Oxford University chemists have encapsulated radionuclides within carbon nanotubes and set new records for highly concentrated in vivo radiodosage, while demonstrating zero leakage of isotopes to high-affinity organs, such as the thyroid. Artist's rendition of nanocapsules (Gerard Tobias) (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news194109409.html)

Using nanoporous silicon particles, two teams of investigators have created drug delivery vehicles capable of ferrying labile molecular therapies deep into the body, creating new opportunities for developing innovative anticancer therapies. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news194078471.html)

University of California, Irvine (UCI) scientists have created an eight-layer, early-stage retina from human embryonic stem cells, the first three-dimensional tissue structure to be made from stem cells. UCI researchers used human embryonic stem cells to create these retinal progenitor cells, which later developed into a three-dimensional tissue sheet (UCI) It also marks the first step toward the development of transplant-ready retinas to treat eye disorders such as retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration that affect millions. The team utilized stem cell differentiation to create the multiple cell types necessary for the retina. However, the greatest challenge, said study leader Hans Keirstead, was in the engineering. To mimic early-stage retinal development, the researchers needed to build microscopic gradients for solutions in which to bathe the stem cells to initiate specific differentiation paths. The UCI researchers are testing the early-stage retinas in animal models to learn how much they improve vision. Positive results would lead to human clinical trials. The study appears online in the Journal of Neuroscience Methods. More info: University of California, Irvine news (Source: )

The operator of Speedtest.net is now providing statistics from about 1.5 billion tests worldwide using its Web-based Internet measurement tool. Consumers can view average speed numbers for the whole world, cities, and geographic regions on a new free Net Index Web site. (Source: http://www.itworld.com/networking/108922/internet-speedtest-results-going-public)

"The proper response to concerns [about nanotechnology] I raised would be sensible regulation, which doesn't seem to be on the agenda right now. Let's see if they can do proper regulation and inspection of offshore drilling. There's an example where people didn't have a reasonable plan if something bad happened. "That is a major disaster, but it's not contagious. Imagine if one oil well leaked and because of that it infected other ones and they all started leaking. That's more of the problem I am talking about." Live Video of the Oil Spill (bp.com) (Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-20005814-56.html)

Sony has developed a flexible color display using recently developed organic thin-film transistors that's sturdy enough to be wrapped around a pencil while still showing video images. The 4.1-inch screen has a resolution of 432 by 240 pixels, which is similar to that offered by many mass-market cell phones. (Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/197182/sony_shows_rollable_oled_display_video.html)

Delaying clamping the umbilical cord allows more blood to be transferred, helps prevent many common disorders, and allows for transfer of many valuable stem cells, researchers at the University of South Florida's Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair have found in a review of clinical studies. (Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100524111728.htm)

&configImplantable bionic devices are susceptible to computer viruses that can be passed along to other devices, Dr. Mark Gasson, a cybernetics expert at the University of Reading demonstrated by inserting a computer virus into an RFID chip implanted in his arm. People with pacemakers, cochlear implants), and deep brain stimulators, for example, could be in big trouble if a virus infected their implanted devices. (Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/197294/man_infects_himself_with_computer_virus.html)

Internet users are now less concerned with the amount of information available about them online, and the percentage of people who take steps to limit this online information has dropped over the last three years, says a survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Surprisingly, late teens and twentysomethings are actually more likely than their elders to engage in "reputation management" -- limitomg personal information available online, and that likelihood decreases with age. (Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/197245/internet_privacy_worries_are_eroding_pew_finds.html)

LiveMatrix, just launched, tracks live events on the Web, including streaming video, auctions, sales, and competitions. By providing a listing for the Web that resembles TV timetables, the company hopes to "make the time dimension of the Web searchable," according to cofounder Nova Spivack. (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/25226/)

Empirical evidence suggests that events taking place in periods of positive social mood are of a dramatically different character from events you can expect when the mood is negative -- thus the importance of mood as an early-warning indicator for extreme events in human society, suggests futurist John Casti. One very useful measure of the social mood, reflecting both actions and herding, is a financial market average. (Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627616.900-the-wisdom-of-herds-how-social-mood-moves-the-world.html?full=true)

By using surface acoustic waves (SAWs) to manipulate biological samples on a "lab-on-a-chip," rapid, on-the-spot chemical analysis and diagnosis of disease has moved closer to reality. (Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627616.300-soundblasting-chips-for-onthespot-forensics.html)

Rice University physicists have discovered that removing islands of hydrogen from both sides of a graphane matrix leaves a well with all the properties of quantum dots. (Evgeni Penev/Abhishek Singh) Graphane is graphene (a form of carbon) modified by adding hydrogen atoms to both sides of the matrix. Quantum dots are crystalline molecules that interact with light and magnetic fields and have semiconducting properties. Along with optical applications, the quantum dots may be useful in single-molecule sensing and could lead to very tiny transistors or semiconductor lasers. More info: Rice University news (Source: )

A new generation of radiation robots is lowering the rate of dead healthy cells by more accurately targeting cancer cells. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news194014523.html)

Inhalation of mycobacterium vaccae, found in soil, temporarily doubled the speed of mice navigation of a maze. (Source: http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=soil-bacteria-might-increase-learni-10-05-24)

The Allen Institute for Brain Science has launched the Allen Human Brain Atlas, a publicly available online atlas charting genes at work throughout the human brain. The data provided in this initial data release represent the most extensive and detailed body of information about gene activity in the human brain to date, documenting which genes are expressed, or "turned on" where. The Allen Human Brain Atlas, available at http://www.brain-map.org, is a unique multi-modal atlas of the human brain that integrates anatomic and genomic information to create a searchable, three-dimensional map of gene activity in the brain. Data modalities in this resource include magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and histology—providing information about gross neuroanatomy, pathways of neural connections, and microscopic anatomy, respectively—as well as gene expression data derived from multiple approaches. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news193913029.html)

Excessive amounts of HSP10 (Heat Shock Protein) inside mitochondria (energy generators in cells) can halt the body's aging process by preserving muscle strength, University of Liverpool and the University of California have found (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news193913231.html)

The world's smallest precision-built transistor -- a quantum dot of just seven phosphorus atoms in a single silicon crystal -- has been created by scientists from the UNSW Centre for Quantum Computer Technology and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. At present, the length of a commercial transistor gate is about 40 nanometers (billionths of a metet). The new device has features about 10 times smaller at 4 nanometers. Template of the quantum dot device showing a central hole where seven phosphorus atoms are incorporated (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news193896845.html)