(Photoshop)Drawing the Volkswagen Logo

Our Tutorial divided into two brief stages:

 > Creating the circular orb surface

 > Drawing the VW emblem

Creating the Orb Surface

First off, start by going through File>New and creating a new 250x250 document in Photoshop with the following attributes:

Before we start drawing, access the Tool Panel on the left side of your workspace and go down all the way to the bottom to change the Foreground Color to #82B2E0 and the Background Color to #012B62. Those are the primary colors of our logo.

We will draw the basic circular shape of the logo now, so grab the Elliptical Marquee Tool from the Tool Panel, and then while holding down the Shift key, draw a selection of a circle on your canvas as shown below.

Now press Ctrl+Backspace to fill the selection with your pre-set Background Color.

Access the Tool Panel again and select the Gradient Tool this time. Make sure you select the Foreground to Transparent gradient type.

Create a gradient fill across your selection as shown in the screenshot below to complete creating the logo's surface.

The circular orb surface of our logo is now done, we will draw the actual emblem in the next stage of the tutorial.

Drawing the Emblem

Before we start off, press D to reset your Foreground and Background colors to their default white and black values and then press X to invert the colors' position. In this section we are going to basically draw the shape of the VW emblem and then give the layer we drew it on a Drop Shadow, an Inner Shadow and a Gradient Overlay style. Start off by creating a new layer by going through Layer>New Layer. Using the Elliptical Marquee Tool, draw a round selection inside the orb as shown below

Go through Edit>Stroke and apply a 10 px wide inside stroke.

Once you press OK, you should get a result similar to this.

We have to do some tracing skill practice now, use the Polygonal Marquee Tool to draw straight lines that represent the base structure of the VW logo, which obviously is a V with a W under it. Grab the Polygonal Marquee Tool and start drawing straight lines as shown in the screenshot below. You can use the sample image that you have seen in the beginning of the tutorial as a reference. Note that you can go over the white stroke we created because we are going to fill this selection with white as well later on.

Once your happy with your selection, go to Edit>Fill and use White.

We are done with the drawing part, it's now time to give the emblem some style and a 3D-like effect. Access your Layers Panel, then right click on the layer that contains the emblem and choose Blending Options. Apply the following options for the Drop Shadow, Inner Shadow, Gradient Overlay.

As for the Gradient Overlay, make sure you edit the Gradient Fill Type by clicking its thumbnail next to the word Gradient in the screenshot below, and apply the options seen in the Gradient Editor screenshot.

Once you apply all these effects you should get something similar to the image below.

Your Volkswagen logo is finally complete, you can optionally add some gloss with Overlay or Soft Light layer styles to make it blend in with the logo more the same way it looks below.

Felix Baumgartner & Red Bull jump the stratos

Source: Dawn.Com

Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner celebrated his unprecedented feat Monday after becoming the first man to break the sound barrier in a record-shattering, death-defying freefall jump from the edge of space.

The 43-year-old leapt from a capsule more than 24 miles (39 kilometers) above the Earth Sunday, reaching a top speed of 833.9 miles (1,342 kilometers) per hour, or 1.24 times the speed of sound, according to organisers.

The veteran skydiver was in freefall for four minutes and 20 seconds before opening his red and white parachute and floating down to the desert in the US state of New Mexico, said Red Bull Stratos mission record keeper Brian Utley.

Mission control erupted in cheers as Baumgartner sprung from the capsule hoisted aloft by a giant helium-filled balloon to an altitude of 128,097 feet (39,044 meters), even higher than expected. – Video by Reuters

Astronomers discover planet with four suns

Astronomers have identified a giant gas planet, located just under 5,000 light-years away, that its sky is illuminated by four different suns.

According to the report published in Astrophysical Journal, the planet named PH1, after the Planet Hunters site, is slightly larger than Neptune and about six times the size of Earth. 

Two US volunteers, Kian Jek of San Francisco and Robert Gagliano from Cottonwood, Arizona, discovered PH1 using the Planethunters.org website. 

The discovery was later confirmed by a team of space experts using the Keck telescopes on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. 

The recently discovered planet orbits one pair of stars and is in turn circled by a second pair. As a result, a total of four stars light up its sky, the astronomers explained.

Systems orbiting pairs of stars or binary star systems have been found earlier, but none of these systems were reported to have another pair of stars circling them at the same time. 

FGP/PKH
(PressTv.IR)

Microsoft sets launch date for its new operating system

Microsoft has announced the final date for the release of its long-awaited and next-generation Windows 8 operating system, which is the company’s most significant software upgrade in a decade.

According to Steven Sinofsky, the head of Microsoft's Windows team, the new operating system will be available on October 26, 2012.

Sinofsky made the announcement on Wednesday at Microsoft’s annual sales meeting, known as the Microsoft Global Exchange (MGX).

The officials at Microsoft say that the Windows 8 comes in 109 languages and will be available in 231 markets across the world.

“Windows 8 has the flexibility you need -- whether you’re on an x86/64 or a WOA [Windows on ARM] PC,” Microsoft communications manager Brandon LeBlanc said in a post on Windows Team Blog.

“You can use a touch screen or a keyboard and mouse - and switch anytime. It’s beautiful, fast, and fluid design is perfect for a wide range of hardware.”

The company has also announced that those who choose to buy selected versions of Windows 7 by the end of January 2013 are allowed to upgrade to a version of Windows 8 Pro at a discount, an attempt to preserve sales of Windows 7 operating system.

This is while the software giant added that it is also set to launch its own tablet computers called the Surface this year.

MR/GHN 

Source: PRESSTV.IR

1,001 people set mattress domino record in China

Picture from Guinness World Record

 It's been toppled again! A new world record was set at the weekend in China for the largest human mattress dominoes after 1,001 volunteers crashed comfily to the ground.

The attempt which was organised by mattress firm Bellarest International, took place in an empty section of a shopping mall in China's financial hub of Shanghai.

The rally, which beat the former record of 850 set in February this year in New Orleans, USA, took 11 minutes and 11 seconds to complete.

Guinness World Records adjudicator Dong Cheng was on hand to witness the event and award the team with a certificate confirming their record breaking status following the successful attempt.

"For an event like this involving 1,000 people to succeed first time is not just about luck. All other conditions must be correct. First of all, all the participants must fully understand the rules," he said.

"Second, the volunteers were all very brave. No one dodged when the two-meter-high mattress fell onto them," he added.

Source: Guinness World Record

World's 'Lightest Material' Has Been Created

The material is produced in specialised laboratory conditions

Newly developed aerographite is 99.9% air and conducts electricity, and researchers hope it can be used to produce tiny batteries.

Researchers in Germany have created the world's lightest material, with hopes it could revolutionise battery technology.

Aerographite is a matrix of hollow carbon tubes, and each cubic centimetre of the complex lattice weighs just 0.2 milligrams.
While it is 99.99% air, it conducts electricity, meaning it could eventually be used to create a super-lightweight battery.
The record-breaking material was created by a team of researchers at the Technical University of Hamburg and the University of Kiel.
"We were looking for three-dimensionally cross-linked carbon structures, and we discovered this material," explained team member Karl Schulte.

Last month researchers in Texas unveiled technology for a spray-on battery

The sponge-like material can be compressed to a thousandth of its size and then spring back to its original shape. It can also support more than 40,000 times its own weight.

Aerographite is produced in specialised laboratory conditions using a process called chemical vapour deposition.
In 2002 a substance called aerogel was named as the world's lightest solid with a density of one milligram per cubic centimetre. It was used by Nasa to collect dust from comets.
That was overtaken last year by metallic microlattice which weighed-in at 0.9 milligrams per cubic centimetre.
That metallic substance is so lightweight that a block of the material could sit on a dandelion head without squashing it.
Details of the development of aerographite were announced in an academic paper that was published in the journal Advanced Materials.

Microsoft Office 15: Only for Windows 8, Windows 7 and iPad?

Microsoft is expected to unveil Office 15 (perhaps for Windows 8, Windows 7 and Apple iPad) as soon as Monday, July 16. The software company hopes Office 15 and peer product launches like Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 will lift sales, profits and partner wins to new heights. But can Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) balance traditional PC software with mobile and cloud services opportunities?
Office 15, coming one week after Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2012 (WPC12), surfaces at a critical time for the software company and the PC industry.

• PC sales were flat in Q2 2012, according to Gartner. Some buyers are shifting budget to Apple iPad but others might be waiting for Windows 8 on Ultrabooks.
• Microsoft Office 365 and Google Apps are locked in a cloud applications battle. Office 15 could help to keep partners and customers loyal to Microsoft’s on-premises software while proving hooks into Microsoft’s cloud services.

WPC 2012 Set the Stage

More than 16,000 people attended WPC12, suggesting that Microsoft still has a massive channel partner base of resellers, VARs and distributors. Throughout the event, CEO Steve Ballmer, COO Kevin Turner and Channel Chief Jon Roskill predicted that major product upgrades and cloud services enhancements would lift Microsoft and its partners against Apple, Google, IBM, Oracle and VMware.
Where does Office 15 fit in? With expected support for Windows 8 and Windows 7, it’s clear Microsoft wants customers and partners to shift away from Windows XP and Windows Vista. Office 15 will support the Metro user interface and touch screen capabilities. And watch for Office 15 capabilities on Apple iPad, Microsoft Surface tablets (Windows RT and Windows 8) plus Windows Phone 8, of course.
The VAR Guy doesn’t have a firm feel for a ship date or pricing. But it sounds like partners and customers can expect a beta now and perhaps Office 15 shipments in time for the Windows 8 launch in October, plus Office 15 for iPad and Surface tablets in November. Those are just educated guesses, by the way.

Source: http://www.thevarguy.com

Iranian photo selected as NASA’s July picture of the day

‘Teimareh Petroglyphs and Star Trails’ by Babak Amin-Tafreshi

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has selects a picture by Iranian photographer Babak Amin-Tafreshi as one of its July pictures of the day.

The star trail photograph which was selected as the NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day for July 12, 2012, shows ancient petroglyphs of Iran’s Teimareh Valley located in the country’s Zagros Mountains.

Engraved in rocks, the petroglyphs are abundant in the valley and depict hunters and animals as etched by prehistoric artists about 6,000 years ago.

In the night sky above are star trails etched by the rotation of planet Earth during the long composite exposure made with a modern digital camera.

Born in 1978, Babak Amin-Tafreshi is an amateur astronomer, photographer, and science journalist.

He is the creator and director of The World at Night (TWAN), an international program in which photographers from around the world capture images of night skies as seen above notable landmarks of the planet.

Amin-Tafreshi is also a member of the board of advisors of Astronomers without Borders who won the Lennart Nilsson Award for the best scientific photography.

The center of the star trail arcs in Amin-Tafreshi’s photo shows the North Celestial Pole (NCP), the extension of Earth's axis into space.

Polaris, the North Star, leaves the bright, short, stubby trail closest to the NCP, but when the petroglyphs were carved, Polaris would have made a long arc through the night.

Since the Earth's rotation axis processes like a wobbling top, 6,000 years ago the NCP was near the border of the constellations Draco and Ursa Major, some 30 degrees from its current location in Earth's sky.

The NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) is originated, written, coordinated, and edited since 1995 by professional astronomers Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell.

The APOD archive contains the largest collection of annotated astronomical images online.

TE/TE

Hubble discovers new moon circling Pluto

The Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a new moon circling Pluto, which can help shed light on how the dwarf planet’s system formed and evolved.

P5 is the Pluto’s fifth satellite which was detected in nine sets of images taken by Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 during June and July 2012.

The moon is estimated to have an irregular shape and be between 10km and 25km across.

Seen as a speck of light in Hubble images, the moon is believed to be the result of a collision between Pluto and another large icy object billions of years ago.

"The moons form a series of neatly nested orbits, a bit like Russian dolls," said leader of the team Mark Showalter of the Seti Institute in Mountain View, US.

Pluto's largest moon, Charon, was discovered in 1978.

The other three moons, spotted by Hubble in 2006 and 2011, were named Nix, Hydra and P4.

Pluto was discovered by the American Clyde Tombaugh in 1930. It was originally classified as the ninth planet in the Solar System, but was recategorized as a dwarf planet and plutoid due to the discovery that it is only one of several large bodies within the Kuiper belt.

The NASA spacecraft, New Horizons, is currently en route to Pluto to take detailed images of the planet’s system.

TE/TE

Source: PressTv.Ir

Pakistani Engineer Develops Water-Run Rocket Missile

A Pakistani mechanical engineer and a school science teacher has developed a rocket missile, with initial capability of flying up to 320 feet high, which uses water as its fuel.

“I had to cut water bottle and to install air compressor to develop this missile,” says Muhammad Faisal, a teacher in Government Model School, Karachi, the economic hub of the country.

Using back pressure technique to launch, the missile could easily be used for training purposes in Pakistan Army, he viewed while talking with Daily Nai Baat.

“By adding Uranium material in the rocket to get air pressure, it could also be used to hit a target.”

Faisal is a gold medalist of a training course of mechanical engineering of Pakistan Air Force’s Engineering Corps.

A frenzy of inventions, Faisal looks determined to work for his country by adding his engineering and scientific inventions.(Via TNT)

Source: PakSoldiers.com

Panasonic’s first Android-based ‘toughpad’ unveiled in Asia

A promoter displays the ‘tough pad’ during the CommunicAsia telecom expo and conference – AFP

SINGAPORE: Panasonic’s first Android-based computer tablet designed for tough
environments such as battlefields was unveiled Tuesday at a major
regional telecom fair in Singapore.

It was the first time the “Panasonic Toughpad A1” was showcased in Asia, where company officials said there is a huge demand for such a rugged device.

It has already previewed in the United States and production will start later this year, company executives said.

Satoshi Mizobata, a director at Panasonic’s Toughbook Asia Pacific Group, said the device is the firm’s first rugged tablet computer using the Android operating system.

Previous Panasonic “toughpads” use Windows.

“It’s military-type,” Mizobata told AFP at the Panasonic booth at the CommunicAsia telecom trade expo that opened Tuesday. “It is water-proof, dust-proof and shock-proof.”

The device weighs 0.97 kilogrammes and its 10.1-inch LCD display allows the user to read even under the sun while it is tough enough to withstand being dropped from a height of four feet (1.21 metres). It also has a nine-hour battery life.

Amos Tio, Southeast Asia general manager for Toughbook Asia Pacific Group, said the gadget will launch in the region in September and in the United States in August.

Source: Dawn News

Traffic noise ups risk of stroke

Traffic noise increases the risk of a stroke, a study finds.

Working on the links between traffic noise and health, a new study has found that people exposed to louder traffic sounds run a greater risk of suffering a heart attack.

By analyzing more than 50,000 participants aged between 50 to 64, Danish researchers discovered that the risk of a heart attack goes up by 12 percent for every 10-decibel increase of noise from traffic.

To produce accurate results, the study was conducted in Copenhagen and Aarhus, two of the largest cities in Denmark, and kept track of many aspects of the participants’ health for almost a decade.

Commenting on the outputs of the research, Dr. Mette Sorensen, the study’s lead author said, “We think traffic noise during the night is especially dangerous, because it disturbs sleep.”

She added that most people do not realize that they are exposed to noise pollution, but when the quality of their sleep is looked into in a lab it becomes clear that their “sleep stages have been disturbed.”

Sorensen also noted that, according to the findings of the study, almost 4 percent of all heart attacks in Denmark are related to traffic noise.

Published in the journal PLoS ONE, the research recommends that people choose a room with low exposure to traffic noise to sleep in.

MR/GHN

Source: PressTV.ir

Microsoft Unveils Touchscreen Tablet

Software giant Microsoft has joined its rival Apple in the world of touchscreen tablets with the launch of the Surface.

The Surface looks similar to the iPad - launched in 2010 - but has a more cinematic screen ratio.

The device also features an optional slimline tactile keyboard built into the tablet's case, as opposed to a standard touch keyboard.

There are two versions of the Microsoft Surface - one powered by an Intel Ivy Bridge chipset for a "full windows experience" and a thinner, lighter but less powerful Windows RT version.

The Windows RT tablet is 9.3mm thin, weighs 680g and has a 10.6inch (27cm) display and built-in stand, while the more powerful version has the same display, is 13.5mm thick, weighs 860g and supports the high-speed USB 3 interface.

Both have front and rear-facing cameras.

The more powerful version of the Surface will run the latest Windows 8 Pro operating system.

Both have what Microsoft described as a unique vapor-deposited (PVD) magnesium case, with the Windows RT version coming with 32 or 64GB of memory, and the Intel version coming with 64 or 128GB.

The more powerful Intel version also features "digital ink" handwriting support through a pen that magnetises to the case.

Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft's Windows division, called the device a "tablet that's a great PC - a PC that's a great tablet".

No details on pricing were mentioned, except that it would be "comparable" with current ARM tablets and Intel-powered Ultrabooks.

"Microsoft founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen made a big bet - a bet on software - but it was always clear that we had to push hardware in ways that sometimes manufacturers hadn't envisioned," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said at Monday's launch event.

"We believe that any intersection between human and machine can be made better when all aspects, hardware and software, are working together."

Launching its own tablet potentially throws Microsoft - which has much more experience as a software than a hardware company - into direct competition with its closest hardware partners such as Samsung and Hewlett-Packard.

It is hardly surprising Microsoft wants a piece of the tablet market - sales of the devices are expected to triple in the next two years, topping 180 million a year in 2013, easily outpacing growth in the flatlining traditional PC market.

Apple has sold 67 million iPads since the device's launch.

Apple, which makes both hardware and software for greater control over the performance of the final product, has revolutionised mobile markets with the launch of the iPhone and then the iPad.

Largely thanks to the iPod, iPhone and iPad, Apple's stock became more valuable than Microsoft in 2010. It is now worth twice as much as its old enemy.

Of the biggest tech companies, just Google has yet to throw its hat into the tablet ring.

But the search engine monolith splashed out on phone maker Motorola Mobility earlier this year for $12.5bn, so it may be only a matter of time until it announces a tablet of its own.

Source: SKY News

BP message to Scouting

Australia to create marine haven

Corals are seen at the Great Barrier Reef in this January 2002 file handout photo. – Reuters

The Australian environment minister unveils plans for the world's largest network
of protective marine parks.

Five-year-old limbos her way to skating record

A flexible five-year-old from Maharastra in Indian has whizzed her way into the record books after setting a new benchmark for the farthest distance limbo skating under cars.

Kindergarten student Shreeya Rakesh Deshpande skated under 27 cars, covering a whopping distance of 48.2 metres (158ft 2in) during a successful world record attempt last week in Kolhapur.

GWR representative Nikhil Shukla was on hand to confirm that a new record had been set and presented Shreeya with her well-earned certificate as local press and her proud parents looked on.

An event celebrating Shreeya's achievement was organised later the same day in her hometown, with well-wishers once again treated to a demonstration of her amazing talent for limbo skating.

Shreeya's feat beats the previous record of 38.68 metres (126 ft 11 in) set by Rohan Ajit Kokane in February in Mumbai last year during filming for the TV show Guinness World Records - Ab India Todega.
Watch footage of Shreeya's moment of glory below.

Quitting smoking helps even older patients live longer

Quitting smoking will reduce the risk of mortality even in older patients, a new study found.

A recent report has revealed that quitting smoking would help older patients live longer as the researchers linked smoking to increased all-caused mortality in senior patients.

The report, obtained from an analysis of medical literature, said that smoking cessation will reduce mortality even in older patients.

The study, published in Archives of Internal Medicine on Monday, said in its background that smoking is considered as a risk factor for chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. But that the epidemiological data regularly depends on research carried out among middle-aged people.

Meanwhile, the recent study provided a thorough analysis and review of studies assessing the influence of smoking on mortality in older patients of 60 years and older, Carolin Gellert from the German Cancer Research Center said in the study.

She also said that the study paid particular attention to “the strength of the association by age, the impact of smoking cessation at older age, and factors that might specifically affect results of epidemiological studies on the impact of smoking in an older population.”

The German researchers analyzed 17 studies from seven countries-- including China, England, the US, Australia, Japan, Spain and France-- which were released between 1987 and 2011. The studies took from 3 to 50 years to be completed and the number of their participants ranged from 863 to 877,243 people.

While summarizing the outcomes from the 17 studies, the German team noted an 83-percent increased relative mortality for current smokers and a 34 percent increased relative mortality for ex-smokers than those who have never smoked.

"In this review and meta-analysis on the association of smoking and all-caused mortality at older age, current and former smokers showed an approximately 2-fold and 1.3-fold risk for mortality, respectively," the study read.

"This review and meta-analysis demonstrates that the relative risk for death notably decreases with time since smoking cessation even at older age."

SAB/MA
Source: PRESSTV.IR

Iranian student helps advance quantum computers

Kamyar Saeedi (L) pictured with SFU physicist Mike Thewalt showing a sample of highly enriched silicon

Iranian grad student Kamyar Saeedi, together with Professor Mike Thewalt of Simon Fraser University (SFU), Canada, have taken a fresh step in advancing quantum computers through the distinctive properties of highly enriched and purified silicon.

Quantum computers are mainly considered as futuristic machines as they currently exist in physicists’ concepts and theoretical studies. The computers will be able to function much faster than today’s fastest super computers.

Quantum computers could connect the powers of atoms and sub-atomic particles (ions, photons, electrons) to carry out processing tasks, due to their extraordinary sub-atomic properties.

Saeedi, the Iranian PhD candidate at the SFU in Canada, has been on the quantum computers’ designing team led by physicist Thewalt. The team has found that their unique silicon allows processes to occur and be monitored in a solid state that researchers formerly thought needed a near-perfect vacuum.

Thewalt regarded the achievement a record in solid-state systems, which appeared to be impossible a few years ago.

“It opens new ways of using solid-state semi-conductors such as silicon as a base for quantum computing,” Thewalt said.

“You can start to do things that people thought you could only do in a vacuum. What we have found, and what wasn’t anticipated, are the sharp spectral lines (optical qualities) in the 28Silicon we have been testing. It’s so pure, and so perfect. There’s no other material like it,” he added.

SAB/GHN
Source: PressTv.ir