Five Rock Formations From The Solar System Which Resemble Objects On Earth

Intriguing photos from around the solar system...

With various space exploratory bodies from different nations around the world recently coming together to complete the 'Correlation Of Exploratory Space Missions Project', hundreds of fascinating photos from solar system probes have recently been released into the public domain.  Here at Tomorrow's Technology Today we've gone through the files and picked out a selection of images which were of particular note for their curious resemblance to creatures and objects more typically observed on Earth.

Acknowledgement: Our thanks go to guest contributor Professor Martin Feldman for his words of explanation as to how these various rock formations were most likely formed. 

1) The Giant Turtle Of Ganymede

The Giant Turtle Of Ganymede,
easily explained by the 'closed volcano' phenomenon.

This first curious image was taken by the Navigator-4 Probe during its 2009 flyby mission of Ganymede, the largest moon of Jupiter and indeed the largest moon in the solar system.  The rock formation in the photo was discovered near to the magnetic equator of Ganymede and remarkably appears to resemble a giant turtle.

To give you an idea of the scale of the photo, the peak of the 'shell' measures approximately 800 metres in height which to give you a sense of scale is roughly the same height as Ayre's Rock/Uluru in Australia.

Explanation:  Professor Martin Feldman explains, "This is perhaps one of the simplest images to explain and was undoubtedly caused by what astro-geologists refer to as a 'closed volcano'.  The phenomenon is actually quite common throughout the solar system and refers to an eruption of magma that forces its way to the surface only to find its escape route blocked by a rock formation such as the 'shell' in the photo.  When the magma meets the obstruction it is then forced out of the base of the shell at various weak points, and given that the temperatures as far out in the solar system as Jupiter are vastly cooler than here on Earth, the magma subsequently cools very rapidly, solidifying into rock 'appendages' at the base of the shell.

Of course in most cases you rarely end up with such a distinctive looking turtle shaped rock formation, but nevertheless the process of a closed volcano has been observed elsewhere in the solar system on previous occasions."

The Electronic Chip Which Could Put An End To Diving Football Cheats

Could the patented Natural Motion Response Recognition System (NMRRS™) finally clean up the game of football?

Diving, or simulation if you wish to be use the more popular term of the moment, seems to be unfortunately becoming a more and more integral part of the modern game with every passing season.  No longer can we claim it to be a disease restricted to ‘those cheating foreigners’.  It seems that FIFA, UEFA and football fans alike have reached the point of simply accepting that cheating will always be an unfortunate part of the modern game which we will never be able to entirely eradicate.

Simulation could soon become a thing of the past,
thanks to the patented NMRRS™.

However, that might all be about to change if Professor Ray Oxley and his team of kinetics experts prove successful in their efforts to have their latest technological development accepted into the game.  Ray, who heads the Ergonomics And Kinetics Research Department at the Melbourne University Of Sports Science, has been working on the development of a simple electronic chip insert incorporating motion sensor technology. 

Screen Cleaning Software That Electronically Cleans Your Computer Screen

Clean your screen with the click of a button...

Electronic dust removal could soon replace
more old fashioned cleaning methods.

Prometheus Ultimate Games, more famous for some of their Android apps, such as Aardvaark Mountain and Suitcase Adventures, have recently expanded into the Windows market, with the launch of a ground-breaking new utility.  The app cleverly removes the need to manually clean your computer screen and instead does the job for you electronically.

The 'screen cleaning' software uses a pioneering new technique which utilises electromagnetic pulses and rapid frequency changes to trigger specially co-ordinated colour changes to be implemented in quick succession.  To describe it in more everyday terms, a kaleidoscope of controlled colourful imagery is shown on your computer screen and the resulting frequency emissions disperse dust and dirt from your screen.

'Calorie Negative' Diet Meals Set To Revolutionise Modern Diets

Eat yourself slim could soon be about to become a reality!

Drilimba fruit: A calorie negative food.

With the prevalence of image conscious marketing in today's media, the pressure to get fit and stay slim is perhaps stronger than ever. However, thanks to recent natural discoveries, combined with developments in food separation technologies, losing weight may just be about to get that little bit easier. If the prospect of 'calorie negative' meals sounds appealing then read on to discover more...

. . . . . . . .

For decades anthropologists had observed the Bandia Kabila tribe from the hilly northern regions of Peru and wondered how they managed to stay so slim given their notoriously indulgent diets and the distinct lack of exercise from their daily routines. The answer was eventually uncovered when it was discovered that the drilimba fruit, which makes up a significant part of the Bandia Kabila tribe diet, requires more energy for the human stomach to digest it than the fruit actually contains!  So in effect every time you eat a portion of drilimba fruit you get a net calorie intake of -26 calories!*

* Figures relate to an average sized drilimba fruit sample and are taken from the University of Central Wisconsin report published in August 2012.

Wave Power Delivered To Your Home By Wifi

Tidal Power which produces free 'wifi' energy for life!

Harnessing the power of waves to power homes via 'wifi'.

With the ever increasing costs of energy these days (both financial and environmental), there's an urgent necessity for governments and scientists to come up with alternative, and more efficient, methods of energy production.  Occasionally, some of these have been met with disapproval or even controversy, but one alternative in the works has so far been met with only positive noises.

Wave Inc, an alternative energy company based in North West Australia have been working on an energy recovery system which harnesses the power of the ocean in an efficient and environmentally friendly manner.  Of course collecting energy from tidal motion is nothing new, but Wave Inc's patented TECU (tidal energy collection unit) system has three distinct advantages over its fore-runners; namely;

The 'Pokie Buster 3000' featuring Mechanical And Digital Predictive Technology™

“So effective the Australian Association Of Pokie Manufacturers tried to get us banned!”

Hit the jackpot on pokies/fruit machines with the 'Pokie Buster 3000'
featuring Mechanical and Digital Predictive Technology.

The above quote is the proud boast found in Competitive Edge Inc's promotional literature which accompanies their recently released 'Pokie Buster 3000', a clever hi-tech gadget designed to aid gamblers with the use of its Mechanical and Digital Predictive Technology™, or M.D.P.T. for short.

So what is Mechanical and Digital Predictive Technology™ all about?  Basically it’s a multi-sensory patented system featured in the Pokie Buster 3000 which incorporates a low range frequency electromagnetic camera, motion sensors and other secret electronic wizardry (the legality of which has been questioned by the Australian Association of Pokie Manufacturers … hence Competitive Edge’s proud opening boast), that claims to be able to analyse the workings of any pokie machine (or fruit machine for the benefit of our British readers) and thus predict when the machine is more likely to pay out.

The makers, Competitive Edge Incorporated, claim an 80% prediction accuracy after only ten minutes analysis.  In reality, however, I suspect these figures are somewhat exaggerated.  On my experience I was getting approximately 60% prediction accuracy and even after twenty minutes analysis this only went up to roughly 65%.  However, this still makes for a decent return on your money.  The 'Pokie Buster 3000' currently retails at AUS$199 (£132.76 at today’s exchange rate) so even with a 65% prediction accuracy you should be able to recover your initial outlay pretty quickly.

Ambitious Project To Harvest Gold From Asteroids

As we consume the Earth’s resources, scientists are looking further afield to the solar system with a privately funded space program which could be good news for mankind, but bad news for gold speculators…

Scientists are looking further afield to the solar system in the
quest to harvest valuable elements for the benefit of mankind.

Up until the current point in the history of space exploration, space missions to other bodies in the solar system have been primarily about investigation.  You could sum it by saying that the motivation thus far has been a curious need to scratch a scientific itch.  Of course this curiosity has often led to numerous benefits for society such as fire resistant materials, earthquake monitoring systems and Velcro, but up until now the benefits have been incidental rather than the primary goal of any space missions.

However, with the launch of the Project Xpansion space program, the brainchild of a group of scientists and private investors, the history books could be about to be rewritten.  As Sir Herbert Monaghan, chairman of the group explains, "The Project Xpansion space program aims to send spacecraft to specifically selected 'resource rich' asteroids as they orbit the Earth, and then via the use of robotic probes ‘harvest’ these asteroids of their valuable elements and precious metals."

As you might expect, given its high value, one of the primary elements the program will be aiming to harvest is gold, but other precious elements identified as harvestable from targeted asteroids include rhodium, osmium, palladium and a long list of other elements which, as Sir Herbert explains, "are becoming increasing sort after as new scientific developments and techniques are discovered which rely increasingly on scarce elements and precious metals."

Creating A Miniature Sun Here On Earth...

Is the answer to Earth’s energy problems less than a decade away?

It may sound like the stuff of science fiction but scientists in Toronto believe they may finally have come up with the solution to the Earth’s energy problems.  Their ambitious energy plans involve recreating a miniature version of the Sun here on Earth and then harnessing the energy created from the resulting nuclear fusion to provide power for homes and businesses all around Canada.

Recreating the sun on Earth: Could the STAR Project
be the answer to the world's energy problems?

Of course scientists have been able to create nuclear fusion on Earth for decades now but current fusion methods require more energy to initiate the process than is ultimately produced.  This ‘negative net energy gain’* has therefore so far meant that for the time being at least nuclear fusion has had no practical use as a source of energy.

* Or an ‘energy loss’ as we ordinary non-scientific people would refer to it.

However, scientists working on the STAR* Project at the Institute of Practical Plasma Applications in Toronto believe that, in theory at least, they may finally be able to solve the ‘negative net energy gain’ problem by recreating a miniature star here on Earth which would be capable of recreating nuclear fusion on such a large scale that the ultimate energy output would at last outweigh the enormous amounts of energy necessary to initiate the fusion process.

* Or the ‘Sun Themed Astroscopic Replica’ Project, to give it its full title.

Kinetic Capture™ Insoles: The Ideal Gadget For Fitness Fanatics Who Want To Help The Environment

Kinetic Capture™ – Running shoe insoles that store the kinetic energy as you run and then use this power to charge up your iPhone / iPod.

Kinetic Capture™ insoles can be used with any pair of running shoes.

The idea behind the ‘Kinetic Capture™’ insoles is simple.  Insert them in a regular pair of training shoes and then every time you go for a run the insoles ‘capture’ the energy you create while you jog which can then later be used to charge up an iPhone or iPod.

It’s a great idea and although the technology behind these insoles is by no means perfected yet, they nevertheless are a very worthy accessory for anyone who fancies an alternative source to power their iPhone or iPod, not to mention the chance to do their bit to save the planet.



The promotional literature from the makers ‘Green Future Solutions’ tells you that for best results you should use the insoles on a firm surface such as a pavement, as opposed to running on a softer surface like grass for example.  Apparently this is because the energy collected by the Kinetic Capture™ system comes from the impact of each step hitting the ground, and obviously running on grass or other soft surfaces softens this impact.  This wasn’t a problem in my case as my standard jogging route takes me along roads and paths, but it would be something to consider for some joggers, and a minor irritation for myself if I ever fancied heading off on an alternative more scenic route one day.