Science & Technology
Science & Technology - May 13, 2010 13:09 - 0 Comments
‘Spider’ molecules behave like nanorobots
CALTECH/ U. MICHIGAN (US)—Researchers have programmed an autonomous molecular “robot” made out of DNA to start, move, turn, and stop while following a DNA track. The work is a step toward developing molecular-scale medical devices that can reposition or even rebuild themselves to accomplish different tasks. (more…)
Science & Technology - May 12, 2010 17:04 - 1 Comment
DNA put to work on assembly line
NYU (US)—A newly constructed DNA assembly line has the potential to produce novel materials efficiently on the nanoscale, reports an international team of chemists. (more…)
Science & Technology - May 12, 2010 16:42 - 1 Comment
Hinged pole could keep the lights on
IOWA STATE (US)—Engineers have designed a new type of transmission pole that is hinged, making it easier to install and repair. It also resists the kind of cascading failures that can lead to widespread power outages. (more…)
Science & Technology - May 12, 2010 10:47 - 0 Comments
Another nail in the silicon chip coffin
MCGILL U. (CAN)—Physicists have developed a system for measuring the energy involved in adding electrons to semi-conductor nanocrystals, also known as quantum dots—a technology that may revolutionize computing and other areas of science. (more…)
Science & Technology - May 12, 2010 10:01 - 0 Comments
Coating reveals geometry of aging fingerprints
PENN STATE (US)—A new coating process can reveal hard-to-develop fingerprints on nonporous surfaces without altering the chemistry of the print. (more…)
Science & Technology - May 10, 2010 16:28 - 0 Comments
How to build a better giant atom trap
U. MICHIGAN (US)—Physicists have built a better trap to capture highly excited, nearly-ionized Rydberg atoms that could help enable fast quantum computers. (more…)
Science & Technology - May 7, 2010 14:49 - 0 Comments
Is night vision the next mobile must-have?
U. FLORIDA (US)—Engineers have developed a night vision imaging device that’s paper-thin, lightweight, and inexpensive to produce, making it a possible add-on to cell phone cameras—and even eyeglasses—once it is enlarged. (more…)
Science & Technology - May 6, 2010 17:10 - 0 Comments
Prehistoric fish leaves behind squiggles
EMORY (US)—The wavy lines etched into a slab of limestone found near Fossil Butte National Monument are prehistoric fish trails, made by Notogoneus osculus as it fed along a lake bottom. (more…)
Science & Technology - May 6, 2010 15:52 - 7 Comments
Why computers crash but we don’t
YALE (US)—The reason living organisms tend to malfunction less than computers may have something to do with the way software engineers create control systems—compared to nature’s approach. (more…)
Science & Technology - May 6, 2010 13:31 - 0 Comments
Outer layer of ‘crust’ keeps spores safe
NYU / PRINCETON (US)—Bacterial spores, the most resistant organisms on earth, carry an extra coating of protection previously undetected. The finding could shed light on why spores of the bacteria that cause botulism, tetanus, and anthrax survive methods to eradicate them. (more…)
Science & Technology - May 5, 2010 12:35 - 1 Comment
Pressurized water feature in maya plumbing
PENN STATE (US)—A water feature found in the Maya city of Palenque, Mexico, is the earliest known example of engineered water pressure in the new world, according to a collaboration between an archaeologist and a hydrologist. (more…)
Science & Technology - May 5, 2010 6:16 - 9 Comments
It’s alive! Mammoth blood resurrected
CARNEGIE-MELLON (US)—Hemoglobin from an authentic woolly mammoth has been given new life by an international team of researchers. (more…)
Science & Technology - May 5, 2010 5:53 - 0 Comments
DNA barcode exposes ‘fake’ ferns for sale
DUKE (US)—DNA testing of garden ferns sold at plant nurseries in North Carolina, Texas, and California has found that plants marketed as American natives may actually be exotic species from other parts of the globe. (more…)
Science & Technology - May 4, 2010 11:46 - 1 Comment
Brain diversity starts early in life
GEORGIA TECH (US)—Scientists have found that by applying chemicals to manipulate genes in a developing embryo, they’ve been able to change the brain of one type of cichlid fish to resemble that of another. (more…)
Science & Technology - May 4, 2010 11:18 - 1 Comment
The downside to tons of testosterone
INDIANA U. (US)—Too much—or too little—testosterone may put some males at an evolutionary disadvantage, according to new research involving an American songbird. (more…)
Science & Technology - May 4, 2010 10:03 - 3 Comments
Team builds centrifuge for $30
RICE (US)—A group of college students has turned a salad spinner into a rudimentary centrifuge that medical clinics in developing countries could use to manually separate blood without electricity. They built it for about $30—including the spinner—using plastic lids, cut-up combs, yogurt containers, and a hot-glue gun. (more…)
Science & Technology - May 3, 2010 10:19 - 2 Comments
Multiple brain regions wired for language
U. ROCHESTER (US)—A new study finds there is no single advanced area of the human brain that makes it suited to parse language. Instead, humans rely on several regions, each designed to accomplish different primitive tasks, in order to make sense of a sentence. (more…)
Science & Technology - Apr 29, 2010 17:13 - 2 Comments
Frog genome teeming with ‘jumping genes’
U. ROCHESTER (US)—The spotted green puffer fish, the honeybee, the human—and now add the African clawed frog to the list of more than 175 organisms that have had their genetic information sequenced. (more…)
