Scientists Create Memory Neurons, Early Victims of Alzheimer's

Led by researcher Christopher Bissonette, a team of researchers and scientists from Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago have successfully created brain cells associated with memory and learning with embryonic stem cells.

This is a major breakthrough for Alzheimer's research as the cells, scientifically known as basal forebrain chollinergic neurons, or BFC cells, are the first to succumb in a person afflicted with Alzheimer's. By implanting these cells in patients in the early stages of Alzheimer's, it helps to slow down memory loss as according to Telegraph Science correspondent Richard Alleyne, in early Alzheimer's, memory is not loss but the ability to retrieve those memories are lost as the BFC cells are killed.

Embryonic stem cells are the very first cells a baby developing in the mother's wound has and these cells can turn into any specialized cells. The stem cells the team worked with derived from embryos created for in-vitro fertilization. Under certain conditions, we can coax these cells into any kind of cell under certain specific conditions. According to Chicago Sun-Times, it took Christopher Bissonette's team six years to figure out the right conditions to change these cells into BFC cells.

The team has already implanted these new BFC cells into mice and they seem to work just like natural mice BFC cells.

Although this is a major breakthrough for Alzheimer's research, it is not a treatment or a cure for the deadly disease. Scientists still do not know what causes Alzheimer's. However, combined with other treatments, implanting BFC cells in Alzheimer's afflicted patients might help slow down the disease's impact. Also, according to Jack Kessler, chairman of neurology at the Feinberg School of Medicine, it puts scientists on a path to understanding and curing memory loss.

Video: SmartBird flight further explained

Festo's Smartbird - An Ultra Realistic Seagull Robot

A new robotic seagull called the SmartBird designed by the German company Festo that also created the autonomous robotic jellyfish and the elephant-trunk-inspired robotic arm is one of the most realistic animal inspired flying machines ever. To be specific, the robot is modelled after the herring gull and its flight motions and appearance is extremely similar to the real bird. Besides its startling similarities to a real bird, another amazing feature of the robot is that it can take off and land autonomously without any additional drive systems.

To achieve flight, Festo designed the robot with wings that not only beat up and down, but bend at specific spots just like what the wings of a normal bird do in flight. When flying, a lever mechanism increases the degree of deflection from the torso to the wing. The wings can also twist in such a way that during the upwards stroke, the leading edge of the wing is slightly upwards. This is called a positive angle of attack.

Direction can be changed by the opposing motion of the head and torso of the bird. This movement is synchronised by cables and two electric motors. The tail's movements also help change directions. It can tilt left or right to initiate turns or move left to right to generate yaw. The tail also acts as stabilizer and a pitch elevator.

The robot has a wing span of about 2 m (6.5 feet), which is much larger than an actual herring gull, and has a weight of about 400 g (1 pound). To achieve this weight, the company used lightweight carbon fibre in the body of the bird.

All these design features result in a robot that is light and agile with excellent aerodynamic qualities. In developing the Smartbird, the company says it has successfully deciphered bird flight, "one of the oldest dreams of humankind". They also say that the development of this technology with its functional integration of coupled drive units yields significant ideas and insights that the company can then apply to hybrid drive technology.

Fame from Commentating on a Video Game

Youtube, the Internet giant video sharing website has made many of its users a fortune. Famous users such as Nigahiga and Fred has millions of subscribers and hundreds of millions of video views. Their unique user content include hilarious skits and parodies.

Users have also found fame in a different kind of content. Video game commentating has gained the attention of many. Commentators such as Husky and HD Starcraft have about 300 000 - 400 000 subscribers, not as much as Nigahiga or Fred but still a formidable amount. The video game that they commentate on is Starcraft II, a real time strategy game that sold over 1.8 million copies on its first day. The games that their channels feature include their own played games as well as games from top players of Starcraft.

Broadcasting of professional Starcraft II matches is in fact not limited to the Internet. In Korea, where the video game is huge, professional Starcraft II matches are actually televised. A famous monthly tournament for the game called the GSL or Global Starcraft II League hosted by GOMTV and Blizzard Entertainment offers prize pools of over $ 100 000.

German Wind-Powered Car Sets Record Crossing Australia

Two German innovators, Dirk Gion and Stefan Simmerer, have created a very peculiar vehicle that traversed Australia from Albany in Southwestern Australia to Sydney in the East, all on about $ 15 worth of electricity. The vehicle is called the "Wind Explorer" and it is powered by a combination of kite, wind power turbine, and electric motor.

The vehicle is 441 pounds and has its own wind turbine to charge its electric motors at night. The wind turbine is a 20 foot bamboo mast fitted with a 9 foot diameter rotor. Also, if wind conditions are right, they could deploy a parachute-like kite to provide extra thrust.

Their journey was not totally powered by the wind turbine and kite alone. They did plug in a few times during technical adjustments and equipment tuning in the start of the journey. Also, unfavourable weather has caused them to rely on mainstream electricity such as during Cyclone Yasi when strong winds prevented them from erecting the wind turbine mast. However, the main goal for them to create the Wind Explorer was not to prove that they could cross an entire continent emissions and carbon footprint free but to show that there are energy alternatives to power our vehicles today besides the standard internal combustion engine.

Self-Assembling Solar Panel Cells Rebuild Themselves - Inspired by Plants

Sunlight is very damaging and one of the major problems today with solar panels is that the solar cells degrade overtime from sunlight and we all know solar panels do not come cheap. So, how does plants, who are constantly exposed to sunlight throughout the day, maintain its sunlight converting capabilities? The answer is, they are constantly recycling their proteins, or chloroplasts, as often as every 45 minutes.

So, researchers at MIT have set out to reproduce this regenerative ability of plants in their solar cells, and they succeeded. Normal solar panels generate electricity by using sunlight to shake electrons from molecules loose. The electrons then follow a path of least resistance and thus become electricity.

The system that MIT devised contains seven different compounds, such as carbon nanotubes that provide structure and also provide a path of least resistance away from the cells. These seven compounds, under certain conditions, assemble themselves into uniform structures that are capable of harnessing solar energy. However, in the presence of certain compounds called surfactants, the structures break down into the original compounds. To remove this surfactant, MIT researchers used a method that pushes the mixture through a membrane that filters the surfactant. Without the presence of the surfactant, the compounds assemble themselves again into the uniform structures that can convert sunlight into electricity as if they were new. So, basically these solar panels can be renewed by pouring the surfactant and then filtering it.

The solar panels right now work at 40 percent efficiency but the researchers believe that they can push this much higher.

This a big step forward for solar energy and future solar panels might very well use this technology.

Replacement for Internal Combustion Engines?

Norbert Müller and his team of researchers at Michigan State University have developed a prototype of a new auto engine that does not have the myriad of complicated parts (for me) such as the pistons, crankshafts and valves of the current internal combustion engine used in almost all cars. The new engine is a disk-shaped shock wave generator that uses the same fuel but is much smaller, about the size of a saucepot, and much lighter compared to the internal combustion engines. It can also reduce auto emissions by 90 percent.

The new motor consists of a rotor with a number of wavelike channels. There are two outlets at either side where exhaust can escape. As the rotor spins, a fuel-air mixture enters through central inlets into channels that are not facing the outlets so the mixture cannot escape. As the mixture continues to enter the channels, pressure builds up and a shockwave is generated. This compresses the mixture further and ignites it. At that moment the rotor is facing the outlets and the exhaust can escape. The escaping exhaust keeps the motor spinning as it pushes against the ridges of the wavelike channels. Keep in mind that this is a continuous process that happens at a very fast rate.

This disk-waved shockwave generator will use about 60 percent of fuel for forward movement, a dramatic improvement from the 15 percent of combustion engines today. The reduced size and mechanisms of the generator will also be able to cut the weight of a car by 20 percent. This in turn also improves fuel economy.

The University has already received a $ 2.5 million grant from the Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop the engine and Müller says he hopes to create a 25-kilowatt prototype of the engine by the end of 2011.

The U.S. Navy's Superlaser

Boeing is currently under a $ 163 million contract to develop a superlaser for the U.S. Navy that will be used on board ships to neutralize missiles. The Navy's Free Electron Laser (FEL) program uses supercharged electrons generated by an injector to focus light across multiple wavelengths. This versatility to be able to switch between a broad range wavelengths makes the FEL much better than other lasers that usually operate in only one fixed wavelength.

For the laser to be able to shoot down missiles, at least 100 kilowatts of power is required. Earlier this year, the Office of Naval Research announced a breakthrough in the development of the laser that put the program nine months ahead of schedule. The breakthrough is a new injector tested last December that yielded enough electrons to produce a megawatt class laser beam. This is a huge step forward from the 14 kilowatt prototype laser the Navy originally had.

However, even with this new breakthrough, the laser is still years from becoming operational. Researchers predict that a shipboard test will not happen until 2018. However, once operational, the FEL will give the Navy a definite edge in maritime warfare. Operating at the speed of light, the laser does not have to be reloaded and is quiet compared to other conventional weapons. Also, the laser can act as a sensor, tracker or guidance system for other weapons onboard the ship.

Brain Cells Wired to Computers?

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have created computer chips that are wired with nerve cells.

The cells that the researchers are working with are from mice and they have found that the nerve cells will connect with each other through thin tubes made of a semi conductor material. At this point, it is not sure how well they are communicating but what is certain is that the cells have an attraction to such tubes.

The tubes the researchers created are made of layered silicon and germanium that are large enough only for the nerve cell's tendrils to move through. When the cells are placed next to the tubes, they will quickly thread their tendrils through the tubes to connect with each other.

What the researchers aims to do next is to place sensors into the chips to test how the nerve cells are communicating with each other. This new technology opens up exciting possibilities such as creating artificial limbs that are wired directly to nerve cells. The hybrid computer/nerve cell also provides a platform to study nerve cells afflicted with neurological diseases or to test neurological drugs.

Zero Emissions Sports Car, Nissan`s new ESFLOW

Nissan's new concept ESFLOW sports car looks, feels and performs like a sports car. However, the twist is that it's going to have zero emissions. The ESFLOW is solely powered by two electric motors, just like the Nissan Leaf.

The ESFLOW not only has power (it can do 60 in under 5 seconds), it has a good range too. This sports car can go for 150 miles on a single charge, certainly not bad for an Electric Vehicle (EV). The vehicle has an RWD setup with each electric motor for each rear wheel. The motors are powered by laminated lithium-ion batteries.

Although the future of the ESFLOW is uncertain, Nissan has proved that being environmentally friendly does not mean being unattractive. The company is planning to reveal their new concept car in the 2011 Geneva Auto Show.

Super Computer Wins in Jeopardy

If you were watching Jeopardy on February 14, 15 or 16, you would realize that one of the contestants was not human. In fact, it is not even alive. The contestant is IBM's new artificial intelligence computer system named 'Watson'.

The two other competitors are Brad Rutter, the biggest all-time money winner on Jeopardy and Ken Jennings, the record holder for the longest championship streak.

Watson comes equipped with access to 200 million pages of content, which consumes 4 terabytes of space. This includes the entire Wikipedia. However, Watson was not connected to the Internet during the game.

Throughout the games, Rutter and Jennings put up a good fight but Watson eventually won. The first place prize was $ 1000 000 with IBM dividing Watson's winnings between 2 charities. Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter received $ 300 000 and $ 200 000 and pledged to donate half of the amount to a charity.

Cynthia - Bacteria Completely Designed By Scientists

Man has finally broken the frontier of creating man made life. A while ago, a team of scientists led by Craig Venter, who also one of the first to sequence the human genome, actually created DNA code by scratch and implanted it into a bacteria cell. The bacteria adopted the new DNA and started producing proteins according to its new genetic code. As a result, a new organism, completely designed by man, has emerged. This new bacteria was named Cynthia.

This research opens up many doors. However, it is not all positive. Human made life operates outside of nature and if we created a super organism and accidentally released it into nature, the organism might dominate all others, including us humans. On the other hand, we could use this technology to create organisms such as bacteria that cleans up oil spills or kills cancer cells. The possibilities are endless.

Spiderman teaches us a valuable lesson that “with great power, comes great responsibility” and this certainly holds true with the technology that we now possess. If not handled responsibly, we might endanger our natural world.