KurzweilAI.net Accelerating Intelligence News

Wireless at Fiber Speeds

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 08:59:10 GMT

Battelle has demonstrated 20-gigabit-per-second wireless transmission in the lab, using 60 to 100 gigahertz signals. The technique could be used to send huge files across college campuses, to quickly set up emergency networks in a disaster, and even to stream uncompressed high-definition video from a computer or set-top box to a display. (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/communications/21464/?a=f)

Brilliantly bright light source is one step closer to reality, says scientist

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 08:50:36 GMT

The European X-ray Laser Project (XFEL) will harness a high energy x-ray light that is one billion times more brilliant than most modern x-rays to provide detailed images of molecules and atoms. To see these images, electrons are shot down a 3.3 km long tube at very high speeds and are stimulated to emit x-ray light. These can analyze molecules and atoms in unprecedented detail because the x-ray light emitted is at extremely short wavelengths, between six and one tenth of a nanometer, which enables very high resolution images. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news142257180.html)

Fring brings Skype and other VoIP services to iPhone

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 08:26:26 GMT

Fring, a free mobile Voice-over-IP service, now allows Skype calls and text chat via the iPhone (and selected other handsets via Internet connection) and text-chat via iPod Touch (via WiFi). Fring also lets you chat (and call, where appropriate) friends over MSN, GoogleTalk, AIM, Yahoo, Twitter, ICQ, and Fring's own service. (Source: http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2008/10/03/fring-brings-skype-and-other-voip-services-to-iphone/)

Dawn of Low-Price Mapping Could Broaden DNA Uses

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 07:36:06 GMT

Complete Genomics says it will start charging $5,000 next year for determining the sequence of the genetic code that makes up the DNA in one set of human chromosomes. The cost of DNA sequencing has dropped by a factor of 10 every year for the last four years, a faster rate of decline than even for computers, according to George M. Church, a professor of genetics at Harvard. (Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/06/business/06gene.html)

GLOBAL CATASTROPHIC RISKS: Building a Resilient Civilization

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 06:42:22 GMT

GLOBAL CATASTROPHIC RISKS, a seminar on threats to the future of humanity and how to reduce these risks and build a more resilient civilization, will be held November 14, 2008 at the Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA. Organized by the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology, and the Lifeboat Foundation, the event will precede Convergence 08. Faculty will include Nick Bostrom, Director, Future of Humanity Institute, Oxford University; Jamais Cascio, research affiliate, Institute for the Future; James J. Hughes, Exec. Director, Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies; Mike Treder, Executive Director, Center for Responsible Nanotechnology; Eliezer Yudkowsky, Research Associate. Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence; and William Potter, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. (Source: )

Large Hadron Collider puts a grid on it

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 06:32:22 GMT

CERN has launched one of the world's largest computing grids, drawing on the computing power of more than 100,000 processors to allow 7,000 scientists in 33 countries to process the 15 petabytes of data produced each year from the Large Hadron Collider. "About half the world's scientists will be looking at this data," said director general of CERN Robert Aymar. (Source: http://software.silicon.com/applications/0,39024653,39297565,00.htm)

Computers help docs spot breast cancer on X-rays

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 04:35:39 GMT

Computer-aided detection spotted nearly the same number of cancers as two radiologists, according to a study led by the University of Aberdeen. "Where single reading is standard practice, computer-aided detection has the potential to improve cancer-detection rates to the level achieved by double reading," the researchers said. (Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081002/ap_on_he_me/med_better_mammograms)

New Research to Probe Human Mind and Future Infrastructure Systems

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 04:18:49 GMT

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has funded $24 million for cognitive and infrastructure research. The Anatomically Correct Testbed Hand has three fully actuated fingers with the same biomechanical structure as the human hand; it could help understand the hand's biomechanical structure and neural control strategies, and may serve as a prosthetic and surgical tool one day. (Ellen Garvens, University of Washington) Researchers at Stanford and MIT will investigate use of artificial neural network systems to create a learning algorithm of the visual cortex; MIT and Harvard researchers will study new patch-clamp arrays to monitor hundreds of cells in parallel, a major step towards interfacing with hundreds of neurons in the brain; and various researchers will study how to reverse-engineer the human brain's ability to control the hand. Researchers will also investigate how electric vehicles may send stored energy to the grid and stabilize the electric power grid during a catastrophe or manage fluctuations in electricity from renewable energy sources. Sources: National Science Foundation press release and 2008 Awards Announcement (Source: )

How to communicate the 'Grand Challenges for Engineering'

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 07:44:30 GMT

Ray Kurzweil will join New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman and two other journalists in a National Academy of Engineering symposium on communicating the "Grand Challenges for Engineering," to be webcast on Monday Oct. 6 at 9:30 a.m. EDT (register for webcast here). The Grand Challenges for Engineering project is designed to spark public discussion and awareness of ways that engineering can improve how we live, including making solar energy affordable, reverse-engineering the brain, and engineering better medicines. Full program: Moderator: Aaron Brown, Walter Cronkite Professor of Journalism, Arizona State University, former CNN and ABC News anchor 9:30 - 9:40 a.m. Welcome Charles M. Vest, president, National Academy of Engineering, former president of MIT 9:40 - 10:00 a.m. Overview of the Grand Challenges The Honorable William J. Perry*, professor, Stanford University, former U.S. Secretary of Defense, and chair, Grand Challenges for Engineering committee 10:00 - 10:45 a.m. Panel Discussion How do we more effectively communicate the Grand Challenges, and the steps necessary to address them, to the public? Panelists: Thomas Friedman, New York Times columnist, author of The World is Flat and Hot, Flat, and Crowded Bernadine Healy*, U.S. News & World Report columnist, former head of the National Institutes of Health and the American Red Cross Ray Kurzweil*, Kurzweil Technologies, author of The Singularity is Near (participating via video conference from China) Daniel Sieberg, CBS News science and technology correspondent *Grand Challenges for Engineering Committee Member 10:45 - 11:00 a.m. Audience Q&A Session 11:00 - 11:30 a.m. Break 11:30 a.m - 12:15 p.m. Panel Discussion (Source: )

This is your grid on brains

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 07:34:48 GMT

Researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology plan to use living neural networks composed of thousands of brain cells from laboratory rats to control simulated power grids in the lab. From those studies, they hope to create a "biologically inspired" computer program to manage and control complex power grids in Mexico, Brazil, Nigeria and elsewhere, and possibly other complex systems, such as traffic-control systems or global financial networks. The Missouri S&T team will work with researchers at Georgia Tech's Laboratory for Neuroengineering, where the living neural networks have been developed and are housed and studied. A high-bandwidth Internet2 connection will connect those brain cells over 600 miles to Venayagamoorthy's Real-Time Power and Intelligent Systems Laboratory. Missouri S&T researchers will transmit signals from that lab in Rolla, Mo., to the brain cells in the Atlanta lab, and will train those brain cells to recognize voltage signals and other information from Missouri S&T's real-time simulator. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news142181929.html)

Musicians use both sides of their brains more frequently than average people

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 07:30:43 GMT

Vanderbilt University psychologists have found that professionally trained musicians more effectively use a creative technique called divergent thinking, and also use both the left and the right sides of their frontal cortex more heavily than the average person. One possible explanation the researchers offer for the musicians' elevated use of both brain hemispheres is that many musicians must be able to use both hands independently to play their instruments. And they have to be very good at simultaneously reading the musical symbols, which are like left-hemisphere-based language, and integrating the written music with their own interpretation, which has been linked to the right hemisphere. The researchers also found that, overall, the musicians had higher IQ scores than the non-musicians, supporting recent studies that intensive musical training is associated with an elevated IQ score. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news142185056.html)

Scientists identify a molecule that coordinates the movement of cells

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 07:24:02 GMT

Scientists at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Rockefeller University have found that a molecule, called ACF7, helps regulate and power the cell's movement along the extracellular matrix from the inside -- findings that could have implications for understanding how cancer cells metastasize. They found that ACF7 is an orchestrator of directed cellular movement by guiding microtubules along a roadway of actin cables, leading them toward focal adhesions at the cell's periphery. When the researchers mutated ACF7 so it couldn't release stored energy in cells, the cells were sluggish in their movement. So by suppressing ACF7's function in cancer cells, it might be possible to slow metastasis. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news142185121.html)

New Sony Reader has light, note-taking stylus

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 07:18:36 GMT

Sony Corp. unveiled a new e-book reader (PRS-700) Thursday with a built-in light and a touch-sensitive display, features that set it apart from Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle reader. Books are loaded on to the device by connecting it to a PC, not via wireless, as with the Kindle. Sony is opening up its Readers to e-books from other vendors. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news142228602.html)

Clean energy 2030

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 06:06:24 GMT

Google's Clean Energy 2030 proposal suggests a potential path to weaning the U.S. off coal and oil for electricity generation by 2030 (with some remaining use of natural gas as well as nuclear), and cutting oil use for cars by 40%, while generating billions of dollars in savings and helping create millions of green jobs over a 22-year period. It involves three fronts: Reduce demand by doing more with less; Develop renewable energy that is cheaper than coal; and Electrify transportation and re-invent our electric grid. (Source: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/clean-energy-2030.html)

Non-equilibrium chips could avoid overheating laptops

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 05:46:11 GMT

As chip makers pack increasing numbers of transistor switches in smaller areas to make faster, cheaper chips, heat has become a growing concern, so University of Virginia engineers are investigating a concept known as "non-equilibrium Brownian ratchets" that could revolutionize how heat is dissipated between computer components. Brownian ratchets are systems that convert non-equilibrium energy to do useful work and may allow computers to operate at low power levels. (Source: http://www.itnews.com.au/News/85874,nonequilibrium-chips-could-avoid-overheating-laptops.aspx)

Seven blog news trackers compared

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 04:59:26 GMT

Google's new blog search tool, announced Wednesday, organizes the biggest news and the sites that are breaking it, while sites like Techmeme, Blogrunner, and Technorati, which have been tracking the hottest blog posts, take different approaches. (Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10057098-2.html)

Do You Want to Believe?

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 04:49:24 GMT

New research indicates that in situations in which a person is not in control, they're more likely to spot patterns where none exist, see illusions, and believe in conspiracy theories. You might see Saturn hiding in the lefthand image, but is there something in the image at right? (Jennifer Whitson and Adam Galinsky) (Source: http://www.sciencefriday.com/program/archives/200810037)

Solar Market Reaches $100 Billion In 2013

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 08:59:24 GMT

Solar is poised for continued impressive growth, with new installations primed to increase nearly five-fold from 2008 to 2013. Starting in 2009, however, supply will exceed demand, leading to price decreases. According to the new report from Lux Research entitled "Solar State of the Market Q3 2008: The Rocky Road to $100 Billion," this change will transform the solar industry, creating a market where sales grow dramatically, but it is increasingly difficult for companies to profit. (Source: )

Zooming way in, technique offers close-ups of electrons, nuclei

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 07:54:55 GMT

A new diamond-based magnetic sensor uses a special "flaw" in diamonds that can be manipulated into sensitively monitoring magnetic signals from individual electrons and atomic nuclei placed nearby. The system allows for nanoscale spatial resolution with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems. It makes it possible to peer inside proteins, map the structure of impossibly intricate molecules, closely observe the dynamics of microscopic biochemical processes, monitor the activity of neural circuits, or use single electrons and nuclei for storing and processing information. Potentially, it may allow for imaging single nuclei in individual molecules. Two important applications of this technique are a nanoscale magnetometer that could potentially detect precession of single nuclear spins and an optical magnetic-field imager combining spatial resolution ranging from micrometers to millimeters with a sensitivity approaching a few femtoTesla Hz^-1/2. High-sensitivity diamond magnetometer with nanoscale resolution (abstract) (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news142085597.html)

When a light goes on during thought processes

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 07:35:55 GMT

Scientists at Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg have succeeded in optically detecting individual action potentials in the brains of living animals. They introduced fluorescent indicator proteins into the brain cells of mice via viral gene vectors. The light indicates which neurons are communicating with each other. Neuron action potentials can be recorded optically using a genetic calcium indicator that colors the cells in the brain of a living mouse. (Max Planck Institute for Medical Research) (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news142088518.html)

Researchers use nanoparticles to deliver treatment for brain, spinal cord injuries

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 07:27:05 GMT

Purdue University researchers have developed a method of using nanoparticles coated with a polymer, polyethylene glycol (PEG) to deliver treatments to injured brain and spinal cord cells by sealing the injured area, reducing further damage. In another study, the researchers added both PEG and hydralazine, an antihypertension drug, to mesoporous silica nanoparticles, which have pores that can hold the drug, which is later delivered to the damaged cells. The hydralazine fights off secondary cell damage that occurs after the initial injury. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news142089942.html)

Study shows hotels' Internet connections unsafe

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 07:18:31 GMT

An analysis of the networks in 46 hotels and survey of 147 U.S. hotels by Cornell's School of Hotel Administration found that a majority of the hotels do not use all available tools to maintain network security. For example, about 20 percent of the hotels surveyed still use simple hub-type systems, which are most vulnerable to hacking. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news142098431.html)

Paper transistors make for disposable electronics (article preview)

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 07:03:41 GMT

Paper transistors built by New University of Lisbon rsearchers could herald the introduction of electronic devices cheap and bendy enough to use on disposable food cans. They built the transistors by coating both sides of a sheet of ordinary paper with metal oxides. They then applied aluminium contacts onto the coated paper. (Source: http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/mg19926756.500-paper-transistors-make-for-disposable-electronics.html)

Counting Cells in Seconds

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 06:50:32 GMT

A lensless imaging system developed by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles uses the imaging chip from a digital camera to record the "shadows," or diffraction signatures, to find and recognize T cells and bacteria. (Aydogan Ozcan) (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/21439/)

Teaching Bacteria to Behave

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 06:45:42 GMT

Single-celled organisms could be "trained" through associative learning to deliver drugs by employing molecular circuits to build stronger associations between stimuli applied simultaneously, according to a multidisciplinary team from Germany, Holland, and the United Kingdom. Research on genetically engineering remote-controlled bacteria to release drugs is already under way. (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/21447/)

Do We Live in a Giant Cosmic Bubble?

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 06:38:58 GMT

Earth may be trapped in an abnormal bubble of space-time that is particularly void of matter, which could account for the apparent acceleration of the universe's expansion, not dark energy. Matter warps space-time. Light travelling from supernovae outside our bubble would appear dimmer, because the light would diverge more than we would expect once it got inside our void. Oxford researchers Pedro G. Ferreira and Kate Land say that the upcoming Joint Dark Energy Mission, planned by NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy to launch in 2014 or 2015, may be able to distinguish between dark energy and the void. The satellite aims to measure the expansion of the universe precisely by observing about 2,300 supernovae. They suggest that by looking at a large number of supernovae in a certain region of the universe, they should be able to tell whether the objects are really accelerating away, or if their light is merely being distorted in a void. (Source: http://www.livescience.com/space/080930-st-universe-void.html)

When particles are so small that they seep right through skin

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 04:34:32 GMT

Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center have found that nanoparticles uder 10 nanometers wide pass through the skin of a mouse, and could accumulate in the human lymph system, the liver, the nervous system, and in other areas of the body. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news141994246.html)

A New Type of Atomic Microscope Getting Closer

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 03:56:36 GMT

Researchers at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid have created an ultrasmooth mirror that reflects a beam of helium atoms instead of electrons and could provide the same resolution as existing electron microscopes without damaging or destroying delicate biological samples. (Source: http://thefutureofthings.com/news/5455/a-new-type-of-atomic-microscope-getting-closer.html)

Fluttering robot could show Mars rovers the way

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 03:51:16 GMT

The ExoFly, a robot designed to imitate a dragonfly's hovering, jerky flight, could act as a guide for planetary rovers once they land. It would be sent out first to explore the terrain and then direct the rover to any sites of interest by the easiest route. (Source: http://space.newscientist.com/article/mg19926756.100-dragonfly-robot-could-hunt-out-mars-highlights.html)

Invention special: Green technology

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 03:48:42 GMT

Recent patent applications for green tech include osmotic power generation (at 200 Watts per meter of membrane); growing genetically modified crops to produce enzymes that speed up or improve the production of biodiesel from fuel crops like corn, soya or rapeseed; and using the movement of a person's head to recharge a headset battery. (Source: http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/dn14840-invention-special-green-technology.html)

Breakthrough for carbon nanotube materials

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 06:54:24 GMT

CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) and the NanoTech Institute of the University of Texas at Dallas have achieved a major breakthrough in the development of a commercially viable manufacturing process for large sheets of a range of materials made from carbon nanotubes. They demonstrated that synthetically made carbon nanotubes can be commercially manufactured into transparent sheets that are stronger than steel sheets of the same weight. Starting from chemically grown, self-assembled structures in which nanotubes are aligned, the sheets are produced at up to seven meters per minute. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news141920703.html)

NREL Solar Cell Sets World Efficiency Record at 40.8 Percent

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 06:28:26 GMT

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have set a world record in solar cell efficiency with a photovoltaic device that converts 40.8 percent of the light that hits it into electricity. The new design uses compositions of gallium indium phosphide and gallium indium arsenide to split the solar spectrum into three equal parts that are absorbed by each of the cell's three junctions for higher potential efficiencies. (Source: http://www.electricalengineer.com/index.php?option=com_zippynews&id=236&task=detailnews&cid=)

Invisibility cloaks could take sting out of tsunamis

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 06:24:28 GMT

University of Liverpool researchers have built a model of a metamaterial cloaking structure that could channel a tsunami around vulnerable coastlines and offshore platforms. (M Farhat/S Enoch/S Guenneau/A B Movchan) (Source: http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn14829-invisibility-cloaks-could-take-sting-out-of-tsunamis.html)

Forget black holes, could the LHC trigger a "Bose supernova"?

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 06:12:48 GMT

Could the 700,000 liters of superfluid helium bathed in the powerful magnetic fields of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) result in a major explosion by behaving as a supercold Bose Einstein Condensate (BEC), which have been found to explode when subjected to magnetic fields, resulting in a "Bose supernova"? (Source: http://arxivblog.com/?p=645)

Detecting Brain Chemicals

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 05:48:30 GMT

Scientists at the Mayo Clinic and other institutions have developed a new device that can detect neurotransmitters quickly and locally in the brain, which they hope will help make deep brain stimulation (DBS) more effective and shed light on how it works. The device consists of a sensor electrode that can be implanted along with the DBS electrode and detects the concentration of neurotransmitters released from neurons. The sensor is attached to an external controller, which analyzes the signals and wirelessly sends the data to a remote laptop for further analysis. (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/21443/)

Applying Science to Alternative Medicine

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 05:43:35 GMT

With a budget of $122 million this year, The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine is conducting clinical trials of alternative medicine methods in an effort to acquire scientific evidence for or against the claims. (Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/health/research/30tria.html)

Logging On for a Second (or Third) Opinion

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 04:24:31 GMT

New health-related online resources allow people to research and share information easily, upending the top-down path of information between doctors and patients. Today, said Clay Shirky, an expert in the evolving online world, patients are "full-fledged actors in the system." (Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/health/30online.html)

Kurzweil finds zero G 'transcendent and liberating'

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 08:20:40 GMT

Futurist Ray Kurzweil experienced zero gravity as a "transcendent and surreal experience" Sunday at Kennedy Space Center, where he participated in his first Zero G flight aboard an aircraft in parabolic flight.
"It was quite a transcendent and surreal experience. We really did get to transcend gravity, a phenomenon I've lived with since birth," he said. "It feels quite liberating when gravity disappears and you just float away in the air. "Transcendence is what human life is all about, and gravity is just one more barrier we can now overcome, at least temporarily. The most important restriction that we will ultimately transcend is the limitations of our minds. Expanding our brains by merging with our intelligent technology will enable us to transcend every other kind of barrier. That is the essence of the Singularity." The plane flew a parabolic arc that created Martian gravity (one-third G), where he was "able to easily do one-armed push ups or push myself up to a standing position," then two lunar arcs (at one-sixth G), where he could take big leaps with small jumps, followed by a dozen zero-G cycles. The experience was filmed for "Transcendent Man," a movie currently in production. (Source: )

Mobile phone subscriptions to reach 4 billion by year-end: ITU

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 08:08:53 GMT

The number of mobile phone subscriptions in the world will reach four billion by the end of the year, driven by growth in developing economies, the International Telecommunications Union said Friday. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news141643104.html)

Professors teach robot to 'play ball'

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 08:06:01 GMT

Arizona State University researchers have developed a mobile robot called Catchbot that can intercept ground balls 75% of the time. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news141654717.html)

Hybrid Nanoparticles Image and Treat Tumors

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 08:00:18 GMT

Combining a magnetic nanoparticle, a fluorescent quantum dot, and an anticancer drug within a lipid-based nanoparticle, a multi-institutional research team headed by the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer has created a single agent that can image and treat tumors, while avoiding detection by the immune system, enabling the particle to remain in the body for extended periods of time. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news141655268.html)

California Academy of Sciences designs sustainability

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 07:43:00 GMT

A state-of-the-art digital dome planetarium, a stunning rain forest with live trees, birds and butterflies, and an aquarium highlight the just-opened California Academy of Sciences building in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. (Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-et-academy27-2008sep27,0,3779263.story)

Leroy Hood: Look to the Genome to Rebuild Health Care

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 06:36:13 GMT

Institute for Systems Biology co-founder Leroy Hood has a plan for curing the $2.3 trillion US health care system's inefficiency and ineffectiveness: - Using genome sequencing and blood tests, a doctor will be able to determine a patient's probability of developing certain diseases for under $1000. - Starting therapies in advance will cut the likelihood of illness. - With billions of data points for every patient, drug therapies can be created to suit each genome. - People will maintain their own health, not just by treating existing illnesses but by learning about their own predispositions. (Source: http://www.wired.com/politics/law/magazine/16-10/sl_hood)

Invention: Universal detector

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 06:12:31 GMT

University of California, San Diego researchers have invented a low-power, small, portable Star Trek tricorder-like device that can test for any surface contamination and detect everything from explosives to bacteria. It uses a nanoperforated plate zapped with laser light, causing surface plasmons to emit light with a spectrum related to materials touching the plate, combined with a sensor device to decode the emitted spectrum associated with the detected material. (Source: http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/dn14824-invention-universal-detector.html?feedId=online-news_rss20)

Stem Cells without Side Effects

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 08:55:36 GMT

Researchers at Harvard University, the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, and the MGH Center for Regenerative Medicine have found a way to create healthy stem cells from adult cells--no embryo required--using an adenovirus. The adenovirus can make the transfer in mouse cells without permanently integrating itself. The resulting induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells can divide indefinitely but show no trace of the virus--just a temporary infection that disappears within a short time. (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/21430/)

Saudi Arabia unveils grand supercomputer ambitions

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 08:40:15 GMT

Saudi Arabia plans to build a petascale supercomputer system in two years that could rank among the 10 most powerful systems in the world, and beyond that, an exascale system (1000 times as fast as petascale). Code-named Shaheen (Peregrine Falcon), it is being built by IBM, based on the Blue Gene/P System, and will intially run at 222 teraflops. It will be located at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, due to open in 2009. Saudi Arabia plans to conduct research for its oil industry. (Source: http://pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/id;742546068)

Imaging nanoscale objects at nanosecond speeds

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 08:05:48 GMT

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers have achieved a milestone in materials science and electron microscopy by imaging a material at nanometer and nanosecond scales, an unprecedented combination of spatial and temporal resolution. They used the Lab's new Dynamic Transmission Electron Microscope (DTEM) to image a multilayer foil at 15-nanosecond resolution. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is capable of sub-angstrom spatial resolution (under .1 nanometer), but is limited to about 1 millisecond in acquisition time. The DTEM overcomes this limit by adding a 15-ns laser for stimulation of a high-power, ultra-fast photoemission electron source. Observing short-lived behavior is key to understanding many of the basic phenomena at the heart of chemistry, biology and materials science. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory news release Imaging of Transient Structures Using Nanosecond in Situ TEM, Science 12 September 2008 (subscription required) (Source: )

HP Labs aims at exascale computing

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 05:55:39 GMT

Hewlett-Packard Laboratories and Georgia Institute of Technology are planning to develop exascale data centers with farms of petaflop-caliber computers to achieve 1,000-fold increases over the world's fastest computers, using virtualized multi-core processors with special-purpose chips, like graphics accelerators. Enhanced large-scale applications include climate modeling, biological simulations, drug discovery, national defense, energy assurance and advanced materials development. An exaflop is 1000 petaflops or 10¹⁸ flops (floating point operations/seccond). As noted in Ray Kurzweil's The Singularity is Near, estimates of human-brain equivalence range from 10¹⁴ (Moravec) to 10¹⁶ (Kurzweil). - Ed. (Source: http://eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=210602671)

Google offers $10M for ideas that can 'change the world'

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 07:58:45 GMT

Google has unveiled a $10 million effort to implement ideas that can "change the world by helping as many people as possible." As part of the Project 10^100 (pronounced Project 10 to the 100th), Google plans to ask its users to submit ideas until Oct. 20 for ways to improve people's lives. Google will choose what it feels are the 100 best ideas and then allow its users to vote on which of them should be funded. The users will narrow the results to 20 finalists, and a panel of judges will choose up to five ideas that will receive funding. (Source: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9115459&intsrc=news_ts_head)

Google's co-founder pushes Washington to open up unused broadcast spectrum

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 07:52:55 GMT

Larry Page, co-founder of Google, lobbied the FCC and members of Congress Wednesday to open up the "great resource" of unused broadcast spectrum for a new generation of mobile and wireless devices by unlicensed use of unused TV spectrum, often called "white space." (Source: http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_10549282)

Review: Lifestreaming sites can organize Web lives

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 07:41:15 GMT

Lifestreaming sites like FriendFeed,Profilactic, and Swurl aggregate information on what you and your friends are doing on social media sites across the Internet. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news141496351.html)

Astrobiology Rap

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 07:27:26 GMT

NASA's Astrobiology Magazine European Edition has commissioned a YouTube astrobiology rap video by Jonathan Chase, aka "Oort Kuiper." (Source: http://www.astrobio.net/amee/summer_2008/Retrospections/JohnRapBio.php)

Paper lab-on-a-chip makes disease tests affordable

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 06:53:43 GMT

Harvard researchers have developed a device for testing water quality and identifying pathogens that can be made simply from paper, ink and sunlight. It could help developing countries access the latest lab techniques inexpensively. The device uses pores naturally present in paper to carry liquids in a way similar to standard microfluidic chips. A pattern is placed over photoresist-soaked paper. Where exposed to sunlight, the resist becomes impermeable, leaving a network of channels. (Source: http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/dn14790-paper-labonachip-makes-disease-tests-affordable.html)

Longer-Lasting Artificial Eyes

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 06:43:30 GMT

Researchers with the Boston Retinal Implant Project have developed a retinal implant that can stay in the eye for years without declining in performance or causing inflammation. The device sits mostly outside the eye. A coil around the iris receives wireless power and image data from a microcontroller that can be carried on a belt, and transmits data to electronics inside a waterproof titanium case (below). The electronics controls an electrode array (not visible) connected to nerves in the back of the retina. (Shawn Kelly) In its current form, the implant can reproduce only a 15-pixel image, but the group is working on a version with around 100 pixels and hopes to get up to 1,000 eventually. (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/21420/)

Faster, Cheaper DNA Sequencing

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 06:27:44 GMT

Oxford Nanopore Technologies has developed a new fast, inexpensive human-genome-sequencing system that uses "nanopore sequencing" to eliminate much of the time and expense of sample preparation, and eliminate the fluorescent molecules typically used to label DNA bases. The researchers are aiming for the $1,000 genome by 2014. The hope is that by bringing the price of sequencing down to that range, individuals could afford to have their genomes recorded, allowing doctors to tailor treatments to their particular genetic makeup. (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/Biztech/21421/)

Scientists explore what happened before the universe's theoretical beginning

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 07:23:58 GMT

Some of the top minds in what happened "pre-big bang" gathered at Columbia University earlier this month, proposing theories ranging from "the big bounce," to "the multiverse," "the cyclic theory," "parallel worlds," and even "soap bubbles." Some propose the existence of multiple universes. Others hold that there's one universe that recycles itself endlessly. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news141317146.html)

Scientists develop new, more sensitive nanotechnology test for chemical DNA modifications

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 06:53:46 GMT

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine researchers have developed a novel test to screen for chemical modifications to DNA known as methylation that could be used for early cancer diagnoses and assessing patients' response to cancer therapies. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news141395592.html)

Dark chocolate: Half a bar per week to keep at bay the risk of heart attack

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 06:51:09 GMT

A study by the Research Laboratories of the Catholic University in Campobasso, in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute of Milan found that 6.7 grams of (non-milk) chocolate per day is the ideal amount for a protective effect against inflammation and subsequent cardiovascular disease. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news141396216.html)

A look to the future

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 06:45:51 GMT

Regenstrief Institute investigators have demonstrated how health information exchange technologies developed and tested regionally can be used to securely share patient information across the nation during an emergency, using the Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN). (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news141397611.html)

A robot in every home?

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 06:39:28 GMT

Observers like Bill Gates believe that by 2025 we could have robots in every home. In labs across Europe, researchers are creating designs that could become the robo-butler of the future. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news141402690.html)

'Pre-crime' detector shows promise

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 06:23:53 GMT

The US Department of Homeland Security says its Future Attribute Screening Technologies (FAST) program -- designed to detect "hostile thoughts" in people walking through border posts, airports and public places (similar to "pre-crime" units that predict criminal behavior in the movie Minority Report) -- achieved 78% accuracy on malintent detection, and 80% on deception in a recent test. (Source: http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2008/09/precrime-detector-is-showing-p.html)

Mysterious New 'Dark Flow' Discovered in Space

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 06:02:27 GMT

Patches of matter in the universe seem to be moving at early 2 million mph and in a uniform direction that can't be explained by any of the known gravitational forces in the observable universe. Astronomers are calling the phenomenon "dark flow." The stuff that's pulling this matter must be giant, massive structures outside the observable universe, researchers conclude. (Source: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/080923-dark-flows.html)

Water, water everywhere, and now it's safe to drink

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 05:46:17 GMT

A $30 test that takes just half an hour has been developed at Australia's Environmental Biotechnology Cooperative Research Centre. (Source: http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/mg19926746.000-water-water-everywhere-and-now-its-safe-to-drink.html)

Google Introduces an iPhone Rival Open to Whims

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 05:38:23 GMT

Google and T-Mobile unveiled their answer to the iPhone on Tuesday, pulling the wraps off a slick mobile device that combines a touch screen and a keyboard and is aimed at putting the Internet in the pockets of millions of cellphone users. (Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/technology/internet/24phone.html)

A Portable DNA Detector

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 02:17:41 GMT

University of California, Berkeley researchers have developed a portable DNA analyzer that performs real-time analysis of blood samples left at the scene of a crime in six hours or less, packing microfluidics, electronics, optics, and chemical detection technology into a single briefcase-sized unit. (University of California, Berkeley) (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/21415/)

A new twist on nanoparticle behavior

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 02:03:27 GMT

Drug makers and regulators should consider the effects of nanoparticle size and surface when developing and monitoring therapies using nanoparticles, University College Dublin research suggests. The researchers found that the "corona" (cloud of proteins and other biomolecules that adheres to a nanoparticle immersed in biological media) changes depending on the size of the nanoparticle and the charge on its surface, which can affect the particles' therapeutic action in the body, such as what organs in the body are affected. (Source: http://www.the-scientist.com/templates/trackable/display/blog.jsp?type=blog&o_url=blog/display/55045&id=55045)

New hope for tapping vast domestic reserves of oil shale

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 07:59:30 GMT

Researchers in Canada and Turkey have developed a new process -- adding inexpensive iron powder to oil shale and heating with electric heating coils -- for economically tapping vast resources of crude oil in the United States, Canada, and other countries now locked away in oil shale. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news141295379.html)

US Army Invests in 'Thought Helmet' Technology for Voiceless Communication

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 07:55:00 GMT

Future soldiers may communicate silently with sophisticated "thought helmets" that detect a person's brain waves, decode then into words, and transmit them as radio waves to the headphones of other soldiers. (Jeff Corwin Photography, Boeing) (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news141314439.html)

Nanopencil Can Provide Terabit Data Storage Density

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 07:48:49 GMT

Researchers from Intel Corporation and Cal Tech have fabricated a "nanopencil" with a nanoscale tip that can be used as a scanning probe in ultrahigh-density computer data storage systems, achieving storage density of 1 Tbits per square inch. (Noureddine Tayebi, et al.) (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news141299866.html)

Gene Therapy Restores Sight

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 07:34:38 GMT

With the help of gene therapy, two people who once were blind now can see, in an early-stage clinical trial of gene therapy for Leber's Congenital Amaurosis, a rare and untreatable form of congenital blindness. (Source: http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/09/gene-therapy-bl.html)

Japan hopes to turn sci-fi into reality with elevator to the stars

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 07:29:57 GMT

Japan is hosting an international conference in November to draw up a timetable for a space-elevator machine to power carriages that climb 22,000 miles into space on a carbon nanotube fiber. Artist's impression of the platform of the proposed space elevator A space elevator could carry people, huge space-solar-power generators, or even casks of radioactive waste, at perhaps 100 times less energy than launching the Space Shuttle -- at an estimated cost of just a trillion yen ($9.5 billion US). According to Yoshio Aoki, a professor of precision machinery engineering at Nihon University and a director of the Japan Space Elevator Association, the cable would need to be about four times stronger than what is currently the strongest carbon nanotube fiber, or about 180 times stronger than steel. "Riding silently into the sky, soon she was 100km high, higher even than the old pioneering rocket planes, the X15s, used to reach. The sky was already all but black above her, with a twinkling of stars right at the zenith, the point to which the ribbon, gold-bright in the sunlight, pointed like an arrow. Looking up that way she could see no sign of structures further up the ribbon, no sign of the counterweight. Nothing but the shining beads of more spiders clambering up this thread to the sky. She suspected she still had not grasped the scale of the elevator, not remotely." From Firstborn by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter (Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article4799369.ece)

The mobile Internet you'll be using in 10 years

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 06:45:04 GMT

The U.S. military's next-generation Advanced Extremely High Frequency (EHF) communication satellite network gives a glimpse of the sort of data rates (~8 Mbps) and global network you might be using on mobile devices within the next decade. The Transformational Satellite Communications System (T-Sat) is planned to replace Advanced EHF starting in 2013. (Source: http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;927863099)

Invention: Infrared lie detector

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 06:28:27 GMT

Scott Bunce of Drexel University's College of Medicine proposes to send near-infrared light through the skull into the brain and measure the amount reflected back (depends on levels of oxygen in the blood) to determine brain activity (may be related to lying), at higher resolution than EEG and lower cost than fMRI. (Wipo) (Source: http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/dn14778-invention-infrared-lie-detector.html)

Efficient, Cheap Solar Cells

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 06:02:20 GMT

Suniva has developed 20 percent- efficient solar cells using lower-cost screen printing to add a reflective layer, with a goal of 8 to 10 cents per kilowatt-hour -- the average cost of electricity in the United States and far less than prices in many markets. (Suniva) (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/Biztech/21405/)

Nanotubes on the Brain

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 05:48:59 GMT

University of Texas researchers are coating brain-implant electrodes with carbon nanotubes to make them more conductive (less power needed, so reduced battery drain for longer life), reduce the size (fewer side effects and tissue damage), and reduce electrical noise (better recording and feedback). Bare electrode and nanotube-coated one (Edward Keefer) The researchers' simplified technique for adding nanotubes to electrodes: place electrodes in a water-based solution of carbon nanotubes; apply a small voltage to sites on the electrodes to attract and attach the nanotubes. (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/21407/)

Team finds genetic link between immune and nerve systems

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 08:19:32 GMT

Duke University Medical Center researchers have discovered genetic links between the nervous system and the immune system in a well-studied worm, and the findings could illuminate new approaches to human therapies. They found that NPR-1, a worm cell receptor linked to proteins that are similar to mammalian neuropeptide Y, functions to suppress the activity of specific neurons that block immune responses, but when the flawed receptor didn't work, the neurons were able to block the immune response and the worms became more susceptible to infection by pathogens. The work opens may lead to understanding how neurons may affect other non-neural processes, such as fat storage and longevity. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news141043732.html)

Researcher micro-sizes genetics testing

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 08:09:19 GMT

Using new "lab on a chip" technology, University of Virginia researchers hope to create a hand-held device that may eventually allow physicians, crime scene investigators, pharmacists, even the general public to quickly and inexpensively conduct DNA tests from almost anywhere, without need for a complex and expensive central laboratory. Such a device could be used in a doctor's office, for example, to quickly test for an array of infectious diseases, such as anthrax, avian flu or HIV, and for cancer or genetic defects. Currently, test tube-size fluid samples are sent to external labs for analysis, usually requiring a 24- to 48-hour wait for a result. Home DNA test kits, possibly sold in pharmacies, would allow individuals to self-test for flu or other diseases. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news141053019.html)

Digital evolution: early fish had primitive fingers, says study

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 08:02:40 GMT

Uppsala University scientists have traced the origin of fingers and toes to fish-like creatures that roamed the seas 380 million years ago -- not, as previously assumed, from air-breathing animals that crawled from sea to land some 10 to 20 million years later. They found four rudimentary fingers already present inside the fins of the Panderichthys fish. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news141278840.html)

New Route to Hydrocarbon Biofuels

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 07:56:21 GMT

University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a simple, two-step chemical process to convert plant sugars into hydrocarbon fuels, other industrial chemicals, and plastics. (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/21395/)

Building a Self-Assembling Stomach-Bot

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 07:54:30 GMT

By using magnetic links between capsules, a team of European researchers hopes to build a snake-like robot that can self-assemble inside a patient's stomach to perform different tasks: imaging, power, taking samples, etc., and link together, creating a snake-like device that could slide through the intestines, performing more-complex tasks than those performed by a single capsule or several free-floating ones. (ETH Zurich) (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/21401/?a=f)

How telcos and ISPs are prepping for a pandemic

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 07:45:37 GMT

Telecom carriers and ISPs have discussed what steps they've been taking to prepare for the mass outbreak of a disease such as influenza. They are dealing with significant numbers of people living in shelters or staying at home to work, and determining where public safety needs the most help -- for example, where key 911 facilities and key hospitals are located so they can boost key cellular signals. (Source: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/091808-telcos-pandemic.html)

More Ingredients For Life Found In Outer Space

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 07:42:43 GMT

A team of researchers led by Spanish scientists has published their discovery of the complex molecule naphthalene in an interstellar star-forming cloud, indicating that many prebiotic organic molecules necessary for life as we know it could have been present when our own solar system formed. (Source: http://estimateofthesituation.blogspot.com/2008/09/more-ingredients-for-life-found-in.html)

Powerful X-ray captures molecular shape-shifting

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 07:41:36 GMT

University of Copenhagen researchers have developed a method to freeze-frame proteins in their natural, fast-moving state, using 100 picosecond X-ray pulses to overcome the limits of static X-ray crystallography. The team has already found evidence of a previously unknown hemoglobin structure, which it adopts for only a short time as the protein gives up its oxygen. (Source: http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn14772-powerful-xray-captures-molecular-shapeshifting.html)

New industry alliance launched to promote use of IP in networks of smart objects

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 07:39:32 GMT

A group of leading technology vendors has formed the IP for Smart Objects (IPSO) Alliance, whose goal is to promote the use of the Internet Protocol (IP) to connect "smart objects" in the physical world that transmit information about their condition or environment, ranging from automated and energy-efficient homes and office buildings, factory equipment maintenance and asset tracking to hospital patient monitoring and safety and compliance assurance. (Source: http://www.echannelline.com/usa/story.cfm?item=23722)

A Maybe Planet, Orbiting Its Maybe Sun

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 06:56:29 GMT

Astronomers from the University of Toronto have published a picture of what they say might be the first image of a planet orbiting another Sunlike star, about 30 billion miles away from the star, inexplicably. (Gemini Observatory) (Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/18/science/space/18planet.html?ref=science)

Technology Doesn't Dumb Us Down. It Frees Our Minds.

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 06:49:53 GMT

Over the course of human history, writing, printing, computing and Googling have only made it easier to think and communicate, says Times writer Damon Darlin, challenging an article in The Atlantic magazine called "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" (Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/technology/21ping.html)

3D Virtual Reality Environment Developed at UC San Diego Helps Scientists Innovate

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 05:55:30 GMT

The virtual-reality StarCAVE at the University of California, San Diego allows groups of scientists to explore worlds as small as nanoparticles and as big as the cosmos, permitting new insights that could fuel discoveries in many fields. Constructed by the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2), the room operates at a combined resolution of over 68 million pixels distributed over 15 rear-projected walls and two floor screens. Each side of the pentagon-shaped room has three stacked screens, with the bottom and top screens titled inward by 15 degrees to increase the feeling of immersion. Thirty-four high-definition projectors (two per screen) create very bright left and right eye visuals (stereo or 3D) per screen. Each pair of projectors is powered by a high-end, quad-core PC with dual graphics processing units and dual network cards to achieve gigabit Ethernet or 10GigE networking. Users of the StarCAVE can interact with the visuals on the 360-degree display by pointing a "wand" that makes it easy to fly through the 3D images and zoom in or out. Eventually the engineers hope to increase the visual acuity from 20/40 to 20/20, by upgrading the system's 34 projectors from 2K to 4K (roughly 4,000 horizontal pixels for each of the 17 screens). (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news140975289.html)

Science unveils hidden drivers of stock bubbles and crashes

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 05:44:26 GMT

Primitive emotions, herd mentality and raging hormones are among the invisible motors that help inflate an stock bubble and then prick it -- not rational decisions -- psychologists have found. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news141015420.html)

'Cognitive radios' to improve wireless devices

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 05:24:59 GMT

Researchers are developing intelligent "cognitve radios" that use software to sense their surroundings and adjust their mode of operation accordingly. They could enable techniques such as dynamic frequency sharing, in which radios automatically locate unused frequencies, or share channels based on a priority system, or provide interoperability between various signals and automatically adjust radio performance for public safety systems. (Source: http://www.itnews.com.au/News/84811,cognitive-radios-to-improve-public-safety-and-wireless-devices.aspx)

The future of online video

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 05:19:27 GMT

"Today, 13 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, and we believe the volume will continue to grow exponentially," says Chad Hurley, CEO and Co-Founder, YouTube. "In ten years, we believe that online video broadcasting will be the most ubiquitous and accessible form of communication." (Source: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/future-of-online-video.html)

Intel pushes the limits of free cooling to 90 degrees

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 05:15:50 GMT

Intel has conducted an experiment in New Mexico showing it's possible to use outside air 91 percent of the time to save $2.87 million on cooling a 10MW datacenter. (Source: http://weblog.infoworld.com/sustainableit/archives/2008/09/intel_air_side.html)

The Holes in Our Genomes

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 04:42:59 GMT

New microarray tools should generate a more complete picture of the genetic root of common diseases by screening for "copy number variations" (deletions, duplications, and rearrangements of stretches of DNA ranging in size from one thousand to one million base pairs). (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/21393/?a=f)

Nano-Bio-Info-Cogno Revolutions to be Explored at Convergence08

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 08:04:03 GMT

The Convergence08 Unconference on Nano-Bio-Info-Cogno (NBIC) technologies and their interactions will be held November 15-16, 2008, at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, keynoted by futurist Paul Saffo. It will feature debates on controversial NBIC topics including synthetic biology, longevity, and AI. The "unconference" format allows participants to customize the event interactively. * Dr. Bruce Ames, biochemistry professor at UC Berkeley, founder of Juvenon * Dr. Gregory Benford, physics professor at UC Irvine, founder of Genescient * Denise Caruso, executive director of Hybrid Vigor Institute * Dr. Aubrey de Grey, CSO and chair of Methuselah Foundation * Dr. Ben Goertzel, CEO of Novamente, director of research at Singularity Institute * Terry Grossman, MD, co-author, Fantastic Voyage * Andrew Hessel, consulting biologist and author * Dr. Chris Heward, president of Kronos Science Laboratories * Dr. Peter Norvig, director of research at Google * Dr. Steve Omohundro, founder and president of Self-Aware Systems * Dr. Barney Pell, founder of Powerset, search strategist and evangelist at Microsoft (Source: )

Nano Carrier Targets Cell Sites

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 07:51:26 GMT

A new targeted nano carrier that selectively brings a cancer-killing drug to the mitochondria of cells has been developed by Midwestern University College of Pharmacy and Northeastern University researchers. They enclosed the drug ceramide in a sphere of lipids that were decorated with a molecule known to accumulate in the mitochondria. Unhealthy mitochondria play a role in obesity and many diseases, including diabetes and degenerative diseases of the nervous system and muscle. (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/21388/)

White roofs, streets could curb global warming

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 07:33:53 GMT

If the 100 largest cities in the world replaced their dark roofs with white shingles and their asphalt-based roads with concrete or other light-colored material, it could offset 44 metric gigatons (billion tons) of greenhouse gases, a study by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and UC Berkeley shows. White surfaces would also lower the cost of air conditioning by up to 20% in hot months and cool a city by a few degrees, which dramatically reduces smog. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news140875649.html)

Improving our ability to peek inside molecules

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 07:28:37 GMT

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are helping to develop a new X-ray technique that will enable them to create detailed high-resolution images or nanoscale objects. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news140790882.html)

Australian company launches 3D Internet tool

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 06:52:01 GMT

ExitReality has developed an application that allows users to turn any regular website into a 3D virtual environment, where an avatar representing them can walk around and meet other browsers viewing the same website. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news140928152.html)

Computers figuring out what words mean

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 06:45:28 GMT

Cognition Technologies has developed a semantic map intended to teach computers the meanings behind words and is licensing it to software creators. The semantic map is already used in LexisNexis Concordance "e-discovery" software to sift through documents amassed during evidence phases of trials and in a widely-used medical database. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news140929129.html)

New Carbon Material Shows Promise Of Storing Large Quantities Of Renewable Electrical Energy

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 06:35:49 GMT

University of Texas at Austin researchers have developed graphene-based ultracapacitor cells that could double the capacity of ultracapacitors, used to store electrical charge. (Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080916143910.htm)

Curing the Wounds of Iraq with Virtual Therapy

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 06:25:55 GMT

Virtual Iraq uses a virtual world to allow returning troops with post-traumatic stress disorder to vividly reexperience the episode in a safe and controlled way to desensitize individuals and help them stay calm enough to reprocess what happened and get beyond it. (Source: http://discovermagazine.com/2008/oct/17-curing-the-wounds-of-iraq-with-virtual-therapy)