19.04.2010

“An Italian inventor, Enrico Dini, chairman of the company Monolite UK Ltd, has developed a huge three-dimensional printer called D-Shape that can print entire buildings out of sand and an inorganic binder. The printer works by spraying a thin layer of sand followed by a layer of magnesium-based binder from hundreds of nozzles on its underside. The glue turns the sand to solid stone, which is built up layer by layer from the bottom up to form a sculpture, or a sandstone building. [...]“

Source/article: PhysOrg

16.04.2010

“While the human heart was once thought incapable of regeneration, growing evidence shows that even the adult heart can grow new cells, albeit slowly. Roger Hajjar, director of the Cardiovascular Research Center at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, in New York, and Bernhard Kuhn, a cardiologist at Children’s Hospital Boston, aim to harness this regenerative ability to change how heart disease is treated. They cofounded a startup called CardioHeal, based in Brookline, MA, to develop peptide drugs that can spur growth of new heart muscle cells in the human body.

The scientists have identified a pair of peptides that can stimulate new cell growth and improve heart function in rodents induced to have heart attacks. Hajjar’s lab at Mt. Sinai is now testing one of the peptides, periostin, in pigs induced to have heart attacks. Because these animals have hearts similar in size to humans, they provide a good model for testing new therapies prior to human clinical trials. [...]“

Source/article: Technology Review

13.12.2010

“From Starbucks punch cards to credit cards that earn frequent flyer miles, everything’s becoming a game. Jesse Schell, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University and founder of Schell Games, thinks that this is only the beginning. In a presentation he recently gave at the DICE 2010 tech summit, he laid out the future “beyond Facebook,” where the psychological tricks used to persuade people to fork over real cash for virtual games like Farmville will infiltrate our lives much more deeply. [...]“

Source/article: PhysOrg

12.04.2010

“Just one “pulse” of artificial light at night disrupts circadian cell division, reveals a new study carried out by Dr. Rachel Ben-Shlomo of the University of Haifa-Oranim Department of Environmental and Evolutionary Biology along with Prof. Charalambos P. Kyriacou of the University of Leicester. [...]

“Damage to cell division is characteristic of cancer, and it is therefore important to understand the causes of this damage,” notes Dr. Ben-Shlomo. The study has been published in the journal Cancer Genetics and Cytogenetics.

The current research was carried out by placing lab mice into an environment where they were exposed to light for 12 hours and dark for 12 hours. During the dark hours, one group of mice was given artificial light for one hour. Changes in the expression of genes in the rodents’ brain cells were then examined. [...]“

Source/article: PhysOrg

13.12.2010

“In an electrifying first, Stanford scientists have plugged in to algae cells and harnessed a tiny electric current. They found it at the very source of energy production – photosynthesis, a plant’s method of converting sunlight to chemical energy. It may be a first step toward generating “high efficiency” bioelectricity that doesn’t give off carbon dioxide as a byproduct, the researchers say.” [...]“

Source/article: PhysOrg

12.04.2010

“Forscher aus San Diego wollen Grünalgen zu Bioproduktionsanlagen für teure Medikamente umbauen, die deren Kosten auf ein Tausendstel senken sollen. [...]

[...] In einem Aufsatz, der jetzt in der Fachzeitschrift Plant Biotechnology Journal erschienen ist, haben er und seine Kollegen analysiert, ob sich die Algenart Chlamydomonas reinhardtii für die biologische Medikamentenherstellung eignet. Sie fügten in das Genom der Pflanze Gene für sieben therapeutische Eiweiße ein, die bereits mit Hilfe von Einzellern produziert werden. Darunter sind das Interferon gegen Multiple Sklerose und das Proinsulin gegen Diabetes. Ergebnis: Die Grünalgen konnten vier der sieben Proteine in einer auch kommerziell verwertbaren Menge herstellen. Zudem unterschieden sich die Stoffe nicht von denen, die herkömmliche Zellkulturen bilden, und waren ebenso leicht herauszutrennen und zu konzentrieren. [...]“

Source/article: Heise/TR

12.04.2010

“Die Forschungsbehörde von Saudi-Arabien baut eine Meerwasserentsalzungsanlage, die dank neuer, von IBM entwickelter Materialien hochkonzentrierte Photovoltaik und ein effizienteres Filterverfahren nutzen kann. [...]

Die King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), die nationale saudische Forschungsbehörde, baut gemeinsam mit IBM in der Stadt Al Khafji die größte solar betriebene Meerwasserentsalzungsfabrik der Welt. Der IT-Konzern bringt dabei neue Materialien ein, die ursprünglich für leistungsfähigere Computerchips entwickelt wurden. Wenn die Anlage Ende 2012 fertig ist, soll sie 30.000 Kubikmeter Trinkwasser (30 Millionen Liter) pro Tag gewinnen – genug für 100.000 Menschen. [...]“

Source/article: Heise/TR

12.04.2010

“[...] The world’s largest laser is meant to spark off a fusion reaction this year – but don’t bank on it. So says the US government’s watchdog in a highly critical report about the huge laser array at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). [...] But the GAO says that many independent researchers think that ignition may require at least 1.8 megajoules, because plasma instabilities could deflect light away from the target. The outside experts also warn that firing on full power could damage crucial high-power optics in the machine. [...]“

Source/article: NewScientist

12.04.2010

“[...] The international team of researchers – led by Emeritus Professor Heinrich Hora, of the University of New South Wales Department of Theoretical Physics -has shown through computational studies that a special fuel ignited by brief but powerful pulses of energy from new high-energy lasers may be the key to a success that has long eluded physicists. [...]“

Source/article: PhysOrg

12.04.2010

“A medical device that works rather like an inkjet printer is being developed in the US to heal burns and other wounds by “printing” skin cells directly onto the wound. The device, called a bioprinter, may reduce the need for skin grafts. It would be mounted on a wheeled frame and positioned over the bed of the patient. [...]“

Source/article: PhysOrg

08.04.2010

“Software that uses brain scans to determine what items people are thinking about was among the technological innovations showcased Wednesday by Intel Corp., which drew back the curtain on a number of projects that are still under development.

The software analyzes functional MRI scans to determine what parts of a person’s brain is being activated as he or she thinks. In tests, it guessed with 90 percent accuracy which of two words a person was thinking about, said Intel Labs researcher Dean Pomerleau.

Eventually, the technology could help the severely physically disabled to communicate. And Pomerleau sees it as an early step toward one day being able to control technology with our minds. [...]“

Source/article: PhysOrg

07.04.2010

“ Hewlett-Packard scientists on Thursday are to report advances in the design of a new class of diminutive switches capable of replacing transistors as computer chips shrink closer to the atomic scale.

The devices, known as memristors, or memory resistors, were conceived in 1971 by Leon O. Chua, an electrical engineer at the University of California, Berkeley, but they were not put into effect until 2008 at the H.P. lab here. [...]“

Source/article: NY Times