Nature Methods – Single-tube linear DNA amplification (LinDA) for robust ChIP-seq An international team of researchers has developed a new DNA technology which makes it possible to perform reliable analyses on DNA quantities that are a thousand times smaller than was previously the case. The method can be used, for example, to study small quantities …
Bloomberg – Brent oil for May settlement climbed $1.34, or 1.1 percent, to $120.04 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Earlier, it advanced to $120.63 a barrel, the highest intraday price since Aug. 22, 2008. Crude for May delivery edged up 2 cents to $107.96 a barrel at 12:24 p.m. on the …
Radiation levels on the edge of the plant compound briefly spiked at 8217 microsieverts per hour but later fell to about a third that. A normal year of radiation will be experienced in one day. Confirmation of loud sounds at unit 2 this morning came from the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA). It noted …
Tokyo Electric reports the four Fukushima Daini reactors were shutdown UPDATE- Despite being shutdown -there are still preparations being made for a pressure release. Unit 1 (shut down at 2:48PM on March 11th) – Reactor is shut down and reactor water level is stable. – Offsite power is available. – Control rods are fully inserted …
Aerial refueling could keep drones such as the NASA’s Global Hawk airborne for up to a week. Now two drones have taken a record-setting step toward that future by flying as close as 40 feet apart during a test on Jan. 21. A Northrop Grumman Proteus test aircraft and a NASA Global Hawk engaged in …
VASIMR VX-200 Performance and Near-term SEP Capability for Unmanned Mars Flight was presented at the Future In-Space Operations (FISO) Workshop Ad Astra has demonstrated 60% propulsion system efficiency (DC to jet power) at an Isp of 4800 seconds and an input power of 220 kW DC • The ratio of mass to power (alpha) of …
Air Pollution in New York in the 1950s from LIFE magazine Some people do not trust or cannot absorb the horrific numbers that describe the scale of the damage and deaths from air pollution. The direct benefits (mostly from fewer air pollution deaths and disease) from the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments are estimated to …
Reader Goat guy used the Monte Carlo estimation method to determine for the NASA Kepler Space telescope: What is the probability of locating a planet in relation to its major-axis (orbit radius) from various stars? So first off – I can tell you that anyone who claims “1%” detection probability is pulling that number “statistically” …
A new study reports on the success of growing human liver cells on resorbable scaffolds made from material similar to surgical sutures. Researchers suggest that this liver tissue could be used in place of donor organs during liver transplantation or during the bridge period until a suitable donor is available for patients with acute liver …
Wall Street Journal – China has reached a tipping point: It now can produce many of its own advanced weapons—including high-tech fighter jets like the Su-27—and is on the verge of its own aircraft carrier Chinese engineers cloned the prized Su-27’s avionics and radar but they are fitting it with the last piece in the …
IEEE Spectrum tries to hold Ray Kurzweil to a high prediction standard but does not apply that standard to themselves. Every year IEEE Spectrum tries to pick Technology winners and losers. IEEE Spectrum says Rays clearest and most successful predictions often lack originality or profundity. And most of his predictions come with so many loopholes …