UCLA chemists create synthetic ‘gene-like’ crystals for carbon dioxide capture

UCLA chemists report creating a synthetic “gene” that could capture heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions, which contribute to global warming, rising sea levels and the increased acidity of oceans. The research appears in the Feb. 12 issue of the journal Science. “We created three-dimensional, synthetic DNA-like crystals,” said UCLA chemistry and biochemistry professor Omar M. Yaghi, …

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DNA Nucleosides in a Tunneling Gap and Carbon Nanotube Nanopore DNA Reading Could Speed DNA Sequencing 1000 Times

Tunneling measurements with functionalized electrodes. (A) A gold probe and a gold substrate are functionalized with a monolayer of 4-mercaptobenzoic acid, and the size of the gap between two electrodes maintained under servo control at a value such that the two monolayers do not interact with one another, resulting in a tunnel current signal that …

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University of Pennsylvania Material Scientists Turn Light Into Electrical Current Using a Golden Nanoscale System

Material scientists at the Nano/Bio Interface Center of the University of Pennsylvania have demonstrated the transduction of optical radiation to electrical current in a molecular circuit. The system, an array of nano-sized molecules of gold, respond to electromagnetic waves by creating surface plasmons that induce and project electrical current across molecules, similar to that of …

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Current status and technical description of Chinese 210 MWe HTR-PM

Feb 2009 status of China’s High Temperature modular pebble bed reactor project ( 8 page pdf) by Zhang The expected project construction period from pouring the first tank of concrete to generating electricity for the grid is scheduled to be 50 months. Although the workload of building, construction and installation is relatively clear and straight …

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Estimating the Cost of the Google Super-Fiber Network

Business Week reports that analysts like Broadpoint AmTech believe that Google’s 1 Gigabit per second network will cost about $3000-$8000 per home to implement Google wants to offer 1 gigabit-per-second speeds to some 50,000 to 500,000 people. At 2.6 people per household, that roughly translates to 20,000 to 200,000 homes. Our friend Ben Schachter, Internet …

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Progress on Laser Systems for Destroying Mosquitos and Missiles

1. Intellectual Ventures Nathan Myhrvold, Microsoft’s former chief technology officer, has assembled commonly available technology — parts used in printers, digital cameras and projectors — to make rapid lasers to shoot down mosquitoes in mid-flight. The laser mosquito zapping work was first covered here in early 2009 After hundreds of mosquitoes (which were kept in …

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A New Live Action Star Wars TV Show in 2011 and Terminator 5 and 6 Could Get James Camerons Terminator 1 and 2 Writing Partner

1. The Celebrity Cafe reports a new, and still untitled Star Wars live-action TV series is still trudging on, and will hopefully be ready for viewers in 2011. According to Wookieepedia.com, it will take place in between the last prequel and the first original, A New Hope, during the dark times Obi Wan mentioned to …

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Rodney Brooks of Heartland Robotics Talks about a New Class of Robot

Few people know what is going on at Heartland Robotics and Mr. Brooks was careful to avoid specifics, but he showed video of robots that faintly resemble Star Wars’ C-3PO. Rodney was speaking at the Robotics Industry Forum. He spoke of how a world dominated by the Wal-Mart style of business (which he says relies …

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nano graphene platelets supercapacitors get patent

Angstron Materials gets a patent for their nano-graphene supercapacitors Angstron’s NGPs (nano graphene platelets) offer a cost effective, high performance alternative to carbon nanotubes and nanofibers. The first company to isolate and successfully produce large quantities of single-layer and multi-layer graphene sheets, Angstron’s nano graphene solutions eliminate the viscosity and dispersion problems associated with processing …

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Google Plans Gigabit Fiber Internet for 50,000 to 500,000 homes

There is several places reporting this based on a google blog post. We’re planning to build and test ultra high-speed broadband networks in a small number of trial locations across the United States. We’ll deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today with 1 gigabit per second, …

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Gene Variant Associated with Telomere Length a Target for Life Extension Treatment

Nature Genetics – Common variants near TERC are associated with mean telomere length We conducted genome-wide association analyses of mean leukocyte telomere length in 2,917 individuals, with follow-up replication in 9,492 individuals. We identified an association with telomere length on 3q26 (rs12696304, combined P = 3.72 × 10−14) at a locus that includes TERC, which …

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