Scientists at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have shown that tiny polymer nanofibers become much stronger when their diameters shrink below a certain size. Their research, published in the January issue of Nature Nanotechnology, could make possible stronger fabrics that use less material. Professor Eyal Zussman and Dr. Oleg Gendelman of the Faculty of Mechanical …
An article that discusses various research and possibilities for extending maximum lifespan Optimal amounts of the amino acid methionine seems to be an important part of low calorie diets. A recent Spanish study found that methionine restriction definitely decreases oxidative damage to crucial mitochondrial DNA and proteins. Has any animal exploited the immortality of its …
Wimax will have about 20% of the next generation wireless communication market, Long Term Evolution (LTE), a follow-on to cellular’s GSM standard, will command the lion’s share of fourth-generation cellular systems. MacLeod said carriers Sprint Nextel, startup Clearwire and Russia’s Sistema have committed to WiMax, while Cingular and Vodafone are backing LTE. AT&T, BT and …
Researchers at the Centre for Material Development and Structural Studies in Toulouse (CEMES-CNRS) and their colleagues at the Free University of Berlin have, for the first time, managed to control the rotation of a wheel in a molecule. This nano-mechanical experiment concerned an 0.7 nm diameter wheel attached to a 0.6 nm-long axle. This success …
Skin cells genetically engineered to be resistant to bacteria could reduce infections and improve chances of survival among burn victims. A patient’s skin cells, genetically modified and grown in a test tube, could provide the next generation of artificial skin. As a first step in creating such replacement skin, scientists in Cincinnati have engineered bacteria-resistant …
From Biosingularity, and Canada’s National post, word of breakthrough near cure for diabetes In a discovery that has stunned even those behind it, scientists at a Toronto hospital say they have proof the body’s nervous system helps trigger diabetes, opening the door to a potential near-cure of the disease that affects millions of Canadians. The …
Mostafa Ronaghi, one of the inventors of this sequencing chemistry, group at Stanford is working on an inexpensive superscaler pyrosequencer. It would use $10 CMOS imaging instead of $100,000 CCDs. The objective is to run 400 million sequencing reactions in parallel that can produce between 60 and 100 gigabases of data per run with 200-base …
The World Future Society makes forecasts which show that the forecasters do not seem to really understand some of the technology that they are forecasting. Forecast #2: The era of the Cyborg is at hand. Researchers in Israel have fashioned a “bio-computer” using the DNA of living cells instead of silicon chips. This development may …