(Stanford University) The Bay Area Photovoltaic Consortium -- an industry-supported program led by Stanford University and the University of California-Berkeley -- has announced its first research grants aimed at making utility-scale solar power cost-competitive by the end of the decade.

Greek officials are cobbling together an emergency plan after talks to form a coalition government disintegrated Tuesday. In the meantime, Greeks have withdrawn $900 million from local banks. With Greece in deep political turmoil (some are even talking apocalyptically of civil war) after voters backed an incoherent constellation of anti-austerity parties, European central bankers and finance ministers have been warning it

For the first time, scientists have seen an X-ray-irradiated mineral go to two different states of matter in about 40 femtoseconds (a femtosecond is one quadrillionth of a second). Using the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) X-ray Free-Electron Laser (XFEL) at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford, Stefan Hau-Riege of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and

Researchers at Georgia Tech have used lasers to reliably and individually produce single photons from individual atoms in a cloud of ultra-cooled rubidium gas. Single photons are an essential element for guaranteed secure communications in quantum cryptography — where an attacker can use extra or stray photons to eavesdrop on a message — and to address individual

On April 12, 2011, nearly 15 years after she became paralyzed and unable to speak, a woman controlled a robotic arm by thinking about moving her arm and hand to lift a bottle of coffee to her mouth and take a drink, using the BrainGate neural interface system. That achievement is one of the advances

Google has launched the Knowledge Graph, which it says will help you discover new information quickly and easily, according to the Official Google Blog. Think of it as Google + Wikipedia + Wolfram Alpha + Bing. Take a query like [taj mahal]. For more than four decades, search has essentially been about matching keywords to

A new hybrid method to visualize cell structures in living fish larvae has been developed by researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz, and the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). “The zebrafish is perfectly suited for genetic studies of cells, as its larvae are completely transparent,” explains

Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Brain Research researchers have used new-generation sequencing to directly identify a very large number (more than 2500) of mRNA molecules present in axons and dendrites. The finding my help explain how proteins establish long-term memories. During learning, information is stored at the synapses, the junctions connecting nerve cells. Synapses also require new proteins

Nvidia is flexing its graphics muscle at the 2012 GPU Technology Conference, and the videos below show off Kepler's new visual tricks:real-time ray tracing, simulation of physical bodies, and cloud gaming powered by its new GeForce Grid system.

NASA is training a team of astronauts to land on an asteroid to explore its surface, search for minerals, and even learn the skills they may need to destroy it should one pose a threat to the Earth. NASA hopes to launch an unmanned spacecraft that will use a robotic arm to collect samples from

An Indiana University-led research team and collaborators have identified and prioritized a comprehensive group of genes most associated with schizophrenia and that can generate a score indicating whether an individual is at higher or lower risk of developing the disease. They used a convergent functional genomics approach that incorporates a variety of experimental techniques. The scientists

Weill Cornell Medical College scientists have discovered that single protein alpha 2 delta controls the volume of neurotransmitters and other chemicals that flow between the synapses of brain neurons. The study shows how brain cells talk to each other through these signals, relaying thoughts, feelings and action, and this powerful molecule plays a crucial role in regulating

An ultrasensitive biosensor that could allow for early detection of cancer and for personalized medicine tailored to the specific biochemistry of individual patients has been developed by Purdue University researchers. The Flexure-FET biosensor combines a mechanical sensor, which identifies a biomolecule based on its mass or size, with an electrical sensor that identifies molecules based on their

Mouse lifespan was extended up to 24 percent with a single gene treatment in research at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), using gene therapy, a strategy never before employed to combat aging. Mice treated at the age of one lived longer by 24% on average, and those treated at the age of two, by 13%. The

(Purdue University) Researchers have taken a step toward overcoming a key obstacle in commercializing "hyperbolic metamaterials," structures that could bring optical advances including ultrapowerful microscopes, computers and solar cells.

Patients see potential benefits from direct-to-consumer genetic testing, but are also concerned about how the test results will be used, and are generally unwilling to pay more than $10 or $20 for them, according to focus groups conducted by researchers at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. More than a dozen companies, including 23andMe,

  North Carolina State University researchers are using light-activated molecules to turn gene expression on and off. Their method enables greater precision when studying gene function, and could lead to targeted therapies for diseases like cancer. NC State chemist Dr. Alex Deiters decided to use Triplex-forming oligonucleotides (TFOs), which are molecules that can prevent gene transcription by binding to

Baidu, the Chinese answer to Google, has announced details of its soon-to-launch new smartphone and the cloud-centric operating system (OS) that will power it. The Foxconn-built Changhong H5018 will be the first device powered by Baidu’s "Cloud Smart Terminal" platform, marking ”the arrival of a new era” of sub $150 (1,000 RMB) devices in China. Every H5018

It was widely reported yesterday that Apple will likely announce at its WWDC in June that the new version of the built-in maps app in iOS6 will not be fed by Google maps. Instead, Apple has developed its own, in-house 3-D mapping database, based on the acquisition of three mapping software companies between 2009 and 2011, Placebase, C3

Researchers from the Italian Institute of Technology took their quadruped robot HyQ for a test run outside the lab for the first time to test new tricks HyQ has learned, including the ability to trot over obstacles without falling, IEET Spectrum Automaton reports.  The robot is still a strange headless creature, and though a sensor head is in the

Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed a way to generate power using harmless viruses that convert mechanical energy into electricity. The generator produces enough current to operate a small liquid-crystal display. It works by tapping a finger on a postage stamp-sized electrode coated with specially engineered

Fitness trends and health-care problems are creating demand for tiny computers we won't even notice we're carrying. What if your doctor had already received the information from a tiny device built into your cell phone, wallet, or undershirt? Sonny Vu, a cofounder of the medical-device company AgaMatrix, believes a device like this could fundamentally change health

(Georgia Health Sciences University) A DNA-covered submicroscopic bead used to deliver genes or drugs directly into cells to treat disease appears to have therapeutic value just by showing up, researchers report.

(University of Gothenburg) Graphene and carbon nanotubes could improve the electronics used in computers and mobile phones, reveals new research from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

(University of California - Santa Barbara) A new philanthropic gift from Jeff Henley, chairman of the board of Oracle, and his wife, Judy, will advance the UCSB campus toward the $1-billion goal of its Campaign for UC Santa Barbara. Jeff Henley, a 1966 UCSB grad, is the campaign's co-chair. The Henleys have committed $50 million to UCSB for the Institute for Energy Efficiency and its highly regarded College of Engineering.