteries have a little juice left in them yet, researchers at Rice University have built a rechargeable battery inside a single nanowire that’s 150nm (0.15 micron) in diameter. The researchers haven’t built just one, either: they’ve created an entire centimeter-scale array of thousands of nanowire batteries. Each nanowire is a completely discrete battery, consisting of all the usual elements: anode, cathode, and electrolyte.

The best way to understand how a nanowire battery works is to look at the image below, and then read the following words. They started with a layer of copper (the golden layer at the bottom). Using electrodeposition (electroplating) nickel/tin anodes are “grown” from the bottom copper plate, and then drop-coated with a polymer gel (polyethylene oxide) that both acts as an insulator between the nanowires and as the electrolyte. A second polymer (polyaniline) is then drop-coated to create the cathode, and a layer of aluminium is placed on top to complete the circuit. All in all the entire battery is about 50 microns tall; the width of a human hair, and almost invisible side-on.