(University of Southern California) Researchers at the USC Information Sciences Institute have demonstrated a way to manufacture minuscule closed containers that might be used to deliver precise micro- or even nano-quantities of drugs.

Nick Bostrom, director of the Future of Humanity Institute at the University of Oxford, hopes the search for extraterrestrial life finds nothing.He says a finding of some form of ET life might be a sign, in combination with the lack of any known communication so far from ET, that any sufficiently advanced civilization discovers some technology--perhaps some very powerful weapons technology--that prevents the emergence of a space-colonizing civiliz... More

The Nanoethics Group has released "Nanotechnology and Society: Current and Emerging Ethical Issues," a collection of papers addressing a range of near-term issues related to nanotechnology's ethical and social implications. Published by Springer, the essays tackle such contentious issues as environmental impact, health dangers, medical benefits, intellectual property, professional code of ethics, privacy, and international governance. (Source: h... More

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed an early prototype for a nanoassembler.The NIST system consists of four Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) devices positioned around a centrally located port on a chip into which the starting materials can be placed. Each nanomanipulator is composed of a positioning mechanism with an attached nanoprobe. By simultaneously controlling the position of each of t... More

An experimental and potentially powerful way to fight disease, called RNA interference (RNAi), could now be closer to reality, as researchers at MIT and Alnylam, a biotech company based in Cambridge, MA, have addressed a key obstacle to effectively delivering the treatment to targeted cells.The researchers report a method for quickly synthesizing more than a thousand different lipid-like molecules and screening them for their ability to deliver sh... More

Alan Gevins, founder of the San Francisco Brain Research Institute, has developed a system that combines EEG with cognitive testing--computer tests that assess a person's memory or ability to multitask--to get a more direct measure of the brain's ability to remember and pay attention. The eventual goal is using it to more precisely assess cognitive decline and tailor drug prescriptions to minimize cognitive side effects. (Source: http://www.tec... More

A breakthrough barrier technology from Singapore A*STAR`s Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) protects sensitive devices like organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) and solar cells from moisture 1000 times more effectively than any other technology available in the market, opening up new opportunities for the up-and-coming plastic electronics sector.

Intel has struck a new agreement with Cray that the companies hope will lead to technological breakthroughs in the field of supercomputers and high-performance computing.Kirk Skaugen, vice president of Intel's Digital Enterprise Group, said their combined technology could lead to supercomputers that should easily pass a petaflop in performance (1015 or 1 quadrillion calculations per second) to deliver an exaflop, which is 1018 calculations per sec... More

Google researchers say they have developed a new software technology intended to do for digital images on the Web what the company's original PageRank software did for searches of Web pages.Their VisualRank algorithm combines image-recognition software methods with techniques for weighting and ranking images that look most similar. (Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/28/technology/28google.html?ref=business)

How you appear in the virtual world could affect your behavior in real life, according to researchers at Stanford University. In this podcast, Andrea Seabrook spoke with Stanford's Jeremy Bailenson about his research into how people interact psychologically with their virtual-reality representations. (Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89984937)

RallyPoint, a startup based in Cambridge, MA, has developed a sensor-embedded glove that allows the soldier to easily view and navigate digital maps, activate radio communications, and send commands without having to take his or her hand off their weapon.(Brittany Sauser)It includes four push-button sensors, a mouse funtion, three accelerometers, and an USB connection. (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/20680/page1/)

University of Michigan researchers have found that it may be possible to train people to be more intelligent, increasing the brainpower they had at birth.Until now, it had been widely assumed that the kind of mental ability that allows us to solve new problems without having any relevant previous experience--"fluid intelligence"--is innate and cannot be taught.Participants were trained in a complicated memory task, an elaborate variation on Concen... More

Experiments by University of Michigan at Ann Arbor neuropsychologists showed improved "fluid intelligence," or Gf, the ability to reason, solve new problems and think in the abstract.The first part of the "dual n-back" exercise involves small squares on a screen that pop into a new location every three seconds. Volunteers have to press a button when the current location is a duplicate of two views earlier.For the second part, the volunteers have t... More

(Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore) A breakthrough barrier technology that protects sensitive devices such as organic light emitting diodes and solar cells from moisture 1000 times more effectively than any existing technology has been invented by Singapore researchers.

(Arizona State University) While scientists are fully exploring the promise of DNA nanotechnology, Biodesign Institute researcher John Chaput is working to give scientists brand new materials to aid their designs. Chaput and his research team have made the first self-assembled nanostructures composed entirely of glycerol nucleic acid -- a synthetic analog of DNA.

(Brown University) Brown University hosts a three-day forum May 5 to 7, 2008 to highlight the opening of its Institute for Molecular and Nanoscale Innovation. The IMNI aims to design products, processes and therapies involving molecular science and nanotechnology, the scientific toolboxes of the 21st century.

Researchers at Purdue University are the first to precisely measure the forces required to peel tiny nanotubes off of other materials, opening up the possibility of creating standards for nano-manufacturing and harnessing a gecko's ability to walk up walls.

A new low-temperature, catalyst-free technique for growing copper nanowires has been developed by researchers at the University of Illinois. The copper nanowires could serve as interconnects in electronic device fabrication and as electron emitters in a television-like, very thin flat-panel display known as a field-emission display.

(Purdue University) Researchers at Purdue University are the first to precisely measure the forces required to peel tiny nanotubes off of other materials, opening up the possibility of creating standards for nano-manufacturing and harnessing a gecko's ability to walk up walls.

[The first real steps towards building a microscopic device that can construct nano machines have been taken by US researchers. Writing in the peer-reviewed publication, International Journal of Nanomanufacturing from Inderscience Publishers, researchers describe an early prototype for a nanoassembler.

(Cornell University Communications) Soil "unearthed" at the nanoscale: Cornell soil scientists have seen -- for the first time -- seen soil at a scale of 50 nanometers. This view provided a beautiful glimpse of patterns, how carbon sequestration works, and what happens when soils get wet, warm and cool.

(Springer) Springer and The Nanoethics Group have released a collection of important papers addressing a range of near-term issues related to nanotechnology's ethical and social implications. The anthology "Nanotechnology and Society: Current and Emerging Ethical Issues" tackles such contentious issues as environmental impact, health dangers, medical benefits, intellectual property, professional code of ethics, privacy, international governance, ... More

(Inderscience Publishers) The first real steps towards building a microscopic device that can construct nano machines have been taken by US researchers. Writing in the peer-reviewed publication, International Journal of Nanomanufacturing from Inderscience Publishers, researchers describe an early prototype for a nanoassembler.

A new technique that marries a fast-moving laser beam with a multi-photon microscope that look at tissues in different optical planes will enable scientists to get a three-dimensional view of neurons or nerve cells as they interact, said Baylor College of Medicine scientists.Researchers plan to use the technology to monitor nerve activity in the brains of lab animals to study how populations of neurons communicate during visual stimulation. Anothe... More

Apple may be planning to license haptic technology from Immersion for use in the iPhone. Haptic technology gives people sensory feedback--in the form of a vibration or pressure--when they use a touchscreen. Immersion's VibeTonz feedback technology is already in use in more than 10 million mobile phones. (Source: http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9929793-7.html)