We have already posted about the economic benefits to society for longevity / life extension A new study shows that we get happier as we get older This goes against another of the arguments against life extension, that if we lived longer we would not be happy.
Previously we had posted that carbon nanotube forests could be integrated to make composite materials 3-5 times more durable. Others including Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute have noted that being able to make cars out of lightweight composites would save a lot of fuel. Futurepundit notes that replacing half the ferrous metals in …
Paper aeroplanes could fly by flapping their wings thanks to smart paper that bends when bathed in an electric field. The material raises the prospect of swarms of tiny lightweight aircraft carrying sensors that act as the eyes and ears of a surveillance network. Electroactive paper (EAPap) is ordinary cotton-based paper, similar to the material …
Medical researchers have come up with a novel way to stiffen the spider silk – using glass. The discovery could make it easier to grow replacement parts for human bodies by improving the silk scaffolds on which human cells are grown. Spider silk is stiffened by reinforcing it with the same microscopic glass beads that …
I was pleased find out that Steve Jurvetson reads this blog. He posted a comment on my diamond semiconductor article and links to a picture of his own CVD produced diamond Congrats to Draper Fisher Jurvetson on the sale of Arryx, company that manipulates small things with lasers, to Haemonetics. A successful investment and exit …
Robert Lang uses computer-aided design to solve Origami problems. Solving one problem of where to put hundreds of creases leads to how do you figure out how to fold them? Forcing the crease angles to be regular makes it possible to develop tractable step-by-step folding sequences. This is being used for products from airbags to …
Seen by some ambitious students as the winner’s edge — the difference between a 3.8 average and a 4.0, maybe their ticket to Harvard Law — these “brain steroids” can be purchased on many campuses for as little as $3 to $5 per pill, though they are often obtained free from friends with legitimate prescriptions, …
Experimental results could point the way to fabricating room temperature superconductors and a move to resolving the fundamental physics of superconductivity and emergent states of matter. A 1996 theory by UCR’s Chandra Varma notes that in copper oxide materials superconductivity is associated with the formation of a new state of matter in which electric current …
New research shows that if too much interfering RNA is put into a cell, then it could overtax the cell’s ability to process its own microRNA. RNA is the chemical cousin of DNA, which encodes hereditary instructions in genes. RNA was once thought to be a mere messenger in the cell. But in a rush …
Through a novel approach, researchers have created a CNT-based composite material that exhibits significant improvements in fracture performance and structural damping. The researchers use CNTs to influence and increase the 3D composite interlaminar properties, using unique reinforced laminae with carbon-nanotube forests grown on cloth fibers present in adjacent plies. A series of tests showed that …
Imagine if you had to rectify every spelling mistake in an article by adding a copy of the full corrected sentence at a random point. Well, that’s pretty much how gene therapy and genetic engineering work right now. Instead of editing individual letters of the DNA code, you have to add a whole new piece …
