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Latest News
Yale researchers use genetic code to engineer a living protein
| Yale
University researchers have successfully re-engineered the
protein-making machinery in bacteria, which promises to revolutionize
the study and treatment of a variety of diseases. “Essentially, we have
expanded the genetic code of E. coli, which allows us to synthesize
special forms of proteins that can mimic natural or disease states,”
said Jesse Rinehart of the Department … more… |
Cryptocurrency
 | | The
bitcoin, a virtual medium of exchange, could be a real alternative to
government-issued money — but only if it survives hoarding by
speculators, says Technology Review. The system will have to overcome a
major, and surprising, problem: people have come to see it primarily as a
way to make money. In other words, instead of … more… |
Now anyone can design and evolve 3-D printable objects interactively
 | | Forget
draft tables and complicated computer-aided design programs: You dream
it. Endless Forms helps you design it. Cornell University’s new
interactive website EndlessForms.com allows anyone to point, click,
collaborate and create online in the evolution of printable,
three-dimensional objects — without any technical knowledge and using
the same principles that guide evolutionary biology.. EndlessForms.com
users can … more… |
IBM builds biggest data drive ever
| A
data repository almost 10 times bigger than any made before is being
built by researchers at IBM’s Almaden, California, research lab. The 120
petabyte “drive” — that’s 120 million gigabytes — is made up of 200,000
conventional hard disk drives working together. The giant data
container is expected to store around one trillion files … more… |
Nanoscale superclusters that mirror living systems
 | | University
of Michigan researchers have discovered that if you start with small
nanoscale building blocks that are varied enough in size, the atomic
electrostatic repulsion force and van der Waals attraction force will
balance each other and limit the growth of the clusters. This
equilibrium enables the formation of clusters that are uniform in size …
more… |
Sony: emotion-reading games possible in ten years
 | | Sony’s
executives believe that in ten years’ time, video games will have the
ability to read more than just movement on the part of the player, the
develop blog reports “Having a camera being able to study a player’s
biometrics and movements [is possible] so perhaps you can play a
detective game that decides whether … more… |
Fukushima robot operator writes tell-all blog
 | | S.H.,
an anonymous worker at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant,
has written dozens of blog posts describing the ups and downs of his
experience as one of the lead robot operators at the crippled facility.
The posts show that, although the robots have to be strong and reliable,
they also have to be nimble … more… |
New building blocks for synthesis of complex molecules
 | | Chemists
at the University of Illinois have developed a way of fitting chemical
pieces together to more efficiently build complex molecules, beginning
with a powerful and promising antioxidant. A standard synthesis
technique called iterative cross-coupling (ICC) uses simple, stable
chemical building blocks sequentially joined in a repetitive reaction.
With more than 75 of the building blocks … more… |
Decoding the mystery: how do neural synaptic vesicle pools differ?
 | | Scientists
at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) have found the
first evidence that, despite their appearance, synaptic vesicles in two
distinct pools in neurons have distinct identities and fates that are
defined by the particular proteins on their surfaces. Background
Electrical impulses flowing through a neuron cause it to release tiny
vesicle sacs, spilling their … more… |
Human gait could soon power portable electronics
 | | A
new energy-harvesting technology that could capture the energy of human
motion to power portable electronics has been developed by researchers
at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The “reverse electrowetting”
technology that promises to reduce our dependence on batteries. It
converts mechanical energy to electrical energy using a microfluidic
device consisting of thousands of liquid micro-droplets … more… |
Weed sequenced. No really — weed.
 | | DNA
sequencing hit a new high with the release of the Cannabis sativa
genome, says Nature News. The raw sequence, done in Amsterdam (where
else?), was posted on Amazon’s EC2 public cloud computing service by a
young company called Medicinal Genomics, which aims to explore the
genomes of therapeutic plants. Medicinal Genomics founder Kevin McKernan
… more… |
UCLA Extension course in gerontology: ‘Secrets of the Oldest Old’
| Introduction
to Gerontology: Secrets of the Oldest Old,” a UCLA course taught by L.
Stephen Coles, M.D., Ph.D, will meet Tuesday evenings, Sept. 20–Dec. 6.
Anyone can attend the first lecture for free, he says. Dr. Coles is a
lecturer, UCLA Molecular Biology Institute, and co-founder of the Los
Angeles Gerontology Research Group: physicians, scientists, … more… |
How stress causes DNA damage
 | | Working
closely with a team of researchers from Duke University, scientists
from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have helped
identify a molecular pathway that plays a key role in stress-related
damage to the genome, the entirety of an organism’s hereditary
information. The new findings could explain the development of certain
human disorders, … more… |
New method detects emerging sunspots deep inside the sun, provides warning of dangerous solar flares
 | | Researchers
at Stanford University have developed a way to detect incipient
sunspots as deep as 65,000 kilometers inside the sun, providing up to
two days’ advance warning of a damaging solar flare. The key to the new
method is using acoustic waves generated inside the sun by the turbulent
motion of plasma and gases in constant … more… |
Drawing superconductor circuits with x-rays
 | | Researchers
from the London Centre for Nanotechnology and the Physics Department of
Sapienza University of Rome have discovered a technique to “draw”
superconductor circuits using an X-ray beam. The research group
manipulated regions of high temperature superconductivity in a material
that combines oxygen, copper, and lanthanum. Illumination with X-rays
causes a small-scale rearrangement of the … more… |
Nanotube-based supercapacitor-battery works in extreme conditions
 | | Researchers
at Rice University have created a solid-state, nanotube-based
supercapacitor that promises to combine the best qualities of
high-energy batteries and fast-charging capacitors in a device suitable
for extreme environments. The Rice team grew an array of 15–20 nanometer
bundles of single-walled carbon nanotubes up to 50 microns long. The
array was then transferred to a … more… |
The TV that watches you
 | | Soon,
the websites you visit while watching TV could adapt in real time to
the shows being watched — automatically presenting information relevant
to the show, or even tuning their ads in response to what’s on screen.
Flingo, which developed the technology, known as Sync Apps, says the new
set is already being mass-produced by … more… |
More free online Stanford computer science courses
 | | Two
other Stanford Computer Science courses are joining Stanford
University’s “bold experiment in distributed education”: Professor
Andrew Ng’s Machine Learning Course and Professor Jennifer Widom’s
Introduction to Databases. More than 100,000 prospective participants
have signed up for Stanford’s Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
and a study group has formed at reddit , according to I Programmer.
The Stanford … more… |
Molecular biosensor can monitor stress to cells by color changes
 | | A
nanoscale sensor that indicates mechanical stress on cells by a color
change has been developed by University of Pennsylvania and Duke
University bioengineers and chemists. The researchers embedded
light-emitting porphyrin pigment molecules in polymersomes, artificially
engineered capsules that can carry a molecular payload in their hollow
interiors. When a stress is put on the … more… |
New Articles
Achieving substrate-independent minds: no, we cannot ‘copy’ brains
 | | On
August 18, IBM published an intriguing update of their work in the
DARPA SyNAPSE program, seeking to create efficient new computing
hardware that is inspired by the architecture of neurons and neuronal
networks in the brain. At carboncopies.org, we strive to take this
research a step further: to bring about and nurture projects that … more… |
New books
Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World’s Most Wanted Hacker
| author Kevin Mitnick, William L. Simon |
 | |
Amazon | Kevin Mitnick was the most elusive computer break-in artist in
history. He accessed computers and networks at the world’s biggest
companies–and however fast the authorities were, Mitnick was faster,
sprinting through phone switches, computer systems, and cellular
networks. He spent years skipping through cyberspace, always three steps
ahead and labeled unstoppable. But for … more… |
Quantum Man: Richard Feynman’s Life in Science (Great Discoveries)
| author Lawrence M. Krauss |
 | |
Amazon | A gripping new scientific biography of the revered Nobel
Prize–winning physicist (and curious character). Perhaps the greatest
physicist of the second half of the twentieth century, Richard Feynman
changed the way we think about quantum mechanics, the most perplexing of
all physical theories. Here Lawrence M. Krauss, himself a theoretical
physicist and best-selling author, … more… |
The Tomorrow Project: Bestselling Authors Describe Daily Life in the Future
| author Douglas Rushkoff, Ray Hammond, Scarlett Thomas |
 | |
Intel | “The Tomorrow-Project” is a unique literary project which shows
the important effects that contemporary research will have on our
future and the relevance that this research has for each of us. Research
currently being conducted by Intel in the fields of photonics,
robotics, telematics, dynamic physical rendering and intelligent sensors
served as the … more… |
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Image via WikipediaFinally, a list I can agree with (except for Starship Troopers - ugh). It's IMDb's Top 50 Sci Fi Films of all time:
