The basic physics and engineering of a thorium-fueled Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) are in place, and the design is ready,” said Ratan Kumar Sinha, the director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). Once the six-month search for a site is completed – probably next to an existing nuclear power plant – it will …
According to German aircraft developer e-volo, its multicopter is simpler in construction and mechanics than a helicopter, and safer – it can reportedly land even with up to four of its motors failed, and its propellers experience much less wear. Onboard computers running custom firmware control the rotational speed of the propellers, dictating the attitude …
On October 28th of 2011, Sterling Allan, the founder of PESN, attended the test of the world’s first one megawatt, E-Cat (Energy Catalyzer) cold fusion reactor. After the successful test, he attended a gathering in which the inventor, Andrea Rossi read the official public report about the test, and answered the questions of those who …
Technology Review – Researchers at Northeastern University have developed a virtual nurse and exercise coach that are surprisingly likable and effective Patients who interacted with a virtual nurse named Elizabeth said they preferred the computer simulation to an actual doctor or nurse because they didn’t feel rushed or talked down to. A recent clinical trial …
Professor Brian Morris and his team have carried out research that shows the role the enzyme renin plays in triggering high blood pressure. Dailymail UK – A cure for high blood pressure that could save millions of lives every year appears to be just around the corner. Researchers believe they may be able to control …
In the emerging field of synthetic biology, engineers use biological building blocks, such as snippets of DNA, to construct novel technologies. One of the key challenges in the field is finding a way to quickly and economically synthesize the desired DNA strands. Now scientists from Duke University have fabricated a reusable DNA chip that may …
The Greek government faced possible collapse on Tuesday as ruling party lawmakers demanded Prime Minister George Papandreou resign for throwing the nation’s euro membership into jeopardy with a shock call for a referendum. Caught unawares by his high-risk gamble, the leaders of France and Germany summoned Papandreou to crisis talks in Cannes on Wednesday to …
The AcuFocus KAMRA inlay is a thin, opaque ring perforated with 8,400 micro-holes to provide for nutrient transport. When placed in the cornea, the small-aperture technology of the inlay provides increased depth-of-focus and improved near visual acuity while maintaining good distance visual acuity. Presbyopia * Presbyopia is the clinical term for the loss of near …
BBC News- NASA has identified three possible options to capture and gather up sample material either in future orbiting spacecraft or on planetary rover. One is an adaptation of a well-known effect called “optical tweezers” in which objects can be trapped in an area where two laser beams cross. However, this version of the approach …
LA Times – California has decided to stretch the construction schedule by 13 years, completing the Southern California-to-Bay Area high speed rail in 2033 rather than 2020. The price is nearly double any previous projection and one likely to trigger political sticker shock. If this 800 some mile stretch of high speed rail gets built …
New algorithm could substantially speed up MRI scans. Faster scans could reduce the time patients spend in the machine from 45 to 15 minutes. Using GPUs (graphical processing units) could improve the speed even more. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields and radio waves to produce images of the body. Rather than taking just one …