Global wealth grew by 7.5 percent in 2006 to reach $97.9 trillion, measured in local currencies. The number of millionaire households grew by 14.0 percent in 2006, to 9.6 million. These were the richest 0.7 percent of households, and they owned $33.2 trillion—or about one-third—of global wealth. North America was home to nearly half of …
A hybrid device combining force and fluorescence developed by researchers at the University of Illinois has made possible the accurate detection of nanometer-scale motion of biomolecules caused by pico-newton forces. “By combining single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer and an optical trap, we now have a technique that can detect subtle conformational changes of a biomolecule …
There is need for more responsive and effective close air support for US troops in Iraq. C-27J transport plane War is boring discusses converting $25-30 million C27 transport planes into slightly scaled down versions of the AC-130 gunship. AC-130 gunship There has been a proposal to use AC-130’s in a roving mode over Iraq. This …
Researchers at the Carnegie Institution, has found a key biochemical cycle that suppresses the immune response, thereby allowing cancer cells to multiply unabated. The research shows how the biomolecules responsible for healthy T-cells, the body’s first defenders against hostile invaders, are quashed, permitting the invading cancer to spread. The same cycle could also be involved …
Researchers in the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science are building a robotic prospector for NASA that can creep over rocky slopes and then anchor itself as a stable platform for drilling deep into extraterrestrial soils. Called “Scarab,” this four-wheeled robot will never leave the Earth. But it will demonstrate technologies …
IBM and Sun have announced petaflop supercomputers. They indicate that there are no barriers to more computer power but the most important issues going forward are to manage and reduce power usage and to improve software. “The hardware speed [of supercomputers] will not reach a plateau,” said Simon See, Sun Microsystems’ director for Advance Computing …
Using the mammalian visual system as a model, we showed that a designed self-assembling peptide nanofiber scaffold created a permissive environment not only for axons to regenerate through the site of an acute injury, but also to knit the brain tissue together, demonstrated by the return of lost vision. Bleeding can be stopped in less …
Scientific American reviews the Travellers Dilemma Basically it shows that in real world people are willing to work together so that they can both win or tie in order to get more return on average. This is relevant for economics and for choices in technology and between nations. Win-win, Tie-tie with an overall-win situations can …
A recent paper by Barry Bosworth and Susan Collins of the Washington-based Brookings Institution compares performance over the 1978-2004 period. After 1993 it compares India’s post-1991 reforms with China. Accounting for Growth: Comparing China and India, Working Paper 12943, February 2007, National Bureau of Economic Research, www.nber.org Breakdown shows close to equal service growth. With …
Quote from Deathrace 2000. Machine Gun Joe VeTurbo: Frankenstein! You want Frankenstein? I’ll give you Frankenstein! [Joe opens fire into the stands] From the times Online, the creation of insects (moths) whose flesh grows around computer parts – known from science fiction as ‘cyborgs’ – has been described as one of the most ambitious robotics …
Later this month the state’s (california) energy commission plans to tread carefully when for the first time it will review new ways to handle the radioactive waste produced by nuclear energy — the biggest legal obstacle to building new plants in California. One possible option could be to reprocess, or recycle, the waste. I support …
