Technology has immortality, cures for the worlds devastating diseases, quantum computing and a host of other science fiction notions in its grasp. Current trends in a number of areas indicate that over the next 10 years many of these technologies will come to fruition. "The Next 10 Years" tracks the trends that will transform our everyday lives in almost unimaginable ways.

Monday, January 16, 2006

EFF:: "Blogs are like personal telephone calls crossed with newspapers. They're the perfect tool for sharing your favorite chocolate mousse recipe with friends--or for upholding the basic tenets of democracy by letting the public know that a corrupt government official has been paying off your boss.
If you blog, there are no guarantees you'll attract a readership of thousands. But at least a few readers will find your blog, and they may be the people you'd least want or expect. These include potential or current employers, coworkers, and professional colleagues; your neighbors; your spouse or partner; your family; and anyone else curious enough to type your name, email address or screen name into Google or Feedster and click a few links. "

Saturday, January 14, 2006

New Scientist Turning back the years - Features: "AGEING is as inevitable as death and taxes. And when your skin starts to sag, your hair turns grey and your muscles slowly lose their strength, you can't help dreaming of forcing the sands of time back up into the hourglass.
Yet before we can hope to stem the flow, let alone reverse it, we need to know just what this sand consists of. Pinning down the molecular changes that underlie the ageing process is not easy. But it has long been suspected that mitochondria, the energy-generating structures within almost every cell of the body, play a key role. And in the past couple of years, researchers have produced strong evidence that this is indeed the case, that the decline of mitochondria determines when our bodies begin to crumble.
And some don't stop there. The techniques they are developing to cure mitochondrial diseases, they say, might someday allow us to rejuvenate our mitochondria - and thus delay the onset of old age.
Essentially, what mitochondria do is burn sugars to produce energy. It's a slow and controlled form of burning, but it can still be dangerous. Any errors or interruptions result in the production of highly reactive free radicals that can damage DNA.
The vast majority of a cell's DNA is tucked away in the nucleus, far from the danger. But mitochondria have their own genome, a small circular bit of DNA containing just 13 protein-coding genes. Not only is this DNA at ground zero of the free-radical barrage, it also lacks the sophisticated machinery for repairing DNA damage found in the nucleus of cells - making it especially vulnerable to mutations.
What's more, a single cell can have hundreds of mitochondria, each containing as many as 10 copies of this genome, and this DNA is replaced much more often than nuclear DNA. Each time it replica"

Space 'Slinky' Confirms Theory with a Twist - Yahoo! News: "WASHINGTON, D.C.�Astronomers have discovered a giant magnetic field that is coiled like a snake around a rod-shaped gas cloud in the constellation Orion.
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Timothy Robishaw, a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, involved in the discovery, described the structure as a 'giant, magnetic Slinky wrapped around a long, finger-like interstellar cloud.'"

Taiwanese Researchers Breed Glowing Pigs - Yahoo! News: "TAIPEI, Taiwan - Pigs may not be able to fly just yet, but at least three of them glow. Taiwanese researchers said Friday they have bred the pigs with a fluorescent material in a move they hope will benefit the island's stem cell research effort. "

US probe 'Stardust' returning to Earth with rare samples - Yahoo! News: "WASHINGTON (AFP) - After a seven-year journey, US space probe 'Stardust' is scheduled to deliver to Earth on Sunday samples of rare dust it has collected from stars and comets that scientists believe could offer vital clues about the solar system's origins.

A capsule weighing 46 kilograms (101 pounds) and carrying a teaspoonful of space dust is expected to land in a Utah desert at 1012 GMT Sunday after flying 4.63 billion kilometers (2.88 billion miles) in space, or 10,000 times more than the distance separating Earth from the Moon."

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060109/full/060109-5.html: "Can the popping of tiny bubbles trigger nuclear fusion, a potential source of almost unlimited energy? This controversial idea is back on the table, because its main proponent has new results that, he claims, will silence critics. But others say that the latest experiment simply comes with its own set of problems."

Cells That Read Minds - New York Times: "But if the findings, published in 1996, surprised most scientists, recent research has left them flabbergasted. Humans, it turns out, have mirror neurons that are far smarter, more flexible and more highly evolved than any of those found in monkeys, a fact that scientists say reflects the evolution of humans' sophisticated social abilities.
The human brain has multiple mirror neuron systems that specialize in carrying out and understanding not just the actions of others but their intentions, the social meaning of their behavior and their emotions."

Friday, January 06, 2006

Discovery Challenges Thinking on Key Brain Function - Yahoo! News: "A new study finds that a cell once believed to serve neurons instead may perform the crucial function of regulating blood flow in the brain."

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Wil McCarthy's HACKING MATTER: "HACKING MATTER
LEVITATING CHAIRS, QUANTUM MIRAGES,
and the INFINITE WEIRDNESS of
PROGRAMMABLE ATOMS"

Monday, January 02, 2006

New Scientist 11 steps to a better brain - Features: "It doesn't matter how brainy you are or how much education you've had - you can still improve and expand your mind. Boosting your mental faculties doesn't have to mean studying hard or becoming a reclusive book worm. There are lots of tricks, techniques and habits, as well as changes to your lifestyle, diet and behaviour that can help you flex your grey matter and get the best out of your brain cells. And here are 11 of them."

New Scientist Breaking News - NewScientist.com's top 10 news stories of 2005: "NewScientist.com's top 10 news stories of 2005
10:00 30 December 2005
NewScientist.com news service
Sean O'Neill
These stories were the ones you clicked on the most � a stimulating mix of mystery, brain work, climate change, weaponry and sex."

Sunday, January 01, 2006

On the threshold of biotech revolution: "India is forging ahead in developing novel biopharmaceuticals, generic drugs, diagnostics and agricultural biotechnology products and handling contract services right from R&D to manufacturing. It is also becoming a serious contender as a biotech outsourcing destination. "