NASA looks to be developing larger (12-40KW) radioisotope thermoelectric generators for the moon’s surface. Hopefully NASA finishes this work as they have a history of starting big RTG projects and not completing them. Also, it probably would be better to use the Hyperion uranium hydride reactor instead, which has been covered extensively on this site …
Major Japanese sake manufacturer Gekkeikan announced on March 28, 2008, that it has developed a new technology for producing bioethanol, which is attracting keen interest as a replacement for fossil fuels. Using “super yeast” — sake yeast genetically modified with koji mold genes — the innovative technology can directly produce ethanol from inedible plant materials …
Replacing one amino acid on the surface of a virus that shepherds corrective genes into cells could be the breakthrough scientists have needed to make gene therapy 30 times more efficient. Gene therapy will be a more viable option for treating genetic diseases such as hemophilia. The discovery could be the solution to a problem …
The continuous fabrication of complex, three-dimensional nanoscale structures and the ability to grow individual nanowires of unlimited length are now possible with a process developed by researchers at the University of Illinois. Based on the rapid evaporation of solvent from simple “inks,” the process has been used to fabricate freestanding nanofibers, stacked arrays of nanofibers …
