Issue no. 16, 2008
Published: May 23, 2008 |
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 Carbon nanotubes as dangerous as asbestos |
| MIT researchers create more-powerful fuel cells |
| EU to scrutinise Microsoft's promise to open up Office |
| 'Grasshopper' robot sets high-jump record |
| Cat brain could provide bionic eye firmware |
| False-teeth sensors reveal tongue's twists |
| A gentler way to jump-start the brain |
| UK researchers give biofuels a roasting |
| Hydrogen-powered phones on the horizon |
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| Carbon nanotubes as dangerous as asbestos |
Inhaling carbon nanotubes could be as harmful as breathing in asbestos,
and its use should be regulated lest it lead to the same cancer and
breathing problems that prompted a ban on the use of asbestos as
insulation in buildings, according a new study.
During the study, led by the Queen's Medical Research Institute at the
University of Edinburgh/MRC Centre for Inflammation Research (CIR) in
Scotland, scientists observed that long, thin carbon nanotubes look and
behave like asbestos fibres, which have been shown to cause
mesothelioma, a deadly cancer of the membrane lining the body's internal
organs (in particular the lungs) that can take 30 to 40 years to appear
following exposure. Asbestos fibres are especially harmful, because they
are small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs yet too long for the
body's immune system to destroy.
The researchers reached their conclusions after they exposed lab mice to
needle-thin nanotubes: The inside lining of the animals' body cavities
became inflamed and formed lesions. The study looked only at nanotubes
that emulated fibre behaviour and their potential to cause a certain
type of cancer; other types of nanotubes could affect the body
differently-for better or worse, researchers say. |
| Scientific American / Nature Nanotechnology
May 20, 2008 |
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| MIT researchers create more-powerful fuel cells |
Methanol fuel cells have the potential to replace batteries as a
lightweight power source for portable electronic devices. But fuel-cell
materials are expensive, and fuel cells that consume methanol are
inefficient. In particular, the membranes used in methanol fuel cells
are expensive and waste fuel.
Now researchers at MIT have developed a cheap membrane material that
increases the power output of methanol fuel cells by 50%. They made the
membrane out of layers of polymers whose electrochemical properties can
be precisely tuned to prevent fuel waste and solved a problem that
chemists have been trying to overcome for years.
Methanol fuel cells have two compartments separated by a membrane. On
one side, methanol is stripped of protons and electrons. The protons are
carried through the membrane to the other compartment, where they are
combined with oxygen to form water. The electrons, which cannot cross
the membrane, are forced into an external current that can be used to
power electronic devices. Because water is being created inside the fuel
cell, the membrane is wet. Methanol, which is very soluble in water, is
absorbed by conventional fuel-cell membranes and can cross over to the
other side. This wastes fuel and makes the cathode work harder. |
| Technology Review
May 22, 2008 |
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| EU to scrutinise Microsoft's promise to open up Office |
The European Commission says it will scrutinise a decision by Microsoft
to make its Office programme compatible with a rival document format.
With Microsoft embroiled in an antitrust standoff with Europe's top
antitrust watchdog, the company said on Monday that Office would support
the competiting Open Document Format (ODF) from the first half of 2009.
'It is all about filling in what not only the commission has judged but
also the court of first instance has as their judgement,' competition
commissioner Neelie Kroes said. 'They (Microsoft) are aware what they
have to deliver and have to fill in what was blessed by the first
instance court,' Kroes said.
In September, Microsoft lost an appeal before Europe's second-highest
court against a fine of nearly EUR 500m that EU regulators slapped on
the company in 2004 for abusing its dominant market power. Since its
court victory, the European Commission has launched a new investigation
targeting the interoperability of a broad range of software, including
Microsoft Office, with rival products. In February, the commission hit
Microsoft with a further fine of EUR 899m for defying its 2004 ruling.
Microsoft has lodged an appeal against the decision. |
| EUBusiness / AFP
May 22, 2008 |
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| 'Grasshopper' robot sets high-jump record |
Taking its inspiration from the grasshopper, a tiny two-legged robot
that stores elastic energy in springs has leaped 27 times its own
height, smashing the record of 17 times set by a previous robot. Its
creators hope that swarms of such hopping robots could spread out to
explore disaster areas, or even the surfaces of other planets.
The robot is only 5 centimetres tall, and weighs just 7 grams. A motor
designed to power the vibration unit of a pager drives a system of gears
that gradually wind two metal springs. When they are fully wound and
then released, they straighten two metal legs that propel the robot
upwards. The jumping robot was developed by researchers at the Swiss
Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Hopping provides an effective way for tiny robots to get around on rough
terrain, according to the researchers. Small robots whether legged or
wheeled find even small obstacles insurmountable barriers. Hopping can
be the only way to get over them.
The new robot's motor takes 3.5 seconds to fully recharge the springs,
and its 10 mAh battery is enough to power 108 jumps. Each of its legs
has two segments that attach at an angle, making a knee-like bend in the
legs. Adjusting the angle of the 'knees' makes the robot hop either more
vertically, or further forward. |
| New Scientist
May 21, 2008 |
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| Cat brain could provide bionic eye firmware |
It may not be able to catch mice yet, but software developed in the US
can perceive moving images in much the same way a cat's brain does. The
researchers hope the work will one day lead to implants that make it
possible for people to see without an optic nerve.
Researchers at the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute recorded the
responses of 49 individual neurons in a part of a cat's brain called the
lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN). The LGN receives and processes visual
information from the retina, via the optic nerve, before sending it on
to the cerebral cortex. Using a mixture of simple stimuli, like dots and
bars, and building up to more complex moving artificial scenes, the team
tried to work out the basics of the LGN's response to visual features.
The data made it possible to build a software model of the LGN that can
approximate how the neurons would respond to real scenes. The model was
tested against scenes recorded from a 'catcam' camera attached to a
cat's head. The model's predictions proved to be 80% accurate when shown
artificial scenes, but this figure fell to 60% with natural scenes. The
ultimate goal of the research is to develop an implant that uses visual
data to directly stimulate the LGN of blind people whose optic nerve or
retina has degenerated from lack of use. |
| New Scientist / Neuron
May 21, 2008 |
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| False-teeth sensors reveal tongue's twists |
Dentures fitted with sensors that record pressure exerted by the tongue
are giving researchers at the TIMC lab in France an insight into the
hidden subtleties of the organ's role in producing speech. The data they
collect could help design better voice synthesisers, or make false teeth
and braces that interfere less with speech.
Knowing the pressure the tongue exerts on the teeth during some speech,
for example when making a 'T' sound, has been particularly difficult.
This closure of the vocal tract allows the pronunciation of this
consonant. To model it, researchers must be able to estimate the level
of force applied by the tongue.
The team hid their sensors inside dentures made for 20 volunteers who
had already lost their teeth. Individual devices were tailor-made for
each patient, with one or two sensors embedded inside. These were
positioned on the palette to record tongue pressure when particular
consonants were pronounced. A wire running along the inside of the cheek
ferried the output to a computer, while the sounds a person made were
simultaneously recorded using a microphone. The volunteers were asked to
recite tongue twisters - phrases that are designed to be difficult to
articulate rapidly - to generate the results. |
| New Scientist / Materials Science and Engineering
May 20, 2008 |
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| A gentler way to jump-start the brain |
Electrically shocking the brain is often the only recourse for people
suffering from severe, untreatable depression. While standard
antidepressants have little effect on these patients, electroconvulsive
therapy (ECT) can sometimes jump-start the brain, lifting people out of
depression, at least for a while. But ECT can also carry some serious
side effects, including seizures and memory loss.
Now researchers are exploring a gentler approach to electrically
stimulating the brain. The technique, called transcranial magnetic
stimulation (TMS), uses an external magnetic field to create electric
currents within the brain.
Until recently, researchers experimenting with TMS have only been able
to stimulate superficial brain regions. Now Israeli company Brainsway
has developed a TMS method that reaches deeper into the brain, to
stimulate areas associated with depression and other neurological
disorders. If successful, the therapy could provide a new alternative
for the two-thirds of patients with major depression who fail to respond
to antidepressants. |
| Technology Review
May 19, 2008 |
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| UK researchers give biofuels a roasting |
Scientists have unveiled details of a technique that could boost the
energy of the UK's most popular biofuels by a fifth. A study carried out
by engineers from the University of Leeds suggests that exposing biofuel
crops to a mild thermal process known as 'torrefaction' can boost their
energy potential by 20 per cent.
The process is more usually associated with coffee production, but is
increasingly seen as a desirable treatment for biomass because it
creates a solid product which is easier to store and transport.
The scientists examined energy crops including willow, canary grass and
agricultural residue wheat straw to see what happened when they went
through the torrefaction process. Results showed that the treated
materials needed less time and energy to heat to burning point, and that
they offered increased energy yields on burning. |
| VNUnet UK
May 22, 2008 |
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| Hydrogen-powered phones on the horizon |
French researchers have invented a hydrogen fuel cell as a backup power
source for mobile phones, thus easing dependence on an electricity
supply to charge the gadget.
The gadget, designed to be carried in a belt pouch, has been in
gestation since 2005 with semi-conductor group STMicroelectronics. The
cartridges are being developed by the company Bic, which also makes
pens, lighters and razors.
The product is designed to be part of a 'hybrid' system in which the
phone first draws on the conventional battery for its power and then
taps into the fuel cell if needed. Each cartridge gives the equivalent
of three to five recharges of the traditional battery. |
| PhysOrg / AFP
May 21, 2008 |
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