University of Illinois biophysicists at the Center for the Physics of Living Cells and the Institute for Genomic Biology have measured the molecular force required to mechanically transmit function-regulating signals within a cell.
The new tension gauge tether (TGT) has broad applications for research into stem cells, cancer, infectious disease, and immunology.
Background
Cells in the human body do not function in isolation. Living cells… read more
Experimental genetic techniques may one day provide plastic and reconstructive surgeons with an invaluable tool—the ability to promote growth of the patient’s own tissues for reconstructive surgery.
A review of recent progress toward developing effective gene therapies for use in regenerative surgery appears in the June issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).
Over the past… read more
A new version of solar cells created by laboratories at Rice and Pennsylvania State universities could open the door to research on a new class of solar energy devices.
The photovoltaic devices created in a project led by Rice chemical engineer Rafael Verduzco and Penn State chemical engineer Enrique Gomez are based on block copolymers, self-assembling organic materials that arrange themselves into distinct layers. T
hey easily… read more
Since 2000, more than 2,000 servicemembers have suffered amputated limbs. DARPA’s breakthrough research with advanced prosthetic limbs controlled by brain interfaces is well documented, but such research is currently limited to quadriplegics. Practical applications of brain interfaces for amputees are still in the future.
Detailed analysis and review have borne out researchers’ initial interpretation of pebble-containing slabs that NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity investigated last year: they are part of an ancient streambed.
The rocks are the first ever found on Mars that contain streambed gravels. The sizes and shapes of the gravels embedded in these conglomerate rocks — from the size of sand particles to the size of golf balls… read more
A new resin material that can be molded into complex, highly conductive 3-D structures with features just a few microns across has been developed by Tokyo Institute of Technology and C-MET, Inc.
Combined with state-of-the-art micro-sculpting techniques, the new resin holds promise for making customized electrodes for fuel cells or batteries, or biosensor interfaces for medical uses.
The research team, which includes physicists and chemists from Yokohama… read more
What would happen if you combined the wearability of Google Glass with the gesture-based control of Microsoft Kinect? The answer is a pretty cool wearable interface you can control using your voice or gestures.
Mountain View startup Atheer wants to make it easier, and more natural, to interact with the digital world. A prototype of its interactive 3-D interface shows it is well on its way, Wired… read more
Carnegie Mellon University neuroscientists have discovered a new intermediate “labile” phase in neuronal development during which repeated exposure to a stimulus shrinks synapses. .
It’s well known that synapses in the brain, the connections between neurons and other cells that allow for the transmission of information, grow when they’re exposed to a stimulus.
New research from the lab of Carnegie Mellon Associate Professor of … read more
Self-driving vehicle technology is not yet at a stage that it can be authorized for use by the public for general driving, according to a U.S. Department of Transportation recommendation to state governments, PC World reports.
If a state decides to permit operation of self-driving vehicles other than for testing, at a minimum it should require that a person licensed to drive self-driving vehicles should be seated… read more
A new, streamlined approach to genetic engineering drastically reduces the time and effort needed to insert new genes into bacteria, the workhorses of biotechnology, scientists are reporting.
Published in the journal ACS Synthetic Biology, the method paves the way for more rapid development of designer microbes for drug development, environmental cleanup and other activities.
Keith Shearwin and colleagues explain that placing, or integrating, a piece of the… read more
Planetary Resources has launched a Kickstarter mission to fund the planned ARKYD space telescope.
Planetary Resources is planning a fleet of ARKYD spacecraft to identify asteroids that are ripe for further exploration.
This same capability has numerous other potential applications in education and research. The goals with this Kickstarter mission, according to Planetary Resources:
DARPA’s Adaptable Sensor System (ADAPT) program aims to transform how unattended sensors are developed for the military by using a manufacturing process similar to that of the commercial smartphone industry.
The goal is to develop low-cost, rapidly updatable intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) sensors in less than a year, a marked improvement to the current three-to-eight year development process.
The unattended ground… read more
The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has begun delivery of germanium-76 detectors to an underground laboratory in South Dakota in a team research effort that might explain the puzzling imbalance between matter and antimatter generated by the Big Bang.
“It might explain why we’re here at all,” said David Radford, who oversees specific ORNL activities in the Majorana Demonstrator research effort. “It could… read more
Scientists at the University of California, San Diego, have designed tiny spherical particles to float easily through the bloodstream after injection, then assemble into a durable scaffold within diseased tissue.
An enzyme produced by a specific type of tumor can trigger the transformation of the spheres into netlike structures that accumulate at the site of a cancer, the team reports in the journal Advanced Materials… read more
Speaking at the D11 Conference on Tuesday night in the opening tête-à-tête, Apple CEO Tim Cook offered muted praise for Google Glass but dismissed its mainstream appeal while calling wearable computing on your wrist “interesting” and “natural,” Jason Hiner writes on ZDNet.
Cook also predicted that the next generation of wearable computing will do more than just one thing such as activity tracking.
That kind… read more