Quantum Telecloning

The first experimental demonstration of quantum telecloning has been achieved by scientists at the University of Tokyo, the Japan Science and Technology Agency, and the University of York. Telecloning combines cloning (or copying) with teleportation; ie, disembodied transport. The scientists have succeeded in making the first remote copies of beams of laser light, by combining quantum cloning with quantum teleportation into a single experimental step. Telecloning is more efficient than any combination of teleportation and local cloning because it relies on a new form of quantum entanglement — multipartite entanglement — via Warren Ellis

Travelling at Light Speed?

Noted physicist Dr Franklin Felber will present his new exact solution of Einstein’s 90-year-old gravitational field equation to the Space Technology and Applications International Forum in Albuquerque. The solution is the first that accounts for masses moving near the speed of light. Felber’s antigravity discovery solves the two greatest engineering challenges to space travel near the speed of light: identifying an energy source capable of producing the acceleration; and limiting stresses on humans and equipment during rapid acceleration — via Warren Ellis

Coming Soon, Super Vision

Several companies are developing electronically controlled lenses to provide enhanced vision. Thanks to technologies created for astronomical telescopes and spy satellites, aberrometers can map a person’s eye with extreme accuracy. Lasers bounce off the back of the eyeball, and structures in the eye scatter the resulting beam of light

Team Confirms UCLA Tabletop Fusion

A team of New York physicists has confirmed that a tabletop contraption made at UCLA does in fact generate nuclear fusion at room temperatures, using pairs of crystals and a small tank of deuterium. But unlike less reliable reports back in the 1980s, there’s no talk this time of producing endless supplies of power. Rather, the technology could lead to ultra-portable x-ray machines and even a wearable device that could provide safe, continuous cancer treatment — via Science Blog

Walk Again Drugs to be Tested on People

Two antibodies that enabled the severed spinal nerves of rats to be regenerated are to be tested in humans. The antibodies have helped rats with damaged spinal cords to walk again, by blocking the action of Nogo, a protein that stops nerve cells sprouting new connections. But there were concerns about whether blocking Nogo would lead to uncontrolled neuronal rewiring in the brain or spinal cord and it was also unclear how such a therapy could be given to humans

Self Cleaning Loo in the Pipeline

Australian researchers are developing a new surface coating which has the potential to realise the utopian dream of a self-cleaning bathroom. Researchers at the University of NSW are currently testing out a number of properties that might help to create the new coating with the goal of rolling out test products within the next year or so. Their research is based on nanoparticles already being incorporated into self-cleaning glass which comprise a tiny coating of titanium dioxide. When the particles interact with natural light the electrons become activated and oxidate the surface, effectively cleaning it

Senators Vote in Favour of TGA Control of RU486

Senators have voted in favour of a bill removing control over the abortion drug RU486 from the federal health minister, a noted loonie fundie. Senators were given a rare conscience vote on the bill, with 45 voting in favour of the change and 28 voting against. The bill now heads to the House of Representatives and if passed will end the Health Minister’s power to ban RU486 and allow the Therapeutic Goods Administration to make a decision on the drug. It is the first conscience vote since 2002

Fight Tooth Decay with Electricity

Fluorinex Active has developed a new technology that can protect the tooth from cavities for five years with one simple electrical treatment. The company is currently working on a small device which, together with a gel, will impose an efficient ion exchange process through an electro-chemical reaction in which fluor ions displace the Hydroxide ions at the outer layer of the tooth. This is intended to produce a new mineral layer with significantly improved chemical and physical resistance to the aggressive bacteria and the resulting acidic environment in the mouth

Gecko’s Feet Power New RAM Chips

Carbon nanotubes being used to make memory chips. As the name suggests, carbon nanotubes are extremely small cylinders of carbon, and they have some similar properties to the extremely fine hairs on the feet of Geckos that enable the lizards to climb walls and hang from ceilings. The new chips work faster than current technologies, and hold their data without needing a power source

Radiation Exposure Drug Blocked by Feds

Hundreds of thousand of people could die in a nuclear attack, but hundreds of thousands of others could be saved. That’s because the Pentagon — after decades of searching — believes it has found a drug to treat radiation exposure. Why isn’t that drug available? Because bureaucratic red tape is blocking the availability of Neumune, a drug developed by San Diego biotech firm Hollis Eden to treat Acute Radiation Syndrome — via Boing Boing