Spacex reusable rockets and Bigelow Aerospace inflatable stations

Bigelow Aerospace inflatable space stations needs low cost launches that are human rated. Spacex could have a reusable first stage as early as 2014, but Bigelow needs human rated launch capability. The larger modules need Spacex Heavy launch capabilities which could be proved in 2014 as well. Human rated Spacex launches might take until 2016-2019. …

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Super-organs: building body parts better than nature

Synthetic DNA circuits inserted into human stem cells could soon allow us to build new organs with unprecedented precision and speed. The circuits can be designed on a computer and assembled from ready-made parts ordered online. The technique could prove an efficient way of making organs for transplant without the worry of rejection, and raises …

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NASA is looking at pulsed fusion propulsion

Nasa Scientist Dr Rob Adams speaks about Pulsed Fusion Propulsion, dense plasma focus fusion, z pinch fusion and the possibilities of high density compression of fusion fuels. NAIC – Pulsed Fission-Fusion (PuFF) Propulsion System Fission-ignited fusion systems have been operational – in weapon form – since the 1950’s. Leveraging insights gained from the weapons physics …

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The End is Near – Another Spreadsheet says we are doomed – Author suggests preparing for Lord of the Flies

In the grand tradition of Malthus, Limits to Growth, Chicken Little and the Boy who cried wolf we have another spreadsheet and book that says we and the Earth are doomed. Oxford Computer Science Professor Steven Emmott published a book Ten Billion and an article about it in The Guardian. First are Steven’s claims of …

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Quantum-assisted Nano-imaging of Living Organism

Medical researchers might realize a range of breakthroughs if they could look deep inside living biological cells, but existing methods for imaging either lack the desired sensitivity and resolution or require conditions that lead to cell death, such as cryogenic temperatures. Recently, however, a team of Harvard University-led researchers working on DARPA’s Quantum-Assisted Sensing and …

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Drug could expose HIV reservoirs and enable elimination

Currently, there is no treatment to remove HIV from the cells; a group of researchers from Aarhus University Hospital and Aarhus University in Denmark has found exceptional ability to reactivate HIV in a substance otherwise being developed for cancer treatmentWhen HIV activated the cells habouring the virus become visible and vulnerable to the body’s immune …

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Gene regulation delivered via commercial moisturizers for skin disease

Northwestern – A team led by a physician-scientist and a chemist — from the fields of dermatology and nanotechnology — is the first to demonstrate the use of commercial moisturizers to deliver gene regulation technology that has great potential for life-saving therapies for skin cancers. The topical delivery of gene regulation technology to cells deep …

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Stabilization of vaccines and antibiotics in silk

New Scientist – Silkworms may provide a novel way to store vaccines. Preventable infections kill millions of children in poor countries, partly because reliable refrigeration for vaccines isn’t always available. Fibroin, a protein in silk, forms stable sheets that contain tiny pockets lined with molecules that repel water. You can trap a biological molecule within …

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A new generation of ultra-small and high precision lasers emerges

Ultra fast, robust, stable, and high precision: these are some of the characteristics of a new laser developed by an international research team. This ultra-small laser paves the way for a new generation of highly powerful, ultra-stable integrated lasers. “We advanced a new approach to develop a laser that boasts as yet unparalleled stability and …

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At the Foresight Conference Today

I am at the Foresight Conference today. I will try to liveblog but the WiFi seems very sluggish. Hopefully that clears up You can try sending questions to speakers by using this Twitter tag (though in-person participants get first priority): #foresight2011 Foresight conference schedule Free webcast at ustream tv 9:00-9:15am “Nanotech: the Next 25 Years” …

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Helical “supermolecules” self assembled from tiny colloid balls

Researchers at the University of Illinois and Northwestern University have demonstrated bio-inspired structures that self-assemble from simple building blocks: spheres. The helical “supermolecules” are made of tiny colloid balls instead of atoms or molecules. Similar methods could be used to make new materials with the functionality of complex colloidal molecules. The team will publish its …

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