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New carbon nanotube fiber acts like textile thread, conducts electricity and heat like a metal wire

Unmatched combination of strength, conductivity, flexibility
January 11, 2013

rice_nanotubes

Scientists from Rice University, the Dutch firm Teijin Aramid, the U.S. Air Force, and Israel’s Technion Institute have unveiled a new carbon nanotube (CNT) fiber that looks and acts like textile thread and conducts electricity and heat like a metal wire.

In this week’s issue of Science, the researchers describe an industrially scalable process for making the threadlike fibers, which outperform commercially available high-performance materials… read more

Topics: Electronics | Nanotech/Materials Science

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Artificial molecular manufacturing machine mimics nature

January 11, 2013

manchester_molecular_machine

An industrial revolution at the nanoscale is taking place in laboratories at The University of Manchester with the development of a highly complex machine that mimics how molecules are made in nature.

The artificial molecular machine developed by Professor David Leigh FRS and his team in the School of Chemistry is the most advanced molecular machine of its type in the world.

Leigh explains:… read more

Topics: Biotech | Nanotech/Materials Science

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Virus caught in the act of infecting a cell

January 11, 2013

virus_injecting

The detailed changes in the structure of a virus as it infects an E. coli bacterium have been observed for the first time.

To infect a cell, a virus must be able to first find a suitable cell and then eject its genetic material into its host.

This robot-like process has been observed in a virus called T7 and visualized by Ian… read more

Topics: Biotech

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Organovo partners with Autodesk research to develop 3D bioprinting software

January 10, 2013

Organovo_NovoGen_MMX_bioprinter

Organovo Holdings, Inc., a creator and manufacturer of functional, 3D human tissues for medical research and therapeutic applications, is working together with researchers at Autodesk, Inc., the leader in cloud-based design and engineering software, to create the first 3D design software for bioprinting.

The software, which will be used to control Organovo’s NovoGen MMX bioprinter, will represent a major step forward… read more

Topics: Biotech | Nanotech/Materials Science

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CES 2013: hands on with the Oculus VR Rift, virtual reality’s greatest hope

January 10, 2013

(Credit: Oculus)

A demo of the Oculus Rift device from Oculus VR. has convinced Will Greenwald of PC Magazine.that it can make first-person games immersive to an unforeseen extent.

“Oculus VR is getting ready to ship developer kits, but the Oculus Rift is a long way from hitting stores. While the technology is there, the combination of stereoscopic vision and head-tracking means games need to be built for the… read more

Topics: VR/Augmented Reality/Computer Graphics

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Drug enables deafened mice to hear again

January 10, 2013

mice_hearing_cells_regrow

All you graying, half-deaf Def Leppard fans, listen up. A drug applied to the ears of mice deafened by noise can restore some hearing in the animals, Science Now reports.

By blocking a key protein, the drug allows sound-sensing “hair cells” damaged by loud noises to regrow. The treatment isn’t anywhere near ready for use in humans, but the advance at least raises the prospect of restoring… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity

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UCSD introduces Diego-san, a baby robot with ‘tude

Move over, Roboy, there's a new kidbot in town....
January 10, 2013

diego_san_1

UCSD has introduced Diego-san, a new humanoid robot who mimicks the expressions of a one-year-old child

Demonstrated at CES and in a video, the robot will be used in studies on sensory-motor and social development — how babies “learn” to control their bodies and to interact with other people.

Diego-san’s hardware was developed by two leading robot manufacturers: the head by Hanson… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics

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AXE offers suborbital space flight for 22 contestants

January 10, 2013

AASA

AXE, a hair-products company, has announced the AXE Apollo Space Academy (A.A.S.A) with astronaut Buzz Aldrin. By joining A.A.S.A at AXEApollo.com, you can compete for one of 22 tickets to travel to space on a flight with Space Expedition Corporation (SXC). Deadline: Feb. 3.

Top-voted candidates will qualify for a challenge in their local country (excluding the U.S.), with the ultimate candidates winning… read more

Topics: Space

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One-kilometer-long ‘electric sail’ tether constructed

Propellant-free system could accelerate a 1000 kg spacecraft to more than 67,000 miles per hour in one year
January 10, 2013

electric_solar_sail

The Electronics Research Laboratory at the University of Helsinki has successfully constructed a 1-km-long electric sail (ESAIL), which would interact with the solar wind (charged particles from the sun) to produce long-distance propulsion power for a spacecraft.

Using ultrasonic welding, the feat proves that manufacturing full-size ESAIL tethers is possible. Experts previously considered it impossible to weld together such thin wires.

Invented by Dr. Pekka Janhunen at the Finnish… read more

Topics: Nanotech/Materials Science | Space

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Synthetic and biological nanoparticles combined to produce new metamaterials

January 9, 2013

Two different protein cages, cowpea chlorotic mottle virus (blue) and Pyrococcus furiosus ferritin (red), can be used to guide the assembly of binary nanoparticles superlattices through tunable electrostatic interactions with charged gold nanoparticles (yellow). (Credit: Aalto University)

Aalto University scientists have organized synthetic and biological building blocks in a single structure — combining virus particles (and other protein cages) with inorganic nanoparticles to form crystalline layer structures, or superlattices.

The research aims to develop hierarchically structured nanomaterials with tunable optical, magnetic, electronic and catalytic properties. Such nanomaterials are important for applications in sensing, optics, electronics and drug delivery.

By generating biohybrid 3D superlattices of nanoparticles and proteins,… read more

Topics: Biotech | Nanotech/Materials Science

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Wanted: Mars colonists to explore red planet

January 9, 2013

mars-one-colony-2023

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

Topics: Entertainment/New Media | Space

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A paper-thin flexible tablet computer

January 9, 2013

papertab

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

Topics: Computers/Infotech/UI | Electronics | Entertainment/New Media | Nanotech/Materials Science

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Laser and electric fields generate whirlpools to separate microbes

January 9, 2013

wereley-biochip

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

Topics: Biotech | Physics/Cosmology

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Cheap, easy technique to snip DNA could revolutionize gene therapy

January 8, 2013

The bacterial enzyme Cas9 is the engine of RNA-programmed genome engineering in human cells (credit: Jennifer Doudna/UC Berkeley)

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

Topics: Biotech

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Editing the genome with high precision

New method allows scientists to insert multiple genes in specific locations, delete defective genes
January 8, 2013

mit_editing_genome

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

Topics: Biotech

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