More progress on making stronger materials. Stronger materials means existing products can have the same strength but be lighter. Light weight can mean greater fuel efficiency. With enough strength entirely new applications become possible, such as space elevators. Physorg.com brings word of carbon nanotube composites A team of University of Pennsylvania and Rice University researchers …
A legislator from Southern California has introduced a bill to lift the state’s ban on new nuclear power plants. The bill would give a boost to plans by investors to bring nuclear power to the heart of the San Joaquin Valley. Update: Contact your california state assembly representative to indicate your support for this bill …
Open the future talked about a color 3D printer that has an impressive video and costs about $40,000. $18,900 for a competing 3D printing system The prototyping, and rapid manufacturing and 3D fabrication state of the art is surveyed here: Rapid manufacturing is researched at many universities Currently Rapid Manufacturing (RM) is the technique of …
From Nanowerk a spotlight report on native protein nanolithography (NPNL) that allows the fabrication of bioactive protein nanoarrays down to a resolution of 50 nm in a fast and versatile manner without the need of vacuum or ambient atmosphere conditions – but under conditions of a physiological solution. This allow for nanopatterning of more fragile …
From MIT Technology Review: unlike the conventional genetic engineering currently used in the manufacture of antibiotics and protein drugs such as insulin, synthetic biology involves hacking the entire metabolic system–changing the structure of some proteins, altering the expression of others, and adding in genes from other organisms–to create an efficient microbial machine. Amyris Biotechnology previous …
British scientists say they have succeeded in growing part of a human heart from stem cells in a medical research first with far-reaching implications. The researchers say it could mean replacement tissue for transplants could become available as quickly as three years, The (London) Guardian reported Monday. Reaching that level, however, will depend on the …
Super-angels are competing with Venture capitalists for early stage ventures. A prior article had projected future wealth with current trends indicatnig about 15,000 billionaires in 2027. This will continue the trend of more flexible funding of new ideas. Angels invested more money than Venture Capitalists in recent statistics. Brian WangBrian Wang is a Futurist Thought …
Purdue University engineers, following mathematical guidelines devised in 2006 by physicists in the United Kingdom, have created a theoretical design, to make something invisible to one visible light frequency, that uses an array of tiny needles radiating outward from a central spoke. Creating the tiny needles would require the same sort of equipment already used …
MIT Technology Review indicates plasma burning of garbage generates 6 times the energy consumed. There’s enough energy in U.S. municipal and other waste to replace as much as a quarter of the gasoline the country uses, says Daniel Cohn, cofounder of IET and senior research scientist at the MIT center. Previously this site covered microbial …
New anti-air pollutions bills that are going before congress. The Clean Air Planning Act would save thousands of lives each year. For instance, EPA estimated that the previous bill, when compared to “Clear Skies” in 2010, would mean 10,000 fewer premature deaths, 15,000 fewer trips to the emergency room and 1 million fewer work days …