Greenpeace recently poured the hate on Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft for their negligence in rolling out environmentally friendly hardware. Entitled "Playing Dirty", a recent document released by the environmentalist group explained how the three companies still fail to ensure that their current line of consoles were free of unsafe chemicals and materials. Find out the details of this document by reading our full story on it.

Sony's recent revelation of having PlayStation 3 owners create games using their own drawings is really interesting and something new for gamers. However, it seems that the company is not alone in developing the technology behind this.

An engineer over at MIT has just come up with a software that just exactly that - turn sketches into interactive mechanical systems. Watch a demo video of the MIT engineer right after the jump!

It appears Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have a new field to do battle in, and it isn't a joint brawl game. Greenpeace is out to monitor the gaming giants' e-trash and get the big three to pitch in for Mother Earth's sake. A tale of early leads, three console tortoises in a hare's race, and Mario, Kratos, and Master Chief cinematic ensembles coming at you at the full story.

Greenpeace has released their "Guide to Greener Electronics" which scores the 18 top manufacturers of gadgets and devices according to their policies on toxic chemicals and recycling.

Apple, which was under Greenpeace's black books for the iPhone, got a better score this time around. Among the three console manufacturers, Sony scored the best. Microsoft was third to the last and Nintendo was in last place (because both are new entries to the guide).

Moving beyond being a more-than-capable multimedia player, Sony's PlayStation 3 has proven itself to be very useful even in the field of science. Eight PS3s clustered together are helping scientist Dr. Gaurav Khanna investigate the gravity waves that are supposed to emerge once a massive black hole swallows up a star.

Khanna said that the PS3 was an ideal tool for his research due to the fact that it can run Linux, and that its powerful Cell processor - which is also used by IBM's fastest supercomputer Blue Gene/P - is more than capable of doing the computations needed to solve the mystery of the gravity waves.

Prior to getting eight PS3 units, Khanna was used supposed to get a supercomputer. But since a supercomputer cost US$ 5,000 in grant money, the scientist figured that he can save more by buying eight 60GB PS3 units (worth US$3,200) and clustering them together, calling them his "gravity grid".

Khanna was able to petition Sony to grant him the PS3 units, which were given to him free of charge. "Once I was able to get to the point that I had this kind of performance from a single PS3, I think that's when Sony started paying attention," Khanna said.

So how are the PS3 units - the gravity grid - faring in his research? "I don't have to use that supercomputer anymore, which is a good thing," he said. It tells a lot on how powerful the PS3 can get.

With the world always on the look out for alternative fuel sources, Sony Japan may have come across a sweet new power source that certainly won't run out any time soon. It was announced recently that they have been able to generate the world's highest output of bio-electricity from a sugar-based battery.

While 50mW per cell may not seem like a lot, being able to find an easily renewable and ample resource as a source for electricity will definitely help a lot with the global power needs. Don't expect your TV or refrigerator to be powered by a bar of Hershey chocolate just yet. The batteries themselves are rather bulky, measuring at 39mm on each side.

Although the press release site itself is in Japanese, you can try to understand the theory behind the "sugar battery" with a little help from any online language translator. So until Sony develops something a little more portable, we'll all have to stick to our Eveready batteries in the meantime.

For a look at the new battery in action, check out the video right after the jump!

Sony's looking all green as they launch their new recycling program. By next month Sony will be launching a new nationwide campaign where people will be able to dispose of their unwanted electronics in an environmentally safe manner.

The Sony Take Back Recycling Program will be putting up 75 "eCycling" centers throughout the US where people can drop off their electronics.

Once the program takes off, the program is expected to increase the number of eCycling centers to 150. The idea is to have an eCycling Center within 20 miles of 95% of the US.

The program was made in collaboration with WM Recycle America. Sony products will be recylced free of charge while other brands will include a recycling fee. Consumers can either drop if off personally or ship it in through specific WM Recycle America locations.

Stan Glasgow, president and chief operating officer of Sony Electronics, says about the service:

Providing the highest level of service and support doesn’t stop once a purchase is made. We believe it is Sony’s responsibility to provide customers with end-of-life solutions for all the products we manufacture. Through the Take Back Recycling Program, our customers will know that their Sony products will be recycled in an environmentally responsible manner.

Thanks to Surftycoon for the tip!

This could be the most credible proof that the PlayStation 3 possesses formidable hardware: IBM's fastest supercomputer to date, Blue Gene/P, is juiced up by the same kind of processing chip that was originally designed for the Sony PS3.

Blue Gene/P is approximately 100,000 more powerful than a PC, just enough to make PlayStation 3 owners feel proud about their powerful machine. IBM's latest supercomputer can run about 1,000 trillion calculations per second, also termed as "petaflops".

Blue Gene/P's predecessor, the Blue Gene/L, is  used to protect nuclear weapons stockpile, and has already reached a calculating speed of 280.6 teraflops or trillions of calculations. "Blue Gene/P marks the evolution of the most powerful supercomputing platform the world has ever known," said Dave Turek, vice president of IBM's deep computing, about Blue Gene/P.

IBM possesses a remarkable supercomputer manufacturing portfolio: they have produced about 50% of existing 500 supercomputers, as well as providing CELL processors for PlayStation 3 and for the Blue Gene/P. IBM also has notable competition in the supercomputing industry with the likes of Sun, maker of the Constellation machines.

The first batch of Blue Gene/P are slated for use at the following institutions: the Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council, and two unnamed US laboratories.

You probably knew this one for years now, but a study conducted by NPD just had to make it official: The average age when children start using consumer electronics has dropped from 8.1 years to 6.7 years, with the majority getting into computers and mobile phones in the early goings.

According to the study, children get into the usage of these products due to educational and entertainment reasons. Most schools now teach kids computer subjects, allowing them to gain a headstart and start using their home computers, which a lot of American families already have.

In addition to PCs, cellular phones and digital media players are carried by children when they're out of the household. Mobile phones have been marketed on the ground of keeping track of children, and parents have caught on to the idea quickly with the security of their little ones in mind.

Video games are also popular with children. Some of these can be accessed and enjoyed by kids even before they learn to read, often with engrossing results. In addition to popular consoles such as the Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360 and  the Sony PlayStation 3, handheld game machines such as the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP are also favorites in the youthful demographic.

The exact impact of this trend on how society as a whole behaves is still unknown, but some psychologists suggest usage in moderation for children when it comes to consumer electronics to allow kids to develop in a more well-rounded fashion.

The Sony PlayStation 3's proprietary Cell Processor is flexing its muscles again, this time not by pushing graphics to eye-popping extremes, but by helping radiologists and doctors do their job faster and better in the medical field.

 

In tests conducted by the Mayo clinic and IBM, the Cell processor showed tremendous powered in generating 3D medical images compared to conventional computer chips. The multi-core Cell has the ability to facilitate high-speed communications and deliver blazing image production. The final numbers? The Cell creates images 50 times faster than the usual medical devices.

Shahrokh Daijavad of IBM says, "...this is all about taking technology innovation, collaborating with our customers, and applying it to help them directly benefit their patients." IBM was one of the developers of the Cell when it was tapped by Sony, along with Toshiba, to develop the most powerful chip in gaming to date.

Medical professionals say that the Cell will help make faster and more accurate scans of tumors. By giving radiologists a better idea of how much a lesion has grown or shrunk, necessary and appropriate measures can be applied.