RNAi can change genetically based behaviors like sex drive. (from technology review) The study used a method that overcomes two key problems of delivering RNAi directly: the difficulty of getting RNA into cells and its transitory effect. The researchers used an altered virus, which can easily infect cells but does not cause a dangerous immune …
Here is good essay on Artificial General Intelligence and the Singularity essay. Thanks to Michael Anissimov of accelerating Future for pointing it out.
The odds of the crew of the space shuttle dying next month are unfortunately quite high 1 in 100 The odds of a US soldier dying during a one year tour in Iraq is currently about 1 in 200
Ohio State University engineers have invented a radar system that is virtually undetectable, because its signal resembles random noise. Like traditional radar, the “noise” radar detects objects by bouncing a radio signal off them and detecting the rebound. The hardware isn’t expensive, either; altogether, the components cost less than $100. The radar can be tuned …
Mastering proteins is a pathway to molecular nanotechnology. This is an advance towards understanding and mastering non-water soluable proteins. PROTEIN FACTORY – Argonne biologists developed a membrane protein production “factory” using photosynthetic Rhodobacter, which can be engineered to express and incorporate the proteins into the cell’s cytoplasmic membrane, shown in white. Membrane proteins are difficult …
Aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy offers users the ability to perform 3-D imaging similar to confocal microscopy, a group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee has reported. The technique can probe sample volumes that are 500 million times smaller than those interrogated using the optical technique, and further improvements in resolution are expected with …
To achieve high resolution depends on the ability to squeeze the zones close together, with a placement accuracy no less than one-third the width of the zones themselves. Accurate placement of 15-nanometer-wide zones allows no more than 5‑nanometer leeway. In fact the Nanowriter is capable of placement accuracy to within 2 nanometers, allowing for even …
Metamaterials are artificially created substances that scientists essentially tune to respond to electromagnetic waves in ways that natural substances do not. The atoms and molecules of the actual materials with what look like micro- or nano-circuits. They look like little loops and wires. The architecture of the material creates new properties that its parent material …
Warren Buffet gave 80% of his wealth to charity. This is largest donation to charity ever
Daystar has reached some new milestones Recent results from tests conducted in DayStar’s laboratory have shown solar cells produced from its Gen I line achieved 16.9 percent total area conversion efficiencies on (1.1 cm2) glass substrates and 15.7 percent on flexible metal substrates. Similar size TerraFoil(TM) cells made on their commercial-scale Gen II platform have …
Georgia Tech researchers have created a new combustor (combustion chamber where fuel is burned to power an engine or gas turbine) designed to burn fuel in a wide range of devices with next to no emission of nitrogen oxide (NOx) and carbon monoxide (CO), two of the primary causes of air pollution. The device has …