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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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Subcellular magnetic imaging of living cells

May 1, 2013

A typical electron microscope image of a bacterium; magnetic nanoparticles inside the bacterium appear as black spots. A new technique has been developed that is capable of studying living cells at comparable spatial resolutions by taking advantage of the presence of these magnetic particles.<br /> Credit: Nature

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) scientists have developed a method for determining the magnetic structure of living biological specimens down to a sub-cellular level.

In their study, they use “magnetotactic” bacteria (MTB), which contain magnetic nanoparticles.

The researchers, David Le Sage, David Glenn, and Ron Walsworth, together with their collaborators, place these live bacteria onto a diamond surface that has been modified to contain crystal defects… read more

Topics: Biotech | Nanotech/Materials Science

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Network of brain cells models smart power grid

Studying how neural networks integrate and respond to complex information could inspire methods for managing power supply and use
April 30, 2013

neurally_controlled_animat

A team of neuroscientists and engineers at Clemson University is using neurons grown in a dish to control simulated power grids.

The researchers hope that studying how neural networks integrate and respond to complex information will inspire new methods for managing the country’s ever-changing power supply and demand.

“The brain is one of the most robust computational platforms that exists,” says Ganesh Kumar Venayagamoorthy, Ph.D., director… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience | Electronics

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Microsoft could make 3D Skype calls a reality with new meeting tech

April 30, 2013

microsoft_viewport

Microsoft is developing a 3D telepresence technology for remote workers, The Verge reports.

The company says it is also looking to extend the technology to Skype, allowing consumers to enjoy “high-definition communication” in its voice and video calling software and “a realistic physical ‘body-double’ or proxy in a remote meeting.”

Microsoft’s job listing suggests it is looking to develop its Viewport research project into… read more

Topics: Computers/Infotech/UI | Internet/Telecom | VR/Augmented Reality/Computer Graphics

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Nanowire transistors could keep Moore’s Law alive

April 30, 2013

Diagram of a 3D nano-transistor showing the gate (red) surrounding the vertical nanowires (green) and separating the contacts at the ends of each nanowire (beige) (credit: X-L Han and G. Larrieu/CNRS)

Two researchers working in France report the creation of a nanowire transistor that could be scaled down to to power the microprocessors of the 2020s, IEEE Spectrum reports.

It consists of an array of 225 doped-silicon nanowires, each 30 nm wide and 200 nm tall, vertically linking the two platinum contact planes that form the source and drain of the transistor. Besides their narrowness, what’s… read more

Topics: Computers/Infotech/UI | Electronics

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Brain-computer interfaces inch closer to mainstream, raising questions

April 30, 2013

samsung.mind_.controlx299

Soon, we might interact with our smartphones and computers simply by using our minds, suggests The New York Times.

“Some crude brain-reading products already exist, letting people play easy games or move a mouse around a screen.

“But the products commercially available today will soon look archaic. ‘To really be able to understand what is going on with the brain today you need to surgically implant… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience | Electronics

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A new spin on origins of evolvability: survival of the evolvable

Diversity trumps competition
April 30, 2013

evolvability_heat_map

Scientists have long observed that species seem to have become increasingly capable of evolving in response to changes in the environment.

But computer science researchers now say that the popular explanation of competition to survive in nature may not actually be necessary for evolvability to increase.

In a paper published this week in open-access PLOS ONE, the researchers report that evolvability… read more

Topics: Biotech

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Shape-shifting mobile devices

April 30, 2013

The phone screen can bend to provide privacy when needed (credit: University of Bristol)

Prototype mobile devices that can change shape on-demand and lead to high “shape resolution” devices of the future.were presented on Monday at the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in Paris.

In the presentation, Dr. Anne Roudaut and Professor Sriram Subramanian, from the University of Bristol‘s Department of Computer Science used shape resolution to… read more

Topics: Electronics | Nanotech/Materials Science

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Pressure-controlled tactile pixels (‘taxels’) convert motion to electronic signals for imaging

April 30, 2013

Georgia Tech researcher Wenzhuo Wu holds an array of piezotronic transistors capable of converting mechanical motion directly into electronic controlling signals. The arrays are fabricated on flexible substrates. (Georgia Tech Photo: Gary Meek)

KurzweilAI has covered a number of recent developments aimed at giving robots a better sense of touch and humans better control of devices, such as TakkTile (Robot hands gain a gentler touch), allowing a robot to pick up a balloon without popping it (see “Related” below for other examples).

Now Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have taken it to a whole new level.… read more

Topics: Electronics | Nanotech/Materials Science

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Further proof for controversial quantum computer

April 29, 2013

dwave_ones_in_the_lab_large

Is the world’s only commercial quantum computer really a quantum device, or a just regular computer in disguise? Controversy has long swirled around the computer produced by D-Wave, a company based near Vancouver, Canada.

Now a paper published on the arXiv preprint server takes a step forward in showing that it really does operate on a quantum level, Nature News Blog reports.
In… read more

Topics: Computers/Infotech/UI | Quantum

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Scientists discover why a specific cancer drug is so effective

April 29, 2013

rituximab_cancer_cells

Scientists from the Manchester Collaborative Center for Inflammation Research (MCCIR) have discovered why a particular cancer drug is so effective at killing cells. Their findings could be used to aid the design of future cancer treatments.

Professor Daniel Davis and his team used high quality video imaging to investigate why the drug rituximab is so effective at killing cancerous B cells. It is widely used… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Biotech

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Imaging nanoparticles in action, scientists discover nanoscale tidal waves

The hidden effects of nanoparticles on human health seen at unprecedented atomic resolution
April 29, 2013

EM image of gold nanorods in liquid indicate the presence of high-resolution features. The gold lattice spacing of 2 Angstroms (.2 nm) can be identified in the image. Scale bar, 7 nm. (Credit: Madeline J. Dukes et al./Chemical Communications)

The macroscopic effects of certain nanoparticles on human health have long been clear to the naked eye. What scientists have lacked is the ability to see the detailed movements of individual particles that give rise to those effects.

Now, scientists at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute have invented a technique for imaging nanoparticle dynamics with atomic resolution as these dynamics occur in a liquid… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Nanotech/Materials Science

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Harnessing the energy of 2,000 suns

April 29, 2013

HCPVT

The Swiss Commission for Technology and Innovation has awarded scientists a $2.4 million (2.25 million CHF) grant to develop an affordable photovoltaic system capable of concentrating solar radiation 2,000 times and converting 80 percent of the incoming radiation into useful energy.*

The system would also provide desalinated water and cool air in sunny, remote locations where they are often in short supply.

The prototype HCPVT system… read more

Topics: Electronics | Energy

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E-tattoo monitors brainwaves and baby bump

April 29, 2013

coleman_ucsd_e_tattoo

In February, KurzweilAI introduced “temporary electronic tattoos,” which are foldable, stretchable electrode arrays that can non-invasively measure neural (EEG) signals. Now. researchers led by Todd Coleman at the University of California, San Diego, have now optimized the placement of the electrodes to pick up more complex brainwaves, New Scientist reports.

The researchers demonstrated this by monitoring P300 signals in the forebrain. These appear when… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience | Electronics

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New imaging technology could reveal cellular secrets

Georgia Tech researchers have combined two biological imaging technologies (AFM and NMR) to learn how good cells go bad
April 29, 2013

This image illustrates the concept for a new type of technology that combines two biological imaging methods - atomic force microscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance - to create a new way to study cancer-cell metastasis and other disease-related processes (credit: Xin Xu/Purdue University)

What causes a cell to metastasize into a cancerous tumor? To find out, Corey Neu, an assistant professor in Purdue University‘s Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, and colleagues have combined an atomic force microscope (AFM) and a nuclear magnetic resonance system.

An AFM uses a tiny vibrating probe called a cantilever with a tip that travels over the surface of a… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Biotech | Nanotech/Materials Science

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