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.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

New drugs could spell quick fix for depression - health - 08 September 2007 - New Scientist

New drugs could spell quick fix for depression - health - 08 September 2007 - New Scientist

SNAPPING out of depression is easier said than done.

Antidepressants such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) can take several weeks to kick in, and for some patients there is an urgent need for a faster-acting drug. Now Guillaume Lucas at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and his team have found a class of antidepressants that reverse symptoms of depression in rats within days.

The drug, RS67333, works by binding to a receptor on the surface of brain cells and stimulating them to release more serotonin, a neurotransmitter that helps control mood.

Rats with symptoms of depression returned to normal after just three days of injections with the drug, while those treated with a standard SSRI took two weeks to recover (Neuron, DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2007.07.041).



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Source of ‘optimism’ found in the brain - being-human - 24 October 2007 - New Scientist

Source of ‘optimism’ found in the brain - being-human - 24 October 2007 - New Scientist

Two regions of the brain linked to optimism have been discovered by researchers. The identification of the sites that signal positive thinking could shed light on the causes of depression, they say.

The US team says that the act of imagining a positive future event – such as winning an award or receiving a large sum of cash – activates two brain areas known as the amygdala and the rostral anterior cingulated cortex (rACC). The finding lends weight to earlier studies that suggested these brain regions malfunction in depression and hint at new ways of diagnosing the disorder.



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Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Scientists developing clean energy systems from micro-algae

Scientists developing clean energy systems from micro-algae

An international consortium established by an Australian scientist is developing a clean source of energy that could see some of our future fuel and possibly water needs being generated by solar-powered bio-reactors and micro-algae while absorbing CO2.

Associate Professor Ben Hankamer, from the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) at The University of Queensland, has established the Solar Bio-fuels Consortium which is engineering green algal cells and advanced bio-reactor systems to produce bio-fuels such as hydrogen in a CO2-neutral process.

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One major advantage, especially in drought-stricken countries like Australia, is that hydrogen can be produced from salt water. Marine and salt-tolerant algae can extract hydrogen and oxygen from seawater and on combustion these gases produce fresh water and electricity, which can be fed into the national grid. Consequently, clean energy production can theoretically be coupled with desalination.


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Relativity Derived Without Calculus -- Possibly Centuries Ago

Relativity Derived Without Calculus -- Possibly Centuries Ago

Einsteinian relativity seemed to be a modern breakthrough: he had derived his theories from ideas and mathematics that were new at the time. The Lorentz transformations had just been discovered in 1895, and he derived a new velocity addition law using calculus (both of these concepts describe how observers in different reference frames perceive each other). Further, Einstein based his theories on the assumption that the speed of light, c, is constant, and used gedanken (“thought”) experiments involving light rays to reach his conclusions.

Now Joel Gannett, a Senior Scientist in the Applied Research Area of Telcordia Technologies in Red Bank, New Jersey, has found that Einstein didn’t have to do the work the hard way. A researcher in optical networking technologies, Gannett has shown that the Lorentz transformations and velocity addition law can be derived without assuming the constancy of the speed of light, without thought experiments, and without calculus. In this case, Einsteinian relativity could have been discovered several centuries before Einstein.

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Saturday, October 06, 2007

US scientist to announce designer genome breakthrough: report

US scientist to announce designer genome breakthrough: report

Venter is to announce the discovery within weeks and could possibly unveil it as early as Monday, the newspaper added.

The breakthrough, which Venter hopes could help develop new energy sources to combat global warming, would be "a very important philosophical step in the history of our species," he told the paper.

"We are going from reading our genetic code to the ability to write it. That gives us the hypothetical ability to do things never contemplated before," he added.

The chromosome which he and his team has created is known as Mycoplasma laboratorium and, in the final step of the process, will be transplanted into a living cell where it should "take control," effectively becoming a new life form.

Pat Mooney, director of the Canadian bioethics organisation ETC Group, told the paper that Venter was creating "a chassis on which you could build almost anything.

"It could be a contribution to humanity such as new drugs or a huge threat to humanity such as bio-weapons."



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Friday, October 05, 2007

Ugly duckling mole rats might hold key to longevity

Ugly duckling mole rats might hold key to longevity

The naked mole rat is certainly not one of nature's cuddliest species. These small rodents are hairless, wrinkled, blind and buck-toothed. Stan Braude, Ph.D., lecturer in biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, however, is attracted to these animals and has been studying them for over 25 years, with about 20 of those years being in the field in Kenya.
Braude is currently working on a new book that will serve as a synthetic review of the past 20 years of research on naked mole rats. While various research has been conducted on naked mole rats in a lab setting, Braude and his students are the only researchers out in the wild with them.

"I make the case [in my book] that if you really want to understand the lab work you also have to know what these animals are doing in the wild," said Braude.