The surging demand for mobile computing power is changing the way the semiconductor industry thinks about chips. The constraints of batteries mean that performance per watt is replacing processing power as the metric that chip makers like to brag about. And the emphasis on networking and multimedia applications in mobile devices is moving manufacturers' focus from general-purpose processors to those that have specialized circuitry for tasks such as handling audio and video. (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/25148/)

How far can you push the human body before it fails? New Scientist explores 12 extremes of endurance, from vacuum exposure to memory marathons, in a special feature. (Source: http://www.newscientist.com/special/maxed-out-testing-humans-to-destruction)

Researchers at the Cambridge Lab of Toshiba Research Europe have demonstrated the continuous operation of a quantum key distribution (QKD) system with a speed greater than one megabit/sec over a 50 km fiber optic network. The system could be used by hospitals, banks or anyone transmitting sensitive data. The technology will work without user interference, and allows sensitive information to be distributed using "one-time pad" encryption -- a theoretically perfect system for secure data transfer. (Source: http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2010-04/19/super-secure-data-encryption-gets-faster.aspx)

Motion-detecting pants, a proximity sensing shirt, a heart-sensing bra, biosensor underwear, and a "thought helmet" are among everyday objects that are becoming networked. Lunar design's BLU Jacket displays your moods through signs and colors (Source: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/10_smart_clothes_youll_soon_be_wearing.php)

Over the next five years, digital textbook sales in the United States will surpass 18% of combined new textbook sales for the Higher Education and Career Education markets -- a more than $1 billion market, according to a new study by educational software company Xplana. The increase in e-textbook sales will be driven by a series of hardware and technology trends, including: * Success of the iPad and the tablet form factor in general * Increased sales of netbooks and the success of Chrome OS for netbooks * Proliferation and continued popularity of e-reader devices and e-reader platforms * Growth of the smartphone market (Explana) More info: The Xplanation (Source: )

Plink has developed a cellphone app that can identify virtually any work of art from a photograph. A lost robot would take a photo of its location and send it via the Internet to an image-matching server; after matching the photo with its map-linked image bank, the server would reveal where the robot is. (Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18784-innovation-robots-look-to-the-cloud-for-enlightenment.html)

CardioHeal, based in Brookline, MA, is developing peptide drugs that can spur growth of new heart muscle cells in the human body. (Bersell et al, Cell) (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/25139/)

A group of researchers is building biocompatible electronics on thin, flexible substrates made of biodegradable, mechanically strong silk films. When it's placed on brain tissue and wetted with saline, a silk film will shrink-wrap around the surface of the brain, bringing electrodes with it into the wrinkles of the tissue, without scarring. Model silk substrate (John Rogers) (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/25154/)

On Saturday April 17, the 1000-foot dish at Arecibo will be activated for amateur-radio Earth-moon-Earth (EME) contacts on the 432 MHz amateur band. Many of the world's large parabolic antennas (dishes) along with hundreds of amateur radio operators and their gear will swing around to track the moon when it rises. Volunteers will then use the EME transmissions to link up with other dishes and antennas worldwide via the moon. Signals are literally being bounced off the moon’s surface and back to other stations on Earth, where they are received some 2.5 seconds later. More info: Echoes of Apollo (Source: )

To integrate a high-density array of nnano/microdevices in macroscopic materials, Stanford University researchers have developed an effective way to bridge the micro and macro scales by designing a stretchable substrate network of microwires and micronodes that can be expanded from a few square centimeters to one square meter at low strain levels in the material, resembling a giant ultra-light spider web. Two micronodes are connected by a microwire that is arranged into loops and segments to enable low-strain stretching. (G. Lanzara, et al.) (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news190534822.html)

The brain can handle two tasks by distributing them between the two hemispheres of the brain, assuming it perceives a worthy reward for doing so, but with large dual-task costs, researchers at the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research have found. The study also explains why people tend to prefer binary options, such as yes-or-no questions and if-then statements: the frontopolar cortex (which organizes pending goals while the brain completes another task) cannot keep track of more than two goals/tasks at the same time. (Source: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=multitasking-two-tasks)

Published online Wednesday in Nature, a paper authored by over 200 members of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) describes a new era of personalized medicine for cancer patients. "Given the tremendous potential for relatively low-cost genomic sequencing to reveal clinically useful information, we anticipate that in the not so distant future, partial or full cancer genomes will routinely be sequenced as part of the clinical evaluation of cancer patients," say the authors in the paper. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news190467998.html)

A quantum random number generator called Quantis can produce truly random numbers, University of Auckland researchers have found. Paradoxically, the results -- generated by a quantum computer -- provide evidence that quantum randomness is indeed incomputable. (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/25041/)

Stanford University researchers have developed a gold nanoelectrode that can extract one picoampere (generated by photosynthesis) from algae cells. The process bypasses the need for combustion, which harnesses only a portion of a plant's stored energy, and could be potentially one of the cleanest energy sources for future energy generation. More info: Stanford news (Source: )

A hand-held projector called Twinkle can now create virtual characters and objects that interact with the real world. It projects animated graphics that respond to patterns, shapes or colors on a surface or 3D objects.It uses a camera to track relevant elements in the scene illuminated by the projector and an accelerometer ensures it can sense the projector's rapid motion and position. (Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627555.100-handheld-projector-images-respond-to-the-real-world.html)

LaserMotive is developing technology for beaming power via lasers to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and other remote devices, and eventually to the space elevator and for solar power from space. (Source: http://www.xconomy.com/seattle/2010/04/13/beaming-power-to-uavs-space-elevators-and-someday-earth-the-lasermotive-story/?single_page=true)

A new "bioprinter" medical device that works like an inkjet printer is being developed by Wake Forest Institute of Regenerative Medicine to heal burns and other wounds by "printing" skin cells directly onto the wound, reducing the need for skin grafts. (Wake Forest Institute of Regenerative Medicine) (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news190269898.html)

The new web-based Supramap application maps genetic mutations of pathogens like those among the different strains of avian influenza onto the globe, and could predict where a disease might logically emerge next. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news190289428.html)

Just one "pulse" of artificial light at night disrupts circadian cell division, affecting the transcription of a large number of genes, including genes that are connected to the formation of cancer and those that assist in the fight against cancer, University of Haifa researchers have found. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news190288823.html)

Indiana University has received more than $1.8 million from the National Institutes of Health to collaborate on a $12.2 million, seven-university project designed to network researchers around the country. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news190295540.html)