August 28, 2005
How to make a solar cell in your kitchen
While not as efficient as the current silicon panels, you can create your own panels using some materials at your local hardware store and an electric stove to produce some panels that can provide 35-50 mA in the sunshine. Not a massive amount of current, but sometimes a little is better than none.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 17, 2005
Crocodile immune system destroys HIV
Slashdot:
In an ongoing effort to stop the spread of HIV, scientists in Australia have discovered that crocodiles can fight off HIV and kill the virus. This is a major boon to medicine because the crocodile serum can also fight things that are penicillin resistant such as staphylococcus aureus.
I immediately thought of Deep Waters, and the other cheesy B-rated sci-fi films on SciFi. As long as we don't turn into weird genetic freaks, I'm all for creating a crocodile serum.
Posted by darkmoon at 01:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 22, 2005
SciGen: Randomly generated paper makers give talk
A while back, a couple MIT graduate students created SCIGen, a random science paper generator and got one of the papers to get accepted as a non-reviewed piece at WMSCI 2005. Unfortunately, after WMSCI was laughed at by the geek community for accepting a bogus paper, they refunded registration to the MIT students. Instead of being denied, the team from PDOS decided to head to the hotel where WMSCI was being held and had their own specialized "random" science talk.
BoingBoing < PDOSResearchGroup
Posted by darkmoon at 09:49 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 16, 2005
Commercialization of Retinal Implant Technology
Meaning? Those with hereditary blindness will have limited vision restored by having an implanted microchip on the optical nerve. A microcomputer will then decode the electrical impulses from the optical nerve when sent signals from a the glasses which has an integrated camera. Wild.
Posted by darkmoon at 02:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 22, 2005
Stanford uncovers Archimedes text
Stanford uncovers 174 pages of text written by Archimedes using a particle accelerator, after it was lost due to a Christian monk writing over it during the Middle Ages.
Posted by darkmoon at 10:13 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 29, 2005
Seeing with sound
Now, there is a technology called vOICe that can allow blinde people to see with sound. The basic technology takes a picture and translates it into a soundscape, which in turn the brain retranslates into a picture. Thus, you get a very lo-resolution picture through the sound translation.
One of the more fascinating elements of the program is the stuff on brain-function, and the new theories being engendered by this about the way that what we think of as the "visual cortex" is actually a general-purpose tool for processing sensory data about one's surroundings regardless of whether or not it arrives visuallly.
Personal note: For the life of me, I can't remember the name of the 80s movie about this, but there was a movie where this guy was blind but he carried a Walkman around and could see through the soundscape. I believe the premise was that the guy "saw" a murder, but couldn't identify the killer since he was "blind". Amazing how technology has taken things out of movies, and into reality. Soon, we'll be flying around in Gundams (I still have my bets on Japan, just you wait).
Posted by darkmoon at 12:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 22, 2005
Suspended animation for six hours... in rats
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (Seattle) has been able to induce rats into suspended animation for up to six hours by using hydrogen sulphide to suspend the demand for oxygen. Larger animals have been able to be suspended for up to twenty minutes.
Note that this is not true suspended animation. This is more of a hibernation where breathing has been slowed to point where the Lazarus effect occurs.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:21 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 07, 2005
Cancer treatment in the near future?
The Koreans have figured out a way to age off human cancer cells by suppressing telomerase, an enzyme that makes cancer cells immortal. Could a cure be near?
Via Slashdot
Posted by darkmoon at 11:19 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 20, 2005
Microjets bring needle-free injections
Hate needles? Perhaps there won't be a need for any in the future. Students in the bioengineering department at University of California - Berkeley have designed microjets, an electronic actuator that propels the payload through the skin without needle punctures.
Via Slashdot
Personal note: Hope this doesn't get out. Talk about problems with tracking junkies. Not to mention, there will be easier ways for delivering biological agents into a public arena than previously. Great medical discovery for ease of use, but also some major complications for DHS and other law enforcement imho.
Posted by darkmoon at 08:37 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 16, 2005
Ever want to find out where your ancestors are from?
The USGenWeb Project is a national project of volunteers to trace geneology for all counties and states in the United States.
Organization is by county and state, and this website provides you with links to all the state websites which, in turn, provide gateways to the counties. The USGenWeb Project also sponsors important Special Projects at the national level and this website provides an entry point to all of those pages, as well.
Posted by darkmoon at 09:37 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Kyoto Treaty in full force
The Kyoto Treaty goes into effect today. This is the Treaty that requires the nations within the United Nations to abide by certain CO2 levels by 2010. International pressure mounted on the United States after the US refused to sign the treaty for ratification. Although some find that there could be an economic boost in ecological safety issues, the United States has been very much against this push.
Why? The United States produces close to a third of the world's CO2 emissions.
We spoke about the Kyoto Treaty before.
Via Slashdot
Posted by darkmoon at 05:38 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 09, 2005
Conservative education institutions miss the sticker
Just a little personal observation after reading all the talk about creationism versus evolution in educational institutions. Here is the breakdown:
Science sticker reads:
"This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully and critically considered."
Religious advocates are saying that this does not go signify that they're justifying religion in classrooms. This is the same as the argument with Intelligent Design, versus intelligent design.
From my observations, no one has brought up the fact that this implements reverse psychology. The wording draws you towards creationism. Also, none of the religious advocates are willing to place this sticker in their Bibles during Sunday school although this would basically even out the playing field.
Religion sticker reads:
"Warning this book promotes the dogma of creationism. Because experts disagree about the scientific basis of creationism, it and the rest of the material in this book should not be taken on faith. One should approach this material with an open mind and study it critically."
The way I look at it, if you're not willing to play ball, then don't play at all. When a religious advocate starts placing those stickers in their Bibles, then schools should also place the science sticker in but never before. Just a thought.
Posted by darkmoon at 10:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 27, 2005
Where is the line drawn when it comes to chimeras?
Interesting little piece on genetic research.
Scientists have begun blurring the line between human and animal by producing chimeras—a hybrid creature that's part human, part animal.
Reminds me of the episode. Night the Chimera Cries of Full Metal Alchemist. Interesting that some can already understand the consquences of science through animated means.
Slashdot < National Geographic News
Posted by darkmoon at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 07, 2005
Tumor blasting capules
A University of Melbourne team lead by Dr. Frank Caruso has developed nanocapsules that can be delivered near the tumor cells. When heated with a low-powered laser, these capsules would explode in the target areas without affecting the healthy tissue.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:39 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 04, 2004
Congress denies Nasa privileges for bigger X-Prizes
Unfortunately, Congress is making it more difficult for corporations to participate in future X-Prize scenarios. The Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004, tightens the safety restrictions and is expected to pass through the Senate next week. NASA has been wanting to push contracts to contests similar to the X-Prize, where the money could be as large as 10-15 million. Unfortunately, they have no authority to do so and Congress is not about to give them any more. NASA's current authority allows them to grant a measly $250,000. This is covered in Slashdot, and Spacedaily.
Personal note: I don't get it. With the X-Prize, commercial entities basically proved that the government wastes almost 10x the amount of money to do the exact same thing. NASA even agrees, thereby wanting to push contracts off to such contests. So what's the problem? I think this again amounts to Paul Graham's manager concept. A manager that knows nothing about technology, often has a say in it. As everyone that is involved in technology knows, this is almost always the case. It's too bad that people that are supposed to do their jobs ("manage") don't do that, nor do they do their homework on what they're managing as to learn and not look like total idiots. Sorry NASA, your manager seems to be Congress.
Posted by darkmoon at 08:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 02, 2004
Men aren't needed anymore
Eggs can be fertilised without spermies now. UK news is covering it, but gained this tidbit from Glenn Fleishman. It's just a matter of time now before we'll be thrown to the wolves...
Don't you find that interesting? And everyone used to tell me how powerful men were in the world. Good thing I knew better...
Posted by darkmoon at 04:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 29, 2004
Paralysis now curable through stem cell research?
In a blurb off Slashdot, a woman that was paralyzed for 20 years can now walk because of stem cells taken from chord blood. Amazing.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:37 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 19, 2004
Kyoto Treaty ratified
The Kyoto Treaty has been ratified and now the US and 55 other industrialized nations have until 2012 to cut up to 5.2% of the six major greenhouse gases. BBC has coverage here.
Amusingly enough, the Bush administration refused to sign this. Why? The U.S. produces about 30+% of the world's pollution. Where was the EPA on all of this?
Posted by darkmoon at 05:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack