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Bioengineering cells for more efficient biofuel production

Yeast research takes a step toward production of alternatives to gasoline
February 20, 2013

Yeast Cell ---an image within an exhibit called "From Another Kingdom" at the National Botanic Garden of Wales (credit: flickr.com/col and tasha)

In the search for renewable alternatives to gasoline, heavy alcohols such as isobutanol are promising candidates.

They contain more energy than ethanol and are also more compatible with existing gasoline-based infrastructure.

For isobutanol to become practical, however, scientists need a way to reliably produce huge quantities of it from renewable sources.

MIT chemical engineers and biologists have now devised a way… read more

Topics: Biotech | Energy | Synthetic Biology

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Engineering a better spinal implant

February 20, 2013

The top scanning electron microscope image (b) shows a cross section of the bioactive hydroxyapatite/YSZ coating without heat treatment. Note how the two layers are distinct. The bottom image (f) shows the coating after heat treatment. Note how the layers are now integrated. (Credit: Rabei )

Researchers from North Carolina State University have for the first time successfully coated polymer implants with a bioactive film.

The discovery should improve the success rate of such implants, which are often used in spinal surgeries.

The polymer used in polymer (plastic) implants, called PEEK, does not bond well with bone or other tissues in the body. This can result in the implant rubbing… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Nanotech/Materials Science

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Has dark matter finally been found?

February 19, 2013

Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (left) (credit: NASA)

Big news in the search for dark matter may be coming in about two weeks, the leader of a space-based particle physics experiment said Feb. 17 at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Space.com reports.

That’s when the first paper of results from the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a particle collector mounted on the outside of the International Space Station,… read more

Topics: Physics/Cosmology | Space

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Soft arrays of miniature electrodes for improved Parkinson’s treatment

February 19, 2013

Microelectode_Enhanced_Probe

Miniature, ultra-flexible electrodes could be the answer to more successful treatment for Parkinson’s diseases, according to Professor Philippe Renaud of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland.

He has developed soft arrays of miniature electrodes in his Microsystems Laboratory that open new possibilities for more accurate and local deep brain stimulation (DBS).

Some 90,000 patients per year are treated for Parkinson’s disease, a number that… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

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Disruptions: on the fast track to routine 3D printing

February 19, 2013

makerbot

Hod Lipson, an associate professor and the director of the Creative Machines Lab at Cornell, said “3D printing is worming its way into almost every industry, from entertainment, to food, to bio- and medical-applications,” The New York Times reports.

Dr. Lipson, the co-author of “Fabricated: The New World of 3D Printing,” said… read more

Topics: Nanotech/Materials Science

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New therapy uses alternating current to cancel out Parkinson tremors

February 19, 2013

corticol stimulation

A new therapy could help suppress tremors in people with Parkinson’s disease, an Oxford University study suggests.

The technique — called transcranial alternating current stimulation (TACS) — cancels out the brain signal causing the tremors by applying a small, safe electric current across electrodes on the outside of a patient’s head.

In a preliminary study, conducted with 15 people with Parkinson’s disease at Oxford‘s John Radcliffe… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Cognitive Science/Neuroscience | Electronics

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Obama seeking to boost study of human brain

February 18, 2013

brain-rays

The Obama administration is planning a decade-long scientific effort to examine the workings of the human brain and build a comprehensive map of its activity, seeking to do for the brain what the Human Genome Project did for genetics, The New York Times reports.

The project, which the administration has been looking to… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

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Quantum cryptography to protect electric grid security

February 18, 2013

The miniature transmitter communicates with a trusted authority to generate random cryptographic keys to encode and decode information (credit: Los Alamos National Laboratory)

Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists have completed the first-ever demonstration of using quantum cryptography to make control data for electric grids secure  .

Controllers for the electric distribution grid tend to be  vulnerable to intrusion.

The electric grid also needs to accommodate new renewable energy sources, such as solar panels and wind generators, because their availability can fluctuate on short time scales.

Control… read more

Topics: Electronics | Energy | Physics/Cosmology | Quantum

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How the brain quickly rebounds from injuries

It quickly switches to secondary backup areas, scientists find
February 18, 2013

TMS stimulation

Scientists at Carnegie Mellon University‘s Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging (CCBI) have used a new combination of neural imaging methods to discover exactly how the human brain adapts to injury.

When one brain area loses functionality, a “back-up” team of secondary brain areas immediately activates, replacing not only the unavailable area but also its confederates (connected areas), the research shows.

For the study,… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

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Tongue-tingling interface lets you taste data

Meet Tongueduino, a new augmented-reality channel
February 18, 2013

tongueduino

Gershon Dublon of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has devised the Tongueduino — a small pad containing electrodes in a 5 × 5 grid,  New Scientist reports.

When hooked up to an electronic sensor, the pad converts signals from the sensor into small pulses of electric current across the grid, which the tongue “reads” as a pattern of tingles.

If Tongueduino (tongue + Arduino) is attached… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience | Human Enhancement | VR/Augmented Reality/Computer Graphics

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Do we live inside a mathematical equation?

February 18, 2013

(Credit: iStockphoto)

Reality is a mathematical structure, says MIT physicist Max Tegmark — his “mathematical universe hypothesis,” reports Science Now.

“If the mathematical universe hypothesis is false, that means that the future of physics is ultimately doomed,” says Tegmark. However, “if the mathematical universe hypothesis is true, we can actually learn things about the parts of our universe we can’t see or visit. … The road ahead… read more

Topics: Physics/Cosmology

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How much is an asteroid worth?

As much as $20 trillion, says one expert; others skeptical
February 15, 2013

Asteroid fuel mining concept (credit: Deep Space Industries)

When asteroid 2012 DA14 flies by Earth today, we could be watching a fortune fly over our heads and disappear into the void.

DA14 could be worth up to $195 billion in metals and propellant, Deep Space Industries (DSI) said in a statement —  if it were in a different orbit … and  if we had a space-based asteroid mining operation.

Which we don’t. Problem is, explains… read more

Topics: Nanotech/Materials Science | Space | Survival/Defense

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Solve for X: celebrating moonshot thinking

February 15, 2013

solve_for_x

Last week, Google hosted its 2013 Solve for X event, where they gathered 50 experienced entrepreneurs, innovators and scientists from around the world who are taking on moonshots — proposals that address a huge problem, suggest a radical solution that could work, and use some form of breakthrough technology to make it happen, Megan Smith and Astro Teller, co-hosts/creators of… read more

Topics: Innovation/Entrepreneurship | Social Networking/Web/Education

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How unconscious processing improves decision-making

February 15, 2013

New brain imaging research from Carnegie Mellon University provides some of the first evidence showing how the brain unconsciously processes decision information in ways that lead to improved decision making. Published in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, the study found that the brain regions responsible for making decisions continue to be active even when the conscious brain is distracted with a different task. This image shows unconscious activity in two parts of the brain, the left visual cortex and right prefrontal cortex. (Credit: Carnegie Mellon University)

New brain imaging research from Carnegie Mellon University finds that the brain regions responsible for making decisions continue to be active even when the conscious brain is distracted with a different task.

The research provides some of the first evidence showing how the brain unconsciously processes decision information in ways that lead to improved decision-making.

“This research begins to chip away at the mystery… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

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Kinect-based system dramatically cuts cost of telemedicine

February 15, 2013

Kinect Console

A Kinect game controller and Microsoft software could cut the U.S. healthcare bill by up to $30 billion by allowing physicians and other medics to interact with patients remotely, reducing the number of hospital visits and the associated risk of infection.

It could also bring medical services to underserved areas around the world.

Janet Bailey of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Bradley Jensen of… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Innovation/Entrepreneurship

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