Cells grafted to chips
Rat cells grown onto microscopic silicon chips worked as tiny robots, perhaps a first step towards a self-assembling device, researchers working in the US reported on Sunday. They described a new method for attaching living cells to silicon chips. They then got the combined entities to move like tiny, primitive legs. Writing in the journal Nature Materials, Jianzhong Xi, Jacob Schmidt and Carlo Montemagno of the University of California Los Angeles said it is possible to make such devices, starting with a single cell "seeded" on a specially treated silicon chip. It may eventually be possible to grow self-assembling machines using the method, they said.
Intel to launch new chipset
Intel Corp, the world's biggest computer-chip maker, will unveil a new chipset tomorrow, its biggest launch since Centrino in 2003, The Business reported, citing an unidentified person at Intel. Intel will reveal details of a new generation of personal computers and pocked-sized consumer devices from 50 manufacturers across the world, all strengthened by the new chipset, codenamed Sonoma, the newspaper said. The chips will provide much faster wireless Internet connection than the Centrino chips, the newspaper reported.
Tesco to try non-food store
Tesco, Britain's biggest supermarket chain, said on Sunday that it planned to trial a non-food store later this year. The retailer, which already sells non-food items including clothes, electrical goods, CDs, DVDs, books and children's toys at a number of its British outlets, said it was too early to confirm the trial shop's opening date or location. "We will trial a non-food store at some point this year," a Tesco spokeswoman said. "Our non-food ranges are really popular and this is just an example of us doing what customers want and trialling new things," she added.
Japan, India to cooperate
Japan and India plan to boost cooperation on developing next-generation telecom-munications networks, a Japanese government official said yesterday. The two countries will focus on networks using Internet technology and high-speed fourth-generation mobile phones, the communications ministry official said. Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Taro Aso has invited Indian Communications and IT Minister Dayanidhi Maran to Japan to discuss details of bilateral cooperation, he said. "We are preparing for the signing of a joint declaration by them," the official said. The ministers are scheduled to meet in Tokyo today.
HP to use Intel processors
Hewlett-Packard Co, the second-largest maker of servers, will sell new computers based on Intel Corp's Itanium processors in a push to replace machines made by IBM Corp and Sun Microsystems Inc. Chief Executive Officer Carly Fiorina will announce new versions of the Integrity series computers tomorrow that offer features from more expensive mainframe computers, said Rich Marcello, Hewlett-Packard's head of business server computers. Hewlett-Packard had 28 percent of the market for server computers in the third quarter, according to researcher Gartner Inc, trailing IBM's 32 percent.