Here First - Science and Technology Blog

Samsung Electronics has announced two more 12 megapixel compact digital camera models for the US that will be equipped with 24mm ultra-wide angle Schneider lenses. First off is the new Samsung TL320 that raises the bar for innovation in the digital imaging industry, as Samsung claims this is the first digital camera to feature a 3″ AMOLED display with HVGA resolution in the world. The new HZ15W it boasts one of the most powerful lenses where compact point-and-shoots are concerned with an impressive focal length of 24-240mm (35mm film equivalent). The TL320 first bringing the following impressive features : -powerful 5x optical zoom, an AMOLED display that has a contrast ratio of 10,000:1 (making it easy to view even when you’re under direct sunlight) for darker black levels and more vibrant colors -720p High Definition video recording, HDMI connectivity -Optical and Digital Image Stabilization -aperture priority, shutter priority -full manual shooting and Samsung’s own Advanced Picture...

A team of Swedish researchers reported that radiation therapy combined with standard drug treatment can reduce to 50% the death rate from advanced prostate cancer and should become the standard of care globally. The study was made on 800 prostate cancer patients. It showed that 24% of men who got only standard treatment (drugs) had died after 10 years, compared with just under 12% of men who also got radiation treatment. Adding radiation to the usual drug therapy does not add too many side-effects to the human organism, they wrote in the journal Lancet Oncology. "The quality of life and adverse effect profile is acceptable. We therefore suggest that endocrine treatment plus radiotherapy should be the new standard of care for these patients," Anders Widmark of Umea University in Sweden and colleagues wrote. It is a known fact that p rostate cancer is the second-leading cancer killer of men. It kills 221,000 men every year globally, with 679,000 new cases diagnosed. "The ...

European astronomers have taken a stunning photo of a Big Brother-style cosmic eye, nicknamed the Eye of God, staring down from space. The bright blue pupil and the white of the eye are fringed by flesh-coloured eyelids - but this eye is so big that it light takes two and a half years to cross from one side to the other. This so called "Eye of God" is in fact a shell of gas and dust that has been blown off by a faint central star. Our own solar system will meet a similar fate five billion years in the future. It lies around 700 light-years away in the constellation of Aquarius, and can be dimly seen in small backyard telescopes by amateur astronomers who call it the Helix nebula. It covers an area of sky around a quarter the size of the full moon. This picture was taken with a giant telescope at the European Southern Observatory, high on a mountaintop at La Silla in Chile. It is so detailed that a close-up reveals distant galaxies within the central eyeball.  I want one of th...

This solar-powered phone from Samsung is the holy green grail of gadgets for eco-fans. It seems that Samsung has finally delivered on this promise with their brand new Blue Earth phone. The phone stands to it's name. Blue Earth is a gorgeous green touch phone that has a full solar panel on its back which can generate enough power to charge the phone. The phone is small enough to fit in your pocket! But this was not enough for Samsung. They are going above and beyond to achieve what they hope is the greenest phone on the market. The body of the phone is made out of recycled water bottles and has no brominated flame retardants, beryllium and phthalates - all incredibly toxic substances. The charger also meets high standby mode energy efficiency ratings.   The device is set to be energy efficient, with a new user interface making it easy to activate the phone’s energy saving mode. Blue Earth also include CO2 emissions calculator, a pedometer and Samsung is aiming for minimal packagi...