Researchers at the University of Washington have found a genetic pathway linking nutrient response and the aging process, they report in the Nov. 18 issue of the journal Science. The UW researchers conducted a genome-wide screen of yeast cells to find which genes, and their corresponding proteins, affect lifespan. Two of the proteins, called Tor1 …
Researchers from Penn State, Rice University, and the University of Oregon demonstrated that single-molecule switches can be tailored to respond in predictable and stable ways, depending on the direction of the electric field applied to them The research is the latest achievement in the team’s ongoing studies of a family of stiff, stringy molecules known …
IBM Corp. unveiled Thursday (Nov. 17) what is said is the world’s first electroluminescent nanotube transistor and claimed it glows 1,000 times brighter than a light-emitting diode with as much as 10,000 times more photon flux. By emitting thousands of photons in silicon with the same energy expenditure as one photon in gallium arsenide, IBM …
YOU might think it would be difficult for a terrorist to obtain genes from the smallpox virus, or a similarly vicious pathogen. Well, it’s not. Armed with a fake email address, a would-be bioterrorist could probably order the building blocks of a deadly biological weapon online, and receive them by post within weeks. That’s the …
A Stanford University research team has designed the first microscope sensitive enough to track the real-time motion of a single protein down to the level of its individual atoms. Writing in the Nov. 13 online issue of the journal Nature, the Stanford researchers explain how the new instrument allowed them to settle long-standing scientific debates …
Bionic Arms are controlled via the patient thinking and having the impulse picked up via sensors on his check nerves Brian WangBrian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends …
Self-contained power plants could supply growing energy demand in poor countries is discussed in a MIT technology review article. This year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Mohamed ElBaradei is a proponent of small nuclear reactors. In a talk at MIT last week he cited a new report from the International Energy Agency that said world energy …
The Wall Street Journal discusses plans by the FDA to expedite vaccine approval. Expedited approval processes and enhancing the overall speed and efficiency of validating the safety and effectiveness of new drugs and technology would be useful and critical in accelerate the adoption of new technology like molecular manufacturing with medical applications. The FDA would …
MIT’s new McGovern Institute for Brain Research hopes to connect the dots between brain cell activity and behavior changes. When fully staffed, the Institute will house 16 principal investigators. One group of scientists will work to develop more sensitive and accurate imaging technologies, which can probe the activities of single neurons. Another team will investigate …
MIT researchers, led by Professor Sidney Yip, have proposed a new theory that might eliminate one obstacle to more capable robots – the limited speed and control of the “artificial muscles” that perform such tasks. Currently, robotic muscles move 100 times slower than ours. But engineers using the Yip lab’s new theory could boost those …
A online Wired magazine article discussing the use of nanoparticles and nanoscale sensors for detecting and treating cancer The National Cancer Institute, which recently announced two waves of funding for nanotech training and research, sees nanotechnology as vital to its stated goal of “eliminating suffering and death from cancer by 2015.” Nanotech gives us the …