The world’s first Robolympics kicks off in San Francisco this weekend. The 414 robots will compete for prizes in various categories, such as the Humanoid Robot World Cup Soccer Tournament and Ribbon Climber, in which robots race up a carbon-fiber ribbon, designed to inspire “space elevator” technology that might one day lift satellites into orbit.
Bypassing restricted federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research, New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey has signed a law permitting stem-cell research. He also intends to provide $6.5 million as part of a five-year, $50 million plan to place New Jersey (and Rutgers University) at the forefront of state-sponsored stem cell studies.
Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen announced a gift of $13.5 million to begin construction of an unprecedented new radio astronomy telescope in Northern California primarily dedicated to SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. The gift is in addition to his earlier donation of $11.5 million.
The Allen Telescope Array will be a state-of-the-art network of 350 small radio-frequency dishes spread across about 2.5 acres of land. It will allow… read more
Intel researchers have demonstrated that data harvested from embedded wireless RFID chips could reassure family and care-givers that an elderly person was taking care of themselves, for example, taking their medication. Unusual data patterns would provide an early warning that something was wrong.
The rocket fuel hydrazine has turned out to be ideal in helping to make faster thin-film transistors, a crucial component of liquid crystal displays.
The key was the discovery that the semiconductor tin disulphide, which is insoluble in most liquids, can be dissolved in hydrazine if sulphur is added to the mix. By applying the solution to a silicon substrate and spinning it they were able to create a… read more
Scientists at NASA’s Ames Research Center are able to pick up the nerve signals that trigger tiny muscle movements and turn them into commands that drive a model rover or perform a simple Web search.
Although the work is very preliminary, it could someday be used in voice recognition systems and to help people communicate clearly in noisy environments. It could also help people who have lost their ability… read more
New research has found a potential treatment to minimize disability after spinal cord and other nervous system injuries.
The technique involves augmenting the stress protein response, in which cells produce proteins called Hsc70 and Hsp70 that help protect them from death when they are exposed to heat, injury or any other stresses that threaten their normal function.
Using very powerful electric shocks lasting namoseconds, researchers are developing a way to jolt cancer cells into committing suicide, or healthy cells into healing wounds.
For the first time, a microbial fuel cell has generated electricity while cleaning wastewater, a development that could make sewage treatment more affordable for both industrialized and developing nations. While a typical fuel cell runs on hydrogen, a microbial fuel cell relies on bacteria to metabolize food, releasing electrons that yield a steady electrical current. The fuel for this particular microbial fuel cell was skimmed from the settling pond of… read more
A group of common bacteria are rapidly become resistant to antibiotics: the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus. Staph infections are extremely common and can be treated with several common antibiotics. However, doctors are not accustomed to using these antibiotics and the prevalence of the resistant staph is growing.
New designer materials could eventually lead to “perfect lenses” for optical devices, able to focus on features smaller than the wavelength of light. Harnessing electrical and magnetic components at optical frequencies could lead to perfect lenses with vastly better resolution than conventional optical types.
Researchers in Vienna have measured the shortest time interval ever recorded: 100 attoseconds (billionths of a nanosecond).
Cornell University is using “attotechnology” to weigh and identify viruses by creating tiny scales from crystals of silicon.
Britain has approved its first genetically modified crop for commercial growing: a kind of maize engineered to be resistant to the weed killer glufosinate ammonium.
In the British government’s three-year “farm-scale evaluations,” the GM maize turned out to be better for farmland wildlife than conventional maize treated with the power weed killer atrazine.