Showing posts with label Richard Smalley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Richard Smalley. Show all posts

Saturday, July 16, 2011

The Latest Scientific / Anti-Aging News via Kurzweil.net

Latest News

‘Amplified’ nanotubes may power the future
July 15, 2011

A single carbon nanotube before and after amplification (credit: Barron Lab/Rice University)Scientists at Rice University say they have achieved a pivotal breakthrough in the development of a carbon nanotube-based electrical cable that will make an efficient electrical grid of the future possible, a prediction made in 2004 by carbon nanotube co-inventor Richard E. Smalley. A prime technical hurdle in the development of this “miracle cable,” said Rice … more…


Brain responses to androids in the ‘uncanny valley’
July 15, 2011

uncanny androidIn an in-depth study of the “uncanny valley” phenomenon, an international team of researchers led by the University of California, San Diego has imaged the brains of people viewing videos of an “uncanny” android (compared to videos of a human and a robot-looking robot). The term “uncanny valley” refers to an artificial agent’s (such as a … more…


Meditation may change brain’s physical structure, strengthen connections
July 15, 2011

Meditation may have potential to change the brain’s physical structure, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, have found. People who meditate have stronger connections between brain regions and show less age-related brain atrophy, according to the researchers. Stronger connections influence the ability to rapidly relay electrical signals in the brain. And significantly, these … more…


Making chips one atom at a time
July 15, 2011

atoms_for_chipsAs logic chips scale down to the 22nm node and beyond, the heart of the transistor gate structure, its dielectric film stack, is becoming so thin that it must be atomically engineered. To meet this challenge, Applied Materials, Inc. has created advanced atomic layer deposition (ALD) technology, which builds ultra-thin, hafnium-based layers less than 2nm in thickness, … more…


Synthetic vocal cords made from antifreeze chemical
July 15, 2011

Polymer GelResearchers at MIT and Harvard University are developing a synthetic material to revitalize damaged vocal cords. The researchers are developing a polymer gel that they hope to start testing in a small clinical trial next year. The gel, which mimics key traits of human vocal cords, could help millions of people with voice disorders. They chose … more…


Social networking for locusts
July 15, 2011

Swarming locusts (credit:Insect swarming is created by the same kind of adaptive-network mechanisms that humans adopt for social networks, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Physics of Complex Systems have determined. The researchers used ideas from studies on opinion formation in social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, and applied them to a study of 120 … more…


Atomic structure discovered for a sodium channel
July 14, 2011

Voltage-gated sodium channel (credit: Jian Payandeh et al./Nature)Scientists at the University of Washington in Seattle have determined the atomic architecture of a sodium channel at .27 nanometers resolution. Sodium channels are pores in the membranes of excitable cells — such as brain nerve cells or beating heart cells — that emit electrical signals. Sodium channels selectively open and close to allow the … more…


Lasers create biomimetic scaffolds for growing cells
July 14, 2011

Capillaries TissueResearch scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT have succeeded in producing hybrid biomimetic matrices that can serve as a basis for scaffold and implant structures on which cells can grow effectively. The researchers developed a process for producing biomimetic scaffolds that closely emulate endogenous (within the body) tissue. This process allows the fabrication … more…


How to convert human skin cells into neurons
July 14, 2011

The addition of two particular gene snippets to a skin cell’s usual genetic material is enough to turn that cell into a fully functional neuron, researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine have found. Scientists discovered two years ago that they could get similar results if they transformed the skin cell first into a … more…


Researchers demystify a fountain of youth in the adult brain
July 14, 2011

A “fountain of youth” that sustains the production of new neurons in the brains of rodents may also be present in the human brain, researchers at Duke University Medical Center have found. The existence of a vital support system of cells around stem cells in the brain explains why stem cells by themselves can’t generate … more…


New way to store solar energy for use whenever it’s needed
July 14, 2011

Storing solar energy in chemical form (credit: Grossman/Kolpak)MIT researchers have developed a new application of carbon nanotubes that shows promise as an innovative approach to storing solar energy for use whenever it’s needed. Storing the sun’s heat in chemical form — rather than first converting it to electricity or storing the heat itself in a heavily insulated container — has significant advantages: … more…


Safer robots will improve manufacturing
July 14, 2011Source Link: Technology Review

Robonaut 2 (credit: NASA)Robots have been considered too unpredictable and dangerous to work alongside humans in factories, but improved technologies for artificial sensing and motion are leading to a new wave of safer robots. Last winter, NASA sent a humanoid robot dubbed Robonaut 2 (R2) to the International Space Station. R2, which has only a torso, sophisticated arms and … more…


Wireless power could cut cord for patients with implanted heart pumps
July 13, 2011

Researchers envision a future where patients would install transmission coils in their homes and workplaces to create zones where the implant would receive uninterrupted power (credit: U of Washington)Researchers at the University of Washington and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center have tested a wireless power system for ventricular assist devices (mechanical pumps to give failing hearts a boost), or VADs. VAD were originally developed as temporary measures for patients awaiting a heart transplant. But as the technology has improved, these ventricular assist … more…


Machine-learning system learns language by playing games
July 13, 2011

Civilization GameResearchers at University College London have augmented a machine-learning system so that it could use a player’s manual to guide the development of a game-playing strategy for the game “Civilization,” causing its rate of victory to jump from 46 percent to 79 percent. The machine-learning system began with virtually no prior knowledge about the task it … more…


Neural networks study reveals hierarchical structure
July 13, 2011

Researchers at Tel Aviv University’s School of Electrical Engineering have developed a new kind of a lab-on-a-chip platform that may help neuroscientists understand one of the deepest mysteries of our brain: how neuronal networks communicate and work together. Using network engineering techniques, the scientists cultured different sized networks of neuronal clusters. Once they looked at … more…


Cannabinoid receptors protect against aging
July 13, 2011

Researchers from the Universities of Bonn and Mainz have discovered a previously unknown function of the cannabinoid-1 receptor (CB1): it can protect against aging processes. Cannabinoids, such as THC (the active agent in Cannabis sativa) and endocannabinoids, and those formed by the body bind to the CB1 receptors. The existence of this receptor is also … more…


Carbon nanotubes + photoluminescent supramolecules -> new catalysts
July 13, 2011

Supra MoleculeChemists at Rice University have created a platform to analyze interactions between carbon nanotubes and a wide range of photoluminescent materials. The microscopic particles combine single-walled carbon nanotubes with porous silicate materials that can absorb various molecules such as a photoactive ruthenium complex. The research involved dissolving the bundles in chlorosulfonic acid, which added protons (a … more…


Connection to your future self impacts your financial decision-making
July 13, 2011

How connected consumers feel (or don’t feel) to their future selves impacts their spending and savings decisions, researchers at Columbia Business School and The University of Chicago Booth School of Business have determined. The researchers conducted a series of experiments that manipulated the degree to which subjects felt connected to their future selves. When discontinuity … more…


Molecule found that blocks cholesterol in brain
July 13, 2011

(Credit: ACS)A “needle-in-the-haystack” search through nearly 390,000 chemical compounds has led scientists at the Mass General Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease to find a substance that can sneak through the protective barrier surrounding the brain, with promising effects for new drugs for Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease. Several other studies have suggested that too much cholesterol may kill … more…


Out-of-body experiences linked to neural instability and biases in body representation
July 12, 2011

Researchers from the Behavioural Brain Sciences Centre, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, have linked out-of-body (OBE) experiences to neural instabilities in the brain’s temporal lobes and to errors in the body’s sense of itself. The researchers tested a group of individuals, including some “OBEers,” for their predisposition to unusual perceptual experiences, and found that … more…


In search of a robot more like us
July 12, 2011Source Link: New York Times

ARM RobotThe Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is underwriting three competing efforts by SRI International, Sandia National Laboratories, and iRobot to develop robotic arms and hands one-tenth as expensive as today’s systems (which often cost $100,000 or more). Designing a robot to mimic the basic capabilities of motion and perception would be revolutionary, researchers say, with applications … more…


25% of US car accidents due to using gadgets
July 12, 2011

Distracted DrivingDriving distractions such as cell phones and other electronic devices cause as much as 25% of all U.S. car accidents, researchers at the Governors Highway Safety Association have found, WinBETA notes. A major finding was that being distracted was the cause of 15 to 25% of all accidents, ranging from minor property damage to death. … more…


How to detect where pluripotent stem cells want to go
July 11, 2011

Researchers at the McMaster Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute have discovered how human pluripotent stem cells (those capable of differentiating into many cell types) make decisions about what cell type to become: the destination is actually encoded by how their DNA is arranged, and this can be detected by specific proteins on the surface … more…


Reprogramming brain cells to become heart cells
July 11, 2011

Protein DistributionThe direct conversion of a non-heart cell type into a heart cell by RNA transfer has been demonstrated by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The team first extracted mRNA from a heart cell, then put it into astrocytes or fibroblasts (brain cells). Because there were so many more heart-cell … more…


Nanocrystal transformations observed
July 11, 2011

Chalcocite StructureThe first direct observation of structural transformations within a copper sulfide nanocrystal, a semiconductor expected to play an important role in future energy technologies, has been reported by researchers at the DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). According to phase transition theory, a solid crystal will fluctuate between two equilibrium structures near the phase … more…


First successful transplantation of a synthetic windpipe
July 11, 2011

Artificial trachea after two days of cell growth (credit: Harvard Bioscience)A 36-year-old man has received the world’s first synthetic trachea, made from a synthetic scaffold seeded with his own stem cells, in an operation at the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden. Professor Paolo Macchiarini of Karolinska University Hospital and Karolinska Institutet led an international team, including professor Alexander Seifalian from University College London, who designed … more…


Virtual bridge allows strangers in Mideast to seem less strange
July 11, 2011Source Link: New York Times

Facebook.com/yalaYL allows Israelis and Palestinians and other Arabs to connect. Created by Uri Savir, a former Israeli diplomat, it has 22,500 active users; 60 percent are Arabs — mostly Palestinians, followed by Egyptians, Jordanians, Tunisians, Moroccans, Lebanese and Saudis. The YL in the name stands for young leaders (yala means “let’s go” in Arabic), and … more…


Preventing collisions between robots and humans
July 9, 2011

Safety LinesResearchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation IFF have developed a new projection and camera-based system intended to prevent collisions between robots and humans in the workplace. The safety system employs conventional projectors and cameras, normally mounted on the ceiling, that project visible lines in the work area. The camera immediately detects … more…


The future of mobile payments
July 9, 2011Source Link: Mashable

Google Wallet2PayPal predicts that the wallet will be dead by 2015 and has acquired mobile payments provider Zong for $240 million. The contenders include: Google Wallet — for Android users. ISIS — a coalition between AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile. Visa Wallet — expected to handle multiple cards and payment options through many financial networks. Serve by … more…

New BLOG POSTS

Google is destroying your memory
July 15, 2011 by Amara D. Angelica

(Credit: iStockphoto)Well, OK, maybe not totally destroying it, just making it unnecessary to rely on friends, libraries, books, notes, and other forms of “transactive memory” (external systems), thanks to the rise of Internet search engines, Wikipedia, and other Internet tools. So says Columbia University psychologist Betsy Sparrow, co-author of an article in Science Express. “Since the advent … more…


How to preserve competing memories by zapping your brain
July 12, 2011 by Amara D. Angelica

(Credit: iStockphoto)Attention, mind-control victims: mad scientists want to zap your brain. But you knew that. It’s a problem every student has when cramming for an exam: some of the information is usually forgotten. The common belief is that your brain simply doesn’t have the capacity necessary to process both memories in quick succession. But is that … more…


Sex and the Red Queen hypothesis
July 12, 2011 by Amara D. Angelica

Off with their heads! (Credit: Walt Disney Pictures)Biologists at Indiana University have discovered why it takes two to tango. (Insert obligatory geeks-who-can’t-get-a-date joke here.) The biologists claim their research shows that sex allows parents to produce offspring that are more resistant to co-evolving parasites, while self-fertilization dooms populations to extinction at the hands of their biological enemies. It’s the Red Queen hypothesis, a … more…


Thinking quantitatively about technological progress
July 11, 2011 by Anders Sandberg

Production growing exponentially (credit: Béla Nagy, Santa Fe Institute)I have been thinking about progress a bit recently, mainly because I would like to develop a mathematical model of how brain scanning technology and computational neuroscience might develop. Experience curves In general, I think the most solid evidence of technological progress is Wrightean experience curves. These are well documented in economics and found everywhere: … more…


Grow a new eye
July 11, 2011 by Amara D. Angelica

EyeTanya“I am attempting to recreate my eye with the help of a miniature camera implant in my prosthetic artificial eye. The intraocular installation of an eye-cam will substitute for the field of vision of my left eye that I lost in 2005 from a car accident.” So says Tanya Marie Vlach, who lost her left eye in … more…

New EVENTS

Campus Party logoCampus Party Mexico 2011

Dates: Jul 18 – 24, 2011
Location: Mexico City, Mexico

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mainlogoWORLDCOMP 2011

Dates: Jul 18 – 21, 2011
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada

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Tech Week Expo logoTechWeek Expo

Dates: Jul 22 – 29, 2011
Location: Chicago, Illinois

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New VIDEOS

Henry Markram on brain modelingHenry Markram: Simulating the brain — the next decisive years

New books

100 Plus: How the Coming Age of Longevity Will Change Everything, From Careers and Relationships to Family and Faith
author Sonia Arrison

100 Plus book cover Amazon | Humanity is on the cusp of an exciting longevity revolution. The first person to live to 150 years has probably already been born. What will your life look like when you live to be over 100? Will you be healthy? Will your marriage need a sunset clause? How long will you have to … more…

Latest Kurzweil Collection posts

Blio now available in Apple’s App Store, offering seamless experience to readers

PR Newswire logo Baker & Taylor and K-NFB Reading Technology make Blio’s full-color and interactive digital media content available for use on Apple’s iPad, iPhone and iPod K-NFB Reading Technology today announced that Blio, a leading interactive, engaging, and flexible ereading software application, will be available for download from Apple’s App Store onto the iPad, iPhone, and iPod … more…


Transcendent Man Live with Ray Kurzweil — a special one-night movie event

Transcendent Man Fathom poster Transcendent Man: A Conversation about the Future with Ray Kurzweil, produced by NCM Fathom, Ptolemaic Productions, and Therapy Studios, will be simulcast to select movie theaters nationwide from Lincoln Center in New York City on August 3rd, at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, 7:00 p.m. Central, 6:00 p.m. Mountain, and 8:00 p.m. Pacific (tape-delayed). To buy tickets to … more…


The Hollywood Revolt, Part 5: The greatest Walt Disney, the millennial Mark Zuckerberg, and the collapse of the left

Andrew Breitbart Presents Big Hollywood logo Source: Andrew Breitbart Presents: Big Hollywood — July 8, 2011 | David Swindle

Consider Transcendent Man, the recent documentary about inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil. The film is based on his 2005 book The Singularity is Near and builds on his past 20 years of accurate predictions of technological growth. This is the reality we forget: technology is constantly getting twice as powerful, half as expensive, and much … more…

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