Neuroscientists have discovered that long-term memories are not etched in a stable form, like a clay tablet
, as once thought. The process is much more dynamic, involving a miniature molecular machine that must run constantly to keep memories going. Jamming the machine briefly can erase long-term memories
It’s a battery that looks like a piece of paper and can be bent or twisted, trimmed with scissors or moulded into any shape needed. While the battery is now only a prototype, the researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute who developed it have high hopes for it in electronics and other fields that need smaller, lighter power sources. Unlike other batteries, Prof Linhardt explained, it is an integrated device, not a combination of pieces. The battery uses paper infused with an electrolyte and carbon nanotubes that are embedded in the paper. The carbon nanotubes form the electrodes, the paper is the separator and the electrolyte allows the current to flow
When implanted in the eye, mini-telescopes could help aging individuals with macular degeneration, a disorder of the retina affecting more than 1.75 million people in the United States alone. The implant was a huge help for two thirds of more than 200 patients who participated in a recent clinical trial. The developers of the technology, VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies, hope that FDA approval for the mini-scope is imminent — via Boing Boing
A paper published by UCF researchers claims that bad movie physics hurt students’ understanding of real world physics. Some people really do believe a bus traveling 70 mph can clear a 50-foot gap in a freeway, as depicted in the movie Speed. The professors published this paper out of fear that society will pay the price. One of the authors commented on advancements in the past years All the luxuries we have today, the modern conveniences, are a result of the science research that went on in the ’60s during the space race. It didn’t just happen. It took people doing hard science to do it
— via Slashdot
Multiple sclerosis is a serious, as-yet incurable neurological disease which causes blindness, paralysis and other serious symptoms. In a new development, a neuroimmunology researcher in Montreal has developed a therapeutic DNA vaccine. The cause of the disease is not fully understood, but it appears to be auto-immune
Oregon Health & Science University researchers have figured out how to turn a mouse into a factory for human liver cells that can be used to test how pharmaceuticals are metabolised. The technique could soon become the gold standard not only for examining drug metabolism in the liver, which helps scientists determine a drug’s toxicity, but also can be used as a platform for testing new therapies against infectious diseases that attack the liver, such as hepatitis C and malaria
Levitation has been elevated from being pure science fiction to science fact, according to a study reported today by physicists. In earlier work the same team of theoretical physicists showed that invisibility cloaks are feasible. Now, in another report that sounds like it comes out of the pages of a Harry Potter book, the University of St Andrews team has created an incredible levitation effects
by engineering the force of nature which normally causes objects to stick together. Professor Ulf Leonhardt and Dr Thomas Philbin, from the University of St Andrews in Scotland, have worked out a way of reversing this pheneomenon, known as the Casimir force, so that it repels instead of attracts. Their discovery could ultimately lead to frictionless micro-machines with moving parts that levitate But they say that, in principle at least, the same effect could be used to levitate bigger objects too, even a person
DARPA, the Pentagon’s way-out science arm, wants to make soldiers stronger, faster and generally kill proof
. The key, the agency believes: Getting humans to act more like animals. The project has two main thrusts. The first is to enable soldiers to work better in extremes — high altitudes, brutal heat, and undersea depths. In each of these conditions, there are animals that handle these environments well. The second thrust is to make soldiers kill proof
. Chemical and radiological dumps sites are actually teeming with life
— filled with organisms that resist what’s toxic to most. DARPA wants to mimic
that, by creating a set of synthetic vitamins
that forestal the onset of chemical and radiation
poisoning
Caffeine may help older women ward off mental decline, research suggests. French researchers compared women aged 65 and older who drank more than three cups of coffee per day with those who drank one cup or less per day. Those who drank more caffeine showed less decline in memory tests over a four year period. The study, published in the journal Neurology, raises the possibility that caffeine may even protect against the development of dementia. The results held up even after factors such as education, high blood pressure and disease were taken into account
Researchers from the National University of Singapore, have recently developed a new way to make artificial bone from mineralised collagen. For some time scientists have tried to make nanosized artificial bone materials using various methods, And have recently turned their attention to mineralised collagen, a nanoapatite/collagen composite. This material is highly biocompatible and has the nanostructure of artificial bone. It could be used in bone grafts and bone-tissue engineering, among other applications — via Slashdot
Air New Zealand and airliner manufacturer Boeing are secretly working with Blenheim-based biofuel developer Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation to create the world’s first environmentally friendly aviation fuel, made of wild algae. The fuel is essentially derived from bacterial pond scum created through the photosynthesis of sunlight and carbon dioxide on nutrient-rich water sources such as sewage ponds
A group from Northwestern University in Illinois has a new process for creating carbon-based paper that’s stronger than nanotubes, and incredibly easy to use to make sheets of any desired sizes. Huge implications for aircraft, automobiles and the ever-sought-after space elevator — via Slashdot
A new foam-like material that could be used to soak up heavy metals in run-off water from polluted industrial sites has been demonstrated by US scientists. The novel aerogel binds preferentially to heavy metals like lead, mercury and cadmium, allowing other metals like zinc and magnesium to pass through — via New Scientist
Brian May, the lead guitarist from rock band Queen, is close to earning his doctorate in astrophysics — more than 35 years after quitting his studies to become a rock star. May arrived on the island of La Palma in Spain’s Canary Islands several days ago to conduct astronomical observations in support of his thesis, according to a statement by the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands
Australian researchers have developed woollen clothing that changes colour in the sun and blocks harmful UV rays. While other researchers have already developed colour-changing cotton and glass, this is the first time such photochromatic technology has been applied to wool. Tong Cheng, a PhD student from Deakin University, has created a polymer that is mixed with the photochromatic dye to trap its pigments. The polymer-dye mix is then used to colour the wool. The polymer also absorbs harmful UV rays and increases the fabric’s sun protection factor
Researchers from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University claim to have come up with a metal that can dampen vibrations, just like rubber. Their exotic material is a composite consisting of ceramic particles embedded in a metal matrix. The metal provides strength and stiffness, while the ceramics have a curious property known as ferroelasticity, meaning vibrations are converted into tiny rotations of crystals within the material. The composite offers the strength of a conventional metal with the vibration-dampening properties of rubber
Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology are working on a new type of nanogenerator that could draw necessary energy from flowing blood in the human body. The hope is to incorporate the new nanogenerator into biosensors, environmental monitoring devices and even personal electronics that will require no fuel source, internal or external. Once completed, this new cellular engine could find various applications, even beyond medicine — via Slashdot
Flash memory is in nearly every handheld gadget, from digital cameras to iPhones. Now Nanosys, a startup based in Palo Alto, CA, says it has found a material that can double the capacity of flash memory found in conventional chips by adding self-assembled metal nanocrystals to the flash manufacturing process. Nanosys, which has shown that the tiny particles of metal are compatible with today’s manufacturing processes, has deals with flash makers Intel and Micron Technologies and expects that metal nanocrystals will be in products as early as 2009
A new method of adult stem cell growth, designed in the Area of Cellular Therapy of the University Clinic (University of Navarra), has demonstrated its efficacy for its capacity to grow cornea stem cells. So Ana Fernández Hortelano, ophthalmologist at the Hospital demonstrated applying the growth technique in treating diseases of the cornea, using stem cells, in 70 test animals (rabbits). The aim of the procedure was to regain the damaged epithelium and thus restore transparency to the cornea
Google has rolled out some spectacular new layers for Google Earth. Astronaut Photography of Earth
is filled with images from the last 40 years of NASA Earth exploration, and Earth City Lights
has stunning views of our home planet at night, as viewed from space
RSS – Posts