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Scientists create femtosecond atomic X-ray laser

January 27, 2012

Xray Laser350

Lawrence Livermore Lab (LLNL) scientists and international collaborators have created the shortest, purest X-ray laser pulses ever achieved, fulfilling a 45-year-old prediction and ultimately opening the door to new medicines, devices and materials.

The researchers aimed radiation from the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), located at the Stanford Linear Accelerator…

First 3D structural model of cancer-prevention molecule

January 27, 2012

c-cbl

Cancer Research UK scientists have mapped the first 3D structure of a key protein that protects against the development of cancer.

The team at Cancer Research UK’s Beatson Institute for Cancer Research, in Glasgow used X-ray analysis to map the structure of a protein called c-Cbl and showed that it changes shape…

Biologists discover rotational motion of breast cells, required to avoid malignancy

January 27, 2012

After five days of mitosis and CAMo, polarized breast cells have assembled into an acinar sphere with a lumen in the center (inset) (credit: Berkeley Lab)

In a study that holds major implications for breast cancer research and basic cell biology, scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have discovered a rotational motion that plays a critical role in the ability of breast cells to form the spherical structures in…

Gingrich proposes Moon base by 2020

January 27, 2012

Domed lunar settlement (credit: Pat Rawlings/NASA)

Newt Gingrich has called for a bold, aggressive space program that would establish a permanent base on the Moon by 2020, along with a next-generation propulsion system for taking humans to Mars, and commercial near-Earth activities that include science, tourism, and manufacturing.

Transcript of the speech, courtesy of the National

‘Super Wi-Fi’ blankets first county in US

January 27, 2012

New Hanover County, North Carolina, recently rolled out “Super Wi-Fi,” operating in the “white spaces” between 50–700Mhz, where previously only television stations were allowed to transmit, reports Technology Review Mim’s Bits blog.

This could mean high-speed wireless connections for the county’s residents, and also the potential to connect to Wi-Fi towers that…

Rice lab mimics Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids inside a single atom

January 26, 2012

Potassium atom (credit:

Rice University physicists have gone to extremes to prove that Isaac Newton’s classical laws of motion can apply in the atomic world: They’ve built an accurate model of part of the solar system inside a single atom of potassium.

They showed they could cause an electron in an atom to…

How neutrons might escape into another universe

January 26, 2012

neutronescape

Our universe may exist in parallel with other universes in other sets of dimensions, or braneworlds, so things from our Universe might somehow end up in another, some cosmologists suggest, says Technology Review Physics arXiv Blog.

Michael Sarrazin at the University of Namur in Belgium and a few others showed how matter…

Hayden Planetarium morphing into a giant videogame

January 26, 2012

spacecruiserhayden

The Hayden Planetarium, under Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s direction, is becoming Space Cruiser, a giant virtual spacecraft videogame on a 4500×4500 pixel screen, Mother Board blog reports.

Together, players will collaborate to navigate a virtual ship through asteroid belts and other dangers — kind of like a massively-multiplayer version of Carl Sagan’s imaginary space…

Commercial version of MIT Media Lab CityCar unveiled

January 26, 2012

City Car

A full-scale version of the stackable, electric CityCar, created by researchers at the MIT Media Lab and commercialized by a consortium of automotive suppliers in the Basque region of Spain, was unveiled at the European Union Commission headquarters on January 24.

Branded “Hiriko,” the two-passenger EV vehicle incorporates all of the essential…

With prevalence of nanomaterials rising, panel urges review of risks

January 26, 2012

nanotechnology ball

Nanomaterials have moved into the marketplace over the last decade, in products as varied as cosmetics, clothing and paint. But not enough is known about their potential health and environmental risks, which should be studied further, an expert panel of the National Academy of Sciences said on Wednesday.

And because the… [New York Times]

Collision in the making between self-driving cars and how the world works

January 26, 2012

Robot Car

Questions of legal liability, privacy and insurance regulation self-driving vehicles have yet to be addressed, and such challenges might pose far more problems than the technological ones.

Should the police have the right to pull over autonomous vehicles?

Human drivers frequently bend the rules by rolling through stop signs and driving above speed… [New York Times]

AI will eventually drive healthcare, but not anytime soon

January 26, 2012

A merging of artificial intelligence and healthcare is tougher than many realize because of the search space problem (complexity) and the good data (validity) problem.

“Eventually, people will get better care from AI,” says medical AI programmer . “For now, we should keep the algorithms focused on the data that… [O'Reilly Radar]

Google announces privacy changes across products; users can’t opt out

January 26, 2012

Google logo

Google will soon know far more about who you are and what you do on the Web: it plans to follow the activities of users across nearly all of its ubiquitous sites, including YouTube, Gmail and its search engine.

Consumers who are logged into Google services won’t be able to opt… [Washington Post with Bloomberg]

Why 3D printing will go the way of virtual reality

January 26, 2012

A 3D-printed object. (credit: Carter West Engineering, Inc.)

The notion that 3D printing will on any reasonable time scale become a “mature” technology that can reproduce all the goods on which we rely is to engage in a complete denial of the complexities of modern manufacturing, unless you’d like everything made out of plastic, says Technology Review | Mim’s Bits blog.

A 3D image of an individual protein

January 26, 2012

Apolipoprotein-images

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) scientists have created detailed models of a single protein using electron microscopic images.

Scientists routinely create models of proteins using X-ray diffraction, nuclear magnetic resonance, and conventional cryo-electron microscope (cryoEM) imaging. But these models require computer “averaging” of data from analysis of thousands, or…

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The future of autonomous cars … and planes

January 27, 2012 by Amara D. Angelica

(Credit: BMW)

If you’re driving on the Autobahn right now, I advise you keep an eye out for this guy, who is apparently praying his driverless BMW doesn’t crash into something (note: this is a highway without speed limits — not reassuring).

(Videos here.)

Hey, BMW: why not toss in a…

This is your brain on magic mushrooms

January 24, 2012 by Amara D. Angelica

psilocybin

Stoner alert: psilocybin (the active ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms) messes with your brain.

OK, not exactly a news flash. But that’s what researchers in the U.K. and Denmark found when they scanned the brains of 30 people tripping on psilocybin.

But here’s what’s interesting: the researchers did two different types of functional MRI (fMRI) brain…

Why China makes our electronic products (it’s not just cheaper labor)

January 22, 2012 by Amara D. Angelica

(Credit: Apple Inc.)

It’s not just that workers are cheaper abroad, according to an important article in The New York Times Saturday. Most of the components of cellphones, computers, and other electronic products are now manufactured in China (and European and other East-Asia countries), so assembling the device half-a-world away would create huge logistical challenges, the…

Crowdsourcing a TEDx talk: what are the three most important trends shaping humankind’s future in the next 10 years?

January 19, 2012 by Amara D. Angelica

Eric Ezechieli

We received an interesting email from sustainability expert/Singularity University grad Eric Ezechieli:
On January 27, I will be delivering a TEDx Trieste presentation, and I will speak in ‘”Exponentialish.” In exponential times, half a gallon of brain does not suffice to keep up with what is going on, and in any…

Blackout

January 18, 2012

wikipedia_blacked_out

“Better the government shut down than Wikipedia go on strike. That would be like part of my mind going on strike. Just give them [Wikipedia] whatever they want — we don’t even need to hear what it is.” — Ray Kurzweil

Beyond texting: augmented-reality windshields — what could go wrong?

January 16, 2012 by Amara D. Angelica

ar_car

What? You thought distracted drivers texting on cell phones and swerving erratically is a problem? That’s so 2011.

Imagine a future in which icons flash on your car windshield, hologram-style, as your car approaches restaurants, stores, historic landmarks or the homes of friends, effuses CNN.

Simply point your hand at them,…

Battle of the ‘Fantastic Voyage’ researchers

January 12, 2012 by Amara D. Angelica

Cap-sule

The 1961 classic science-fiction movie Fantastic Voyage movie is about a team of scientists who are shrunk down and sent in a miniature submarine inside the body to repair a blood clot in an ailing colleague’s brain. How far have today’s scientists come in exploring inside the body?

Pretty far. We’ve reported…

China Telecom to launch telecom services in Europe; U.S. next

January 12, 2012 by Giulio Prisco

China-Telecom

China Telecom is reportedly launching mobile services in the U.K., the first time a Chinese telecom operator has launched MVNO services outside China (an MVNO is a mobile operator that sells services directly to its customers but does not own any of the infrastructure), according to China Tech News.

The service will…

Social networks, surveillance, and terrorism

January 10, 2012 by Amara D. Angelica

(Credit: iStockphoto)

“We are creating systems of comprehensive surveillance in which a billion people are involved and those people’s lives are being lived under a kind of scrutiny which no secret police service is the 20th century could ever have aspired to achieve,” claims militant digital privacy advocate Eben Moglen, Betabeat reports.

“And all…

A super-memory smart drug?

December 15, 2011 by Amara D. Angelica

Suppression of PKR

Could this be the “Limitless” breakthrough we’ve been looking for?

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine  (BCM) have discovered that when the activity of PKR — a molecule normally elevated during viral infections — is inhibited in the brain, mice learn and remember dramatically better.

“The molecule…

How to learn things automatically

December 12, 2011 by Amara D. Angelica

Decoded Neurofeedback

OK, this one’s right out of The Matrix and The Manchurian Candidate.

Imagine watching a computer screen while lying down in a brain imaging machine and automatically learning how to play the guitar or lay up hoops like Shaq O’Neal, or even how to recuperate from a disease — without any conscious…

Will the Kinect 2 read your lips? Open the pod bay door, HAL

December 8, 2011 by Amara D. Angelica

3D Video Capture with Kinect (YouTube)

The next generation of the Kinect (bundled with future Xbox consoles) may be “so accurate it can lip read,” the Technology Review Hello World headline breathlessly reads — evoking HAL 9000 in 2001.

What’s more, says Eurogamer, citing a nameless source, “Kinect 2 will be so powerful it will enable…

When the Singularity happens, it will be ‘very obvious’: Vernor Vinge vs. the Singulars

December 7, 2011 by Amara D. Angelica

singularityfringe

How will we know if we have passed through a Singularity? Damn good question, one that keeps me up at night. Like right now.

Science fiction writer Vernor Vinge, originator of the technological Singularity concept, came up with some interesting answers in an io9 video interview: “When things begin to…

random | Bots gone wild

November 28, 2011 by Amara D. Angelica

ant-roach

Introducing random — a new, occasional blog category for stuff that’s way too weird for our regular weird posts. Like these wacky robot stories:

Wanna take a ride on a 15-foot-long inflatable walking robot named Ant-Roach (as in anteater-cockroach)? Um, maybe not, but hey, “human safe” bots are not a bad idea,…

Let’s tell everyone how to make a virus that could kill millions!

November 26, 2011 by Amara D. Angelica

H5N1 virus (credit: Lennart Nilsson)

Here’s an idea: why don’t we just tell everybody in the world how to make an airborne H5N1 influenza virus strain (“bird flu”) that has been genetically altered to be easily transmissible (between ferrets, which mostly closely mimic the human response to flu), and which if released, could trigger an influenza pandemic, quite possibly with…

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Singularity Q&A

December 9, 2011 by Ray Kurzweil

techno human

Originally published in 2005 with the launch of The Singularity is Near.

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