Cancer spotters A new diagnostic technique can spot tumor-like masses as small as 5 millimeters in the liver. Gold nanoparticles with a polyelectrolyte coating can make smaller tumors more visible through X-ray scatter imaging, enabling earlier diagnosis. Credit: Rose-Petruck Lab/Brown University A research team led by Brown University has devised a new technique to spot …
Most matter will stay dumb, because it will always be inefficient (for energy and economics) to make it programmable and able to move. Electrostatic robots can be programmed to self assemble now Claytronics is progressing to millimeter and micron sizes and will have some impact However, it will take a while to make them technically …
Arxiv – Temperature Dependence of Protein Folding Deduced from Quantum Transition The quantum transition model fits the folding curves of 15 different proteins and even explains the difference in folding and unfolding rates of the same proteins. A quantum theory on conformation-electron system is presented. Protein folding is regarded as the quantum transition between torsion …
The NASA spaceflight forum discusses Goatguys criticism of the Mach Effect for propulsion. Goatguys criticism The Mach Effect itself poses serious violations-of-physics problems, which most likely obviate its existence. Imagine for the moment that two equations of MachEffect vehicles are true: A = ΔV = KME × PELECTRIC / M V = KME × PELECTRIC …
Canalys today published its final Q4 2010 global country-level smart phone market data, which revealed that Google’s Android has become the leading platform. Shipments of Android-based smart phones reached 32.9 million, while devices running Nokia’s Symbian platform trailed slightly at 31.0 million worldwide. But Nokia did retain its position as the leading global smart phone …
The General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception (GRASP) Laboratory (University of Pennsylvania) integrates computer science, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering in a vibrant, collaborative environment The autonomous quadrotors each have a gripper mounted on their underside that can lift and place either horizontal or vertical components. The components snap together with the aid of magnets, …
An engineer from the University of Missouri studies the glass pane after a test explosion. A team of engineers from the University of Missouri and the University of Sydney in Australia is working to develop a blast-resistant glass that is lighter, thinner, and colorless, yet tough enough to withstand the force of an explosion, earthquake, …
Nanoletters – Graphene-Based Supercapacitor with an Ultrahigh Energy Density A supercapacitor with graphene-based electrodes was found to exhibit a specific energy density of 85.6 Wh/kg at room temperature and 136 Wh/kg at 80 °C (all based on the total electrode weight), measured at a current density of 1 A/g. These energy density values are comparable …
The Millennial Project: Colonizing the Galaxy in Eight Easy Steps by Marshall T. Savage is a book (published in 1992) in the field of Exploratory engineering that gives a series of concrete stages the author believes will lead to interstellar colonization. Step two was build seasteads powered by Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) power. The …
This is a review of whole brain emulation and mind uploading. This site has looked at brain emulation before The human brain has about 100 billion neurons and 100 trillion synapses. The brain emulation roadmap is a key reference. It discusses how much more compute power might be needed to emulate a human brain if …
The International Energy Agency issued its annual energy forecast for 2010. The link is the 23 page press presentation. If you liked this article, please give it a quick review on ycombinator, or Reddit, or StumbleUpon. Thanks Featured articles Ocean Floor Gold and Copper Ocean Floor Mining Company Brian WangBrian Wang is a Futurist Thought …