2008-08-27
Big step in tiny technology
(PhysOrg.com) -- A crucial step in developing minuscule structures with application potential in sophisticated sensors, catalysis, and nanoelectronics has been developed by Scottish researchers.
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Researchers turn one form of adult mouse cell directly into another
(PhysOrg.com) -- In a feat of biological prestidigitation likely to turn the field of regenerative medicine on its head, Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) co-director Doug Melton and post doctoral fellow Qiao "Joe" Zhou report having achieved what has long been a dream and ultimate goal of developmental biologists – directly turning one type of fully formed adult cell into another type of adult cell.
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2008-08-21
Killer carbs -- Monash scientist finds the key to overeating as we age
A Monash University scientist has discovered key appetite control cells in the human brain degenerate over time, causing increased hunger and potentially weight-gain as we grow older.
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2008-08-20
New 'nano-positioners' may have atomic-scale precision
Engineers have created a tiny motorized positioning device that has twice the dexterity of similar devices being developed for applications that include biological sensors and more compact, powerful computer hard drives.
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2008-08-14
Self-assembling polymer arrays improve data storage potential
(PhysOrg.com) -- A new manufacturing approach holds the potential to overcome the technological limitations currently facing the microelectronics and data-storage industries, paving the way to smaller electronic devices and higher-capacity hard drives.
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Polymer Pen Lithogragy
Northwestern University nanoscientist Chad A. Mirkin has mass-produced the 2008 Summer Olympics logo -- 15,000 times. All the logos take up only one square centimeter of space.
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2008-08-13
Networks of the Future: Extending Our Senses into the Physical World
(PhysOrg.com) -- The picture of a future with wireless sensor networks-webs of sensory devices that function without a central infrastructure--is quickly coming into sharper focus through the work of Los Alamos National Laboratory computer scientist Sami Ayyorgun.
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Scientists overcome nanotech hurdle
When you make a new material on a nanoscale how can you see what you have made? A team lead by a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences research Council (BBSRC) fellow has made a significant step toward overcoming this major challenge faced by nanotechnology scientists.
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2008-08-12
Aussies crack cancer secret
AUSTRALIAN scientists are hoping to cure leukaemia, asthma and rheumatoid arthritis after their breakthrough discovery of how to stop killer blood cells growing.
The team has unlocked the secrets behind the protein which controls the way the blood cancer cells spread when it is damaged - and have found a way to stop its deadly process.
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Hackers hacked at infamous DefCon gathering [Yikes!]
In the end, it was hackers at DefCon that got hacked. After three days of software cracking duels and hacking seminars, self-described computer ninjas at the infamous gathering in Las Vegas found out Sunday that their online activities were hijacked without them catching on.
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2008-08-10
In scientific first, researchers correct decline in organ function associated with old age
As people age, their cells become less efficient at getting rid of damaged protein — resulting in a buildup of toxic material that is especially pronounced in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease, and other neurodegenerative disorders.
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2008-08-08
From 3-D to 6-D: Researchers developing super-realistic image system
From 3-D to 6-D: Researchers developing super-realistic image system from PhysOrg.com
(PhysOrg.com) -- By producing "6-D" images, an MIT professor and colleagues are creating unusually realistic pictures that not only have a full three-dimensional appearance, but also respond to their environment, producing natural shadows and highlights depending on the direction and intensity of the illumination around them.
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Universally speaking, Earthlings share a nice neighborhood
Universally speaking, Earthlings share a nice neighborhood from PhysOrg.com
We don't have spacecraft to take us outside our solar system--not yet, at least. Still, astronomers thought they had a pretty good understanding of how our solar system formed and in turn, how others formed. In the last dozen years, nearly 300 exoplanets have been discovered. Are the solar systems in which they reside indeed like our own?
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2008-08-06
Rochester physicist's quantum-'uncollapse' hypothesis verified
Rochester physicist's quantum-'uncollapse' hypothesis verified from PhysOrg.com
In 2006, Andrew Jordan, professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Rochester, together with Alexander Korotkov at the University of California, Riverside, spelled out how to exploit a quantum quirk to accomplish a feat long thought impossible, and this week a research team at the University of California at Santa Barbara has tested the theory, proving it correct.
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Researchers make milestone discovery in quantum mechanics
Researchers at UC Santa Barbara have recently reached what they are calling a milestone in experimental quantum mechanics.
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2008-08-02
‘Obesity’ gene linked to eating more
People with a variant of the first common gene linked to obesity on average eat more, according to new research.
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Also see: Obesity predisposition traced to the brain's reward system.