Researchers have come up with an alternative, faster (than vaccine) strategy for when a pandemic influenza virus surfaces: Just squirt genes for the protective antibodies into people’s noses. The method—which borrows ideas from both gene therapy and vaccination, but is neither—protects mice against a wide range of flu viruses in a new study. James Wilson, …
ESTCube-1, launched earlier early May 2013, is proving out the electric solar sail. Even though it uses but a single 10-meter wire, its rotation rate should change once the tether is fully extended and powered up. Bear in mind that ESTCube-1 is deep within the Earth’s magnetosphere, so the charged particles it will be interacting …
Growth forecasts for the Philippine economy have been hiked by two institutions after the strong performance registered in the first quarter. Nomura, in a report released Friday, expects the gross domestic product (GDP) — the broadest measure of the economy — to grow by 7.3% this year and 6.2% in 2014. Its earlier estimates were …
Popular Science discusses the Harold space warping project at NASA and Quantum Vacuum Plasma Thruster Quantum Vacuum Plasma Thruster White shows me into the facility and ushers me past its central feature, something he calls a quantum vacuum plasma thruster (QVPT). The device looks like a large red velvet doughnut with wires tightly wound around …
Atomic clocks have been transformational in science and technology, leading to innovations such as global positioning, advanced communications, and tests of fundamental constant variation. Next-generation optical atomic clocks can extend the capability of these timekeepers, where researchers have long aspired toward measurement precision at 1 part in 10^18. This milestone will enable a second revolution …
Stony Brook University constructed a gigapixel resolution display that offers a full 360 ◦ horizontal field-of-view. This system, called the Reality Deck, is the world’s most expansive large-format display and it is the largest resolution display ever built. It utilizes 416 LCD panels at 2560 × 1440 resolution each, for a combined resolution of more …
Norwegian biologist Joakim Hauge wants to green the deserts using greenhouses that are cooled by seawater. They plan to grow 1200 cucumbers per square metre per year in new greenhouses. In March, temperatures outside were in the 30s (celsius), but in the low 20s in the greenhouse. In August, it can reach 50 °C outside, …
Japanese researchers demonstrated a gigapixel inline digital holographic microscopy using a consumer scanner. The consumer scanner can maximally scan an A4 size (European pagesize) image (297mm × 210mm) with 4800 dpi (≈ 5.29µm), theoretically achieving a resolution of 56,144 × 39,698 ≈ 2.22 gigapixels. The system using a consumer scanner has a simple structure, compared …
China is rolling out a carbon trading scheme and plans to place caps on emissions starting in 2016 and an overall peak in emissions by 2025. This plan to reach a peak in emissions in 2025 is 5 years earlier than previous objectives in 2012. A new carbon trading scheme will cover 638 companies responsible …
Honda Motor Co., Ltd. has begun leasing up to a total of 100 units of the Walking Assist Device to hospitals in Japan that provide rehabilitation training / physical therapy in the area of walking, to monitor its use and verify the practicality of the device. Honda began research and development of the Walking Assist …
The US Army is developing a revolutionary Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit. The Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit, or TALOS, is an advanced infantry uniform that promises to provide superhuman strength with greater ballistic protection. Using wide-area networking and on-board computers, operators will have more situational awareness of the action around them and of their …