Plus: Launch Date Set for the First Private-Sector Mission to the International Space Station and MORE.

Introducing Five-Dimensional Computer Memory

British researchers have created a new type of five-dimensional computer memory based on nano-structured glass.

Researchers at the University of Southampton used nano-structures to create millimeter-sized “monolithic glass space-variant polarization converters,” which ultimately change the way light travels through and is stored in glass.

Yet the implications of nano-structured glass extend beyond computer memory.

“These ‘whirlpools’ of light data can be read like information stored in optical fibers — allowing for ‘more precise laser material processing, optical manipulation of atom-sized objects, ultra-high-resolution imaging and potentially, table-top particle accelerators,’” Engadget explains.

This new memory is cheaper and longer-lasting than previous methods of optical recording.

Optical vortex converter
Image credit: University of Southampton

Things to Do During a Pointless Conference Call

In a perfect world, every conference call is well prepared, focused, engaging and necessary. However, this is not a perfect world and business calls are often a waste of time. Unfortunately, it isn’t always up to us to determine whether a scheduled conference call can be shortened or scrapped entirely.

“If you’re not going to be able to change your glut of conference calls without making choices you don’t wish to make, then here are some other ways to pass the time in a mildly productive fashion,” Laura Vanderkam, author of 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think, wrote at BNET earlier this week.

Among our favorite of Vanderkam’s creative ideas:

• Clean your desk;
• Read the website of a daily newspaper in a random small town you’ve never visited;
• Watch a video from the Khan Academy on a math or science topic that’s long confused you (as long as you’ve got your phone call on mute);
• Read poetry at the Poetry Foundation‘s website; and
• Brush up on history by reading a document you haven’t looked at since civics class (do you know what’s in the Declaration of Independence?).

Some conference calls can be quite productive, but just as many seem useless, despite the usually good intentions for scheduling them. If you need to be present for a conference call that keeps you from doing real work, don’t let it deter you from being productive in other ways.

Launch Date Set for First Private-Sector Mission to ISS
Aerospace company SpaceX has announced plans to launch the first private-sector mission to the International Space Station (ISS) this November.

According to an update on the rocket company’s website this week, NASA has given the private firm’s test flight a Nov. 30 launch date. The SpaceX capsule Dragon should dock at the ISS nine days later.

“The mission is the second to be carried out by SpaceX, one of a handful of firms competing to make a spaceship to replace the now-defunct U.S. shuttle, which had been used to carry supplies and equipment to the orbiting outpost,” Agence France-Presse reports.

Last December, SpaceX became the first company to successfully send its own space capsule, Dragon, into orbit and back.

“This next mission represents a huge milestone not only for SpaceX, but also for NASA and the U.S. space program,” according to the company’s update on Monday. “When the astronauts stationed on the ISS open the hatch and enter the Dragon spacecraft for the first time, it will mark the beginning of a new era in space travel.”

In April, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk told the Wall Street Journal that the rocket company aims to put a human on Mars in 10 years.

This video features real footage from SpaceX’s successes alongside animations of future missions:

Cheers.