New Color-changing Technology Has Potential Packaging, Military, Aerospace Applications

ScienceDaily (Jul. 25, 2007) — Imagine cleaning out your refrigerator and being able to tell at a glance whether perishable food items have spoiled, because the packaging has changed its color, or being able to tell if your dollar bill is counterfeit simply by stretching it to see if it changes hue. These are just two of the promising commercial applications for a new type of flexible plastic film developed by scientists at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom and the Deutsches Kunststoff-Institut (DKI) in Darmstadt, Germany. Combining the best of natural and manmade optical effects, their films essentially represent a new way for objects to precisely change their color.
These "polymer opal films" belong to a class of materials known as photonic crystals. Such crystals are built of many tiny repeating units, and are usually associated with a large contrast in the components' optical properties, leading to a range of frequencies, called a "photonic bandgap," where no light can propagate in any direction. Instead, these new opal films have a small contrast in their optical properties.

As with other artificial opal structures, they are also "self-assembling," in that the small constituent particles assemble themselves in a regular structure. But this self-assembly is not perfect, and though meant to be periodic, they have significant irregularities. In these materials, the interplay between the periodic order, the irregularities, and the scattering of small inclusions strongly affect the way the light travels through these films, just as in natural opal gem stones, a distant cousin of these materials. For example, light may be reflected in unexpected directions that depend on the light's wavelength.

Photonic crystals have been of interest for years for various practical applications, most notably in fiber optic telecommunications but also as a potential replacement for toxic and expensive dyes used for coloring objects, from clothes to buildings. Yet much of their commercial potential has yet to be realized because the colors in manmade films made from photonic crystals depend strongly on viewing angle. If you hold up a sheet of the opal film, Baumberg explains, "You'll only see milky white, unless you look at a light reflected in it, in which case certain colors from the light source will be preferentially reflected." In other words, change the angle, and the color changes.

These photonic crystals are apparent in the natural world as well but are more consistent in color at varying angles. Opals, butterfly wings, certain species of beetle, and peacock feathers all feature arrays of tiny holes, neatly arranged into patterns. Even though these natural structures aren't nearly as precisely ordered as the manmade versions, the colors produced are unusually strong, and depend less on the viewing angle.

Until now, scientists believed that the same effect was at work in both manmade and natural photonic crystals: the lattice structure caused the light to reflect off the surface in such a way as to produce a color that changes depending upon the angle of reflection. Baumberg, however, suspects that the natural structures selectively scatter rather than reflect the light, a result of complex interplay between the order and the irregulaty in these structures.

Given that hunch, Baumberg's team developed polymer opals to combine the precise structure of manmade photonic crystals with the robust color of natural structures. The polymer opal films are made of arrays of spheres stacked in three dimensions, rather than layers. They also contain tiny carbon nanoparticles wedged between the spheres, so light doesn't just reflect at the interfaces between the plastic spheres and the surrounding materials, it also scatters off the nanoparticles embedded between the spheres. This makes the film intensely colored, even though they are made from only transparent and black components, which are environmentally benign. Additionally, the material can be "tuned" to only scatter certain frequencies of light simply by making the spheres larger or smaller.

In collaboration with scientists at DKI in Darmstadt, Germany, Baumberg and his colleagues have developed a solution for another factor that traditionally has limited the commercial potential of photonic crystals: the ability to mass-produce them. His Darmstadt colleagues have developed a manufacturing process that can be successfully applied to photonic crystals and they now can produce very long rolls of polymer opal films.

The films are "quite stretchy," according to Baumberg, and when they stretch, they change color, since the act of stretching changes the distance between the spheres that make up the lattice structure. This, too, makes them ideal for a wide range of applications, including potential ones in food packaging, counterfeit identification and even defense.

The researchers will publish their findings in the July 23 issue of Optics Express, an open-access journal of the Optical Society of America.

Article: Otto L. J. Pursiainen, Jeremy J. Baumberg, Holger Winkler, Benjamin Viel, Peter Spahn, Tilmann Ruhl, "Nanoparticle-tuned Structural Color from Polymer Opals," Optics Express, Vol. 15, Issue 15,

Adapted from materials provided by Optical Society of America.

Explosives On A Chip: Unique Structure Enables New Generation Of Military Micro-detonators

ScienceDaily (Dec. 23, 2007) — Tiny copper structures with pores at both the nanometer and micron size scales could play a key role in the next generation of detonators used to improve the reliability, reduce the size and lower the cost of certain military munitions.
Developed by a team of scientists from the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and the Indian Head Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center, the highly-uniform copper structures will be incorporated into integrated circuits -- then chemically converted to millimeter-diameter explosives. Because they can be integrated into standard microelectronics fabrication processes, the copper materials will enable micro-electromechanical (MEMS) fuzes for military munitions to be mass-produced like computer chips.

"An ability to tailor the porosity and structural integrity of the explosive precursor material is a combination we've never had before," said Jason Nadler, a GTRI research engineer. "We can start with the Navy's requirements for the material and design structures that are able to meet those requirements. We can have an integrated design tool able to develop a whole range of explosive precursors on different size scales."

Nadler uses a variety of templates, including microspheres and woven fabrics, to create regular patterns in copper oxide paste whose viscosity is controlled by the addition of polymers. He then thermochemically removes the template and converts the resulting copper oxide structures to pure metal, retaining the patterns imparted by the template. The size of the pores can be controlled by using different templates and by varying the processing conditions.

So far, he's made copper structures with channel sizes as small as a few microns -- with structural components that have nanoscale pores.

Based on feedback from the Navy scientists, Nadler can tweak the structures to help optimize the overall device -- known as a fuze -- which controls when and where a munition will explode.

"We are now able to link structural characteristics to performance," Nadler noted. "We can produce a technically advanced material that can be tailored to the thermodynamics and kinetics that are needed using modeling techniques."

Beyond the fabrication techniques, Nadler developed characterization and modeling techniques to help understand and control the fabrication process for the unique copper structures, which may also have commercial applications.

The copper precursor developed in GTRI is a significant improvement over the copper foam material that Indian Head had previously been evaluating. Produced with a sintered powder process, the foam was fragile and non-uniform, meaning Navy scientists couldn't precisely predict reliability or how much explosive would be created in each micro-detonator.

"GTRI has been able to provide us with material that has well-controlled and well-known characteristics," said Michael Beggans, a scientist in the Energetics Technology Department of the Indian Head Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center. "Having this material allows us to determine the amount of explosive that can be formed in the MEMS fuze. The size of that charge also determines the size and operation of the other components."

The research will lead to a detonator with enhanced capabilities. "The long-term goal of the MEMS Fuze program is to produce a low-cost, highly-reliable detonator with built-in safe and arm capabilities in an extremely small package that would allow the smallest weapons in the Navy to be as safe and reliable as the largest," Beggans explained.

Reducing the size of the fuze is part of a long-term strategy toward smarter weapons intended to reduce the risk of collateral damage. That will be possible, in part, because hundreds of fuzes, each about a centimeter square, can be fabricated simultaneously using techniques developed by the microelectronics industry.

"Today, everything is becoming smaller, consuming less power and offering more functionality," Beggans added. "When you hear that a weapon is 'smart,' it's really all about the fuze. The fuze is 'smart' in that it knows the exact environment that the weapon needs to be in, and detonates it at the right time. The MEMS fuze would provide 'smart' functionality in medium-caliber and sub-munitions, improving results and reducing collateral damage."

Development and implementation of the new fuze will also have environmental and safety benefits.

"Practical implementation of this technology will enable the military to reduce the quantity of sensitive primary explosives in each weapon by at least two orders of magnitude," said Gerald R. Laib, senior explosives applications scientist at Indian Head and inventor of the MEMS Fuze concept. "This development will also vastly reduce the use of toxic heavy metals and waste products, and increase the safety of weapon production by removing the need for handling bulk quantities of sensitive primary explosives."

The next step will be for Indian Head to integrate all the components of the fuze into the smallest possible package -- and then begin producing the device in large quantities.

A specialist in metallic and ceramic cellular materials, Nadler said the challenge of the project was creating structures porous enough to be chemically converted in a consistent way -- while retaining sufficient mechanical strength to withstand processing and remain stable in finished devices.

"The ability to design things on multiple size scales at the same time is very important," he added. "Designing materials on the nano-scale, micron-scale and even the millimeter-scale simultaneously as a system is very powerful and challenging. When these different length scales are available, a whole new world of capabilities opens up."

Adapted from materials provided by Georgia Institute of Technology.

New Brain Cells Listen Before They Talk

ScienceDaily (Nov. 1, 2007) — Newly created neurons in adults rely on signals from distant brain regions to regulate their maturation and survival before they can communicate with existing neighboring cells--a finding that has important implications for the use of adult neural stem cells to replace brain cells lost by trauma or neurodegeneration, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in The Journal of Neuroscience.
In fact, certain important synaptic connections--the circuitry that allows the brain cells to talk to each other--do not appear until 21 days after the birth of the new cells, according to Charles Greer, professor of neurosurgery and neurobiology, and senior author of the study, In the meantime, other areas of the brain provide information to the new cells, preventing them from disturbing ongoing functions until the cells are mature.

It was established in previous studies that several regions of the adult brain continue to generate new neurons, which are then integrated into existing brain circuitry. However the mechanisms that allowed this to happen were not known.

To answer this question, Greer and Mary Whitman, an M.D./Ph.D. candidate at Yale, studied how new neurons are integrated into the olfactory bulb, which helps discriminate between odors, among other functions.

They found that new neurons continue to mature for six to eight weeks after they are first generated and that the new neurons receive input from higher brain regions for up to 10 days before they can make any outputs. The other brain regions then continue to provide information to the new neurons as they integrate into existing networks.

The discovery of this previously unrecognized mechanism is significant, said Greer, because "if we want to use stem cells to replace neurons lost to injury or disease, we must ensure that they do not fire inappropriately, which could cause seizures or cognitive dysfunction."

The Journal of Neuroscience 27: 9951-9961 (October 2007)

Adapted from materials provided by Yale University.

Neuronal Circuits Able To Rewire On The Fly To Sharpen Senses

ScienceDaily (Dec. 22, 2007) — Researchers from the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC), a joint project of Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh, have for the first time described a mechanism called "dynamic connectivity," in which neuronal circuits are rewired "on the fly" allowing stimuli to be more keenly sensed.
This new, biologically inspired algorithm for analyzing the brain at work allows scientists to explain why when we notice a scent, the brain can quickly sort through input and determine exactly what that smell is.

"If you think of the brain like a computer, then the connections between neurons are like the software that the brain is running. Our work shows that this biological software is changed rapidly as a function of the kind of input that the system receives," said Nathan Urban, associate professor of biological sciences at Carnegie Mellon.

When a stimulus such as an odor is encountered, many neurons start to fire. When many neurons fire at the same time, the signals can be difficult for the brain to interpret. During lateral inhibition, the stimulated neurons send "cease-fire" messages to the neighboring neurons, reducing the noise and making it easier to precisely identify a stimulus. This process also facilitates accurate recognition of stimuli in many sensory areas of the brain.

In this project, Urban and colleagues specifically examine the process of lateral inhibition in an area of the brain called the olfactory bulb, which is responsible for processing scents. Until now, scientists thought that the connections made by the neurons in the olfactory bulb were dictated by anatomy and could only change slowly.

However, in this current study, Urban and colleagues found that the connections are, in fact, not set but rather able to change dynamically in response to specific patterns of stimuli. In their experiments, they found that when excitatory neurons in the olfactory bulb fire in a correlated fashion, this determines how they are functionally connected.

The researchers showed that dynamic connectivity allows lateral inhibition to be enhanced when a large number of neurons initially respond to a stimulus, filtering out noise from other neurons. By filtering out the noise, the stimulus can be more clearly recognized and separated from other similar stimuli.

"This mechanism helps to explain why you can walk into a room and recognize a smell that seems to be floral. As you continue to smell the odor, you begin to recognize that the scent is indeed flowers and even more specifically is the scent of roses," Urban said. "By understanding how the brain does this, we can then apply this mechanism to other problems faced by the brain."

Researchers converted this mechanism into an algorithm and used computer modeling to further show that dynamic connectivity makes it easier to identify and discriminate between stimuli by enhancing the contrast, or sharpness, of the stimuli, independent of the spatial patterns of the active neurons. This algorithm allows researchers to show the applicability of the mechanism in other areas of the brain where similar inhibitory connections are widespread. For example, the researchers applied the algorithm to a blurry picture and the picture appeared refined and in sharper contrast (see image).

The process is described in a paper in the January 2008 issue of Nature Neuroscience, and available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nn2030.

Coauthors of the study include Armen Arevian, a graduate student in the Center for Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh, and Vikrant Kapoor, a biological sciences graduate student at Carnegie Mellon. The study was funded through grants from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, and the National Science Foundation.

Adapted from materials provided by Carnegie Mellon University.

Nitrous Oxide From Ocean Microbes Could Be Adding To Global Warming

ScienceDaily (Dec. 12, 2007) — A large amount of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide is produced by bacteria in the oxygen poor parts of the ocean using nitrites according to Dr Mark Trimmer of Queen Mary, University of London.
Dr Trimmer looked at nitrous oxide production in the Arabian Sea, which accounts for up to 18 % of global ocean emissions. He found that the gas is primarily produced by bacteria trying to make nitrogen gas.

"A third of the 'denitrification' that happens in the world's oceans occurs in the Arabian Sea (an area equivalent to France and Germany combined)" said Dr Trimmer. "Oxygen levels decrease as you go deeper into the sea. At around 130 metres there is what we call an oxygen minimum zone where oxygen is low or non-existent. Bacteria that produce nitrous oxide do well at this depth."

Gas produced at this depth could escape to the atmosphere. Nitrous oxide is a powerful greenhouse gas some 300 times more so than carbon dioxide, it also attacks the ozone layer and causes acid rain.

"Recent reports suggest increased export of organic material from the surface layers of the ocean under increased atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. This could cause an expansion of the oxygen minimum zones of the world triggering ever greater emissions of nitrous oxide."

Adapted from materials provided by Society for General Microbiology.

Methane From Microbes: A Fuel For The Future

ScienceDaily (Dec. 12, 2007) — Microbes could provide a clean, renewable energy source and use up carbon dioxide in the process, suggested Dr James Chong at a Science Media Centre press briefing December 10.

"Methanogens are microbes called archaea that are similar to bacteria. They are responsible for the vast majority of methane produced on earth by living things" says Dr Chong from York University. "They use carbon dioxide to make methane, the major flammable component of natural gas. So methanogens could be used to make a renewable, carbon neutral gas substitute."

Methanogens produce about one billion tonnes of methane every year. They thrive in oxygen-free environments like the guts of cows and sheep, humans and even termites. They live in swamps, bogs and lakes. "Increased human activity causes methane emissions to rise because methanogens grow well in rice paddies, sewage processing plants and landfill sites, which are all made by humans."

Methanogens could feed on waste from farms, food and even our homes to make biogas. This is done in Europe, but very little in the UK. The government is now looking at microbes as a source of fuel and as a way to tackle food waste in particular.

Methane is a greenhouse gas that is 23 times more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide. "By using methane produced by bacteria as a fuel source, we can reduce the amount released into the atmosphere and use up some carbon dioxide in the process!"

Adapted from materials provided by Society for General Microbiology.

Greenland Melt Accelerating, According To Climate Scientist

ScienceDaily (Dec. 12, 2007) — The 2007 melt extent on the Greenland ice sheet broke the 2005 summer melt record by 10 percent, making it the largest ever recorded there since satellite measurements began in 1979, according to a University of Colorado at Boulder climate scientist.
The melting increased by about 30 percent for the western part of Greenland from 1979 to 2006, with record melt years in 1987, 1991, 1998, 2002, 2005 and 2007, said CU-Boulder Professor Konrad Steffen, director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences. Air temperatures on the Greenland ice sheet have increased by about 7 degrees Fahrenheit since 1991, primarily a result of the build-up of greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere, according to scientists.

Steffen gave a presentation on his research at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union held in San Francisco from Dec. 10 to Dec. 14. His team used data from the Defense Meteorology Satellite Program's Special Sensor Microwave Imager aboard several military and weather satellites to chart the area of melt, including rapid thinning and acceleration of ice into the ocean at Greenland's margins.

Steffen maintains an extensive climate-monitoring network of 22 stations on the Greenland ice sheet known as the Greenland Climate Network, transmitting hourly data via satellites to CU-Boulder to study ice-sheet processes.

Although Greenland has been thickening at higher elevations due to increases in snowfall, the gain is more than offset by an accelerating mass loss, primarily from rapidly thinning and accelerating outlet glaciers, Steffen said. "The amount of ice lost by Greenland over the last year is the equivalent of two times all the ice in the Alps, or a layer of water more than one-half mile deep covering Washington, D.C."

The Jacobshavn Glacier on the west coast of the ice sheet, a major Greenland outlet glacier draining roughly 8 percent of the ice sheet, has sped up nearly twofold in the last decade, he said. Nearby glaciers showed an increase in flow velocities of up to 50 percent during the summer melt period as a result of melt water draining to the ice-sheet bed, he said.

"The more lubrication there is under the ice, the faster that ice moves to the coast," said Steffen. "Those glaciers with floating ice 'tongues' also will increase in iceberg production."

Greenland is about one-fourth the size of the United States, and about 80 percent of its surface area is covered by the massive ice sheet. Greenland hosts about one-twentieth of the world's ice -- the equivalent of about 21 feet of global sea rise. The current contribution of Greenland ice melt to global sea levels is about 0.5 millimeters annually.

The most sensitive regions for future, rapid change in Greenland's ice volume are dynamic outlet glaciers like Jacobshavn, which has a deep channel reaching far inland, he said. "Inclusion of the dynamic processes of these glaciers in models will likely demonstrate that the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment underestimated sea-level projections for the end of the 21st century," Steffen said.

Helicopter surveys indicate there has been an increase in cylindrical, vertical shafts in Greenland's ice known as moulins, which drain melt water from surface ponds down to bedrock, he said. Moulins, which resemble huge tunnels in the ice and may run vertically for several hundred feet, switch back and forth from vertical to horizontal as they descend toward the bottom of the ice sheet, he said.

"These melt-water drains seem to allow the ice sheet to respond more rapidly than expected to temperature spikes at the beginning of the annual warm season," Steffen said. "In recent years the melting has begun earlier than normal."

Steffen and his team have been using a rotating laser and a sophisticated digital camera and high-definition camera system provided by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to map the volume and geometry of moulins on the Greenland ice sheet to a depth of more than 1,500 feet. "We know the number of moulins is increasing," said Steffen. "The bigger question is how much water is reaching the bed of the ice sheet, and how quickly it gets there."

Steffen said the ice loss trend in Greenland is somewhat similar to the trend of Arctic sea ice in recent decades. In October, CU-Boulder's National Snow and Ice Data Center reported the 2007 Arctic sea-ice extent had plummeted to the lowest levels since satellite measurements began in 1979 and was 39 percent below the long-term average tracked from 1979 to 2007.

CIRES is a joint institute of CU-Boulder and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. For more information on Steffen's research, visit the Web site at: http://cires.colorado.edu/science/groups/steffen/.

Adapted from materials provided by University of Colorado at Boulder.

Hunter Humidifier Filter Types and Maintenance

When trying to heat up the air in cold weather, the air gets dried up. To counter this effect, a Hunter humidifier is needed. And it’s also necessary to know how Hunter humidifier filters work.

Dry air in a room or enclosure is often the result of heating up the air. Heating up a room or enclosure only solves room temperature, but not the air circulation. When the air is merely heated up and not well circulated, the air becomes dry and viruses, bacteria, and molds may increase in a particular enclosure. Hence, a Hunter humidifier comes in. It can be installed in the furnace or a portable Hunter humidifier unit brought in to treat a room or enclosure. Hunter humidifier filters help the humidifier perform better air humidification and circulation.

A Hunter humidifier filter looks like a mesh wire pad that helps the humidifier unit perform better at filtering the air. As a Hunter humidifier performs, chances are air elements like dusts and molds may collect in the unit, making the unit blow and circulate contaminated air without a filter. Several water minerals may also be trapped in the humidifier, making it perform less. Thus, Hunter humidifier filters need to be maintained by regular replacements. Hunter humidifier filters are antibacterial paper filters that are specially made to eliminate micro-organism growth in humidifier units.

When the cold season sets in, heaters are in use. To prevent the air from drying up, humidifiers are used. Before using the humidifier in cold seasons, it is best to replace at once a Hunter humidifier filter. Hunter humidifier filters should also be replaced every 2 to 4 weeks for better humidifier unit performance, and also according to frequency of use and water condition. Hard water (more mineral content) used in humidifiers means more frequent replacements of Hunter humidifier filter. It is also advisable to take out the Hunter humidifier filter each time the humidifier unit is cleaned.

A Genuine Hunter Humidifier Filter type (model 32300) can filter out 3 gallons of humidifying water. Another type of Genuine Hunter Humidifier Filter (model 32400) can filter out 4 gallons of humidifying water. Models 32500 and 34500 of a Genuine Hunter Humidifier Filter can filter out 5 gallons of humidifying water. A Hunter humidifier filter of the Endurawick make is specifically for a Hunter Endurawick for filtering 5 gallons of humidifying water.

Replacing Hunter humidifier filters as often as needed is the best way to maintain good performance of humidifiers.

Author Info:

Robert Thomson is writing humidifier reviews and articles about humidifier filters and general humidifier maintenance.

Transcriptional Factors And Regulators

All the cellular processes in living cells such as growth, development, morphogenesis and cellular differentiation are a product of gene expression programs involving complicated transcriptional regulation of several genes. This process of transcriptional regulation is tightly controlled and coordinated by proteins called transcriptional regulators. These transcriptional regulators and factors are DNA-binding proteins that bind to the promoter or enhancer sequences on the DNA and facilitate either transcriptional repression or activation.

There are three principal types of transcription factors. These include basal transcription factors, upstream transcription factors and inducible transcription factors. The basic structure of every transcriptional factor mainly contains a DNA-binding domain and an activator domain. DNA-binding motifs found in transcription factors include zinc-finger, helix-loop-helix, helix-turn-helix, leucine zipper and high-mobility groups, based on which transcription factors are classified. The activator domain of these transcription factors interacts with components of transcription machinery such as RNA polymerases and associated transcription regulators.

Regulation of transcriptional factors is a complex mechanism that ensures exact spatio-temporal expression of genes. In response to a specific cellular stimulus, these trans-regulatory factors are activated in a sequential manner. Upon activation, these factors recruit transcriptional co-regulators such as histones that function as co-activators or co- repressors and aid in modifying chromatin structure. Altered activation of these regulators is often associated with various pathologies such as chronic disorders and malignancies. Recent studies are concentrating on developing improved disease treatment strategies through identification of different transcription factor-binding patterns and blocking them.

There are several families of trans-regulatory factors that control critical cellular signaling cascades involved in cell proliferation, survival, lineage development and cellular differentiation. These include Rel/NF-kB family, AP-1 family, STAT family of transcription factors, homeodomain proteins, DNA-binding proteins, POU transcription factors, nuclear hormone receptor family, p53 family and E2F family.

Author Info:

IMGENEX India Pvt Ltd. the only biotech company in Orissa and one of its kinds in Eastern India. IMGENEX India started in Oct as an outsourcing branch of IMGENEX Corporation, San Diego, USA.Find out more information about Transcriptional Factors.

Showing Off Your Honda Civic SI

by Kathy Austin
A Honda Civic SI is a vehicle that can be an immense source of pride and joy for vehicle owners everywhere. This vehicle, which is manufactured by the Japanese automobile company Honda, is actually the sports version of its rather famous econocar sister, the Honda Civic. Owning a vehicle like this has made a lot of people use Honda Civic SI keychains on their car keys to show everyone what a wonderful car they have.

The Honda Civic SI boasts of a popular following that began with the introduction of this car in 1984. The designation "SI" actually means "Sports Injected" and was first used in the 1984 Honda Civic SI that came in the 3-door hatchback style. The introduction of this souped up Honda Civic to the market gained popularity among those car owners who enjoyed tweaking with their cars and speed enthusiasts.

The 3-door hatchback design of the Honda Civic SI was retained for most of its life, with modifications to the car's design, engine and other specifications being made throughout the years. The Honda Civic SI then saw a change in body style from the 3-door hatchback design that people have seemed to have gotten used to, to a new age 2-door coupe body design in 1996. This gave the Honda Civic SI a sportier appeal to complement the added engine power that the name implies.

Engine power for the original Honda Civic SI was pegged at 130 horsepower when it was first introduced in the early 1980s. The engine's power was then seen to fluctuate between 112 to 158 horsepower between the mid 1980s till the early 1990s models. The 1992 to 1995 version of this automobile sported an engine that gave the car 125 horsepower. Different regions of the world, however, seemed to have different powerplants installed into their Honda Civic SI's. There were vehicles of the same make and model that had a 130 horsepower engine and there were others that had between 158 to 168 horsepower under their hoods.

The 1996 to 2000 version of this car had 160 horsepower to its name and came in three color selections. Only Canadian Honda Civic SI buyers had the option of a fourth color choice, which is the Vogue Silver Metallic. The three original color choices for this era's Hinda Civic SI included Flamenco Black Pearl, Electron Blue Pearl and Milano Red. The 2002 to 2005 edition of this car returned to its original hatchback roots. While the car still had the 160 horsepower engine under its hood, it did not gain as much acclaim as its predecessor due to its less than sporty look.

The current Honda Civic SI now comes in two body designs, the 2-door coupe and the 4-door sedan. With a 197 horsepower 2.0-liter engine to give it the power that a lot of car buyers these days seem to want, it is no wonder that this car, which comes in numerous color choices, is one of the most popular cars being purchased these days.

About the Author
Kathy Austin is an internet marketing consultant for http://www.wholesalekeychain.com. Wholesale Keychain sells officially licensed key chains, made in USA and comes with lifetime guarantee against flaws.

The Samsung G600 - Top Quality Samsung Handset!

by Matt Sharp
The Samsung G600 camera mobile phone comes with a slide opening casing. The phone with its smooth finish and easy to access slide opening mechanism has succeeded in grabbing the attention of the mobile phone market. The mobile phone coming with a large 2.2 Inch high colour screen provides the user with up to sixteen million colours on a high resolution TFT screen. The Samsung G600 mobile phone is a quad band technology handset that helps the user by providing with worldwide roaming that will automatically switch between the GSM networks without the user knowing. This model mobile phone from Samsung comes with a built in memory of 55 Mbytes that can be extended by the user by adding a memory card slot. The mobile phone handset comes in a 102mm x 47.8mm x 14.9mm sized casing, weighing 105 gram including the phone battery making it much comfortable to hold in hand. .

It is the existence of 5 megapixel camera feature that makes the mobile phones unique. This mobile handset helps the user in capturing beautifully clear and precise shot at any time of the day or night. The camera has a built in flash and an auto focus feature that ensures perfect picture at any time a photo is shot. The mobile phone comes with an integrated FM radio function that guarantees excellent musical entertainment. It is also possible for the user to transfer music files onto their Samsung G600 or simply download the latest music from an Internet music store.

The mobile phones comes with a battery that has approximately 3.5 hours of talk time or approximately 300 hours of standby battery time from a fully charged battery. The Samsung G600 also has additional features including Bluetooth wireless connectivity that helps the user to transfer files between two compatible Bluetooth devices with being tangled in wires. The built in EDGE technology ensures high speed data transfers that are approximately three times faster than GPRS.

mobile phones, Samsung


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The Nokia 6300 - Candy Bar Designing!

by Matt Sharp
The Nokia 6300 mobile phone comes with excellent features inclkuding built-in 2 megapixel camera, Edge technology, Bluetooth technology and web browsing facility, that are really beneficial and helpful for the user.

The new Nokia 6300 mobile phone handset coming in a sophisticated, stylish and attractive stainless steel casing is filled with fun and highly useable features that support the user to enjoy. The handset coming in a curvaceous stainless steel casing with a glossy black section around the screen has a large 2 Inch screen that can provide up to 16.7 million colours on a TFT QVGA type display. The O2 Nokia 6300 handset has a highly useable and attractive stainless steel keypad.

The mobile phone handset has a built in memory of 7.8 Mbytes that cane be expanded to 128 Mbytes by inserting a MicroSD memory card. The Nokia 6300 handset weighs 91 grams making it comfortable t hold in hand and slip into the pocket. The handset measures 106.4 mm x 43.6 mm x 11.7 mm making it really fit in to the userâ�,��,,�s hand. The attractive feature of the mobile phone is the built in 2 megapixel camera feature that is capable of taking photos, store photos, send and share photos from the mobile handset. With a fully charged battery, the O2 Nokia 6300 model mobile phone is capable of providing up to 264 hours of standby battery time and up to 3.5 hours of talk time. The existence of Edge technology ensures easy and high speed data transfer for the user to enjoy. The built in Bluetooth technology supports the user with a wireless connectivity option on handset. It is also possible for the user to browse internet with the help of the mobile phone making it comfortable for him when he is away from the PC. The mobile phone has a built in FM radio feature complete with visual radio that makes it more enjoyable for the user. The Nokia 6300 handset comes with simple to use messaging services including instant messaging, audio messaging, multimedia messaging, text messaging and emails with attachments.

Nokia, O2

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Nokia E90 - Symbian Power!

by Matt Sharp
After doing such a terrific job in the mobile industry, Nokia has never shown a sign of slowing down. After winning the world of communication with some power products, Nokia is still on a hunt to bring out the best in communication and hence we have been showered with tools like Nokia E90 and the Nokia Prism.

Nokia E90 has already become much popular among the tech-savvy people. Marketed as the Nokia E90, the E90 Communicator is a smart-looking business phone running on Symbian OS Version 9.2. The fold-open design of the casing of the phone makes the device really a cool contrivance. Displays are amazing â�,�" 16 million internal colour screen (800 x 352 pixels) and 16 million external colour screen (240 x 320 pixels). With a built in 3.2 megapixel camera, you can freeze anything you feel like. With features like email (POP3, IMAP4 and SMTP), push email, email attachment editor and viewer, text to speech message reader, contacts with images, Nokia active notepad etc. the Nokia E90 turns into a complete business machine. Additional features include music player, FM radio, push-to-talk, handsfree speaker, voice commands, voice recording, voice dialling, Internet call voice over IP, 3G HSDPA, WLAN, USB 2.0, Bluetooth, Infrared, 128MB memory plus MicroSD memory card support etc.

Nokia has just released two pay as you go mobile phones in its designer Prism category. Named as the Nokia 7500 Prism and the Nokia 7900 Prism, these two devices carry great aesthetic sense with supreme features. While the Nokia 7900 is a Quad Band 3G phone, the Nokia 7500 Prism is a Tri Band phone. Except weight and size, almost all the features in the two pay as you go mobile phones are similar. Common features include 2 megapixel camera with 8 x digital zoom, stereo music player, FM radio, web access, Bluetooth, EDGE, embedded Java games, downlaodable games.

Be it the pay as you go Nokia Prism or Nokia E90 Communicator, both are feature rich, both are user-friendly. By choosing one pay as you go mobile phones, you could give a different angle to the way you communicate!

pay as you go, pay as you go mobile phones

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LG ENV VX9900 Review - A Review of the LG ENV VX9900 Cellular Phone

by Jonathan Baker
A multimedia messaging phone, the LG ENV (VX9900) is the go to device for those who need to be connected at all times. One of the best phones on the market, the ENV combines EvDO high speed technology, large internal screen, dual stereo speakers and an external memory port. From camera to multimedia player to cell phone extraordinare, this phone has everything one would ever need (and then some).

For those who are addicted to text messaging, the ENV (VX9900) offers a flip open QWERTY keyboard and up to 1,120 character text messages. The phone is also enables picture and video messaging, as well as web based email and instant messaging. With Mobile Web 2.0, users can check their MySpace.com profiles, purchase airline tickets from their favorite discount ticket broker or even bid on Ebay.com items. The internal antenna makes this phone difficult to break and a keyguard function prevents unintentional dialing.

The camera is the best out of all of the phones LG produces, and is a 2.0 megapixel with autofocus and flash. With four different resolution options, he camera even has a protective lens cover to help prevent scratches and dings. The video format is 3G2, and the digital zoom will increase the picture size up to two and a half times. Camera features include white balance, customizable brightness, color effects, night mode, and shutter sound, as well as a self timer that can be set for 3, 5 or 10 seconds. Up to one full hour of video can be stored, and 15 seconds of video at a time can be messaged to another phone or email address.

This phone truly has it all, including a VZ NavigatorSM that provides voice prompted turn by turn directions. All in all, it's a fantastic buy and one that won't be regretted.

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For more excellent mobile phone information, visit the Wireless Phone Forum at http://www.TheCellularForums.com/ today. We hope that you enjoyed this LG ENV VX9900 review!

LG KG800 Review - A Review of the LG KG800 Cellular Phone

by Jonathan Baker

Upon first glance, it's easy to see why the LG KG800 (also known as the Chocolate) won the 2006 IF Design Award in Germany for its fresh and innovative design. One such example of innovation is the hidden display and a touchpad that is invisible when not in use, but glows red when in use. Currently only available in black, the Chocolate is something to see and be seen with. Still, this phone is more than just a pretty package and comes equipped with more features than one would expect to find in a phone. Moreover, each feature is notably high quality.

The camera, for instance, isn't the run of the mill one that one tends to find in cell phones these days. Instead, it's a powerful 1.3 megapixel camera and video recorder that has a powerful flash, ensuring each photo taken is one worth saving. The multi-shot feature enables the user to take nine consecutive shots and once they're taken, the camera is capable of zooming up to four times the original size. Brightness, white balance, timer and effect are bonuses that round out this aspect of the Chocolate.

Thanks to the 262,000 color TFT screen, users won't miss a thing. The display of images, video and menu icons are high quality and vibrant. When owners are finished editing photos or watching videos, they can enjoy the built in MP3 player that supports MP3, AAC, AAC+ and WMA files.

With the Chocolate, boring polyphonic ringtones will be a thing of the past. Now, music files can be set as ringtones and the graphic equalizer with six different sound effects will make sure the phone is heard loud and clear when somebody calls. Bluetooth technology enables hands free talking and because the phone has Tri-band technology, the phone can be used in most countries.

About the Author
For more excellent mobile phone information, visit the Cellular Forum at http://www.TheCellularForums.com/ today. We hope that you enjoyed this LG KG800 review!