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Towards a quantum internet

First detection of the spin of a single atom using a combined optical and electrical approach
May 3, 2013

This image shows laser light addressing a single erbium atom in a silicon chip (credit: University of New South Wales)

An Australian team led by researchers at the University of New South Wales is the first in the world to detect the spin, or quantum state, of a single atom using a combined optical and electrical approach.

This is a breakthrough in quantum science that brings the prospect of a network of ultra-powerful quantum computers — connected via a quantum internet — closer to reality,… read more

Topics: Computers/Infotech/UI | Electronics | Internet/Telecom | Quantum

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How haptics can enhance bionic eyes

Using haptics to improve outcomes for people given visual prosthetics
May 3, 2013

2sight_argus_ii

Haptic devices — technologies that simulate the feel of an object — should be used as early as possible in children fitted with visual prosthetics, and also for older congenitally blind and late-blind people, George van Doorn and colleagues at Monash University suggest.

The haptic device can provide supplementary or redundant information that allows cross-referencing with the visual input from the prosthetic, they explain. This will help… read more

Topics: Electronics | Human Enhancement

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3D-printed ‘bionic’ ear melds electronics and biology

May 3, 2013

Scientists used 3-D printing to merge tissue and an antenna capable of receiving radio signals. Credit: Photo by Frank Wojciechowski

Scientists at Princeton University have used a 3D printer to create a functional ear that can “hear” radio frequencies up to microwave frequencies.

The researchers’ primary purpose was to explore an efficient and versatile means to merge electronics with tissue. The scientists used 3D printing of cells and nanoparticles, followed by cell culture to combine a small coil antenna with cartilage, creating what they term… read more

Topics: Biotech | Electronics | Nanotech/Materials Science

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Scientists discover how to slow down aging in mice and increase longevity

Blocking a specific protein complex in the hypothalamus and injecting a hormone slow aging and cognitive decline
May 3, 2013

Hypothalamus: (credit: iStockphoto)

Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found that the hypothalamus of mice controls aging throughout the body.

Their discovery of a specific age-related signaling pathway opens up new strategies for combating diseases of old age and extending lifespan.

Background: the hypothalmus and inflammation

“Scientists have long wondered whether aging occurs independently in the body’s various tissues or if it… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

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‘Superlattice’ unleashes oxygen to improve fuel-cell efficiency

May 2, 2013

The MIT team used a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) to study the electrical activity of a superlattice material composed of two different compounds of the elements strontium, lanthanum and cobalt. At bottom, a diagram of how they "sliced" the material on an angle to expose wider bands of the thin layers of material. The center two images show the resulting measurements of the surface topography of the material, and the activity of electrons moving through it. At top, a diagram of the molecular structures of the two compounds. (Credit: Chen et al./MIT)

‘Superlattice’ structure could give a huge boost to oxygen reaction in fuel cells, increasing their power potential.

New research at MIT could dramatically improve the efficiency of fuel cells, which are considered a promising alternative to batteries for powering everything from electronic devices to cars and homes.

Fuel cells make electricity by combining hydrogen, or hydrocarbon fuels, with oxygen. But the most efficient types, called solid… read more

Topics: Energy | Nanotech/Materials Science

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A ‘DNA nanotrain’ for targeted cancer drug transport

Targeted chemotherapy delivery without toxic side-effects
May 2, 2013

Chemotherapy drugs are specifically transported to target cancer cells, unloaded, and induce cytotoxicity to cancer cells (credit: )

University of Florida researchers have developed a “DNA nanotrain” that fast-tracks its payload of cancer-fighting drugs and bioimaging agents to tumor cells deep within the body.

The nanotrains can cost-effectively deliver high doses of drugs to precisely targeted cancers and other medical maladies without leaving behind toxic nano-clutter.

DNA nanotechnology holds great promise as a new way to deliver chemotherapy directly to cancer cells, but… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Biotech

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Brain implant gives early warning of epileptic seizure

May 2, 2013

seizure_advisory_system

A new brain implant can warn of seizures minutes before they strike, enabling them to get out of situations that could present a safety risk, New Scientist reports.

With funding from NeuroVista, a medical device company in Seattle, Mark Cook of the University of Melbourne and his colleagues have developed a brain implant that consists of a small patch of electrodes that measure brain… read more

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

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Radical new graphene design operates at terahertz speed

May 2, 2013

Tunnelling transistor based on vertical graphene heterostructures. Tunnelling current between two graphene layers can be controlled by gating (Credit: Condensed Matter Physics Group/University of Manchester)

A new transistor capable of revolutionizing technologies for medical imaging and security screening has been developed by graphene researchers from the Universities of Manchester and Nottingham.

This is the first graphene-based transistor with bistable characteristics, which means that the device can spontaneously switch between two electronic states.

Such devices are in great demand as emitters of terahertz (trillions of oscillations per second, or thousands of gigahertz)… read more

Topics: Electronics | Nanotech/Materials Science

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DARPA seeks new ideas for mobile ad hoc networks

Would bypass Internet limitations, expand mobile network 20 times
May 2, 2013

MANETs (credit: DARPA)

Troops operating in forward locations without telecommunication infrastructure often rely on a mobile ad hoc network (MANET) to communicate and share data.

The communication devices  double as nodes on the mobile network. But the network can only scale to around 50 nodes before network services become ineffective.

So DARPA is looking for revolutionary new ideas for technologies unencumbered by Internet Protocols (IP) that could… read more

Topics: Electronics | Internet/Telecom | Survival/Defense

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Lab-on-chip detects multiple tropical infectious diseases

May 2, 2013

Inserting natural samples directly into the VereTropTM chip, allowing fast and accurate identification of various tropical diseases that share the same fever symptoms (credit: A*STAR)

VereTrop, the first biochip that can identify 13 different major tropical diseases from a single blood sample, has been launched by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and Veredus Laboratories.

“Tropical diseases often reflect common symptoms like fever, and may not be accurately diagnosed early by doctors. This portable test kit is a rapid and reliable method to accurately test for multiple… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Biotech

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Global networks must be redesigned

May 2, 2013

Illustration of the principle of a "time bomb" --- a single,<br /> local perturbation of a node may cause large-scale damage through a<br /> cascade effect, similar to chain reactions in nuclear fission.

Our global networks have generated many benefits and new opportunities. However, they have also established highways for failure propagation, which can ultimately result in man-made disasters. For example, today’s quick spreading of emerging epidemics is largely a result of global air traffic, with serious impacts on global health, social welfare, and economic systems.

In a Nature paper on globally networked risks, ETH Zürich Prof. Dr. Dirk Helbing, Chair of Sociology, illustrates… read more

Topics: Social/Ethical/Legal

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Bug’s eye inspires hemispherical digital camera

May 2, 2013

Nearly hemispheric (credit: John A. Rogers/University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

Inspired by the complex fly eye, researchers have developed a nearly hemispherical digital camera with 180 tiny lenses, delivering exceptionally wide-angle field of view and sharp images.

Humans capture pictures using the two lenses of our relatively flat eyes, while a top-of-the-line SLR camera has just one flat lens.

The new camera — a rounded half bubble, similar to a bug’s eye — has 180 microlenses mounted… read more

Topics: Electronics | Nanotech/Materials Science

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Memory implants

A maverick neuroscientist believes he has deciphered the code by which the brain forms long-term memories
May 1, 2013

electrode_array

Teodore Berger, a biomedical engineer and neuroscientist at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, envisions a day in the not too distant future when a patient with severe memory loss can get help from an electronic implant, MIT Technology Review reports.

In people whose brains have suffered damage from Alzheimer’s, stroke, or injury, disrupted neuronal networks often prevent long-term memories from forming. For more than… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

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A ‘super-resolution’ microscope for nanostructures

May 1, 2013

A new type of super-resolution optical microscopy takes a high-resolution image (at right) of graphite "nanoplatelets" about 100 nanometers wide. The imaging system, called saturated transient absorption microscopy, or STAM, uses a trio of laser beams and represents a practical tool for biomedical and nanotechnology research. (Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University)

Researchers have found a way to see synthetic nanostructures and molecules, using a new type of super-resolution optical microscopy that does not require fluorescent dyes, representing a practical tool for biomedical and nanotechnology research.

“Super-resolution optical microscopy has opened a new window into the nanoscopic world,” said Ji-Xin Cheng, an associate professor of biomedical engineering and chemistry at Purdue University.

Conventional… read more

Topics: Biotech | Nanotech/Materials Science | Physics/Cosmology

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XPrize After Earth challenge

May 1, 2013

xprize after earth

The XPrize Foundation has teamed up with  Sony Pictures Entertainment and Overbrook Entertainment to launch a robotics competition celebrating the release of After Earth, in theaters May 31.

In Phase 1 of the challenge, teams will create a 2–3 minute video essay that answers targeted questions and describes their thinking on the importance of space exploration, and the relationship between sustainability and survival. Video entries will be judged, and ten… read more

Topics: Entertainment/New Media | Social/Ethical/Legal | Space | Survival/Defense

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