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Issue no. 38, 2005 Published: Dec 09, 2005
Europe's ministers support space missions
'Data-in, data-out' signals quantum breakthrough
Solar-powered projector could enlighten African villagers
Scientists enter the brain's 'Matrix'
Artificial muscles for robots could be grown on farms
The virtual flat screen
Unusual water recycling device is revealed
Car that can heal its own scratches
Wireless camera can be hurled into danger
Study: technology is 'essential' to children's lives
Buzz off! 'Mosquito' aims to drive away teens

Europe's ministers support space missions
A robotic mission to Mars and an Earth monitoring system are among the new activities to be funded in Europe's space programme over the next three to five years. Ministers from the 17 member states of the European Space Agency (ESA) and Canada meeting in Berlin this week approved a EUR 8.25bn programme - 98 per cent of the funding requested by the agency. A new project called Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES), receives EUR 250m, EUR 50m more than was asked for. This project will integrate all available Earth monitoring data, whether obtained in space or on the ground, and launch a new set of Earth-observation satellites. This will allow scientists to improve their understanding of the climate and to monitor natural disasters and allow the EU to monitor fishing quotas and carry out other surveillance tasks. Another project to get more than was asked for was the Exomars mission. Due to take off in 2011, this will involve sending a rover to search for signs of life on Mars. It will receive EUR 550m over the next six years. This will be complemented by a further EUR 150m to start the development of future robotic and human exploration missions to the Moon and Mars.
PhysicsWeb Dec 07, 2005	back to top

'Data-in, data-out' signals quantum breakthrough
A trick for transferring quantum information from atoms to photons and back again could be used to create impenetrable global communication networks and computers that work at astounding speeds. Two research groups, at Harvard University and at Georgia Institute of Technology, both in the US, separately demonstrated the feat using similar methods. Both teams employed powerful laser pulses to extract quantum information from a cloud of atoms in the form of a single photon. That photon was then transmitted through a normal optical fibre before its quantum state was transferred to a second atomic cloud. There, the quantum state was transferred using further strong laser pulses. Creating communication links between such 'quantum memories' - the clouds of atoms - is crucial to building complex networks that exploit quantum phenomena, such as entanglement and superposition. Quantum networks are extremely sensitive to interference, but hold great promise for secure communications and superfast computing.
New Scientist / Nature Dec 07, 2005	back to top

Solar-powered projector could enlighten African villagers
A solar-powered projector using cheap and simple technology could transform adult education classes in Africa. The Kinkajou projector, named after an South American rodent with exceptional night vision, has been brightening up evening classes in 45 rural villages in Mali since January. It was created by non-profit organisation Design that Matters in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Adult education classes in subjects such as literacy, nutrition and HIV awareness are typically held at night because people need to work during the day. But in villages without electricity, up to 40 students can end up huddled around one or two kerosene lamps. The Kinkajou projector removes this problem. The light source for the device is a 6-watt white LED. This lasts for 100,000 hours and is vastly more robust than the delicate incandescent bulbs used in conventional projectors. The images are provided by a spool of microfilm which can hold 10,000 images and lasts for 40 years. It costs $12, and the only maintenance it requires is charging the 3-kilogram, 12-volt battery pack, using a solar panel.
New Scientist Dec 10, 2005	back to top

Scientists enter the brain's 'Matrix'
In a breakthrough that brings the technology of futuristic film 'The Matrix' closer to reality, neuroscientists at MIT say they have cracked part of the brain's own computer code. The researchers say they have deciphered brain waves used in the recognition of visual images and hope they will be able to mimic brain codes to improve computer algorithms used in artificial vision. Just as the fictional Matrix recreates a virtual universe using a rapid stream of binary code, the brain's processing of visual data also involves high velocity computations. To learn how the brain processes visual input, the researchers trained monkeys to recognise different objects such as faces, toys and vehicles. As the monkeys were confronted by each object, the activity of hundreds of neurons within the vision-related areas of the animals' brains was recorded. Using a computer to crunch the numbers, the scientists discovered that our grey matter actually takes just a split second and uses relatively small numbers of neurons to transmit precise information. The team wants to take more accurate snapshots of the brain's high-speed calculations in the hope of hacking more of the code.
CNN Dec 08, 2005	back to top

Artificial muscles for robots could be grown on farms
Electroactive polymers can now be made out of corn starch, where previously it was only possible to use petroleum. These polymers expand and contract when an electric current is passed through them, potentially making them useful as robot muscles or actuators for nanomachines. Researchers with the US Department of Agriculture in Peoria, Illinois, heated corn starch to break down the crystals then 'doped' the resulting polymer with compounds called halides, which improve conductivity. Corn starch is not only renewable but cheap - about 42 cents a kilogram, according to the DoA. The team is also considering making the polymers from bacterial sludge and seaweed.
New Scientist / Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology Dec 09, 2005	back to top

The virtual flat screen
Video projectors are designed to work by illuminating flat screens or walls, but home and office walls seldom have large, flat areas free. A new system claims to solve the problem by projecting distortion-free images onto areas including corners, ceilings, doors and other irregularities. Irregularities mean that parts of the screen area are at different angles to the projector, distorting the image. But the University of North Carolina, funded by the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), has found a solution using a projector that buries a geometric pattern in the projected picture - criss-cross lines, for example. The embedded pattern can be created by making small changes to only one colour, so it is recognisable to the camera but largely invisible to the human eye. Any shape distortion of the pattern is detected by a camera built into the projector. Software in the projector then pre-distorts the picture until the on-screen pattern is restored to its regular geometry.
New Scientist Dec 08, 2005	back to top

Unusual water recycling device is revealed
British scientists have developed a rooftop vegetation recycling system that allows water to be used twice before being discarded. The Green Roof Water Recycling System, developed by Water Works UK, and scientists at Imperial College London and Cranfield University uses semi-aquatic plants to treat waste washing water, which can then be reused for activities such as flushing toilets. So-called grey water from washbasins, baths and showers is pumped up to the rooftop system, which consists of an inclined framework of interconnected horizontal troughs. Planted in the troughs are specially chosen plants. Dissolved pollutants in the water are taken up by the plants' roots, leaving 'green water', or non-drinkable water. Such water can then be dyed with a vegetable colour to signal its non-potable status, or it can be used to flush toilets or water a garden. The researchers note more than half the water used in homes and workplace does not need to be potable, yet it comes from the same water source that feeds kitchen faucets.
Physorg / UPI Dec 08, 2005	back to top

Car that can heal its own scratches
Car paint that repairs its own scratches has been developed by Japanese car-maker Nissan. The company has developed a clear paint called Scratch Guard Coat that heals itself within a week of minor scuffs. The coating, which the Tokyo-based company says is the first of its kind, contains elastic resin, similar to a rubbery surface, and can expand to repair slight scratches caused by off-road driving, other vehicles and fingernails. Nissan said its new paint can even repair vandals' scratches. Self-repair takes about a week, but pouring warm water over scratches speeds up the process to a matter of minutes. The paint was developed in cooperation with Nippon Paint. It will be offered to customers prepared to pay an extra 52,500 yen (EUR 370) on top of the standard price of Nissan cars, and its makers claim that it will continue to work for about three years.
The Scotsman Dec 06, 2005	back to top

Wireless camera can be hurled into danger
Police officers stepping into hostage standoffs and other dicey situations now have something new to throw into the mix - a baseball-sized camera that can be hurled from afar, survive the landing and wirelessly relay video and audio back to base for two hours. The EyeBall camera weighs less than a pound and is protected by a rugged rubber and polyurethane housing. That allows it to be thrown through windows or bounced off walls. When it comes to a rest, the ball stabilises itself, then begins transmitting footage and sound up to 200 yards away. The EyeBall is the creation of an Israeli company, ODF Optronics, which has sold the devices to the Israeli military and to undisclosed military and law enforcement customers in Asia and Europe.
MSNBC / AP Dec 08, 2005	back to top

Study: technology is 'essential' to children's lives
People between the ages of 12 and 21 are the first generation to feel that technology is an integral part of their lives and not just a 'nice to have,' according to a new Forrester report. The survey covered more than 5,000 youths in the US and Canada between the ages of 12 and 21 who are regular internet users. The results show that mobile technology is considered essential to young people. The study concluded that young people are 'communications junkies'. As evidence, it noted that 83 per cent of respondents use instant messaging compared to 32 per cent of adults. The respondents spend an average of 11 hours a week online and 20 per cent spend more than 20 hours online. About 88 per cent of young males and 63 per cent of young females own game consoles, the study found. The study also found that young people do not discriminate between advertising and editorial content as much as previous generations. The study said that companies should consider these characteristics when developing new products.
Information Week / Mobile Pipeline Dec 06, 2005	back to top

Buzz off! 'Mosquito' aims to drive away teens
A Welsh inventor claims to have found the perfect solution to rowdy youngsters - noise. Howard Stapleton says his device, the 'Mosquito', emits an uncomfortable high-pitched ultrasonic sound that can be heard by children and teenagers but almost no one over 30. It has successfully driven away noisy teens from a grocery store in the Welsh town of Barry and a shop in Stapleton's home town Merthyr Tydfil, making smoking, lounging and foul-mouthed youths a thing of the past. The ability to hear high frequencies deteriorates with age, but some adults might still be able to hear the Mosquito. The Mosquito has turned Stapleton into a media star, with appearances on British TV and radio and interest from as far afield as Australia, the United States and Canada.
MSNBC / Reuters Dec 02, 2005	back to top