The Netherlands-based nonprofit Mars One, which hopes to put the first astronauts on the Red Planet in 2023, released its basic astronaut requirements on Jan. 8, setting the stage for a televised global selection process that will begin later this year, Space.com reports.
Anyone who is at least 18 years old can apply to become a Mars colony pioneer. The most important criteria, officials say, are intelligence,… read more
A flexible paper computer developed at Queen’s University in collaboration with Plastic Logic and Intel Labs could one day revolutionize the way people work with tablets and computers.
The PaperTab tablet looks and feels just like a sheet of paper. However, it is fully interactive with a flexible, high-resolution 10.7” plastic display developed by Plastic Logic, a flexible touchscreen, and powered by the second generation… read more
Researchers have used the newly developed “rapid electrokinetic patterning” (REP) method for the first time to collect microscopic bacteria and fungi, said Steven T. Wereley, a Purdue University professor of mechanical engineering.
REP combines a laser and electric fields to create tiny centrifuge-like whirlpools to separate particles and microbes by size, a potential lab-on-a-chip system for medicine and research.
The technology could bring innovative sensors… read more
A simple, precise, and inexpensive method for cutting DNA to insert genes into human cells could transform genetic medicine, making routine what now are expensive, complicated and rare procedures for replacing defective genes to fix genetic disease or even cure AIDS.
Discovered last year, two new papers published last week in the journal Science Express demonstrate that the technique also works in human cells.
“The ability… read more
Researchers at MIT, the Broad Institute and Rockefeller University have developed a new technique for precisely altering the genomes of living cells by adding or deleting genes.
The researchers say the technology could offer an easy-to-use, less-expensive way to engineer organisms that produce biofuels; to design animal models to study human disease; and to develop new therapies, among other potential applications.
To create their… read more
The notion that police can identify a suspect based on the tiniest drop of blood or trace of tissue has long been a staple of TV dramas, but scientists at Harvard have now taken the idea a step further. Using just a single human cell, they can reproduce an individual’s entire genome.
The researchers developed a method — dubbed MALBAC, short for Multiple Annealing and… read more
Qualcomm and AT&T want to make the process of creating Internet of Things (IoT) devices and applications easier, ReadWrite Mobile reports.
The companies announced a joint project called the Internet of Everything development platform to decrease time to market for IoT projects
It’s based on Qualcomm’s QSC6270-Turbo chipset and Gobi modem for 3G connections, and… read more
Short interruptions — such as the few seconds it takes to silence that buzzing smartphone — have a surprisingly large effect on one’s ability to accurately complete a task, according to new research by Michigan State University psychologists.
The study found that interruptions averaging 2.8 seconds long doubled the error rate, while interruptions averaging 4.4 s long tripled the error rate.
Brief interruptions are ubiquitous… read more
Toshio Ando and co-workers at Kanazawa University have developed and used high-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM) to achieve direct visualization of dynamic structural changes and processes of functioning biological molecules in physiological solution — creating microscopic movies of unprecedented sub-100-ms temporal resolution and submolecular spatial resolution.
To produce an image, HS-AFM acquires information on sample height at many points by tapping the sample with the sharp tip of a tiny cantilever and… read more
Lego is back with another generation of MindStorms, the company’s consumer robotics line aimed at introducing application programming to a younger generation, TechCrunch reports.
The new kit includes directions for up to 17 different robots, most of which look like scary-style animals, such as snakes and scorpions.
Mindstorms EV3 marks the first time that users can program directly onto the… read more
The production of new neurons in the adult normal cortex in response to the antidepressant fluoxetine is reported in a study published online this week in Neuropsychopharmacology.
The research team, which is based at the Institute for Comprehensive Medical Science, Fujita Health University, Aichi, has previously demonstrated that neural progenitor cells exist at the surface of the adult cortex, and, moreover, that ischemia enhances the generation of… read more
Scientists have identified the key molecular pathway leading to depression, revealing potential new targets for drug discovery, according to research led by King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry.
The study reveals for the first time that the “Hedgehog pathway” regulates how stress hormones, usually elevated during depression, reduce the number of brain cells.
Depression affects approximately 1 in 5 people in the UK at some point in… read more
We are all being watched, whether we like it or not.
It is a battle between you and the government — like Mad Magazine’s Spy vs. Spy comic, but it’s gSpy vs. iSpy, Andy Kessler, author of Eat People, writes in The Wall Street Journal.
There are thousands of toll booths at bridges and turnpikes across America recording your license plate. There are 4,214 red-light cameras… read more
As verbal interaction between humans and computers becomes more prominent in daily life — from Siri, Apple’s voice-activated assistant technology, to speech-based search engines to fully automated call centers — demand has grown for “social computers” that can communicate with humans in a natural way.
Teaching computers to grapple with humor is a key part of this equation, author Alex Stone writes in The New York Times Sunday Review.… read more
Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) will reveal an advanced active safety research vehicle at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) today (Jan. 7).
Lexus (a Toyota sales division} plans to explore the use of autonomous technologies and high-level driver assistance systems related to TMC’s Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) research and development, which includes vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications technology.
Also highlighted at CES will be the new 2013 Lexus LS, equipped with the… read more