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Issue no. 29, 2007 Published: Sep 14, 2007
EC funds counterterrorism tech research
Mirror particles form new matter
Lensless X-ray microscope fits in the lab
Virtual interpreter turns speech into sign language
'Crowd quakes' could be predicted by CCTV analysis
Diamond reveals hidden writings
HP uses technology to create skin patches
Disintegrating polystyrene
Invisibility cloak turns you into ray of light

EC funds counterterrorism tech research
The European Commission will commit EUR 153m to research on counterterrorism technologies. The funding was granted in response to a call from the EU's Seventh Framework Programme, a research program that seeks to develop technologies and knowledge to mitigate threats including terrorism, organized crime and natural disasters. The grants will cover 44 research projects, including the development of automatic surveillance systems for water distribution systems. Funding will also be allocated for the development of a European ballistic database, which will analyse and store firearms information and allow sharing of information among European police forces. Money will also be given to projects studying surveillance of maritime areas, software-defined radio, crisis-management support systems, security checkpoints, video detection of abnormal behaviours in crowds and land border protection. A portion of the funding will also be given to human science topics, such as the perception of security. The organisations coordinating the development of the projects will acquire contracts with the Commission. More than 400 companies, universities and public bodies are involved, including organisations from EU member states, the US, Norway, Turkey and Israel.
CNET News / ZDNet UK Sep 12, 2007	back to top

Mirror particles form new matter
Fragile particles rarely seen in our Universe have been merged with ordinary electrons to make a new form of matter. Di-positronium, as the new molecule is known, was predicted to exist in 1946 but has remained elusive to science. Now, a team at the University of California, has created thousands of the molecules by merging electrons with their antimatter equivalent: positrons. The discovery is a key step in the creation of ultrapowerful lasers known as gamma-ray annihilation lasers. As a result, there is a huge interest in the technology from the military as well as energy researchers who believe the lasers could be used to kick-start nuclear fusion in a reactor. Di-positronium was first predicted to exist by theoretical physicist John Wheeler and its component atoms - positronium - were first isolated in 1951. These short-lived, hydrogen-like atoms consist of an electron and a positron, a positively charged antiparticle.
BBC News / Nature Sep 12, 2007	back to top

Lensless X-ray microscope fits in the lab
The nanoscale X-ray imaging of biological samples could soon be routine in any lab thanks to a breakthrough by physicists in the US. As lenses for X-rays are difficult to make, there has been a lot of research into creating lensless microscopes, which use a computer algorithm to generate images from a sample's diffraction patterns. However, these microscopes rely on coherent X-rays, which normally are only obtainable from large accelerator facilities. Now US researchers have shown that lensless X-ray imaging can be done in the lab using a process called high-harmonic generation. This makes use of a compact source that can produce coherent light, but with a longer wavelength than the desired X-rays. The light is shone into a gas-filled tube where atoms absorb bunches of photons, and then spit out single X-ray photons with a much shorter wavelength. The group used an infrared laser with a wavelength of 780 nm as the light source, and after high-harmonic generation ended up with a coherent X-ray source with a wavelength of 29 nm. They found that these 'soft' X-rays could image objects with a resolution of 214 nm. This is not quite as good as the state-of-the-art microscopes but that fact that the imaging can be performed in any lab could make lensless X-ray microscopy feasible for many researchers.
PhysicsWorld / Physical Review Letters Sep 11, 2007	back to top

Virtual interpreter turns speech into sign language
IBM has developed a computer program that can translate the spoken word into sign language and then sign it out using an animated digital figure, or avatar. The system could pave the way for commercial technology that allows presenters or educators to give lectures that can be accessible to the deaf when no live sign language interpreter is available. Developed at IBM labs in Hursley, England, the Say It Sign It (SiSi) system uses British Sign Language (BSL), which an estimated 55,000 people in the UK use as their first language. SiSi first converts the spoken word into text using speech recognition software and then converts those words into sign language, which are then displayed by an onscreen avatar. The use of a character, instead of text, allows deaf users to see the words in a visual manner more familiar to them. IBM cautions that SiSi is still a prototype and is not yet available commercially, though it expects to expand the product to use other sign languages. It also hopes to include it as a feature in the deaf-accessibility products of other vendors.
CBC news Sep 13, 2007	back to top

'Crowd quakes' could be predicted by CCTV analysis
Pressure waves that travel through tightly-packed crowds on the verge of panic could warn of impending disasters, such as the stampede on Saudi Arabia's Jamarat Bridge during the Hajj of 2006, researchers say. The team studied footage of the tragedy and found crowds can experience sudden changes like shock waves, turbulence, and even 'crowd quakes' when built-up tension is suddenly released. The researchers used software to simplify the video and represent members of the crowd as moving patches of colour. They measured features such as the density, speed, and 'pressure' of the crowd. Previous research suggested crowds move in smooth flows like a fluid, without sharp changes in direction. But, in this study, once the density of the crowd reached more than seven people per square metre this principle broke down. Sharp compression waves moved through the crowd, shifting people back and forth. At even higher densities, the crowd's movement became turbulent. Each person was jostled in random directions. One shove could affect people up to 12 metres away. The researchers hope that in future organisers of events could use their software to analyse live CCTV footage and direct emergency services to areas where the tension is building up.
New Scientist Sep 07, 2007	back to top

Diamond reveals hidden writings
The hidden content in ancient works could be illuminated by a light source 10 billion times brighter than the Sun. The technique employs Britain's new facility, the Diamond synchrotron, and could be used on works such as the Dead Sea Scrolls or musical scores by Bach. Intense light beams will enable scientists to uncover the text in scrolls and books without having to open - and potentially damage - them. Iron gall ink, which is made from oak apples, has been in use from the 12th Century, but causes parchment to deteriorate rendering precious documents unreadable. Both paper and parchment contain collagen, which reacts with iron ink to become gelatine. When dry, gelatine is very brittle; but as soon as it gets wet, it turns into jelly, destroying some documents if they are disturbed. Now, scientists from the University of Cardiff have developed a technique that uses a powerful x-ray source to create a 3D image of an iron-inked document. The team then applies a computer algorithm to separate the image into the different layers of parchment, in effect using the program to unroll the scroll. The team now plans to use the Diamond synchrotron's powerful x-ray source to penetrate many layers of parchment. The synchrotron generates light beams that can probe matter down to the molecular and atomic scale.
BBC News Sep 12, 2007	back to top

HP uses technology to create skin patches
Hewlett Packard says it has found a way to use ink-cartridge technology to make a skin patch that uses tiny needles to deliver precise dosages of drugs. The new patch uses micro-needles that barely penetrate the skin's surface and potentially allow delivery of lower and more precise dosages of medicine with less pain than hypodermic needles. Crospon, a medical device-maker based in Galway, Ireland, will make the patches for consumer use under a license from HP, the companies said.
International Herald Tribune Sep 11, 2007	back to top

Disintegrating polystyrene
Foam polystyrene is a major environmental concern. It is used as a protective packaging for all sorts of products, but it is not biodegradable. Various manufacturers have experimented in making it more environmentally friendly, for example by incorporating cellulose and starch which microbes can break down, or by adding light-sensitive polymers that degrade in sunlight. But researchers at the Polymer Science & Engineering College of Quingdao University of Science & Technology in China say these methods all have serious disadvantages. In particular, it takes too long time for polymers to break down in these ways, they claim. Instead, they have developed a new approach that involves embedding water-absorbing resin particles about 5 micrometres in diameter throughout a chemical like styrene before it is polymerised to form a polystyrene-like material. When the resulting solid comes into contact with water, the resin particles expand, reducing the polymer structure to a powder that should then biodegrade. The team says the rate of disintegration can even be controlled by altering the ratio of ingredients. But a crucial factor is that the resulting foamed polystyrene is cheaper than conventional materials and should therefore be readily adopted by cost-conscious companies that also want to be environmentally responsible.
New Scientist Sep 03, 2007	back to top

Invisibility cloak turns you into ray of light
While true invisibility cloaks may remain forever a dream, the ability to vanish into an ethereal ray of light is still on the cards. A device that bends microwaves around an object has been shown to render it partially invisible, but researchers at the Royal Institute of Technology in Kista, Sweden argue that total invisibility would require the value of some of the cloak's key electrical and magnetic properties to be infinitely large - something that is impossible. A more realistic goal is to remove the part of the cloak where the values should be infinitely large. They have calculated that the resulting cloak renders someone entirely invisible and leaves only a thin line of light in the object's place.
New Scientist / Physical Review Letters Sep 10, 2007	back to top