The U.S. military’s space-based response to Katrina may have represented the embryonic stages of an integrated military/civilian weather reaction and control system.
For example, artificial ionized plasma patterns with megawatts of power using inexpensive microwave power sources could be used to heat specific regions of the atmosphere to control hurricanes.
A new nanovalve that opens in response to pH changes could serve as the basis of a targeted drug delivery system.
By filling a tiny, porous silica sphere with a drug and then plugging the pores with the valves, Northwestern University and UCLA researchers can use pH changes to control the drug’s release.
A prototype diagnostic tool under development by two London companies offers rapid genetic analysis of infectious diseases, delivering results in a half hour rather than the usual two weeks with DNA labs.
The box takes a DNA sample directly from saliva. DNA is extracted from the sample and then multiplied in a miniature polymerase chain reaction, which clones DNA strands rapidly. Once enough DNA is present, it can be… read more
We all carry 100-200 new mutations in our DNA, according to researchers from The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute/
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have set the stage for building an “evolutionary link” between the microelectronics of today (built from semiconductor compounds) and future generations of devices, made largely from complex organic molecules, by assembling the devices on the same kind of substrate used in conventional microchips.
The ability to use a silicon crystal substrate compatible with the industry-standard CMOS (complementary… read more
Commercial applications have come from the fertile imagination of MIT Media Lab researchers, such as composer Tod Machover, whose Etch-A-Sketch-like device lets children compose by drawing lines on a computer screen and is due to be released as a toy.
Complete Genomics has completed 14 genomes since March (20 human genomes in the world have been published), priced at $5000, and aims to complete 10,000 genomes by the end of 2010.
A “living camera” that uses light to switch on genes in a genetically modified bacterium can take a picture at a resolution of 100 megapixels per square inch over a period of four hours.
The researchers used genetic engineering techniques to shuttle genes from photosynthesising blue-green algae into the cell membrane of the E. coli.
It could lead to the development of “nano-factories” in which minuscule amounts of… read more
Imperial College London researchers are developing a system using a surgeon’s eye movements to direct a surgical robot, using a stabilized 3D map of the area of tissue the surgeon is looking at.
The Columbia disaster could spur faster development of a radically different approach to reaching outer space: the space elevator.
Using lightweight, strong carbon nanotubes, it’s feasible to talk of building a meter-wide “ribbon” that would start on a mobile ocean platform at the equator and extend 62,000 miles up into space. It would ferry materials such as satellites and replacement parts for space stations — or even people –… read more
The world faces a compounding series of crises — climate disruption, declining fisheries, ocean acidification, emerging diseases, increasing antibiotic resistance and energy, food and water crises, driven by human activity — which existing governments and institutions are increasingly powerless to cope with, a group of eminent environmental scientists and economists has warned in Science magazine.
Stanford University’s CS221: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence Fall quarter 2011 is now available, for free, Stanford has announced.
You can take this online course from professors Sebastian Thrun and Peter Norvig, along with several hundred Stanford undergrads, without having to fill out an application, pay tuition, or live in a dorm.
This is more than just downloading materials and following along with a live stream; you’re… read more
Computer experiments have revealed that crystal-like structures can be formed entirely from the “holes” left behind as electrons move through a semiconducting material.
Such materials could mean superconductivity at higher temperatures, with uses in computers, antennas, and power lines.
An international team of researchers used recombinant DNA techniques to make an Ebola vaccine that is effective in non-human primates.
Vaccines for viruses like Ebola, Marburg and Lassa fever have been difficult to produce because simple “killed” viruses, which just trigger an antibody response from the blood, are not effective and because only a small number of facilities can conduct research on Biosafety Level 4 threats.… read more