Does your laptop sometimes get so hot that it can almost be used to fry eggs? New technology may help cool it and give information technology a unique twist, says Jairo Sinova, a Texas A&M University physics professor.

Sinova and his colleagues from Hitachi Cambridge Laboratory, Institute of Physics ASCR, University of Cambridge and University of Nottingham have had their research reported in the renowned journal Nature Physics.

Laptops are getting increasingly powerful, but as their sizes are getting smaller they are heating up, so how to deal with excessive heat becomes a headache, Sinova explains.

"The crux of the problem is the way information is processed," Sinova notes. "Laptops and some other devices use flows of electric charge to process information, but they also produce heat.

"Theoretically, excessive heat may melt the laptop," he adds. "This also wastes a considerable amount of energy".

Is there a solution?

One approach appears to be found in Sinova's research - an alternative way to process information.

"Our research looks at the spin of electrons, tiny particles that naked eyes cannot detect," the Texas A&M professor explains. "The directions they spin can be used to record and process information".........

Sometime I think losing a laptop is almost as traumatic as losing a pet. You spend so much time and effort getting to know what it, trying new things. You waste hours of your life playing with it. It even follows you around.

Okay, so I might be pushing the analogy, but the truth is, most of us don"t have the money to get a new laptop every 6 months. We"d like to keep the one we have alive and running for as long as possible.

So here are a few useful little tips that might extend the life your computer. Don"t worry, you probably already know them, but reminders never hurt anyone:

1. Shut it Down: This may sound simple but many of us just close the lid, turn of the monitor or set it to sleep mode. Completely shutting your computer down will keep it from overheating and leaking memory. Think of your computer like your brain, it can"t function without a good night"s sleep.

2. Defrag!: Again, another simple "duh" moment. Defrag your computer. Most PCs will even let you set up a regular defrag schedule once a week. Cleaning up your files on a regular basis will also keep your computer functioning at optimal speed.

3. Keep it Clean: During your regularly scheduled defrag, go ahead and run a scan for viruses, spyware, malware, all that bad stuff you can pick on the internet. Find a good program to keep your PC"s health good.

4. Don"t Drop It: Look, be nice to your laptops. Keep them in safe places, don"t expose them to weird temperatures and be sure not to eat or drink near them if possible. Also pets. I lost a laptop a few years ago to a cat pouncing on and then hairballing all over my keys, it broke my screen and something gross seeped into the circuitry. Trust me, helping your computer and your pets avoid each other is a good idea.

These might not be the most enlightening tips, but they"ll go along way in keeping your computer chugging along for an extra year or so.

Do you have tips for adding an extra life to your laptop?

The Battalion Touch Notebook is apparently the world’s first multi-touch gaming laptop computer
. The rest of the spec seems fairly standard for a 15.6 inch laptop, so we’re wondering exactly what market really wants to swap the lean back ease of use you get with a mouse and keyboard for the hunched over finger stretching hassle that comes with multi-touch screen technology?

Sure it’s cool for mobile phones, but a notebook computer? Really? Anyhoo, those of you with an urge to smear your screens while scrolling down the eBay listings go ahead, knock yourself out. Cough up $999.00 first please.

Experience a new dimension of interactive gaming, media organization, and content creation with the Battalion Touch series. Featuring a full multi-touch screen, the Battalion Touch series allows you to interact with your system in new ways and take full advantage of the built-in multi-touch capabilities of Windows 7. With the growing popularity of the multi-touch interactive platform, the Battalion Touch series provides the capabilities to support the increasing number of multi-touch optimized game and software titles.

Despite the distraction potential of laptops in college classrooms, new research shows that they can actually increase students' engagement, attentiveness, participation and learning.

To achieve this, however, the instructor must set the right stage, says University of Michigan professor Perry Samson.

Samson is a professor in the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences who has received honors for his educational technology work.

He has developed robust interactive student response system called LectureTools that utilizes students' laptops. A paper about how students report that LectureTools affected their learning is reported in the May edition of the journal Computers & Education.

"If you allow laptops in the classroom without a plan for how you'll use them, you can potentially invite disaster. It's unlikely that students will be so entranced by class material that they won't wander off to their favorite social networking sites," Samson said. "The key is to deliberately engage students through their computers. LectureTools does just that".

LectureTools is an interactive student response system and teaching module. Instructors at more than 400 colleges and universities have set up accounts to use it.

Samson recently surveyed close to 200 students who, over the past three semesters, have taken his Extreme Weather lecture course that utilized LectureTools. Students reported that while they did sometimes stray from in-class tasks, laptops with LectureTools made them feel more attentive, engaged and able to learn, compared with classes that don't use the system.........