Issue no. 16, 2009
Published: May 08, 2009 |
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 Engineered maize's vitamin boost |
| Molecular keys can open tiny containers |
| Sea 'snake' generates electricity with every wave |
| Fledgling graphene circuit performs basic logic |
| EU pushes for freedom of internet governance |
| Wolfram Alpha demos computational knowledge engine |
| Optical disc offers 500GB storage |
| Innovation: How your search queries can predict the future |
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| Engineered maize's vitamin boost |
A genetically modified (GM) maize fortified with three vitamins has been
created by European researchers. The modifications make the growing
maize produce large amounts of beta carotene and precursors of vitamin C
and folic acid. The development marks the first time any plant has been
engineered to make more than one vitamin.
The team, led by Dr Paul Christou from Spain's University of Lleida,
transferred genes into immature embryos of a variety known as M37W. The
embryos were bombarded with metal particles coated with chunks of DNA
that, if taken up by the embryo, would alter its internal biochemical
processes to make it produce the vitamins. Subsequent analysis of sample
plants grown from the genetically modified seeds showed that the corn
was indeed successfully manipulated into producing the vitamins. The
changes induced in the maize also persisted through a couple of
generations of the plants, according to the researchers.
Producing a plant that contains three vitamins could help those in
poorer nations who subsist on one food and rarely eat a balanced diet,
the scientists said. Those eating 100-200g of the fortified corn would
get almost all their recommended daily intake of vitamin A, and folic
acid and 20% of the ascorbate they need, according to the researchers. |
| BBC News / Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Apr 27, 2009 |
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| Molecular keys can open tiny containers |
A multidisciplinary team of researchers at Aarhus University in Denmark
has created tiny DNA strongboxes measuring just 30 nanometres on each
side. The boxes, which can be unlocked with a gene 'key', could be used
for drug delivery or as sensors.
The boxes are the latest novelty to emerge from 'DNA origami', the
technique by which researchers build structures out of DNA. They use
oligonucleotides, short snippets of nucleic acid bearing genetic
information, to fold longer strands of DNA into a complex structure.
Each box is large enough to hold a single ribosome - the cell's machine
for making proteins.
First, researchers wrote a computer program that would determine what
genetic sequences were needed to make their box. The program begins with
a digital model of a very long strand of DNA from a phage - a virus that
infects bacteria. Then, given the shape the researchers want to create,
it selects some 250 oligonucleotides that will attach to the DNA and
assemble it into the desired form.
Once the computer had worked out the parts researchers needed, they
simply bought the oligonucleotides from suppliers and mixed them with
the long DNA strands. The snippets went to work, weaving each strand
into six walls and then stitching the walls together. It takes only an
hour or two for billions of boxes to form by themselves. The team could
even 'lock' the little boxes using DNA. |
| Nature
May 06, 2009 |
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| Sea 'snake' generates electricity with every wave |
Anaconda, a giant rubber 'snake' that floats offshore and converts wave
energy to electricity, is a step closer to commercialisation. An 8-metre
long, 1/25th scale version is currently undergoing tests in a large wave
tank in Gosport, UK, and a full-size working version could be a reality
in five years.
The snake is filled with freshwater - to help deter sea creatures from
setting up a home inside - and sealed at both ends to create a
semi-rigid balloon that floats at the sea's surface. The tube is
anchored at one end and as waves wash along its length they exert
pressure on the snake that is transmitted by the water inside. This
forces Anaconda's walls to expand outwards into the wave troughs where
they are under less pressure, forming 'bulge waves' that travel along
the Anaconda's length.
These waves are similar to those that pass through the human circulatory
system and can be felt as the pulse in the wrist and neck. When each
bulge wave reaches the end of the snake it keeps a turbine spinning to
generate electricity. The snake is made from a rubber-based material.
Other than the turbine, Anaconda has no moving parts and unlike other
wave power devices it needs only one tether to the ocean floor, which
lowers construction costs and reduces the need for maintenance. |
| New Scientist
May 02, 2009 |
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| Fledgling graphene circuit performs basic logic |
Researchers at the Politecnico di Milano in Italy have created the first
integrated circuit to combine two transistors made from the 'wonder
material' graphene. By adapting a technique used to fabricate silicon
transistors the team created the device and then showed that it was
capable of performing basic computational tasks. The innovation
represents an important step in the pursuit of carbon-based electronics,
the researchers say.
The researchers first isolated an amount of graphene from a sheet of
carbon using mechanical exfoliation - basically, 'sticky tape' - before
depositing these onto a silicon substrate. Then, using high resolution
electron beam lithography, the researchers fabricated two p-type
transistors on the same flake on graphene.
The next step was to create an 'inverter' by joining up a type p
transistor with a type n. They passed an electric current through one of
the transistors and used the heating effect to remove contaminants -
this converted one of type p transistors to type n. To demonstrate that
they had created a very simple computing device the researchers used the
'circuit' to perform the simple logic task of Boolean inversion. |
| NanotechWeb / Physicsworld.com
Apr 30, 2009 |
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| EU pushes for freedom of internet governance |
The body in charge of assigning internet addresses such as .com and .net
should be shorn of its US government links from October and made fully
independent, the EU's information society chief said on Monday.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is a
not-for-profit organisation set up in 1998 but operates under the aegis
of the US Department of Commerce, a set-up that raises concerns for some
as the internet is seen as belonging to a wider constituency. Pressure
in the past on ICANN from right-wing politicians to stop .xxx from
becoming a domain name for pornography, worried some policymakers.
ICANN's operating agreement with the US government expires at the end of
September. EU information society commissioner, Viviane Reding, said in
a statement: 'This opens the door for the full privatisation of ICANN
and it also raises the question of to whom ICANN should be accountable,
as from 1 October.' She urged US president Barack Obama to agree to a
'new, more accountable, more transparent, more democratic and more
multilateral form of internet governance'.
ICANN decides on what names can be added to the internet's top level
domains (TLDs) such as .com but Reding wants it to become completely
independent, overseen by an independent judicial body as well as a 'G12
for Internet Governance' to discuss internet and security issues. |
| Silicon.com
May 05, 2009 |
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| Wolfram Alpha demos computational knowledge engine |
The Wolfram Alpha search engine, which lets users access and process web
data using natural language search, graphs and statistics, was previewed
last week. Stephen Wolfram, its creator, demonstrated the system at the
Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.
Wolfram explained that he was 'looking for a way to make systematic
knowledge computable' and to 'compute whatever can be computed about the
world'. In his demonstration, he typed in a mathematical question 'in a
cruddy syntax' and the engine replied with the correct answer. Other
questions such as 'What is the GPD of France?' and 'How many internet
users are there in Europe?' were correctly answered and supported with
graphs and other statistics.
Wolfram explained that the system would apply 'a mixture of many clever
algorithms and heuristics, lots of linguistic discovery and linguistic
curation' to search results, in order to provide the best possible
returns using natural language search questions. The system is set for a
May launch at http://www.wolframalpha.com. |
| VNUnet UK
Apr 29, 2009 |
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| Optical disc offers 500GB storage |
A disc that can store 500 gigabytes (GB) of data, equivalent to 100
DVDs, has been unveiled by General Electric. The micro-holographic disc,
which is the same size as existing DVD discs, is aimed at the archive
industry. But the company believes it can eventually be used in the
consumer market place and home players.
Blu-ray discs, which are used to store high definition movies and games,
can currently hold between 25GB and 50GB. Micro-holographic discs can
store more data than DVDs or Blu-ray because they store information on
the disc in three dimensions, rather than just pits on the surface of
the disc.
The challenge for this area of technology has been to increase the
reflectivity of the holograms that are stored on the discs so that
players can be used to both read and write to the discs. The higher
reflectivity that can be achieved, the more capacity for the disc. While
the technology is still in the laboratory stage, GE believes it will
take off because players can be built which are backwards compatible
with existing DVD and Blu-ray technologies. |
| BBC News
Apr 27, 2009 |
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| Innovation: How your search queries can predict the future |
Real-time web search - which scours only the latest updates to services
like Twitter - is currently generating quite a buzz because it can
provide a glimpse of what people around the world are thinking or doing
at any given moment. Interest in this kind of search is so great that,
according to recent leaks, Google is considering buying Twitter.
The latest research from the internet search giant, though, suggests
that real-time results could be even more powerful - they may reveal the
future as well as the present. Google researchers combined data from
Google Trends on the popularity of different search terms with models
used by economists to predict trends in areas such as travel and home
sales. The result? Better forecasts in almost every case.
Projected sales of cars and vehicle parts, for example, can be
extrapolated from the figures for the previous month and this time last
year, but adding in the volume of automobile-related search queries to
the model cut the error rate by 15%. It works because searches reveal
something about people's intentions. For example, a surge in people
using the term 'unemployment insurance' may help predict looming
economic problems. Knowing what people are actually doing, not just
thinking, at a particular instant gives a strong hint of the future
consequences. |
| New Scientist
Apr 30, 2009 |
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