Bioethics & Visions of the Future

Evogrid, a simulation of properties of the early oceans on Earth, is intended to model possible biochemical routes to the development of life, eventually using millions of volunteer computers in an interconnected grid. (Source: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/090702-am-evogrid-evolution.html)

University of Bristol and University of Laguna researchers have developed a system using video from portable cameras that calculates the distance of obstacles, predicts the movements of people and cars, and generates three-dimensional acoustic maps, compensating for head positioning using a gyroscopic sensor. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news165759079.html)

An optical transistor that uses one laser beam to control another could form the heart of a future generation of ultrafast photonic computers, overcoming the speed limits with wires, say Swiss researchers. Using a green beam to switch an orange output beam from weak to strong is analogous to the way a transistor's control electrode switches a current between "on" and "off" voltages, and hence the 0s and 1s of digital data. And doing it with a single molecule means billions could be packed into future photonic chips. (Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17400-laser-light-switch-could-leave-transistors-in-the-shade.html)

Telomerase, best known for enabling unlimited cell division of stem cells and cancer cells, has a surprising additional role in the expression of genes in an important stem cell regulatory pathway, say researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The unexpected finding may lead to new anticancer therapies and a greater understanding of how adult and embryonic stem cells divide and specialize. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news165674795.html)

The continued melting of glaciers and ice caps outside of Greenland and Antarctica will add another 10 to 20 centimeters to sea level by 2100, according to one report. (Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327151.300-sea-level-rise-its-worse-than-we-thought.html?full=true)

A new robot with artificial whiskers could one day be used to locate survivors of natural disasters, or people trapped in burning buildings. (Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17403-robot-rescue-rat-feels-its-way-through-rubble.html)

AcceleGlove, a low-cost programmable glove that records hand and finger movements, could be used for robotic control and in video games, sports training, or physical rehabilitation. (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/22838/)

NASA and Japan have released a new digital topographic map of Earth that covers more of our planet than ever before, produced with detailed measurements from NASA's Terra spacecraft. (Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090630162848.htm)

An electrochemical process for coating metal implants to make them resemble biological material vastly improves their functionality, longevity and integration into the body a Tel Aviv University researcher has found. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news165499519.html)

Polymer-coated gold nanorods completely destroyed all tumors in a nonhuman animal model of human cancer with a single dose, scientists have found. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news165512266.html)

Examples of "intelligent" behavior by microbes include chemical conversations and "quorum sensing" to decide when to launch an attack on their host. (Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17390-why-microbes-are-smarter-than-you-thought.html)

Living cells are chemical computers. (Volker Steger/Christian Barpelle/SPL) They take information from the environment and process it to produce behavioral "outputs." The processing units are proteins, which perform all the same operations as the logic gates of a computer. Inputs from the environment cause the proteins to flip shape, to aggregate, and to chemically modify other proteins in a cascade of information processing that sweeps through the cell until it reaches effector proteins that make the cell move or change shape. (Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227141.600-review-wetware-by-dennis-bray.html)

A method of improving storage density by three orders of magnitude using cobalt dimers on hexagonal carbon rings has been developed by researchers at Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research. (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/23773/)

Toyota researchers have built a brain/machine interface that controls a wheelchair using EEG sensors placed over the areas of the brain that control motion, with plans for a wide range of applications in medicine and nursing care. (Source: http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=218101872)

Day 1 at Singularity University featured discussions with Peter Diamandis and Ray Kurzweil. (Source: http://hplusmagazine.com/editors-blog/singularity-university-day-one)

Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells (adult cells genetically reprogrammed to act like embryonic stem cells) could capture the details of human disease with unprecedented accuracy and revolutionize the way researchers search for new treatments. Because each cell line comes from a human patient, the cells reflect the complex array of factors that led to the patient's disease: the genetic mutations, the effects of environmental history. And because those cells can be prodded to develop into a variety of tissue types, scientists can watch the disease unfold in a petri dish. (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/22832/)

European researchers have developed a robot capable of moving autonomously by algorithms designed to mimic different parts of the human visual system, with two cameras that serve as "eyes" in a movable "head." (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/22946/)

A team led by Yale University researchers has created the first rudimentary two-qubit solid-state quantum processor, taking another step toward building a quantum computer. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news165418586.html)

Blasting the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan with X-rays can produce adenine, a base component of DNA, a new laboratory study suggests. When meteoroid impacts deliver water to the moon's surface, the finding adds to evidence that Titan may be ripe for life. (Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17380-solar-xrays-may-create-dna-building-blocks-on-titan.html)

There is enough space in the world to produce the extra food needed to feed a growing population. And contrary to expectation, most of it can be grown in Africa, say two international reports published this week. (Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227143.100-africa-alone-could-feed-the-world.html)