Magnetic fields could super-cool your gaming PC, nuclear reactors

As any good chef knows, mechanical stress aids the transfer of thermodynamic energy in a closed system. They employ this knowledge every time they press an ingredient down into a pan or grill, greatly increasing the efficiency of heat transfer from metal to food. We usually see that interaction exclusively from one perspective, that of using the pan to add heat to the food. But it would be just as accurate to say that we are using the food to remove heat from the pan — and by pressing it down we assist it in “cooling” the metal. Now a team of researchers are using this fundamental fact, along with a strong magnetic field and a flood of metal nanoparticles, to make liquid cooling systems many times more effective.

The basic premise is fairly simple: if you flood a coolant with a slurry of magnetic nanoparticles, then subject that suspension to a magnetic field, the nanoparticles can help affect the flow of the whole fluid, helping to make cooling more effective. It’s a basic enough idea that it can scale to virtually any size for an applicable type of cooling rig. Anything cooled by a liquid is an immediate candidate — and to continue advancing at such a pace, more and more of our technology will require a heat-sink fluid more efficient than air.

An Adorably Tiny Reconnaissance Drone No Larger Than a Dragonfly

The militaries of the world always have the best toys, so if you were impressed by this tiny RC helicopter from Silverlit, you'll be blown away by the PD-100 Black Hornet that British forces have been using for reconnaissance since last year. At just 16 grams it's about the closest thing we've got to a remote controlled flying insect.

Developed by Norwegian-based Prox Dynamics AS, the Black Hornet—despite its impossibly tiny fuselage—flies for up to 25 minutes on a single charge, letting it cover about three-quarters of a mile at its top speed. And it's completely autonomous too, using GPS to fly from waypoint to waypoint on its pre-defined route.

Unfortunately even the tiniest of night vision cameras are far too large for the Black Hornet to carry, so it's designed to gather footage during daylight missions. But its creators claim its completely invisible and silent at distances over 30 feet, so despite only operating in the day, it can still stealthily gather intelligence because it's just so tiny. As for pricing, it doesn't look like Prox Dynaimcs AS intends to sell these to civilians. So here's to hoping the company expands with a toy division that takes advantage of all the wonderful military tech it's developed.

HTC One S review

The dual-core HTC One S is among the first batch of smartphones to come with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on board. It’s less powerful than the brand’s own Ice Cream Sandwich-toting, quad-core HTC One X, but is specced to give most current Android rivals – the Samsung Galaxy S2, Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Motorola RAZR and LG Optimus 2X – a good run for their money.

Does it match up to them – or even surpass them?

HTC One S: Build

The HTC One S looks vaguely similar to the HTC Sensation. It’s skinnier, though (the skinniest phone HTC has ever produced) and slightly more understated thanks to its all black finish (the only splash of colour is the metal ring around the rear camera lens).

The One S features an aluminium body with a micro arc oxidation finish – which means it feels like a ceramic handset rather than a metal one. It's nicely grippy (not slippy), and HTC claims it's five times harder than regular aluminium – so much so that you won't need a protective case.

Nokia Lumia 1020 review

Another month, another flagship Lumia handset. Does the Nokia Lumia 1020 steam ahead of its brethren and competition? We find out

Nokia's business strategy is a confusing one. It seems as though every time we get our hands on a brand new handset, a new one is announced a couple of months down the line. In the couple of weeks we've had with the Nokia Lumia 1020, a Nokia Lumia 1520 has already been announced for October.

Google to Pay $17 Million In Safari Privacy Case

Back in August we heard that Google would pay $22.5 million for the privacy breach on Apple’s Safari browser, after the company was found to be getting past the privacy settings on the Safari browser.

What Google were doing was basically using special code to track a users Internet browsing, even when their privacy settings were set to block such tracking.

Now Google will have to pay a further $17 million settlement to the District of Columbia and 37 other states, Google has now also agreed to a range of terms, which you can see below to make sure this does not happen again.