CSIRO has begun talks with global manufacturers to commercialise microwave technology it says can provide at least 10 Gbps symmetric backhaul services to mobile towers.
The project, funded out of the Science and Industry Endowment Fund and a year in planning, could provide a ten-fold increase in the speed of point-to-point microwave transmission systems within two years, according to project manager, Dr Jay Guo — via redwolf.newsvine.com
A team of Australian researchers developing a bionic eye that could help restore sight to the blind will test a full prototype later this month.
The Monash Vision Group, a team of 50 scientists, believes it is on track to be the first in the world to implant a microchip into the brain of blind patients.
A patient will wear glasses with a tiny camera, which will act like an eye’s retina. A pocket processor will then convert these images into electronic signals to be sent to a microchip implant in the brain.
The procedure will insert 650 hair-thin electrodes into the visual cortex. When fully operationally, the patient will see low resolution black and white images — via redwolf.newsvine.com
The F-1 rocket engine is still a modern wonder — one and a half million pounds of thrust, 32 million horsepower, and burning 6,000 pounds of rocket grade kerosene and liquid oxygen every second. On 16 July 1969, the world watched as five particular F-1 engines fired in concert, beginning the historic Apollo 11 mission. Those five F-1s burned for just a few minutes, and then plunged back to Earth into the Atlantic Ocean, just as NASA planned. A few days later, Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon.
Millions of people were inspired by the Apollo Program. I was five years old when I watched Apollo 11 unfold on television, and without any doubt it was a big contributor to my passions for science, engineering, and exploration. A year or so ago, I started to wonder, with the right team of undersea pros, could we find and potentially recover the F-1 engines that started mankind’s mission to the moon?
I’m excited to report that, using state-of-the-art deep sea sonar, the team has found the Apollo 11 engines lying 14,000 feet below the surface, and we’re making plans to attempt to raise one or more of them from the ocean floor. We don’t know yet what condition these engines might be in — they hit the ocean at high velocity and have been in salt water for more than 40 years. On the other hand, they’re made of tough stuff, so we’ll see — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Intensive research around the world has focused on improving the performance of solar photovoltaic cells and bringing down their cost. But very little attention has been paid to the best ways of arranging those cells, which are typically placed flat on a rooftop or other surface, or sometimes attached to motorized structures that keep the cells pointed toward the sun as it crosses the sky.
Now, a team of MIT researchers has come up with a very different approach: building cubes or towers that extend the solar cells upward in three-dimensional configurations. Amazingly, the results from the structures they’ve tested show power output ranging from double to more than 20 times that of fixed flat panels with the same base area — via redwolf.newsvine.com
A skin-like plastic that bleeds
when cut or scratched and then heals has been developed by scientists.
The material could provide self-healing surfaces for a multitude of products ranging from mobile phones and laptops to cars, say researchers — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Reintroducing predators such as dingoes and tasmanian devils into landscapes may help protect Australia’s diminishing biodiversity, researchers say.
A new paper to be published in the May edition of Trends in Ecology and Evolution suggests dingoes and tasmanian devils could control invasive species, such as cats and foxes, as well as over-abundant herbivores.
We need to be quite bold and allow predators back into the landscape and see if they can reverse some of the damage we’ve done,
said Dr Euan Ritchie, ecologist at Deakin University in Melbourne and lead author of the paper — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Titanic director James Cameron has resurfaced after descending to the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean in an Australian-made solo submarine.
The explorer and filmmaker reached a depth of 10,898 metres south of Japan this morning, according to mission partner National Geographic, making him the first human to reach the undersea valley solo.
After a faster than expected 70-minute descent, Cameron’s first words on reaching the bottom of the Mariana Trench — the so-called Challenger Deep — were All systems OK
, according to a mission statement.
He then tweeted: Just arrived at the ocean’s deepest pt. Hitting bottom never felt so good. Can’t wait to share what I’m seeing w/ you
— via redwolf.newsvine.com
The Gnome Experiment Introduction from Kern on Vimeo.
Gravity varies slightly, wherever you go. So can we measure this phenomenon with a set of Kern scales and our travelling assistant?
Visit The Gnome Experiment to see the results
The risk of premature babies developing cerebral palsy is cut by a third if the mother is given magnesium sulphate immediately before birth, new research shows.
It has only been proven to work in babies born before 30 weeks, but advocates say the approach would still prevent up to 150 babies developing the chronic life-long condition every year.
Doctors are hailing the development as the biggest breakthrough in preventing the debilitating condition in half a century, despite the fact it is not yet being routinely used in hospitals — via redwolf.newsvine.com
On Monday, the Archives of Internal Medicine published a study titled Red Meat Consumption and Mortality
and it will not surprise you to learn that when I used Google to check for the fallout, I found some 900 new stories from publications scattered around the planet.
The study was conducted by researchers at Harvard University, which undoubtedly added to its credibility factor. But it’s important to note that this was not a controlled experiment that established a causal link between red meat and specific causes of death.
In fact, the researchers used a rather broad definition of red meat that included unprocessed
sources such as beef, pork, and lamb as well as processed
sources such as bacon, pepperoni, hot dogs and baloney slices. This leads the picky science writer to feel argumentative: wouldn’t there be different issues associated with eating these different products? The researchers report that mortality risks are greater with processed meats, possibly due to the chemical preservatives. But to continue being picky: Is this just a red meat issue? What about the possible chemical risks of, say, processed poultry products? — via redwolf.newsvine.com
A throwback to early 20th Century aviation may hold the key to eliminating the sonic boom — at least according to researchers at MIT and Stanford University. Strongly reminiscent of biplanes still in use today, the researcher’s concept supersonic aircraft introduces a second wing which it is claimed cancels the shockwaves generated by objects near or beyond the sound barrier.
In fact the idea is not a new one. The idea of a biplane to negate the sonic boom was proposed in the 1930s by aviation pioneer Adolf Busemann, also responsible for the idea of swept-wing aircraft — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Black bears have a surprising capacity to heal as they hibernate, say researchers in the US.
Medical researchers and zoologists worked together to find that the bears’ wounds healed with almost no scarring, and were infection-free.
The scientists hope, eventually, to find out exactly how the bears’ bodies heal while their body temperature, heart rate and metabolism are reduced.
This could aid studies of human wound-healing.
The findings, published in the journal Integrative Zoology, are of particular relevance to medical researchers hoping to improve slow-healing and infection-prone wounds in elderly, malnourished or diabetic patients — via redwolf.newsvine.com
A giant squid’s soccer ball-sized eyeballs are three times wider than any other animal’s, but explaining why has kept squid researchers busy.
New dissections and computer models offer a lead in the mystery: The enormous peepers evolved to see bioluminescent trails of light left by sperm whales, the squids’ great predator.
Sperm whales can’t make sharp turns when diving for food. They have to rely on the prey being unaware it’s approaching,
said biologist Dan-Eric Nilsson of Lund University. Nilsson’s study was published 15 March in Current Biology — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Applying open source methodology to disease research could speed up the process of drug discovery, according to researchers at the University of Sydney.
Senior lecturer at the university’s School of Chemistry, Dr Matthew Todd, told Computerworld Australia that the current method of drug discovery is extremely competitive and mostly carried out behind closed doors to protect certain ideas and any commercial benefits down the track.
University of Sydney researchers are openly sharing their lab notes, primarily through a blog — The Synaptic Leap — as well as Twitter and Google+ and currently have around 15 contributors to a malaria project that is in pilot stages — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Baby Squid attached to a necklace bail that is Tibetan Silver, Nickel and Lead Free. This will fit a Pandora style bracelet — via Etsy
Scientists say they have found a new type of frog living in New York City.
While new species are usually discovered in remote regions, this so-far unnamed type of leopard frog was first heard croaking on Staten Island.
Jeremy Feinberg of Rutgers University in New Jersey noticed the frogs there had a call he had never heard before.
They look identical to other species, but genetic analysis showed they are a new species of leopard frog that probably once lived in Manhattan — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Their long snouts lined with pointy teeth make sawfishes hard to miss. But just how these endangered creatures use their toothy snouts called saws hasn’t been well understood.
By observing captured freshwater-dwelling Pristis microdon sawfishes, scientists have found the fish use sensors in their saws to detect other fish, their prey, and to swipe at them with enough force to impale their dinner.
The team, led by Barbara Wueringer of the University of Queensland in Australia, found that the sawfishes tore into the already dead fish they were fed, swiping side-to-side several times per second. The swipes were strong enough to split the fish in half — via redwolf.newsvine.com
A Japanese researcher has used thousands of strands of spider silk to spin a set of violin strings.
The strings are said to have a soft and profound timbre
relative to traditional gut or steel strings.
That may arise from the way the strings are twisted, resulting in a packing structure
that leaves practically no space between any of the strands. The strings will be described in a forthcoming edition of the journal Physical Review Letters — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Joint implants should always be made of materials like titanium, so they can last the lifetime of the patient … right? Well, not according to researchers at Finland’s Tampere University of Technology. They’ve developed a product known as RegJoint, which is reportedly the world’s first biodegradable joint implant. Unlike permanent implants, it allows the patient’s bone ends to remain intact, and it creates a new joint out of their own tissue — via redwolf.newsvine.com
A website has been launched that aims to get the public involved in the search for extraterrestrial life.
Announced at the TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) conference in Los Angeles, the site will stream radio frequencies that are transmitted from the Seti (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Allen Telescope Array.
Participants will be asked to search for signs of unusual activity.
It is hoped the human brain can find things the automated system might miss — via redwolf.newsvine.com
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