tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79361882024-03-07T18:47:19.943-06:00The Next 10 YearsTechnology 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.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger772125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7936188.post-45271927504407674762009-01-01T08:33:00.001-06:002009-01-01T08:33:56.669-06:00Economy may be dim, but technological innovation on the horizon for 2009<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>A recession doesn't mean the death of innovation in the consumer tech industry. Consider 2001. During that recession, Apple Inc. introduced the iPod, Microsoft Corp. rolled out its original Xbox video game console, broadband household penetration rates in the U.S. more than doubled from 2000, and Google Inc. was becoming an integral part of modern life.
The pace of innovation isn't likely to falter in this recession, either.
John Donovan, chief technology officer at Dallas-based AT&T Inc., said consumer technology changes so fast that any company that tries to pause is likely to be overrun by its competitors.
"In tough times, I think what happens is you sort of shorten your horizons and raise your bars slightly to make sure that you remain focused and coordinated," he said.
"But you can't abandon the evolution that is such a natural part of the technology. We're not building real estate that lasts 100 years. We're building tangible things, but they transform at a very rapid cycle."
Donovan said that AT&T in 2009 plans to focus on how customers interact with their various electronic devices, letting users seamlessly transfer data among televisions, smart phones and computers all on the same home network.
Check your e-mail on the TV, forward a link to your iPhone of a map embedded in one of those e-mails, and then, while on the road, view a live video feed from a highway camera to see what traffic looks like up ahead.
"Much of that stuff I just described comes together in 2009," Donovan said.
AT&T isn't the only tech company with major new products planned for next year. Here are some of the other cool new products and applications tech buyers can expect to see in 2009:
_Femtocells
These little devices are already available to some U.S. cell phone users, but many more should be able to get their hands on these machines in 2009.
A femtocell is like Wi-Fi for cell phones.
A box plugs into your home broadband connection and creates a strong, reliable, wireless cellular network in your house or office.
Sprint Nextel Corp. already offers its Airave femtocell to subscribers.
Other providers are coming soon - AT&T and Verizon Communications Inc. are testing their own devices - and will offer even high-speed 3G coverage, meaning the time of cellular dead spots inside buildings could be coming to an end.
Initial costs are high - you'll have to pay for the machine and a small monthly fee on top of your existing cell phone bill - but those will come down over time
See article here: <a target='_blank' href='http://www.physorg.com/news149952730.html'/></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7936188.post-22470594611774922252008-12-04T08:51:00.001-06:002008-12-04T08:51:44.716-06:00New insights on fusion power<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><span id='intelliTXT' name='intelliTxt'>Fusion, the reaction that
produces the sun’s energy, is thought to have enormous potential for
future power generation because fusion plant operation produces no
emissions, fuel sources are potentially abundant, and it produces
relatively little (and short-lived) radioactive waste. But it still
faces great hurdles.<br/><br/></span><span id='intelliTXT' name='intelliTxt'>“There’s been a lot of
progress,” says physicist Earl Marmar, division head of the Alcator
Project at the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC). “We’re
learning a lot more about the details of how these things work.”
<br/>
<br/>The Alcator C-Mod reactor, in operation since 1993, has the highest
magnetic field and the highest plasma pressure of any fusion reactor in
the world, and is the largest fusion reactor operated by any
university. <br/>
<br/>One of the most vexing issues facing those trying to construct a
fusion plant that produces more power than it consumes (something never
achieved yet experimentally) is how to propel the hot plasma (an
electrically charged gas) around inside the donut-shaped reactor
chamber. This is necessary to keep it from losing its heat of millions
of degrees to the cooler vessel walls. Now, the MIT scientists think
they may have found a way.
<br/><br/><br/><a href='http://www.physorg.com/news147528679.html' target='_blank'>http://www.physorg.com/news147528679.html</a><br/><br/></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7936188.post-58452411170356998542008-12-04T08:46:00.001-06:002008-12-04T08:46:06.304-06:00Breakthrough Made in Metamaterial Optics<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Researchers have solved one of the significant remaining challenges
with photonic “metamaterials,” discovering a way to prevent the loss of
light as it passes through these materials, and opening the door to
many important new optical, electronic and communication technologies.<br/><br/><span id='intelliTXT' name='intelliTxt'>The advance, made by scientists from Oregon State University and Norfolk State University, was just published in <i>Physical Review Letters</i>.
<br/>
<br/>“The ability to compensate for optical loss is a very large step
forward for the whole field of active plasmonics,” said Viktor
Podolskiy, an OSU assistant professor of physics. “Some of the most
important potential applications in this field have been held back by
this problem.”
<br/>
<br/>These “metamaterials,” which gain their properties from their
structure rather than directly from their composition, have been seen
as a key to a possible “super lens” that would have an extraordinary
level of resolution and be able to “see” things the size of a nanometer
– a human hair is 100,000 nanometers wide.
<br/>
<br/>They could also be important in machine visions systems,
electronics manufacturing, computers limited only by the speed of
light, and a range of new communications concepts. A “cloaking device”
to hide objects, although not exactly of the type made famous by Star
Trek, is also a possibility.
</span><br/><br/><a href='http://www.physorg.com/news147542890.html' target='_blank'><br/>http://www.physorg.com/news147542890.html</a><br/></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7936188.post-81558962766385441002008-11-29T18:42:00.001-06:002008-11-29T18:42:29.659-06:00Would eating heavy atoms lengthen our lives?<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Eating heavy to live up to 30% longer.<br/><br/><p>In a back room of <i>New Scientist</i>'s offices in London, I sit<br/>down at a table with the Russian biochemist Mikhail Shchepinov. In<br/>front of us are two teaspoons and a brown glass bottle. Shchepinov<br/>opens the bottle, pours out a teaspoon of clear liquid and drinks it<br/>down. He smiles. It's my turn.</p> <p>I put a spoonful of the liquid in my mouth and swallow. It tastes<br/>slightly sweet, which is a surprise. I was expecting it to be exactly<br/>like water since that, in fact, is what it is - heavy water to be<br/>precise, chemical formula D<sub>2</sub>O. The D stands for deuterium,<br/>an isotope of hydrogen with an atomic mass of 2 instead of 1. Deuterium<br/>is what puts the heavy in heavy water. An ice cube made out of it would<br/>sink in normal water.</p><p><a href='http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20026841.800-would-eating-heavy-atoms-lengthen-our-lives.html?page=1' target='_blank'><br/></a></p><p><a href='http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20026841.800-would-eating-heavy-atoms-lengthen-our-lives.html?page=1' target='_blank'>http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20026841.800-would-eating-heavy-atoms-lengthen-our-lives.html?page=1</a><br/></p><br/></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7936188.post-24323200709182525402008-11-25T07:12:00.001-06:002008-11-25T07:12:59.959-06:00New Longevity Drugs Poised to Tackle Diseases of Aging<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Resveratrol based mitochodrial drugs poised to open up the field of longevity.<br/><br/>Cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, heart disease: All have
stubbornly resisted billions of dollars of research conducted by the
world's finest minds. But they all may finally be defied by a single
new class of drugs, a virtual cure for the diseases of aging.
<p>In labs across the country, researchers are developing several new
drugs that target the cellular engines called mitochondria. The first,
resveratrol, is already in clinical trials for diabetes. It could be on
the market in four years and used off-label as an all-purpose longevity
enhancer. Other drugs promise to be more potent and refined. They might
even be cheap.</p><br/><a href='http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/11/two-mice-on-tre.html' target='_blank'>http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/11/two-mice-on-tre.html</a><br/></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7936188.post-49682488180846381232008-11-21T05:58:00.001-06:002008-11-21T05:58:05.339-06:00It's confirmed: Matter is merely vacuum fluctuations<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Virtual reality - we are actually living it now! The world as we know it keeps fizzing out of the quantum vacuum.<br/><br/><p>Matter is built on flaky foundations. Physicists have now confirmed
that the apparently substantial stuff is actually no more than
fluctuations in the quantum vacuum.</p>
<p>The
researchers simulated the frantic activity that goes on inside protons
and neutrons. These particles provide almost all the mass of ordinary
matter.</p>
<p>Each
proton (or neutron) is made of three quarks - but the individual masses
of these quarks only add up to about 1% of the proton's mass. So what
accounts for the rest of it?</p>
<p>Theory
says it is created by the force that binds quarks together, called the
strong nuclear force. In quantum terms, the strong force is carried by
a field of virtual particles called gluons, randomly popping into
existence and disappearing again. The energy of these vacuum
fluctuations has to be included in the total mass of the proton and
neutron.</p><p><a href='http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16095-its-confirmed-matter-is-merely-vacuum-fluctuations.html' target='_blank'><br/></a></p><p><a href='http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16095-its-confirmed-matter-is-merely-vacuum-fluctuations.html' target='_blank'>http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16095-its-confirmed-matter-is-merely-vacuum-fluctuations.html</a><br/></p><br/></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7936188.post-61512897752505117552008-11-20T05:37:00.001-06:002008-11-20T05:37:22.735-06:00Professor Finally Publishes Controversial Brain Theory<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>In the late '90s, Asim Roy, a professor of information systems at
Arizona State University, began to write a paper on a new brain theory.
Now, 10 years later and after several rejections and resubmissions, the
paper “Connectionism, Controllers, and a Brain Theory” has finally been
published in the November issue of <i>IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics – Part A: Systems and Humans.<br/><br/></i><span id='intelliTXT' name='intelliTxt'>However, Roy’s controversial
ideas on how the brain works and learns probably won’t immediately win
over many of his colleagues, who have spent decades teaching robots and
artificial intelligence (AI) systems how to think using the classic
connectionist theory of the brain. Connectionists propose that the
brain consists of an interacting network of neurons and cells, and that
it solves problems based on how these components are connected. In this
theory, there are no separate controllers for higher level brain
functions, but all control is local and distributed fairly equally
among all the parts.
<br/><br/></span><span id='intelliTXT' name='intelliTxt'>In his paper, Roy argues for a
controller theory of the brain. In this view, there are some parts of
the brain that control other parts, making it a hierarchical system. In
the controller theory, which fits with the so-called computational
theory, the brain learns lots of rules and uses them in a top-down
processing method to operate. In 1997, IBM’s Deep Blue computer, which
famously defeated world chess champion Garry Kasparov, operated based
on countless rules entered by its programmers.
<br/><br/></span><span id='intelliTXT' name='intelliTxt'><u>More information:</u> Roy,
Asim. “Connectionism, Controllers, and a Brain Theory.” IEEE
Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics – Part A: Systems and
Humans, Vol. 38, No. 6, November 2008.
<br/>
<br/>Rumelhart, D. E. and J. L. McClelland, Eds., Parallel Distributed
Processing: Explorations in Microstructure of Cognition, vol. 1.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1986, pp. 318–362.
<br/>
<br/>NSF’s summary of the “Open Questions in Both Biological and Machine Learning” <a target='_blank' href='http://www.cnl.salk.edu/Media/NSFWorkshopReport.v4.pdf'>http://www.cnl.salk.edu/Media/NSFWorkshopReport.v4.pdf</a>
<br/>
<br/>ANNIE Conference Web site <a target='_blank' href='http://annie.mst.edu/annie_2008/ANNIE2008.html'>http://annie.mst.edu/annie_2008/ANNIE2008.html</a>
</span><br/><span id='intelliTXT' name='intelliTxt'><br/><br/><a href='http://www.physorg.com/news146319784.html' target='_blank'>http://www.physorg.com/news146319784.html</a><br/></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7936188.post-85284865511274418522008-11-14T07:33:00.001-06:002008-11-14T07:33:44.806-06:00'Elixir of youth' drug could fight HIV and ageing<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>TAT2 derived from a traditional Chinese medicinal herb may both be an elixar of youth and fight HIV infections. <br/><br/><p>A drug extracted from a plant used in Chinese medicine has helped
immune cells fight HIV and raises the possibility of slowing the ageing
process in other parts of our bodies.</p>
<p>The method hinges upon <a href='http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18224421.400-chromosome-clock-ticks-out-our-fate.html'>telomeres</a>
- caps of repetitive DNA found at the ends of chromosomes. These get
shorter as cells age and are thought to affect the cell's lifespan.</p>
<p>The caps can be rebuilt with an enzyme called telomerase, and some people have suggested it might be possible to <a href='http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn3337-shorter-telomeres-mean-shorter-life.html'>extend human life by boosting telomerase production</a> - though this has never been tested.</p>
<p>Now <a target='ns' href='http://portal.ctrl.ucla.edu/pathology/institution/personnel?personnel_id=45371'>Rita Effros</a>
at the University of California in Los Angeles has used a drug that
boosts telomerase to enhance the immune response to viruses.</p>
<p>Effros
and her colleagues had previously inserted part of the telomerase gene
into so-called killer T-cells - immune cells that fight infections
including HIV - and found that the cells had stronger anti-viral
activity than normal. However, such gene therapy is not a practical way
of treating the millions of people infected with HIV.</p><p><br/></p><p><a href='http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16035-elixir-of-youth-drug-could-fight-hiv-and-ageing.html' target='_blank'>http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16035-elixir-of-youth-drug-could-fight-hiv-and-ageing.html</a><br/></p><br/></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7936188.post-61316957196960484022008-11-12T05:57:00.001-06:002008-11-12T05:57:15.636-06:00Evolution's new wrinkle: Proteins with cruise control provide new perspective<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Can evolution be shifted into hyperdrive?<br/><br/>A team of Princeton University scientists has discovered that chains of
proteins found in most living organisms act like adaptive machines,
possessing the ability to control their own evolution.<br/>
<br/>
The research, which appears to offer evidence of a hidden mechanism
guiding the way biological organisms respond to the forces of natural
selection, provides a new perspective on evolution, the scientists said.<br/>
<br/>
The researchers -- Raj Chakrabarti, <a href='http://www.princeton.edu/%7Ehrabitz/' target='_self'>Herschel Rabitz</a>,
Stacey Springs and George McLendon -- made the discovery while carrying
out experiments on proteins constituting the electron transport chain
(ETC), a biochemical network essential for metabolism. A mathematical
analysis of the experiments showed that the proteins themselves acted
to correct any imbalance imposed on them through artificial mutations
and restored the chain to working order.<br/>
<br/>
"The discovery answers an age-old question that has puzzled biologists
since the time of Darwin: How can organisms be so exquisitely complex,
if evolution is completely random, operating like a 'blind
watchmaker'?" said Chakrabarti, an associate research scholar in the <a href='http://www.princeton.edu/%7Echemdept/' target='_self'>Department of Chemistry</a>
at Princeton. "Our new theory extends Darwin's model, demonstrating how
organisms can subtly direct aspects of their own evolution to create
order out of randomness."<br/><br/><a href='http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S22/60/95O56/index.xml?section=topstories' target='_blank'><br/>http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S22/60/95O56/index.xml?section=topstories</a><br/></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7936188.post-52012776434416088122008-11-12T05:28:00.001-06:002008-11-12T05:28:05.473-06:00Farming superpower Brazil spreads its know-how<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><p><span class='dateline'>Planaltino, Brazil - </span> As a young soil scientist, Edson Lobato looked out at the vast savanna of central Brazil and imagined fields of soy, corn,
and cotton where most saw an inhospitable mass of red earth and tangled trees.
</p>
<p>His friends and family urged him to take his agronomy degree elsewhere, somewhere it would make a difference. But he joined
Brazil's agricultural and livestock research agency (Embrapa) and relocated to the country's heartland, called the <i>cerrado</i>, where there was, at the time, little besides wooded plains, termites, and deer. <br/></p><p>Embrapa then set out to prove that those soils could produce like
the most efficient cropland of Idaho. The agency poured millions into
research. It sent teams of scientists like Mr. Lobato to the American
Midwest to glean as much know-how as possible. </p>
<p>Today his vision has helped turn Brazil into the world's largest exporter of soybeans, beef, chicken, orange juice, ethanol,
and sugar. <br/></p><p><br/></p><p><a href='http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1112/p01s01-woam.html' target='_blank'>http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1112/p01s01-woam.html</a><br/></p><p><br/></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7936188.post-4623887070256088932008-11-11T05:56:00.001-06:002008-11-11T05:56:27.861-06:00Bone Marrow Transplant Appears to Halt HIV<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Promising finding may offer new therapies for HIV<br/><br/><p>A
carefully selected bone marrow transplant for a leukemia patient
appears to
have stopped the patient's HIV infection as well--he shows no signs of
the virus
in his blood nearly two years after the procedure. While it's difficult
to draw any conclusions from a single case, the outcome gives hope for
new avenues for AIDS treatment. </p>
<p>Some
people are genetically resistant to HIV infection, even when they engage in
frequent, high-risk behavior, a fact that hematologist Gero Hütter wanted to
take advantage of when faced with a 42-year-old patient with both leukemia and
HIV. The patient needed a bone marrow transplant, so Hutter searched compatible
blood donors for a specific genetic mutation known to protect against most
strains of HIV. Doctors then irradiated the patient's immune system, and
transfused the donor cells. </p>
<p>The
transplant surgeons halted his HIV drugs to give the new cells time to take
root. They planned to resume the drugs once HIV was found in the patient's
blood. But, according to an article
in the <a taget='_blank' href='http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122602394113507555.html'>Wall Street Journal</a>, the virus never came back.</p>
<blockquote><p>Nearly two years later, standard tests
haven't detected virus in his blood, or in the brain and rectal tissues where
it often hides....Normally when a patient stops taking AIDS drugs, the virus
stampedes through the body within weeks, or days.<br/></p></blockquote>
<p>The
treatment is unlikely to be broadly applicable--only about two thirds of cancer
patients survive the procedure. But scientists may be able to mimic the effect
by re-engineering patients own cells.
Doctor's are already testing gene therapy treatments that target the
gene that renders some people immune to the virus. </p>
<p>According
to the WSJ:</p>
While cautioning that the
Berlin case could be a fluke, David Baltimore, who won a Nobel prize for his
research on tumor viruses, deemed it "a very good sign" and a virtual
"proof of principle" for gene-therapy approaches. Dr. Baltimore and
his colleague, University of California at Los Angeles researcher Irvin Chen,
have developed a gene therapy strategy against HIV that works in a similar way
to the Berlin case. Drs. Baltimore and Chen have formed a private company to
develop the therapy.<br/><br/><br/><a href='http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/' target='_blank'>http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/</a><br/></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7936188.post-2740341184608149522008-11-09T06:01:00.001-06:002008-11-09T06:01:25.815-06:00Mini nuclear plants to power 20,000 homes<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Mini-nukes to power homes of the future.<br/><br/><p>Nuclear power plants smaller than a garden shed and able to power
20,000 homes will be on sale within five years, say scientists at Los
Alamos, the US government laboratory which developed the first atomic
bomb.</p><p>The miniature reactors will be factory-sealed, contain no
weapons-grade material, have no moving parts and will be nearly
impossible to steal because they will be encased in concrete and buried
underground. </p><p>The US government has licensed the technology to
Hyperion, a New Mexico-based company which said last week that it has
taken its first firm orders and plans to start mass production within
five years. 'Our goal is to generate electricity for 10 cents a watt
anywhere in the world,' said John Deal, chief executive of Hyperion.
'They will cost approximately $25m [£13m] each. For a community with
10,000 households, that is a very affordable $250 per home.'</p><p>Deal
claims to have more than 100 firm orders, largely from the oil and
electricity industries, but says the company is also targeting
developing countries and isolated communities. 'It's leapfrog
technology,' he said.</p><p>The company plans to set up three factories
to produce 4,000 plants between 2013 and 2023. 'We already have a
pipeline for 100 reactors, and we are taking our time to tool up to
mass-produce this reactor.'</p><p>The first confirmed order came from
TES, a Czech infrastructure company specialising in water plants and
power plants. 'They ordered six units and optioned a further 12. We are
very sure of their capability to purchase,' said Deal. The first one,
he said, would be installed in Romania. 'We now have a six-year waiting
list. We are in talks with developers in the Cayman Islands, Panama and
the Bahamas.'</p><p>The reactors, only a few metres in diameter, will
be delivered on the back of a lorry to be buried underground. They must
be refuelled every 7 to 10 years. Because the reactor is based on a
50-year-old design that has proved safe for students to use, few
countries are expected to object to plants on their territory. An
application to build the plants will be submitted to the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission next year. <br/></p><p><br/></p><p><a href='http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/09/miniature-nuclear-reactors-los-alamos' target='_blank'>http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/09/miniature-nuclear-reactors-los-alamos</a><br/></p><br/></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7936188.post-10182740536250354702008-11-07T16:40:00.001-06:002008-11-07T16:40:27.220-06:00Compounds May Help Combat Brain Diseases<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><span id='intelliTXT' name='intelliTxt'>UT Dallas Biology Professor
Santosh D’Mello and SMU Chemistry Professor Edward R. Biehl tested 45
chemical compounds, four of which were found to be the most potent at
protecting brain cells, called neurons.
<br/>
<br/>The synthesized chemicals, called “3-substituted indolin-2-one
compounds,” are derivatives of another compound called GW5074, which
was shown to prevent neurodegeneration in a past report published by
the D’Mello lab. Although effective at protecting neurons from decay or
death, GW5074 is toxic to cells at slightly elevated doses, which makes
it unsuitable for clinical testing in patients. The newly identified,
second-generation compounds maintain the protective feature of GW5074
but are not toxic — even at very high doses — and hold promise in
halting the steady march of neurodegenerative diseases such as
Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
<br/>
<br/>“Sadly, neurodegenerative diseases are a challenge for our elderly
population,” D’Mello said. “People are living longer and are more
impacted by diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Amyotrophic
Lateral Sclerosis than ever before — which means we need to
aggressively look for drugs that treat diseases. But most exciting now
are our efforts to stop the effects of brain disease right in its
tracks. Although the newly discovered compounds have only been tested
in cultured neurons and mice, they do offer hope.”<br/><br/><br/><a href='http://www.physorg.com/news145285865.html' target='_blank'>http://www.physorg.com/news145285865.html</a><br/></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7936188.post-27893594363229909702008-11-06T05:12:00.000-06:002008-11-06T05:13:00.948-06:00Shazam! A Projector Is Shrunk<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>A new must have tech toy!<br/><p><br/></p><p>Come on, admit it: is there anything more awesome than miniaturization?</p><br/>The Walkman put a stereo system in your pocket and changed the game forever. A modern digital watch has the computing power of a roomful of 1950s computer gear. And people are watching TV shows these days on iPods about the size of a business card.<p/><br/><br/><p>Enormous feats of shrinkage like that don’t come along very often, though. So when they do, you sit up and take notice — as you will the first time you see the Optoma Pico Projector ($430 list price). It’s a long-awaited, much-rumored projector about the size of a cellphone: 2 by 4.1 by 0.7 inches, weighing 4.2 ounces.</p><p><br/></p><p><a href='http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/technology/personaltech/05pogue.html?pagewanted=1&8dpc&_r=1&adxnnlx=1225969596-R5WtYzbJp%20hA30CL%20rn0aQ' target='_blank'>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/technology/personaltech/05pogue.html?pagewanted=1&8dpc&_r=1&adxnnlx=1225969596-R5WtYzbJp%20hA30CL%20rn0aQ</a><br/></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7936188.post-14409417496397467922008-11-05T06:16:00.000-06:002008-11-05T06:17:00.453-06:00Next-Generation Longevity Drug Works Mouse Wonders<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>The longevity revolution is upon us!!<br/><br/><p>A potential longevity-enhancing drug has passed its final animal
testing challenge, pushing closer to reality the dream of all-purpose
drugs against diseases of aging. </p>
<p>Mice given the new drug, called SRT1720, gorged on high-fat food for
four months without gaining weight or developing diabetes, and ran
twice as far on a treadmill as their control-group counterparts.
Similar drugs are expected to follow down the pipeline. </p>
<p>"If you look at all the things that have fundamentally changed
medicine in the last 150 years, washing hands would be one, and
antibiotics another. This could be the third," said study co-author
Philip Lambert, a pharmacologist at Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, the drug's
developer. "If you could keep your health for another 10 or 15 years,
that would be amazing."</p>
<p>SRT1720 activates one of several enzymes
that regulate the function of mitochondria — cellular power generators
that convert glucose into chemical energy. The wearing down of these generators has been <a href='http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/02/could-malfuncti.html'>linked to heart disease</a>, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, cancer and other age-related afflictions.</p><p><br/></p><p><a href='http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/11/next-generation.html' target='_blank'>http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/11/next-generation.html</a><br/></p><br/></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7936188.post-43789624112319850482008-11-03T09:31:00.001-06:002008-11-03T09:31:07.149-06:00Gene Therapy Reaches Muscles Throughout The Body And Reverses Muscular Dystrophy In Animal Model<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Potential treatment for Muscular Dystrophy and methodology to enhance muscular strength, speed and endurance.<br/><br/>Researchers have found a delivery method for gene therapy that reaches
all the voluntary muscles of a mouse – including heart, diaphragm and
limbs – and reverses the process of muscle-wasting found in muscular
dystrophy.<br/><br/>"We have a clear 'proof of principle' that it is possible to deliver
new genes body-wide to all the striated muscles of an adult animal.
Finding a delivery method for the whole body has been a major obstacle
limiting the development of gene therapy for the muscular dystrophies.
Our new work identifies for the first time a method where a new
dystrophin gene can be delivered, using a safe and simple method, to
all of the affected muscles of a mouse with muscular dystrophy," said
Dr. Jeffrey S. Chamberlain, professor of neurology and director of the
Muscular Dystrophy Cooperative Research Center at the University of
Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. He also has joint
appointments in the departments of medicine and biochemistry.<br/><br/>full article here <a href='http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/07/040726083533.htm' target='_blank'>http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/07/040726083533.htm</a><br/></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7936188.post-62561227753125646572008-11-03T06:16:00.001-06:002008-11-03T06:16:29.930-06:00Live Cheap<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>While this article focuses on New York, the bottom line advice works everywhere. Live cheap without having to give up that much!!<br/><br/><p><span class='drop'>N</span>o matter what your income level, you
throw away a lot of money living in New York. Paying brokers to hunt
down exorbitantly priced (yet minuscule) apartments, driving the
precise route overground in a cab that a subway travels underground,
eating out, eating out, eating out. New Yorkers are masters at burning
through cash, but we are suddenly thinking a lot more about every
dollar. This may bring on a little gloom, but fortunately, it isn’t
that difficult to have the same life you had, oh, last November, only
with fewer ATM withdrawals. On the following pages, you’ll find ideas
for everything from buying a (relatively) affordable apartment to
kicking the restaurant habit to getting a sharp-looking $14 haircut.
One caveat: This is a micro- , not a macroeconomic exercise. If
everyone quit shopping, or eating out, or buying books, the city’s
economy would stop dead in its tracks, so don’t take all of our advice
all at once. Consider these helpful, grandparentlike tips. Who knows,
if you’re like us—given to a bit of guilt now and then—you might even
find you enjoy the New Austerity.
</p><hr noshade='noshade' align='left' width='55' size='1'/>
<p/><strong>Grand-Total Annual Savings: $488,180<br/><br/><br/><a href='http://nymag.com/guides/cheap-living/intro/' target='_blank'>http://nymag.com/guides/cheap-living/intro/</a><br/><br/></strong></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7936188.post-39107456681234889152008-11-02T16:09:00.000-06:002008-11-02T16:09:00.605-06:00The Fearmongers of Finance<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><p>1. <strong>Nassim Nicholas Taleb</strong>. This former Wall Street derivatives trader warned of the global banking crisis in 2006 in his book <em>The Black Swan</em>. Last week on <a href='http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/july-dec08/psolman_10-21.html'>Charlie Rose</a>,
he said that "The banking system, the way we have it, is a monstrous
giant built on feet of clay." Taleb continued: "And if that topples,
we're gone. Never in the history of the world have we faced so much
complexity combined with so much incompetence and [lack of]
understanding of its properties."</p>
<p>2. <strong>Nouriel Roubini</strong>. The former U.S. Treasury
adviser and NYU professor, dubbed Dr. Doom, has been calling the
meltdown for over a year now and believes it's far from over. Just a
few days ago, Roubini declared that we're "<a href='http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21107.htm'>entering a severe two-year recession</a>,"
up to 500 hedge funds will close within months, the financial markets
are "becoming totally unhinged," and if we don't enact a "huge [fiscal
stimulus] plan," the economy will likely fall into a "self-fulfilling
animal spirit recession that is more severe than otherwise." Still, we
can't help but feeling those <a href='http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2008/10/economist_nouriel_roubini_has.html'>plaster vulvas</a> on the wall of his apartment are a sign of hopefulness.</p>
<p>3. <strong>Bernard-Henri Lévy</strong>. The French public intellectual, not one to miss out on a global crisis, ran wild with Roubini's "animal spirit" in the <em>New Republic</em> on Monday when he wrote that we are in a "<a href='http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=b15043b8-3d7a-4265-9bf4-83e2735074b7'>suspended apocalypse</a>"
and then delightfully asked: "Is man a predator of man? Does the fear
of this predator slumber within us? An anxiety, formerly concealed by a
poorly applied varnish of civilization, about a state of nature that is
re-emerging? Consider the princes of finance, once so polite, so
complicit, so civilized, who have been facing each other at the edge of
the abyss, waiting to see who will be the next to fall; consider that
dance of wolves, the ferocious ballet of battered predators sniffing at
each other, detecting the scent of death on their neighbors, coveting
their remains; consider the tango of white-hot hate that has been
discreetly called the 'drying up of interbank credit.'"</p>
<p>4. <strong>Suze Orman</strong>. You don't have to be a heavyweight
analyst to smell the fear. The CNBC financial adviser said last week
that the current situation could result in Depression-style "bread
lines."</p>
<p>5. <strong>Christopher Wood</strong>. Wood, a managing director and chief strategist of the brokerage firm CLSA, and author of the influential <em>Greed & Fear</em> newsletter, predicted the subprime crisis back in 2005. ("I was actually too early," <a href='http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/2816256/Chris-Wood-the-man-who-predicted-the-subprime-crisis.html'>he lamented recently</a>.)
Now he has turned his jaundiced eye to the dollar, which he thinks is
due to lose its standing as the default currency. Wood recently
predicted that "the recovery in the U.S. is going to be L-shaped, which
is to say <a href='http://nymag.com/news/businessfinance/50522/'>a long period of malaise</a>."</p>
<p>6. <strong>Marc Faber</strong>. The Zurich-born investment analyst publishes a newsletter called "Gloom Boom Doom" and runs a <a href='http://www.gloomboomdoom.com/portalgbd/homegbd.cfm'>Website</a>
by the same name, which features illustrations of skeletons in "The
Dance of Death." Faber has been forecasting an economic meltdown since
2005, hates the bailout, and said on October 13, "<a href='http://www.dailypaul.com/node/69863'>I guarantee you the U.S. will go bankrupt</a>, it's only a question of time. Sooner or later." We'd be scared if he weren't so adorable.</p>
<p>7. <strong>Bill Fleckenstein</strong>. This short-seller (and frequent <i>Fast Money</i>
call-in shouter, which we mean in the best possible way) isn't
impressed by the U.S. government's coordinated rate cuts, buying up of
banks' bad assets, and commitment to buy commercial paper. Fleckenstein
has said he has "zero confidence" that the moves will help, and
believes there's a chance we'll enter a depression.</p>
<p>8. <strong>Stephen Roach</strong>. Senior executive (formerly chief
economist) for Morgan Stanley and a "perennial bear." Predicted an
"economic Armageddon" as early as 2004 (and at the time apparently
pegged the U.S.'s chance of escaping said disaster at less than 10
percent — obviously the jury's still out there). Roach said <a href='http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-10-16-voa73.cfm'>last week</a>
that the housing recession has "shifted to a full blown consumer
recession, which has a much bigger impact on a broad swath of the U.S.
economy." </p>
<p>9. <strong>Peter Schiff</strong>. In May, when asked by U.S. News to
"say something positive about the U.S. economy," the president of
broker-dealer Euro Capital answered, "There's nothing good to say about
our situation." Expects that home prices will fall "a lot more," and
told CNN Money yesterday that the government's economic stimulus
packages "will effectively hold the firemen at bay while <a href='http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmoney.cnn.com%2F2008%2F10%2F28%2Freal_estate%2FAugust_Case_Shiller%2Findex.htm&ei=j0cLSfPECYzUwQHomdFk&usg=AFQjCNGqyLgAjP-XH-wicNmyW0INdzvctw&sig2=H8WQasUUtjfSfCIVUhkdxg'>throwing gasoline on the flames</a>."</p>
<p>10. <strong>Meredith Whitney</strong>. Oppenheimer & Co. analyst
Meredith Whitney has been ahead of the meltdown for a year now. She
called the credit crisis last fall with a bearish prediction about
Citigroup, wrote in May that "what lies ahead will be worse than what
is behind us," and in August, told <a href='http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/04/magazines/fortune/whitney_feature.fortune/index.htm'><em>Fortune</em></a>
that "It feels like I'm at the epicenter of the biggest financial
crisis in history." Since then, she's turned her all-seeing eye to the
bailout, which she deemed not enough (it wasn't), and still reserves a
special loathing for Citigroup, whose rating she just changed to
"underperform." "We continue to believe outsized expenses and negative
operating leverage represent the largest challenge for the company,"
the Oppenheimer & Co. analyst said. We're scared.</p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7936188.post-8422789719596211022008-11-02T15:24:00.000-06:002008-11-02T15:24:00.665-06:00Internetting every thing, everywhere, all the time<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>The Internet of Things :: information touching everything<br/><br/>It's called "The Internet of Things" -- at least for now. It refers to
an imminent world where physical objects and beings, as well as virtual
data and environments, all live and interact with each other in the
same space and time. In short, everything is interconnected.<br/><br/><p> "If we can imagine it, there's a good chance it can be programmed,"
wrote Vint Cerf, the original Internet evangelist, on the official
Google blog.</p><p> "The Internet of the future will be suffused with
software, information, data archives, and populated with devices,
appliances, and people who are interacting with and through this rich
fabric."</p><p> At the nodes of this all-encompassing web of objects is <a class='cnnInlineTopic' href='http://topics.edition.cnn.com/topics/RFID_Technology'>RFID</a>
(Radio Frequency Identity) technology, which allows things to be "read"
by an NFC (Near Field Communication) scanner, bar-code-style, as well
as to store information about themselves and their relationship with
their environment, over time.</p><p> The reason why RFID is often called next-generation bar code is
that the technology is more accurate, scanners can read more objects
with less directional contact, and smaller chips can contain a larger
quantity of information.</p><p> Bruce Sterling, one of the pioneers of
cyberpunk literature in the 1980s and an active sci-fi guru, neologized
the term "spime" in 2004 to refer to any object that can define itself
in terms of both space and time, i.e. using GPS to locate itself and
RFID to trace its own history.</p><p><br/></p><p><a href='http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/11/02/digitalbiz.rfid/index.html' target='_blank'>http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/11/02/digitalbiz.rfid/index.html</a><br/></p><p><br/></p><p><br/></p><br/></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7936188.post-66436473020016883962008-11-01T05:56:00.001-06:002008-11-01T05:56:49.361-06:00Mini-laboratory gets megaproductive<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><span id='intelliTXT' name='intelliTxt'>Lab-on-a-chip technology, which
involves complete chemical laboratories the size of a chip, is on the
rise. Many of these mini-laboratories are able to separate mixtures -
of biological substances, for instance. This usually occurs with the
aid of capillary electrophoresis; that is, a mixture is led through a
thin tube over which a high voltage is applied. The voltage causes the
components in the mixture to move through the tube. The size, shape and
charge of the molecules affect the speed with which they move. The
components that move the fastest are the first to reach the end of the
tube and can be collected there - separately from the other molecules.
<br/>
<br/>Dawid Zalewski has developed a new form of capillary
electrophoresis that can separate substances continuously: synchronized
continuous-flow zone electrophoresis. In a quarter of an hour this
method can process around five microlitre of liquid. This does not
sound like very much, but a regular capillary electrophoresis chip can
only process a couple of hundred picolitre of liquid in a cycle. This
tiny quantity is not a problem if, for example, you only want to show
whether a certain substance is present in a mixture. But if you want to
process the pure substance further, this is a fundamental limitation.
Zalewski’s chip is not limited in this way and can process 25,000 times
as much liquid as a normal chip in a single cycle, in a quarter of an
hour.<br/><br/><br/><a href='http://www.physorg.com/news144677460.html' target='_blank'>http://www.physorg.com/news144677460.html</a><br/></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7936188.post-55119591683557426852008-11-01T05:44:00.000-06:002008-11-01T05:45:03.489-06:00Quiet wind turbine could provide up to 30% of a home's power<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Quiet wind turbine provides partial power for homes at an install cost of roughly $10,000.<br/><br/><span id='intelliTXT' name='intelliTxt'>Originally designed by
Scotland-based Renewable Devices, the Swift wind turbine is being sold
in the US by Cascade Engineering of Grand Rapids, Mich.
<br/><br/></span><span id='intelliTXT' name='intelliTxt'>Unlike many existing small wind
turbines, the Swift turbine is designed to reduce noise. At seven feet
in diameter, it consists of five thin blades encircled by a ring. The
ring reduces vibration and diffuses the noise to a level of less than
35 decibels. <br/><br/><br/><a href='http://www.physorg.com/news144674984.html' target='_blank'>http://www.physorg.com/news144674984.html</a><br/></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7936188.post-39224661495257769202008-10-30T15:08:00.001-06:002008-10-30T15:08:39.616-06:00Conclusive proof that polar warming is being caused by humans<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Take that Ms. Neo-Con Palin<br/><br/><span id='intelliTXT' name='intelliTxt'>The findings by a team of scientists led by UEA's Climatic Research Unit will be published online by the <i>Nature Geoscience</i> this week.
<br/>
<br/>Previous studies have observed rises in both Arctic and Antarctic
temperatures over recent decades but have not formally attributed the
changes to human influence due to poor observation data and large
natural variability. Moreover, the International Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) had concluded that Antarctica was the only continent
where human-induced temperature changes had yet to be detected.
<br/>
<br/>Now, a newly updated data-set of land surface temperatures and
simulations from four new climate models show that temperature rises in
both polar regions are not consistent with natural climate variability
alone and are directly attributable to human influence.
<br/>
<br/>The results demonstrate that human activity has already caused
significant warming, with impacts on polar biology, indigenous
communities, ice-sheet mass balance and global sea level.
<br/><br/><br/><br/><a href='http://www.physorg.com/news144593037.html' target='_blank'>http://www.physorg.com/news144593037.html</a><br/></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7936188.post-81856154636572660112008-10-29T18:59:00.001-06:002008-10-29T18:59:28.937-06:00Researchers find new chemical key that could unlock hundreds of new antibiotics<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><span id='intelliTXT' name='intelliTxt'>With bacterial resistance
growing researchers are keen to uncover as many new antibiotics as
possible. Some of the Streptomyces bacteria are already used
industrially to produce current antibiotics and researchers have
developed approaches to find and exploit new pathways for antibiotic
production in the genome of the Streptomyces family. For many years it
was thought that the relatively unstable butyrolactone compounds
represented by "A-factor" were the only real signal for stimulating
such pathways of possible antibiotic production but the Warwick and
John Innes teams have now found a much more stable group of compounds
that may have the potential to produce at least one new antibiotic
compound from up to 50% of the 1000 or so known Streptomyces family of
bacteria.<br/><br/><br/><a href='http://www.physorg.com/news144495812.html' target='_blank'>http://www.physorg.com/news144495812.html</a><br/></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7936188.post-69603084424605180502008-10-29T13:59:00.001-06:002008-10-29T13:59:06.620-06:00Ultrasound shown to exert remote control of brain circuits<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>The "Total Recall" effect may be possible using low frequency ultrasound.<br/><br/><span id='intelliTXT' name='intelliTxt'>While it might be hard to
imagine the day where doctors could treat post traumatic stress
disorders, traumatic brain injury and even Alzheimer's disease with the
flip of a switch, most of us have in fact experienced some of
ultrasound's numerous applications in our daily lives. For example,
ultrasound has been used in fetal and other diagnostic medical imaging,
ultrasonic teeth cleaning, physiotherapies, or surgical ablation.
Ultrasound also provides a multitude of other non-medical uses,
including pharmaceutical manufacturing, food processing, nondestructive
materials testing, sonar, communications, oceanography and acoustic
mapping.
</span><br/><br/><span id='intelliTXT' name='intelliTxt'>When asked about the potential
of using his groups' methods to remotely control brain activity, Tyler
says: "One might be able to envision potential applications ranging
from medical interventions to use in video gaming or the creation of
artificial memories along the lines of Arnold Schwarzenegger's
character in 'Total Recall.' Imagine taking a vacation without actually
going anywhere?
</span><br/><br/><span id='intelliTXT' name='intelliTxt'>"Obviously, we need to conduct
further research and development, but one of the most exhilarating
prospects is that low intensity, low frequency ultrasound permit
deep-brain stimulation procedures without requiring exogenous proteins
or surgically implanted medical devices," he adds.
<br/>
<br/>Tyler and the other ASU researchers will now focus on further
characterization of the influence of ultrasound on intact brain
circuits and translational research, taking low intensity ultrasound
from the lab into pre-clinical trials and treatment of neurological
diseases.
</span><br/><br/><br/><a href='http://www.physorg.com/news144495604.html' target='_blank'>http://www.physorg.com/news144495604.html</a><br/></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7936188.post-35030185283968404672008-10-29T07:45:00.001-06:002008-10-29T07:45:46.678-06:00Nanoparticles Target Multiple Cancer Genes, Shrink Tumors More Effectively<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Hollow lipid nanoparticles filled with engineered siRNA effectively shrink melonomic tumors.<br/><br/><span id='intelliTXT' name='intelliTxt'>“It is a very selective and
targeted approach,” said Gavin Robertson, Ph.D., who led the team of
researchers from the Penn State College of Medicine. “And unlike most
other cancer drugs that inadvertently affect a bunch of proteins, we
are able to knock out single genes.”
<br/><br/></span><span id='intelliTXT' name='intelliTxt'>The Penn State researchers
speculated that siRNA could turn off the two cancer-causing genes and
potentially treat the deadly disease more effectively. “siRNA checks
the expression of the two genes, which then lowers the abnormal levels
of the cancer causing proteins in cells,” explained Dr. Robertson. This
research appears in the journal <i>Cancer Research.</i>
</span><br/><br/><span id='intelliTXT' name='intelliTxt'>In recent years, researchers
have zeroed in on two key genes—B-Raf and Akt3—that play key roles in
the development of melanoma. Mutations in the B-Raf gene, the most
frequently mutated gene in melanoma, lead to the production of a mutant
form of the B-Raf protein, which then helps mole cells survive and
grow. B-Raf mutations alone, however, do not trigger melanoma
development. That event requires a second protein, called Akt3, that
regulates the activity of the mutated B-Raf, which aids the development
of melanoma. The siRNA agents used in this study specifically target
Akt3 and the mutant B-Raf and therefore do not affect normal cells.
<br/><br/><br/><a href='http://www.physorg.com/news144437051.html' target='_blank'>http://www.physorg.com/news144437051.html</a><br/></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0