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University of California, Los Angeles researchers have created a carbon nanotube-based artificial muscle that heals itself and generates electricity.As the material contracts after an expansion, the rearranging of the carbon nanotubes generates a small electric current that can be captured and used to power another expansion or stored in a battery.The self-healing muscle is also energy efficient, conserving about 70 percent of the energy put into ... More

Researchers at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering have developed a membrane using iron nanoparticles that allows fuel cells to operate at a lower humidity and potentially at higher temperatures and greater efficiencies than today's membranes. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news125157863.html)

The top environmental concerns of the future include toxic nanomaterials, manmade viruses and biomimetic robots, according to researchers at a workshop run by University of Cambridge zoologist William Sutherland.Other risks include the acidification of the ocean, increased demand for the biomass needed to make biofuel, experiments involving climate engineering, and disruption to marine ecosystems caused by offshore power generation. (Source: htt... More

Video footage has been transmitted experimentally (22 meters) using a terahertz wireless signal for the first time, by Terahertz Communications Lab in Braunschweig, Germany.Using terahertz bandwidth -- which ranges from 300GHz to 3 terahertz (THz) -- could offer a 1000 fold increase in transmission speed and should open up new frequencies for communication. The as yet untapped terahertz band of the electromagnetic spectrum lies between microwaves ... More

California Institute of Technology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Ghent University researchers are making progress in developing broadly applicable, nanoparticle-enabled siRNA anticancer therapeutics.They found that siRNA-containing nanoparticles deliver the siRNA to tumors more effectively when the nanoparticle are targeted to the tumor. They also found that the targeted nanoparticles effectively penetrated lung metastases, did ... More

A modern computer contains two different types of components: magnetic components, which perform memory functions, and semiconductor components, which perform logic operations. A University of Missouri researcher, as part of a multi-university research team, is working to combine these two functions in a single hybrid material. This new material would allow seamless integration of memory and logical functions and is expected to permit the design o... More

University of Tokyo scientists demonstrated inkjet printing equipment that could produce the delicate wiring and tiny components needed for flat-panel computer displays.one micron diameter printed dotsUsing ink made of silver nanoparticles held in a solvent, the researchers printed continuous wiring lines two microns wide, and components and one micron across, by applying a high voltage to the print head, causing drops in the inkjet to explode int... More

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign researchers have made stretchable and flexible silicon and plastic integrated circuits that are just one crystal--1.5 microns--thick.The circuits are designed so that the plastic, not the silicon, absorbs most of the stress when the chips are bent. Until now, integrated circuits have been limited by use of much thicker, brittle silicon wafers. (Source: http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn13546-... More

Bristol University researchers have demonstrated the world's smallest optical controlled NOT gate--the building block of a quantum computer--fabricated from silica wave-guides on a silicon chip.The team generated pairs of photons, each encoding a quantum bit or qubit of information. They coupled these photons into and out of the millimeter-sized chip, using optical fibers.Quantum optical circuits have typically relied on large optical elements, wi... More

An "artificial cell" capable of synthesising genes and making them into proteins quickly and cheaply has been developed by MIT researchers.(David Kong/MIT)The first part of the device synthezises the genes using enzymes to join together DNA strands from a pool of short templates. The finished genes are then copied to produce many versions of the final product. Cycles of heating and cooling control the enzymes carrying out the reactions.Once the ge... More

Barbara Walters' new TV special, "Live to Be 150 ... Can You Do It?" airs on Tuesday, April 1, at 10 p.m. ET on ABC. It will feature Ray Kurzweil and other scientists, and interviews with calorie restrictors and guests who have reached at least 100. (Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Longevity/story?id=4544003&page=1)

Researchers at the University of Manchester have used graphene to measure an important and mysterious fundamental constant -- and glimpse the foundations of the universe.

University of Maryland physicists have found that graphene conducts electricity at room temperature with less intrinsic resistance than any other known material.Graphene, a new material that combines aspects of semiconductors and metals, is one of the materials being considered as a potential replacement for silicon for future computing. The very high mobility of graphene would allow for transistors that must switch extremely fast.The low resisti... More

Two researchers--a former Los Alamos National Laboratory engineer and an Alabama A&M University researcher--have developed highly efficient nanotube-based tile materials that can convert radiation, not heat, from nuclear materials into electricity.The tiles are made of carbon nanotubes packed with gold and surrounded by lithium hydride. Radioactive particles slamming into the gold push out a shower of high-energy electrons that pass into the lithi... More

Massachusetts General Hospital researchers have found that low doses of hydrogen sulfide (smell of rotten eggs) can safely and reversibly produce a suspended-animation-like state in mice.The gas depressed both metabolism and heart rate, but did not change heartbeat strength or blood oxygen levels. It could be used to preserve organ function in situations with limited oxygen supply, such as after a traumatic injury.Massachusetts General Hospital Ne... More

An international team has built vision- and speech-driven avatar technology that imitates 66 facial expressions and basic hand gestures in real time. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news125667740.html)

Engineers at Polytechnic University of Valencia have designed a metamaterial that redirects sounds and could be used in buildings to shield them from noises. The sound-shielding material comprises arrays of sonic crystals, which, if made, would be the first acoustic cloaking device. It could also be useful in hiding military ships and other vessels from sonar. (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/20912/)

Researchers at University of California, Berkeley have manipulated stem cells in older muscle tissue to produce new muscle fibers at levels comparable to young stem cells.Old muscle tissue produces elevated levels of the molecule TGF-beta, which is known to inhibit muscle growth. The researchers used RNA interference, which can silence specific genes, to inhibit the TGF-beta pathway in old mice.Muscle wasting--loss of muscle mass--occurs both duri... More

Theoretical physicists from Lancaster University in the UK have designed a nanomotor that operates by a novel mechanism: an electron wind.

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School have developed "HealthMap," an automated data-mining project that searches web-accessible information sources to track emerging health threats worldwide.HealthMap can often detect potential disease outbreaks in local pockets before health agencies such as the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) realize they're threats. It collec... More

Wired has assembled a wiki with ways to check yourself for inherited traits associated with some sort of health condition, grouped under three options: visit a genetic counselor, scan your whole genome, and perform lab tests at home. (Source: http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Check_Yourself_for_Genetic_Abnormalities)

An artificial intelligence program called Polaris 2.0 defeated human champions in the second Man-Machine Poker Competition, in Las Vegas, July 3-6.Deveoped at the University of Alberta, Polaris 2 had learning built into its programming, thereby countering the learning ability of the humans by switching strategies whenever they did. (Source: http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=TUMO0MDJH0GJEQSNDLSCKHA?articleID=20880... More

Underwater cities have been a dream of futurists. Starting from Atlantis to the evasive Captain Nemo.Category: TechnologyYear: BeyondTags: ocean, city, future, technology, science

St. George's Hospital researchers have identified specific genetic patterns that account for seven different subtypes of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also called myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME).CSF is a condition with a diverse range of symptoms but particularly characterized by profound muscle fatigue after physical exertion. (Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7378440.stm)

University of Bristol and Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute researchers have sequenced the genome of a newly emerging superbug commonly known as Steno. The bacteria has strains that are resistant to all available antibiotics. It flourishes in moist environments, and can form a "biofilm" on hospital catheters or ventilation tubes that protects the bacteria and makes it difficult to sterilize equipment. Having the genome should help researchers comba... More