cognition

Bringing Invisibility Cloaks Closer

Michael Liebhold — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:40:14 -0700

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Science and Nature posted papers on the new UC Berkeley metamaterials on Monday, revealing details of the research.

However, it will require significant engineering developments before the new materials can be used for practical cloaking.

A new fishnet metamaterial that can bend near-infrared light (Jason Valentine et al.)

Meanwhile, these metamaterials are likely to be useful in telecommunications and microscopy. Nanoscale waveguides and other devices made from the materials might overcome one of the major challenges of scaling down optical communications to chip level: allowing fine control of parallel streams of information-rich light on the same chip so that they do not interfere with one another. And the new materials could also eventually be developed into lenses for light microscopes, revealing the workings of biological molecules in the information-rich and cell-friendly visible and near-infrared parts of the spectrum.
(Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/21213/?a=f)

RNAi Drug for Cholesterol

Michael Liebhold — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 23:50:23 -0700

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Scientists at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals have found that a single dose of a new drug using RNAi lowers cholesterol up to 60 percent in rodents and monkeys.

The drug might one day provide another option for patients who are resistant to existing cholesterol-lowering drugs due to genetic factors, or it might also be used in combination with existing cholesterol-lowering drugs to increase their effectiveness.

Alnylam's new drug blocks an enzyme called PCSK9, previously shown to affect LDL cholesterol levels and risk of heart disease.

The drug employs an approach known as RNA interference. With this technique, scientists create short RNA molecules that bind to messenger RNA in the cell, causing it to self-destruct. That interrupts the process of gene transcription, and thus the synthesis of the proteins coded by the gene.

(Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/21214/?a=f)

Canon Fuel Cell DSLR Update

Michael Liebhold — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 23:34:54 -0700

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Canon has filed a patent application claiming a method for powering a digital SLR camera and external components, such as lenses and hotshoe flash.

(Source: http://www.photographybay.com/2008/08/10/canon-fuel-cell-dslr-update/)

How to turn gas guzzlers into green machines

Michael Liebhold — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 23:12:08 -0700

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US citizens could save up to half of 140 billion gallons of gasoline they use each year, by driving around in lightweight hybrid vehicles, say MIT scientists.

Hybrid electric and plug-in hybrid electric cars (with batteries that can be topped up from the grid) offer the greatest potential to replace gasoline in the next 15 to 30 years, they say.

(Source: http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/dn14484-how-to-turn-gas-guzzlers-into-green-machines.html?feedId=online-news_rss20)

Lab-grown tendons gradually fade to bone

Michael Liebhold — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 22:48:14 -0700

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Georgia Institute of Technology bioengineers have demonstrated a way to grow tendons that gradually "fade" to bone at one end, strengthening the ends of the attachment

The technique uses a gene that triggers the fibroblast cells that make up tendons to start forming bone. It should lead to more lifelike artificially-grown tendons, and better treatments for injuries like ruptured Achilles tendons. It could also be applicable to other tissues, such as blood vessels. (Source: http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/dn14512-labgrown-tendons-gradually-fade-to-bone.html?feedId=online-news_rss20)

Handle With Care

Michael Liebhold — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 21:54:15 -0700

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A growing number of experts say it is time for a broad discussion of environmental effects of emerging geoengineering projects.

Examples of such projects include "fertilizing" parts of the ocean with iron, in hopes of encouraging carbon-absorbing blooms of plankton; and injecting chemicals into the atmosphere, launching sun-reflecting mirrors into stationary orbit above the earth, or taking other steps to reset the thermostat of a warming planet.

Similar questions are being raised about nanotechnology, robotics and other powerful emerging technologies. (Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/science/12ethics.html?_r=1&ref=science&oref=slogin)

A Plastic That Chills

Michael Liebhold — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 21:38:08 -0700

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Thin films of a new polymer developed at Penn State change temperature in response to changing electric fields (the electrocaloric effect).

This could lead to new technologies for cooling computer chips and environmentally friendly refrigerators. (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/21205/?a=f)

Robots learn to move themselves

Michael Liebhold — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 21:32:54 -0700

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Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences have demonstrated software for robots that allows them to "learn" to move through trial and error, using an artificial neural network.

Simulated human learned to do back flips
(Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7544099.stm)

Scientist: DNA led agents to anthrax suspect

Michael Liebhold — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 01:45:52 -0700

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The new genome technology that tracked down anthrax suspect and scientist Bruce Ivins was either not available or too expensive to use often until about three years ago.

Investigators noticed very subtle differences between the DNA of the strain used in the attacks and in other types of Ames anthrax.

The science is known as DNA fingerprinting. Although any two samples of anthrax bacteria will likely share roughly the same DNA structure, there are tiny differences from sample to sample. Scientists used those "fingerprints" to identify the source of the anthrax that killed five people.

In the years since scientists mapped the human genome, computer speeds have increased dramatically, making this process easier and less expensive. DNA fingerprint analysis that not too long ago would have taken years, can now be done in days. (Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/03/AR2008080301071_pf.html)

Anthrax Case Renews Questions on Bioterror

Michael Liebhold — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 00:58:11 -0700

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Has the unprecedented boom in biodefense research made the country less secure by multiplying the places and people with access to dangerous germs?

FBI investigators have long speculated that the motive for the attacks, if carried out by a biodefense insider like Dr. Bruce Ivins, might have been to draw public attention to a dire threat, attracting money and prestige to a once-obscure field. In fact, almost $50 billion in federal money has been spent to build new laboratories, develop vaccines and stockpile drugs.

Nationwide, an estimated 14,000 people work at about 400 laboratories and have permission to work with so-called select agents, which could be used in a bioterror attack. With so many people involved, there is insufficient federal oversight of biodefense facilities to make sure the laboratories follow security rules and report accidents that might threaten lab workers or lead to a release that might endanger the public, according to GOA investigator Keith Rhodes.
(Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/us/03anthrax.html?hp)

Is our universe fine-tuned for life? (article preview)

Michael Liebhold — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 23:58:00 -0700

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The idea that certain aspects of our universe make it uniquely suited to life could well be an illusion, suggests Fred Adams of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, pointing out that "no one has done the calculations."

So Adams selected a range of possible values for each of three basic constants involved in the formation of stars (the gravitational constant, alpha -- the fine structure constant that determines the strength of interactions between radiation and matter, and a composite of constants that determines the reaction rates of nuclear processes) and put them into a computer model that created multiple universes (a multiverse). About a quarter of the stars gave out enough energy to power some form of life, and lasted long enough for life to evolve.

Pneumatic robot arranges limbs for MRI 'sweet spot'

Michael Liebhold — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 23:27:25 -0700

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A pneumatic robot that positions patients' limbs inside an MRI scanner allows physicians to exploit a bizarre phenomenon where hard-to-see tendons jump into sharp focus when held at the right angle. (Source: http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn14452-pneumatic-robot-arranges-limbs-for-mri-sweet-spot.html)

Toyota tests Segway-like stand-up-and-ride machine

Michael Liebhold — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 23:24:38 -0700

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Toyota has developed the "Winglet," a motorized stand-up-and-ride Segway lookalike designed to help people scoot around at malls and airports.

The Winglet goes up to 3.7 mph, about the same speed as pedestrians. Toyota envisions a future in which the Winglet will have wireless technology so it relays shopping information at stores. Or it might recharge its batteries itself, or come pick you up when you beckon it, toting your luggage. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news136807601.html)

The Brightest, Sharpest, Fastest X-Ray Holograms Yet

Michael Liebhold — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 23:19:13 -0700

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An international group of scientists has produced two of the brightest, sharpest x-ray holograms of microscopic objects ever made, thousands of times more efficiently than previous x-ray-holographic methods.

The two experiments demonstrate that massively parallel holographic x-ray images with nanometer-scale resolution can be made of objects measured in microns, in times as brief as femtoseconds, using a pinhole array.

By knowing the precise layout of a pinhole array, including the different sizes of the different pinholes, a computer can recover a bright, high-resolution image numerically.

The researchers believe the holograms could be pushed to only a few nanometers, or, using computer refinement, even better.

Source: Berkeley Lab news release (Source: )

Microsoft 'degrees of separation' study interpretation challenged

Michael Liebhold — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 22:52:39 -0700

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In the "largest social network constructed and analyzed to date," Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University researchers investigated on a planetary scale the oft-cited report that people are separated by "six degrees of separation."

Based on 30 billion Microsoft Messenger instant-message conversations among 240 million people, the study found that the average path length among Messenger users was 6.6.

"Researchers have concluded that any two people on average are distanced by just 6.6 degrees of separation, meaning that they could be linked by a string of seven or fewer acquaintances," a Washington Post article stated.

However, one publication, eFluxMedia, suggested the study was "heavily misinterpreted" by the media.

"MSN Messenger users are not a random group of people. Their use of the Redmond company's instant messaging tool is already a selection which raises chances they can connect to each other in fewer hops. Furthermore, instant messaging itself is not a measure of real life connections. Also, somebody can have many contacts in their instant messenger client, without actually knowing them. Microsoft researchers considered acquaintances people who sent each other at least one message. But with the mass messages going around, that's hardly an accurate way of determining connections between people."

In a related story, questioning the validity of inferences from potentially skewed or incomplete data, last week, Microsoft posted videos of a test involving about 140 randomly chosen computer users who had low opinions of Vista viewing a demo of a "new operating system" called "Mojave" (actually Vista), finding they liked it.

Nevertheless, the New York Times stated, "many bloggers had problems with how the Mojave Experiment was conducted. The main complaint was: is 10 minutes of watching an expert demonstrate Vista a valid basis on which to assess it?" (Source: )

Automated, Wearable Kidney Offers Continuous Dialysis

Michael Liebhold — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 20:05:25 -0700

NOTE: This content was aggregated from RSS feed. Original source is http://www.kurzweilai.net/news/frame.html?main=news_single.html?id%3D9149

Researchers at UCLA and Veterans Affairs in Los Angeles have designed an automated wearable artificial kidney (AWAK) that would allow kidney-failure patients to have hemodialysis (remove metabolic waste and regulate fluid levels) without being connected to a stationary machine.

The new machine would be bloodless (no blood circulating outside the body) and function continuously.

Patients undergoing conventional dialysis must be hooked up to a machine three times a week for four hours each time. Throughout the week, levels of toxins and fluids fluctuate, causing "shocks" to the patient's system. The anticoagulants used to keep blood from clotting also can cause complications. (Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/26/AR2008072600829.html)

High-Aptitude Minds: The Neurological Roots of Genius

Michael Liebhold — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 01:53:34 -0700

NOTE: This content was aggregated from RSS feed. Original source is http://www.kurzweilai.net/news/frame.html?main=news_single.html?id%3D9148

Researchers have fingered parts of the parietal and frontal lobes as well as a structure called the anterior cingulate as important for superior cognition.

Some studies suggest that the brains of brighter people use less energy to solve certain problems than those of people with lower aptitudes do. But under certain circumstances, scientists have also observed higher neuronal power consumption in individuals with superior mental capacities. (Source: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=high-aptitude-minds&sc=MND_20080731)

'Gravity tractor' could deflect asteroids

Michael Liebhold — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 01:32:28 -0700

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A study by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory shows that the weak gravitational pull of a nearby spacecraft could deflect a hypothetical asteroid 140 meters across, big enough to cause regional devastation if it hit Earth. (Source: http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn14414-gravity-tractor-could-deflect-asteroids.html?feedId=online-news_rss20)

New nanomaterial that makes plastic stiffer, lighter and stronger

Michael Liebhold — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 01:20:28 -0700

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Michigan State University researchers have developed a graphene-based nanomaterial, xGnP Exfoliated Graphite NanoPlatelets, that makes plastic stiffer, lighter and stronger and could result in more fuel-efficient airplanes and cars as well as more durable medical and sports equipment. (Source: http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=6586.php)

Solar-Power Breakthrough

Michael Liebhold — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 01:11:38 -0700

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Daniel Nocera, a professor of chemistry at MIT, has made a major advance in chemistry that could lead to a cheap way to store energy from the sun, solving one of the key problems in making solar energy a dominant source of electricity.

He has developed a low-cost catalyst that can generate oxygen and hydrogen from water, and the hydrogen can then be burned or run through a fuel cell to generate electricity whenever it's needed, including when the sun isn't shining.

Nocera's advance represents a key discovery in an effort by many chemical research groups to create artificial photosynthesis.
(Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/21155/)

Dopamine could help the sleep-deprived still learn

Michael Liebhold — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 21:05:16 -0700

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Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have found that activating a receptor for the neurotransmitter dopamine can erase sleep-deprivation-caused learning deficits in fruit flies.

The research is the first to show that specific molecular changes in the brain can influence a function of sleep. While the fruit fly receptor finding won't translate directly into advances in human sleep research, it does suggest that dopamine may play a more important role in sleep and learning than previously thought. (Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/34667/title/Dopamine_could_help_the_sleep-deprived_still_learn)

Nerve cells made from elderly patient's skin cells

Michael Liebhold — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 21:03:17 -0700

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Researchers at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and Columbia University have generated motor neurons from reprogrammed skin cells (turned into induced pluripotent stem or iPS cells) of an elderly patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Patient specific motor neurons (Harvard University)

They made iPS cell lines by using viral vectors to introduce four genes into the skin cells (a technique developed in 2006 at Kyoto University). The study shows iPS cells can be made from patients of any age with specific diseases, although they may be more difficult the older the patient is. Other researchers have been developing iPS cell lines for Alzheimer's disease, Down's syndrome, muscular dystrophy, and more.

Motor neurons die as the disease progresses, and because the dying neurons reside within the spinal cord, they are nearly impossible to study in living patients.

New Drugs Mimic Exercise

Michael Liebhold — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 20:53:28 -0700

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Salk Institute researchers have found two drugs that mimic or improve the benefits of exercise, boosting endurance in mice by changed metabolic properties of the animal's muscle.

In earlier research, they genetically engineered "marathon mice"--animals with double the running endurance of normal mice. The superstamina came by boosting expression of the PPAR-delta gene. The new research shows the same changes to PPAR-delta can be triggered by drugs, a development that could potentially make the results applicable to humans.

The AICAR drug enhanced running endurance by 44 percent in four weeks without any training. The other drug, GW1516, was even more effective, but only when combined with exercise. It allowed active mice to run 50 to 75 percent longer, giving them more slow-twitch (endurance) muscle fiber.

If the drugs work the same way in humans, they could help people at risk of diabetes or with muscle-wasting diseases like muscular dystrophy. They could also make regular endurance exercise seem easier to people who don't exercise. (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/21154/?a=f)

Project to rebuild Internet gets $12M, bandwidth

Michael Liebhold — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 22:56:53 -0700

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With $12 million in government funding, BBN Technologies is heading a massive project to redesign and rebuild the Internet from scratch: the Global Environment for Network Innovations (GENI), a network on which researchers will be able to test new ideas, using ultra-high-speed bandwidth(10 and 30 gigabits per second) without damaging the current Internet.

Construction on GENI could start in about five years and cost $350 million. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news136655891.html)

New technique to compress light could open doors for optical communications

Michael Liebhold — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 22:47:29 -0700

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Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have devised a way to squeeze light into tighter spaces (on the order of 10 nanometers), potentially opening doors to new technology in the fields of optical communications, miniature lasers and optical computers. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news136645182.html)

Thin films: ready for their close-up?

Michael Liebhold — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 22:42:46 -0700

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New thin-film solar cells may enable solar-cell technology to maintain its 50% annual growth during the past five years.

Candidate materials to replace today's amorphous silicon include cadmium telluride, CIGS (copper indium gallium diselenide), and dyes painted onto the surface of nanometer-size particles of titanium dioxide.

In sunny climates, the technology is expected to lead to "grid parity" -- electricity generated by photovoltaics as cheaply as it is sold by utilities -- within four years or so. (Source: http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080730/full/454558a.html)

World's First Robotised Tele-Ultrasound Exam via Satellite

Michael Liebhold — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 22:30:16 -0700

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French firm Robosoft has announced the world's first "robotized tele-ultrasound" examination via satellite.

In a demonstration, a doctor in France controlled a remote robot with an ultrasound probe to examine a patient on board a ship in the Mediterranean, using an Internet communication via satellite.

(Source: http://www.medgadget.com/archives/2008/07/worlds_first_robotised_teleultrasound_exam_via_satellite.html)

Help for fall-prone elderly

Michael Liebhold — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 22:21:59 -0700

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New technologies just announced could enable elderly individuals to live independently for longer.

Virginia Tech engineers have developed pants embedded with small printed circuit boards containing microcontrollers, sensors, and communication devices. Gyroscopes and accelerometers are attached to each of an individual's ankles and knees, and an accelerometer to each hip, and each foot has a piezoelectric sensor attached to the heel.

When the pants detect instabilities in an individual's gait, the system could notify both the health care facility and the individual, warning them to avoid potentially unsafe walking surfaces.

Scientists at Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology have created an insole containing sensors that detect pressure changes when the wearer's foot moves. The data is sent wirelessly to a computer that could report balance problems to a doctor.

In a related prosthetic development, Rush University Medical Center researchers have designed a shoe with separate zones that flex as it bends, allowing weight to be transferred and reducing the peak load experienced by the knee. It should help reduce wear and tear on the knees and reduce the pain of osteoarthritis in the knees.

(Source: )

Controlling a Gut Bot's Position

Michael Liebhold — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 21:37:22 -0700

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Carnegie Mellon University researchers have developed a tiny capsule robot adhesive enough to anchor inside an intestine and yet gentle enough not to tear soft tissue.

(Metin Sitti, Carnegie Mellon University)

They looked to beetles, which secrete oil-like liquids along their foot hairs to stick securely to surfaces, and coated the robot's feet with a similarly viscous liquid for more adhesion, using a surface-tension component.

Future possible uses include biopsy and control of bleeding. (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/21153/?a=f)

3-D Printing for the Masses

Michael Liebhold — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 21:28:33 -0700

NOTE: This content was aggregated from RSS feed. Original source is http://www.kurzweilai.net/news/frame.html?main=news_single.html?id%3D9135

Shapeways, a new online service, aims to bring customized manufacturing to the masses by allowing consumers to submit digital designs of products that are then printed, using 3-D printers, and shipped back, at prices typically between $50 and $150.

(Shapeways)

While some 3-D printing services already exist, they are geared to professionals familiar with rendering designs in software suitable for 3-D printers. Shapeways makes this process far easier. Its proprietary software checks customers' designs to ensure that they are printable, and it tweaks them if necessary. (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/21152/?a=f)

Brain Mechanism Can Turn Off Trauma of Bad Memories

Michael Liebhold — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 20:15:55 -0700

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University of California, Irvine and University of Muenster researchers have identified the brain mechanism that turns off traumatic feelings associated with bad memories: a protein called neuropeptide S (NPS).

NPS reduces traumatic responses to bad memories by stimulating neurons in the basolateral amygdala (brain region associated with anxiety and memory formation).

They found that blocking NPS receptors in the amygdala of mice caused traumatic responses to bad memories to persist longer. When the mice were treated with compounds that activated the NPS receptors, traumatic responses vanished sooner.

The findings may help in treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder or other panic disorders. (Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/30/AR2008073001484.html)

Plant-grown oral vaccine for plague developed

Michael Liebhold — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:54:25 -0700

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University of Central Florida researchers have developed an oral vaccine for the plague (caused by the Yersinia pestis bacteria) that can be grown in genetically engineered chloroplasts (the photosynthesis organelle) of plants such as tobacco or lettuce.

They added the gene for the F1-V fusion antigen protein, found on the outside of the plague bacteria, to plants and fed freeze-dried plant cells to rats. The protein stimulated the immune system into making plague antibodies. Most orally vaccinated rats survived exposure to the bacteria (all control animals died within three days).

A plant-based oral vaccine would be faster to distribute and administer than injected vaccines.

University of Central Florida News Release
(Source: )

Gene surveys identify schizophrenia triggers

Michael Liebhold — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:41:03 -0700

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Researchers in two large-scale multinational studies have found that rare genetic changes are associated with an increased risk of schizophrenia.

The International Schizophrenia Consortium studied the genomes of 3,391 patients with schizophrenia, looking for a specific type of genetic error called a "copy number variation (CNV)," in which a section of the genome has been deleted or duplicated. In the other study, the SCENE consortium cataloged all the CNVs between 15,000 parents and their children and looked for matches with the CNVs of over 4,600 schizophrenia patients.

Both studies found genetic deletions in chromosomes 1, 15 and 22. These deletions are associated with a greatly increased risk of schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia affects around 1 in every 100 people at some point during their lives. Genetic factors are thought to account for more than 70% of cases. (Source: http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080730/full/news.2008.994.html)

Toward a Type 1 civilization

Michael Liebhold — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:01:12 -0700

NOTE: This content was aggregated from RSS feed. Original source is http://www.kurzweilai.net/news/frame.html?main=news_single.html?id%3D9131

Our civilization is fast approaching a tipping point. Humans will need to make the transition from nonrenewable fossil fuels as the primary source of our energy to renewable energy sources that will allow us to flourish into the future, resulting in a Type 1 civilization (one that can harness all of the energy of its home planet), says Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine.

To do that, we need a Type 1 polity and economy, along with the technology. Shermer believes that can could be achieved with globalism that includes worldwide wireless Internet access, with all knowledge digitized and available to everyone, and a completely global economy with free markets. (Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-shermer22-2008jul22,0,5301697.story)

Nanoparticles + light = dead tumor cells

Michael Liebhold — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 23:46:22 -0700

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Medical physicists at the University of Virginia have created a novel way to kill tumor cells using quantum dots and light.

Upon exposure to high doses of radiation, the dots become luminescent and emit light that triggers the cancer-killing activity of Photofrin. The only photosensitizer currently approved by the FDA, Photofrin is absorbed by cancer cells and upon exposure to light becomes active and kills cells.

In theory, the process, which so far has been studied only in cancer cells grown in culture, could work on tumors located too deep within the body to be reached by an external light source.
(Source: http://www.physorg.com/news136556803.html)

'Transsexuality gene' boosts male hormones

Michael Liebhold — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 23:31:20 -0700

NOTE: This content was aggregated from RSS feed. Original source is http://www.kurzweilai.net/news/frame.html?main=news_single.html?id%3D9129

A gene variant for an enzyme called cytochrome P17, which is involved in the metabolism of sex hormones, has been identified that appears to be associated with female-to-male transsexuality.

Its presence leads to higher than average tissue concentrations of male and female sex hormones, which may in turn influence early brain development. (Source: http://www.newscientist.com/channel/sex/dn14424-transsexuality-gene-boosts-male-hormones.html?feedId=online-news_rss20)

Five ways to trigger a natural disaster

Michael Liebhold — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 23:25:37 -0700

NOTE: This content was aggregated from RSS feed. Original source is http://www.kurzweilai.net/news/frame.html?main=news_single.html?id%3D9128

From mud volcanoes, flooding, earthquakes, and hurricanes to disappearing lakes, human actions can have all sorts of unforeseen environmental consequences. (Source: http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/dn14425-five-ways-to-trigger-a-natural-disaster.html?feedId=online-news_rss20)

Rocket-powered racing plane takes flight

Michael Liebhold — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 23:20:59 -0700

NOTE: This content was aggregated from RSS feed. Original source is http://www.kurzweilai.net/news/frame.html?main=news_single.html?id%3D9127

The Rocket Racing League's first racing plane took to the skies on Tuesday.

Billed as a NASCAR for the skies, the league hopes to pit rocket-powered planes against each other on a 3D track.

Rocket Racing League - Teaser (Source: http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn14430-rocketpowered-racing-plane-takes-flight.html)

Building 'The Matrix'

Michael Liebhold — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:59:01 -0700

NOTE: This content was aggregated from RSS feed. Original source is http://www.kurzweilai.net/news/frame.html?main=news_single.html?id%3D9126

Physicists at the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics have created a rudimentary prototype of a machine that simulates quantum phenomena using quantum physics, rather than using data kept in a classical computer.

It demonstrates a technique that could enable physicists to create, in the virtual world, materials that don't yet exist in nature and perhaps figure out how to build, in the real world, superconductors that work at room temperature, for example. (Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/34497/title/Building_The_Matrix)

IBM mobile software helps 'senior moments'

Michael Liebhold — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:48:56 -0700

NOTE: This content was aggregated from RSS feed. Original source is http://www.kurzweilai.net/news/frame.html?main=news_single.html?id%3D9125

IBM's Pensieve personal-assistant software will help people recall events, names of new acquaintances, and details of a conversation, using a cell phone and computer.

The phone can snap photos, create text documents, or record audio, and can be synched it to a computer, where software creates associations between tagged GPS location and time, among other rules.

See also:

TalkingPics (iPhone app)

Software aims to put your life on a disk

(Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10001267-93.html)