Innovation and Technology News http://www.merit.unu.edu/i&tweekly/ UNU-MERIT 2013 An experimental stem−cell treatment, has restored the sight of a man blinded by the degeneration of his retinal cells. The man, who is taking part in a trial examining the safety of using human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) to reverse two common causes of blindness, can now see well enough to be allowed to drive. People undergoing treatment had reported modest improvements in vision earlier in the trial, which began in 2011, but this individual has made especially dramatic progress. The vision in his affected eye went from 20/400 – essentially blind – to 20/40, which is considered sighted. Advanced Cell Technology, the company in Massachusetts that devised the treatment, has so far treated 22 patients who either have dry age−related macular degeneration, a common condition that leaves people with a black hole in the centre of their vision, or Stargardt's macular dystrophy, an inherited disease that leads to premature blindness. In both diseases, people gradually lose retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells. These are essential for vision as they recycle protein and lipid debris that accumulates on the retina, and supply nutrients and energy to photoreceptors – the cells that capture light and transmit signals to the brain. The company is testing treatments for both conditions by turning hESCs into fresh RPE cells, then giving each trial participant a transplant of the cells beneath the retina in one eye. Although the aim of the trial is primarily to check that the stem cells are safe, participants have reported improvements in their sight. The company will publish the outcomes in full when all the results are in. http://www.merit.unu.edu/i&tweekly/html.php?nid=4839 Fri, 24 May 2013 11:48:45 +0200 Africa's greatest river is about to be tamed. The River Congo is set to succumb to a series of giant hydroelectric dams with twice the generating capacity of the world's most powerful hydro−plant, the Three Gorges in China. Last weekend, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and South Africa announced a treaty to develop a giant hydroelectric project at Inga Falls, just downstream of the DRC's capital Kinshasa. The first phase, with a capacity of 4800 megawatts (MW), will generate more power than Egypt's Aswan High Dam, currently Africa's largest−capacity hydropower dam. Construction will start in late 2015. But the eventual aim, say the two governments, is to generate more than 40,000 MW by fulfilling the dreams of engineers since colonial times to harness the full power of the world's second largest river, after the Amazon. At Inga Falls, some 42,000 cubic metres of water rush down a series of giant rapids every second. With the right infrastructure, the force of the River Congo could supply electricity to Nigeria, Egypt and even Europe. The project will not require a large reservoir to store the water needed to turn its turbines, because the river flows unceasingly at high volume. This means that land will not need to be cleared and flooded. http://www.merit.unu.edu/i&tweekly/html.php?nid=4842 Fri, 24 May 2013 11:50:17 +0200 Flash floods are quick and deadly. A drone monitoring system that tracks floods in real time would sound the alarm before the water hits. Existing forecasting models are good at predicting roughly when an area might experience the right mix of conditions to create a flash flood, but they can't say precisely when or where a flood will strike. Christian Claudel at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology outside Jeddah is working on a drone system that could give such cities between 30 minutes and 2 hours of warning, as well as predicting the flood's path. The goal is to launch a swarm of about 10 drones to automatically monitor a potential flash flood. The drones will drop disposable wireless sensors across the region at risk. If the sensors meet floodwater they will be carried away on the current, sending out a simple signal which the drones can track. The drones relay the sensors' changing positions back to a central database, which builds up a model of floodwater flow. The sensors are made of printed circuits on paper, which reduces the cost of the device. The printed sensors act as location tags, pinging a unique ID number to the drones over a short range. This is much cheaper than using dedicated sensors with their own communications systems, which may never be recovered. http://www.merit.unu.edu/i&tweekly/html.php?nid=4838 Fri, 24 May 2013 11:48:17 +0200 Researchers at the Lovley Lab Group at the University of Massachusetts have engineered a strain of electricity−producing bacteria that can grow using hydrogen gas as its sole electron donor and carbon dioxide as its sole source of carbon. The researchers have been studying Geobacter bacteria since Lovley first isolated Geobacter metallireducens in sand sediment from the Potomac River in 1987. Geobacter species are of interest because of their bioremediation, bioenergy potential, novel electron transfer capabilities, the ability to transfer electrons outside the cell and transport these electrons over long distances via conductive filaments known as microbial nanowires. The team studied a relative of G. metallireducens called Geobacter sulfurreducens, which has the ability to produce electricity by reducing organic carbon compounds with a graphite electrode like iron oxide or gold to serve as the sole electron acceptor. They genetically engineered a strain of the bacteria that did not need organic carbon to grow in a microbial fuel cell. http://www.merit.unu.edu/i&tweekly/html.php?nid=4840 Fri, 24 May 2013 11:49:10 +0200 A simple visual test is surprisingly accurate at predicting IQ, according to researchers from the University of Rochester in New York. The study found that people's ability to efficiently filter out visual information in the background and focus on the foreground is strongly linked to IQ. The findings could help scientists identify the brain processes responsible for intelligence. The Rochester team were studying a separate question on visual perception when they found something striking: IQ seemed to be correlated strongly with performance on a visual task. The test asked users to spot the direction of motion on a series of black−and−white stripes on a screen. Sometimes, the lines formed inside a small central circle, and other times, they were large stripes that took up the entire screen. Participants also completed an IQ test. The team noticed that people with higher IQs were good at spotting motion in the small circles, but terrible at detecting motion in the larger black−and−white stripes. The ability to visually filter the motion strongly predicted IQ — in fact, motion suppression (the ability to focus on the action and ignore background movements) was as predictive of total IQ as individual subsections of the IQ test itself. http://www.merit.unu.edu/i&tweekly/html.php?nid=4844 Fri, 24 May 2013 12:44:00 +0200 A radio that is able to change a broadcast depending on where you are and what you are doing has been demonstrated by the BBC. The Perceptive Radio, produced by the corporation's Future Media North Lab, is thought to be a world first. The team produced a computer−generated radio drama where the script altered depending on factors such as weather. The proof−of−concept drama, which used a computer−generated voice for one of the characters, could adapt on the fly according to data pulled from external sources. For instance, it could make reference to local places which would differ depending on where in the world you were. Or it would mention weather conditions that were dependent on what was happening in the real world − such as replacing the phrase 'it's sunny outside' with 'it's raining'. The model also included a microphone which can monitor background noise and determine whether to amplify certain sounds − such as speech − to improve the listening experience. The team hopes this approach can lead to a more immersive listening experience. http://www.merit.unu.edu/i&tweekly/html.php?nid=4843 Fri, 24 May 2013 11:50:38 +0200 There's a lot of talk these days about making a manned run at Mars. But even if we learn to survive 30 years in a space ship, what will we eat along the way? The answer, of course, is pizza − long lasting, self−assembling, 3D−printed pizza. NASA has awarded a USD 125,000 grant to Systems & Materials Research to develop the 3D−printed pies. The proposed printer will be able to assemble different food items from cartridges of basic ingredient powders. With pizza, imagine a slurry of compounds whisked together to make dough, which is then printed onto a hot plate to cook. Next would come a layer of sauce that combines tomato concentrate, oil and water. Finally the 'pizza' is topped with some ominous concoction known only as the 'protein layer'. 3D−printed food may one day be the norm here on Earth. As the world's population rises and we struggle to feed the billions, the researchers believe their work could conserve valuable resources. Hypothetically, 3D−printed food could also be tailored to the nutritional needs of each individual − such as a pregnant woman or an elderly man. An organisation in the Netherlands is already imagining ways to 3D−print food using more sustainable sources such as algae, beet leaves and insects. http://www.merit.unu.edu/i&tweekly/html.php?nid=4841 Fri, 24 May 2013 11:49:40 +0200