UK chemists have used cuttlefish bones to template the growth of new superconductors that have almost 100 times higher current density. The weight of 1 cm**3 of superconducting cuttlebone replica is 0.06 g, compared to 6.38 g in the case of an equivalent sized monolith of pure Y123. With an overall decrease in mass of …
From the synthetic biology FAQ: Current synthesis costs are about $1 per base pair. Current synthesis times for a 1,500 bp gene are of order 4 weeks. We need a ~3-fold reduction in cost ($0.33 for 3 base pairs) and a ~10-fold reduction in turn-around time (3 days), from where we are today for commercial …
For $500 you can now reserve your Aptera electric or super-hybrid vehicle. Deliveries should start October, 2008 The first Aptera prototype, the Mk-0, was a parallel hybrid Diesel and achieved an average of 230 MPG at a steady state of 55 MPH. This was pure Diesel/mechanical drive with no electric assist. The All Electric Aptera …
The currency gained 0.14 percent to 7.3867 against the dollar as of 12:54 p.m. in Shanghai, from yesterday’s close of 7.3969, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System. The yuan rose 0.1 percent to 10.9836 per euro. Forwards contracts in the currency show traders are more bullish about yuan gains over the next 12 …
Dwave systems CTO Geordie Rose has published his slides from the SC07 conference, where he demonstrated there latest 28 qubit system. Dwave system is a web services QUBO solver Dwave to a computer scientist. QUBO is NP-hard. the decision version is NP complete Real physical systems dwave device schematic: nobium cjj rs-squid flux qubit Dwave …
MIt Technology Review provides more information on the work of Kovio of Sunnyvale. Current contactless smart cards of the type used by frequent travelers on major transit systems can cost as much as $5 a piece to produce. But Kovio’s technology could soon lead to nonmagnetic smart cards that cost a nickel. Eventually, the technology …
The Economist has a lengthy article that suggests that more money and effort should be sent to verify the safety of nanoparticles. America already spends the most on EHS (environmental health and safety) research into nanotechnology. Depending on who does the counting, it ranges from $11m to $60m. Safety legislation cannot be expected to work …
Carnival of space 30 is up at bad astronomy The latests methods to find extrasolar planets, fusion rockets if bussard fusion works, more astronomy of planets and comets, new space finance and Obama’s position on space. Obama would cut space programs and use the funds for education. My contribution was the view of space travel …
About 4,000 children were afflicted with cancer after Chernobyl. Less well-known, however, is the fact that only nine of those 4,000 died — thyroid cancers are often easy to operate on. Officially 47 people — members of the emergency rescue crews — died in Chernobyl from exposure to lethal doses of radiation. This is serious …
The inspiration of Help Hookup is actually a comic book called Global Frequency by Warren Ellis. My brother, Alvin Wang, took the idea to startup weekend and they launched the idea this past weekend for hooking up volunteers. It is similar to the concepts of David Brin’s “empowered citizens” and Glenn Reynolds “an army of …
Using a special hollow-core photonic crystal fibre, a team at the University of Bath, UK, has opened the door to what could prove to be a new sub-branch of photonics, the science of light guidance and trapping. The team, led by Dr Fetah Benabid, reports on the discovery, which relates to the emerging attotechnology, the …