The "spaser," the latest by-product of a buzzing field known as nanoplasmonics, based on plasmons, may lead to building a super-fast computer that computes with light. Plasmons, which are ultra-high-frerquency electron waves on a metallic surface, overcome the speed limits of the wires that interconnect transistors in chips, allowing for converting electronic signals into photonic ones and back again with speed and efficiency. (Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20527441.600-spasers-set-to-sum-a-new-dawn-for-optical-computing.html)

A rash of patents filed by Apple suggests how the new Apple tablet may take the next step beyond the iPhone's once-revolutionary touch interface. (Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18431-innovation-apple-patents-hint-at-tablets-technology.html)

Scientists at the University of Toronto have discovered a way to map the interactions of genes within a cell, a significant breakthrough that promises to help researchers better understand the causes of disease, and lead to more precise targeting of drug treatments. Working with cells from simple yeasts, the researchers developed a method to map the interactions within these cells, the first time this has been done for any organism. Because yeast cells are remarkably similar genetically to human cells, this mapping process has important implications for improving research into human health, such as better understanding the genetic basis of disease. The mapping process will enable scientists to develop a complete atlas of genetic interactions, thereby making it possible to decode the functions of all of the thousands of genes in a cell. Such an atlas will provide valuable information about the link between an individual's genotype (a person's unique genetic makeup) and phenotype (the behaviours of that individual's genes). This information will build understanding of what genetic interactions are going wrong when a disease happens in a body. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news183652287.html)

University of Manchester researchers have successfully carried out the first rewire of genetic switches, creating what could be a vital tool for the development of new drugs and even future gene therapies. They rewired the genetic switches of bacteria so they are activated by a synthetic molecule instead of naturally occurring molecules found in cells. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news183653104.html)

Apple's "iTablet" could be destined to transform our care delivery system in a major way. The promise of improved clinical information systems, based on real-time information updates across patient touchpoints could be a workflow game changer. If the tablet becomes the tool that is carried with a nurse or doctor on their travels from patient to patient, it will save time, money and lives by enabling the first "always updated" system. (Source: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/the_healthcare_system_an_apple_tablets_biggest_opp.php)

researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College developed a simple way to increase production of endothelial cells -- which line the interior of blood vessels and give rise to blood vessels -- by more than 30-fold. The cells might one day by used to create blood vessels in engineered tissue or administered to patients directly to repair injury after heart attack or stroke, resupplying blood to damaged organs. (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/24409/)

Microsoft Research and UC Berkeley resarchers have designed Pictionaire, a touchscreen table. A camera takes a digital snapshot of an object placed on the table and presents a digital version of the page on the table. (Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18419-touchscreen-merges-the-real-and-digital-worlds.html)

A radio observatory on the far side of the moon to eliminate Earth-based radio interference and gravitational microlensing to view alien planets are among the projects for detecting extraterrestrial intelligence proposed by SETI pioneer Dr. Frank Drake. (Source: http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2010-01/25/seti-founder-outlines-ambitious-plans-for-future.aspx)

The complete atomic-level architecture of the nervous system's glutamate receptor protein has been fully mapped for the first time using Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Advanced Light Source. (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) This much-anticipated milestone could lead to new treatments for neurological diseases and a better understanding of how the nervous system controls movement, memory, and learning. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news183385801.html)

A way to transfer patterns of strongly aligned, single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) from a substrate to any other surface in minutes has been developed by Rice University researchers. They are also investigating ways to make printed films of SWNTs all-conducting or all-semiconducting. Combined, the techniques represent a huge step toward a wide range of practical applications that include sensors, highly efficient solar panels and electronic components. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news183392789.html)

Researchers at the University of Minnesota and the Minneapolis VA Medical Center have found a distinct pattern of brain activity among PTSD sufferers, using a brain imaging method called magnetoencephalography (MEG). (Source: http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/01/brain-biomarker-could-be-the-key-to-ptsd-diagnosis/)

Princeton University scientists have calculated the gravitational interactions between colliding particles modeled as black holes and found that a black hole formed if two particles collide with a total energy of about one-third of the Planck energy. While the Planck energy is a quintillion times higher than the LHC's maximum, if space actually has more dimensions (predicted by certain theories) that are curled into little loops too small to be detected except in a high-energy particle collision, those extra dimensions might effectively lower the Planck energy by a huge factor. (Source: http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2010/122/1)

The world should organize its defenses now in case an asteroid is found on a collision course with Earth, says The National Research Council Space Studies Board, which has recommended setting up an international body that would be prepared to spring into action and defend the planet if an asteroid is discovered on a likely impact course. (Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18426-panel-calls-for-global-asteroid-defence-agency.html)

The unsubstantiated Himalayan-glacier melt figures contained in a supposedly authoritative 2007 IPCC report on climate warming were used intentionally -- despite the report's lead author, Murari Lal, knowing there were no data to back them up. "Lal last night admitted [the scary figure] was included purely to put political pressure on world leaders,” The Sunday Mail article reported. See Climate Change Authority Admits Mistake The Telegraph also reports: "The scientist from whom this claim originated, Dr Syed Hasnain, has for the past two years been working as a senior employee of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), the Delhi-based company of which [IPCC chairman] Dr. Pachauri is director-general. Furthermore, the claim ... has helped TERI to win a substantial share of a $500,000 grant from one of America's leading charities, along with a share in a three million euro research study funded by the EU." (Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/55556/title/IPCCs_Himalayan_glacier_mistake_not_an_accident)

Contributing editor Erik Sofge argues that the "uncanny valley" -- where a robot (or animated video of a person) looks and acts nearly but not exactly like a human -- is so loosely supported by research, it is nearly useless for roboticists. (Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/robotics/4343054.html)

University of Aberdeen psychologists have found that our perceptions of space and time are tightly coupled. In an experiment, they found that engaging in mental time travel resulted in physical movements corresponding to the metaphorical direction of time. Those who thought of the past swayed backward while those who thought of the future moved forward. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news183297421.html)

The Electronic Popable book, developed by the High-Low Tech group at the MIT Media Lab, has electronic circuitry embedded in its pages that transforms the tabs, flaps and wheels of a traditional pop-up into switches and a variety of sensors. The interactive pages come alive with LED lights, sounds and even vibrate in response to touch. They used off-the-shelf electrically conductive paints and fabrics, adding custom-made magnetic components programmed using a standard integrated circuit, known as a microcontroller. This battery-operated pop-up book will be presented at the Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interfaces conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts, next week. (Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18422-embedded-electronics-bring-popup-books-to-life.html)

Imperial College London researchers found that Vaccinia viruses hop over cells that are already infected. This allows them to concentrate their energies on previously uninfected cells, accelerating the spread of infection fivefold. Vaccinia is known to spread from cell to cell in a characteristic way. After attaching to the cell membrane of its target, it releases a protein that enters the cell, where it communicates with actin â€" a protein that helps maintain the cell's structure. The actin responds by growing longer, and then attaches itself to the virus, still sitting on the surface of the cell, as a so-called "actin tail." This tail helps the virus take off from the cell and find the next victim. Finding ways to block the cell surface proteins might lead to new antiviral drugs. (Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18423-viruses-use-hive-intelligence-to-focus-their-attack.html)

Aerobic exercise stimulates the growth of new brain cells and improves the memory and ability to learn, neuroscientists from University of Cambridge and the US National Institute on Aging have found in experiments with mice. Running mice grew an average of 6,000 new brain cells per cubic millimeter in the dentate gyrus part of the hippocampus. The researchers speculate that the effect may be due to increased blood flow, elevation of certain hormone levels, or reduction in the level of the hormone cortisol, which is associated with stress. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news183199377.html)

A new process for making stretchable, porous, and conductive "Energy Textiles" using "ink" made from single-walled carbon nanotubes has been developed by Stanford University scientists, according to the American Chemical Society's Nano Letters. These highly conductive textiles can provide new design opportunities for wearable electronics, including energy storage applications using supercapacitors. (Source: )