Black Hole Induced Galaxy Existence?

A new scenario has emerged from observations of a black hole without a home, may indicate that black holes may be building their own host galaxy. This may be the long-sought missing link to understanding why the masses of black hole are larger in galaxies that contain more stars. The study suggests that super-massive black holes can trigger the formation of stars

The chicken and egg analogy hence: did a galaxy or black hole come first?

Reference:
Elbaz et al. Quasar induced galaxy formation: a new paradigm? Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2009; 507 (3): 1359 DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/200912848

Clue to Mysterious Biological Clock Cycle

Humans as well as living organisms have a circadian life rhythm, generated from an internal clock. Researchers have found tiny molecules known as miRNAs are central constituents of the circadian clock. This discovery holds an array of applications for the future such as the sleep deprivation and disorders related to daily life cycle.

Reference: Science Daily

Diminishing a Hurricane

Microsoft is steering funds to Intellectual Ventures, a private company that buys and licenses patents and inventions. The next task on the list is killing hurricanes. The idea is using large amounts of cool water from massive floating bowls, deployed by airplane. The temperature must drop at least 4.5 F in order to diminish a hurricane force.

Reference: Home Journal - Popular Mechanics

Arming Immune System against H1N1

Viruses multiply at an incredible pace once it infects the victim, but researchers have developed a screening platform named LEAPS (Ligand Epitope Antigen Presentation System) that identifies epitopes, small parts of virus that elect specific immune reactions. It is guided to immature dendritic cells, immune system's conductors that fight against invaders. The LEAPS technology directs an immune response in a desired direction.

Reference: Technology Review

New Wound Dressing helps Infections from Burns

Statistically, 70% of all people die from infections after severe burns, but a new wound dressing developed at Tel Aviv University could cut that value dramatically. The dressing has fibres that is loaded with drugs like antibiotics to speed up the healing process and dissolve when complete, while eradicating infection causing bacteria. The technology is complex, even though the concept is simple. The wound dressing must maintain a certain level of moisture while acting as a shield and it must allow fluids to leave the wound at a specific rate.

Reference: Science Daily

Runway Test of Solar Plane

The Solar Impulse team have taken the prototype solar aircraft, designed to be the first to fly around the world powered only by solar energy, for successful test runs in Switzerland.



Reference: Wired

32-bit One Instruction Computer

An abstract machine that uses only one instruction, without the need for a machine language opcode is called one instruction set computer. The advantage with RISC is simplifying the CPU core by reducing the complexity of the instruction set allows faster speeds, more registers, and pipelining to provide the appearance of single-cycle execution. There are several ways to construct a single instruction CPU.

Reference: SlashDot

Medical Imaging Improvement with Nanoparticles

Researchers from National Institute of Standards and Technology have discovered a method of using nano-particles to illuminate the cellular interior to reveal its slow processes. The quantum dot nano-particle glows when exposed to light. When coated with organic materials, scientists can manipulate the particle to attract to specific proteins to be examined. The research team focused primarily on characterizing quantum dot properties to target protein inside blood cells to study. However, there are concerns about toxicity and other properties of the nano-particles.

Reference:
Kang et al. Probing dynamic fluorescence properties of single and clustered quantum dots toward quantitative biomedical imaging of cells. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology, 2009 DOI: 10.1002/wnan.62

Pivot Tool

Microsoft experimenting a tool called Pivot that brings a new method of interacting with the Web on the PC. It combines the ideas of web-browsing, web search, image organizing and text information into a graphical interface to help users sift through data. Pivot's potential lies in the ability to see the whole data soup, stir it to see details within or zoom right in to see some of the individual ingredients.

Reference: Fast Company

Flying Spy Bots

The US military wants to shoot off loads of flying, spying robots using missiles to make for faster sureillance and aerial attack. The first time for military: unmanned, long-range, ultra-high speed surveillance. The military refrained from building global strike missles due to similiarity of an atomic attacker which may trigger another world war. Drones coming from missles may give a larger geographic range for surveillance, while analyzing their own video. However, analysts are not equipped to cope with loads of data and parse them in real time.

Reference: Wired

Best Inventions of 2009

1. Philips Electronics low power light bulbs ~ less than 10 watts
2. Smart Thermostat ~ wirelessly relay information from various appliances, indicating consumption
3. Controller-free gaming ~ project Natal by using body movements and voice commands
4. Teleportation ~ University of Maryland's Joint Quantum Institute successfully teleported data from one atom to another a meter away
5. Telescope for Invisible Stars ~ Herschel Space Observatory using infrared interference and temperature fluctuations from earth
6. The AIDS Vaccine ~ not approved for use yet but it is a start
7. Tweeting by Thinking ~ Adam Wilson, doctoral student, tweeted 23 characters just by thinking (people with "locked in" syndrome has hope)
8. Electronic Eye ~ MIT researchers developing a microchip that could help blind people to recognize faces and navigate (in works)
9. Mercury Probe ~ Messenger ship from NASA flyby 141 miles above Mercury's surface
10. The Personal Carbon Footprint ~ Princeton University suggested
11. Solar Shingle ~ Dow Chemical Co. developed new shingle that doubles as a solar panel - cheaper than traditional solar panels and easy to install
12. Handheld Ultrasound ~ GE revealed the Vscan, a medical imaging tool as compact as a cell phone and as powerful as a large ultrasound console (look patent's body)
13. YikeBike ~ no pedalling, folding electric bicycle from New Zealand (charged to 80% capacity in 20 minutes, 20 km/h top speed, 9kg)
14. Vertical Farming ~ Valcent company in El Paso, Texas is pioneering a hydroponic-farming system that grows plants in rotating rows
15. Planetary Skin ~ (can't manage what you can't measure) NASA and Cisco to develop Planetary Skin, a global "nervous system" that integrate land, sea, air and space
16. $20 Knee ~ team in Standford engineering students designed a cheap, natural joint movement knee (made of self-lubricating, oil-filled nylon - flexible, stable)
17. Watchdog for Financial Products ~ make sure financial products are not rigged in favor of firms selling them
18. Electric Microbe ~ Geobacter, tiny hairlike extensions called pili that it uses to generate electricity from mud and waste water (next step, Geobacter-based fuel cells)
19. Bladeless Fan ~ James Dyson designs blade-less non-buffeting air multiplier (safer)
20. Custom Puppy ~ BioArts clone puppies
21. Cyborg Beetle ~ Pentagon's research wing has devised a method of remotely controlling the flight of beetles
22. Biotech Stradivarius ~used two fungi to alter Norwegian spruce and sycamore to resemble the wood Stradivarius (great instrument maker of all time) used
23. Nissan Leaf ~ first fully electric vehicle built for mass production for the global market (145km/h, 100 miles on full charge)
24. Robo-Penguin ~ agility of penguins inspired scientists at Festo's Bionic Learning Network to develop the AquaPenguin (can also swim backwards)
25. Universal Unicycle ~ Honda's U3-X "personal mobility" is a device that combines technology from ASIMO with its omnidirectional driving system (6km/h, 10kg)
26. Youtube Funk ~ took footage of amateur musicians and mixed it together with vocals into video jams of amazing funkiness (all new art form that combines DJing, video montage and art)
27. Dandelion Rubber ~ new, improved dandelion produced 500% more usable late than old weed (switching off a key enzyme)
28. Wooden Bones ~ Italian scientists are using wood to create an artificial bone replacement called carbonated hydroxyapatite (not ready for human testing)
29. Living Wall ~ Patrick Blanc specializes in vertical gardens - greenbeareded exterior of Athenaeum Hotel (260 species of plants, automated irrigation and fertilization systems)
30. School of One ~ Joel Klein piloted a small program in which individualized, technology-based learning takes the places of the old -mix of virtual tutoring, in-class and educational video games
31. No-Punt Offense ~punting on fourth and long near your own end zone decreases the odds of the other team's scoring by only a relatively slim amount (Pulaski won a state championship)
32. Human-powered Vending Machine ~ stationary bicycle to a vending machine, where customer needs to pedal a certain distance to get it
33. Handyman's X-Ray Vision ~ Walleye Technologies, a handheld microwave camera (see through walls)
34. Meet Farms ~ grow parts separately (culturing stem cells from pigs and growing muscle in a petri dish)
35. Packing, Improved ~ University of Mainz team of researchers developed an algorithm that broke the record for fitting a given number of different-size discs into a small circle
36. Foldable Speaker ~ self-powered, 1 watt speakers made of recycled paper ($16, bring music to low-income communities)
37. Levitating Mouse ~ NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab figured how to make tiny critters float in midair using magnets
38. Edible Race Car ~ F3 project, developed at England's university of Warwick(biodesel mix of chocolate and vegetable oil) -coated the radiator in a substance that converts ozone emissions into oxygen
39. High-speed Helicopter ~ Sikorsky's X2 Technology helicopter aims to beat 180 m.p.h at 290m.p.h. (two rotors spinning in opposite directions)
40. Supersuit ~ German Paul Biedermann, wearing Arena's Powerskin X-Glide racing suit, handed Phelps his first major individual international defeat in four years, in 200-m freestyle. (polymeric surface traps air to boost a swimmer's buoyancy, which reduce drag)
41. Eyeborg ~ OmniVision, replace Rob Spence's prosthetic eye with battery-powered, wireless video camera
42. Spiderweb Silk ~ stronger than steel and flexible (Simon Peers 11 ft long spider silk cloth made in Madagascar) -took four years and half a million dollars and more than a million spiders
43. Sky King ~ Japan Origami Airplane Association set world record for longest flight by paper airplane (27.6 seconds)
44. Smart Bullet ~ fire a bullet that explodes where you tell it to, XM25 (microchips that register distance
45. Fashion Robot ~ HRP-$C robot model ($2 million) developed by Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
46. 3-D Camera ~ Fujifirm introduced a 3-D digital camera (10 mega-pixel Fine Pix has two lenses, snap shot of object from different angles)-combined image gives depth
47. Newst Cloud ~ undulatus asperatus, like a rolling seascape
48. World's Fastest (Steam-powered) Car ~ Edwards Air Force Base in California, Burnett clocked 243 km/h

Research Inspired by Wings

Insect wings have evolved into incredible nanoscopic material structures. Some wings are superhydrophobic, meaning they cannot become wet and the tiniest droplet of water is instantly repelled. Researchers are now using insect wings as a model for making self-cleaning. frictionless and superhydrophobic materials. If successful, development of self-cleaning, water-resistant and friction-free coatings for a range of machine components, construction materials and other applications, including nano- and micro- electromechanical systems. The team has carried out atomic force microscopy analysis of the surface of insect wings in order to determine the forces with which fine dust particles stick, or rather don't stick to the wing. The work confirms that only very small forces are needed to shed nanoscopic dust particles, two to twenty nano-Newtons.

Reference:

Micro and nanostructures found on insect wings - designs for minimising adhesion and friction. Int. J. Nanomanufacturing, 2010, 5, 112-128

Penguin DNA Challenges Accuracy of Genetic Dating Techniques

Frozen DNA samples from penguins that died 44,000 years ago in Antarctica challenges the accuracy of traditional genetic aging measurements that underestimate the age of many specimens by several folds. Therefore, a biological specimen determined by traditional DNA testing can be two to six times older. DNA testing may be fundamentally flawed as a result of this discovery. The molecular clock rate is the key in determining the accuracy of genetic analysis.

Reference: Science Daily

Earth's Oceans Extraterrestrial Material?

Scientists suggests that water was not part of Earth's initial inventory but stems from the turbulence caused in the outer Solar System by giant planets.

Reference:
Volatile accretion history of the terrestrial planets and dynamic implications. Francis Albarede. Nature. 29. October 2009.

Humaniod Robot's Task of Door Opening

It is still a challenge for Roboticsts to design humanoid robots to run, open doors and etc. Arisumi, researcher at Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and one of the top centers for humanoid research, explains that opening doors for humanoid robots is a challenge. A large force is needed initially to open a door, especially for old western style doors that spring back. A motion to open the door requires a desired angle and precise support for the entire open action in one-follow through movement. Many other facts need to be considered such as upper body position, foot position, opening angle of the door, angular velocity of the door, impact velocity of the robot and etc. The research team developed a technique and computation for HRP-2 humanoid robot to open the door.

Reference: IEEE Spectrum

Optomechanical Crystal Confines Light and Sound

Physicists and engineers at the California Institute of Technology have developed a nano-scale crystal that traps both light and sound. The interaction of light quanta and sound quanta are strong enough to produce significant mechanical vibrations. Frequencies as high as gigahertz can give devices the ability to send large amounts of information.

Reference: SlashDot

Harnessing Energy from Natural Motions

Scientists have been havesting electricity from the motions of everyday life for years, but efficiencies and methods to capturing energy is limited. The success of these devices is limited because they can only perform well under a narrow band of frequenies. The strategy is to develop a device that can convert a range of vibrations by using magnets to 'tune' the banwidth of the experimental device. The potential of the new approach surpasses conventional linear devices.

Reference:
Samuel C. Stanton, Clark C. McGehee, and Brian P. Mann. Reversible hysteresis for broadband magnetopiezoelastic energy harvesting. Applied Physics Letters, 2009; 95 (17): 174103 DOI: 10.1063/1.3253710

mNPs to Diagnose, Monitor and Treat

Magnetic nano-particles can play a critical role in developing one-stop tools to simultaneously diagnose, monitor and treat a range of common diseases and injuries. Multifunctional particles are being researched and developed to carry signal-generated sub-molecules and drugs. External magnetic forces create a medical means of confirming specific ailments and automatically release healing drugs within a living system.

Reference: Science Daily

Nanofibre Solar Power

Researchers found a new way to make solar power more cheaper and flexible to use. The nano-scale wires built around optical fibres allow more surface area for light to interact with, which improves cell efficiency. Using this technology, photovoltaic generators are foldable, concealable and mobile. Traditionally, silicon based solar cells are most efficient because it absorbs the most light. The new method starts with commerical optical fibre without outer layer and wraps zinc oxide nanowires around the fibre. In addition, light only needs to enter at the ends of the fibre, making it space efficient.

AWE Robotic Wall Project

The eight-degree-of-freedom robowall, powered by electric motors, has multiple touch-screen displays and mobile desk units where users can select six different configurations and fine-tune them.

Iris Recognition

Computer scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) demonstrates that iris recognition algorithms can maintain their accuracy and interoperability for large-scale identity management applicaiton such as cyber security and counterterrorism. Iris recognition has emerged as the second most popular biometric characteristic. The primary work on the technologies is establishing standards for computer algorithms in iris recognition. Currently, there are three competing impage formats and three compression methods going for the international standard.

Reference: Science Daily

The State of Hydrogen Research

Hydrogen fuel cell research is in the midst of a raging debate. There are great challenges to the electric-vehicle infrastructure and most people will overlook the challenges. Many people do not have access to plug-in garages and it would take billions to upgrade the smart grid to coupe with the demand. On the other hand, the cost of mass-producing fuel cells is going down. The biggest issue with electric vehicles is the fact that people lose interest in things that do not produce results quickly.

Reference: Popular Mechanics

Holiday Gift Books for Dad

Wired GeekDad Blog:

1. The Geek Atlas: 128 places where science and technology come alive

2. The Authorized Ender Companion - collects the ins and outs of the universe Card describes characters, places and concepts unique to the series

3. Hacking: The Next Generation - security, cloud infrastructures and social networking

4. Septimus Heap - children fantasy

5. This is Not a Book - unique book for people to uncover their creativity

6. Revenge of the Giants - adventure in spirit of the G series module

7. Masterminds of Programming - classic innovators in the field of programming: Python, BASIC, SQL, Perl

8. Real Utimate Power: The Ultimate Ninja Book - history of ninjas

9. Absinthe & Flamethrowers - how to live fully by living close to the edge, safely, swill absinthe, throw knives, and build a flamethrower

10. One Hundred Essential Things You Didn't Know You Didn't Know: Math Explains Your World

11. Transition - science fiction where people possess other people, so long as these victims reside in a parallel universe

12. The City and the City - science fiction that begins with a murder mystery

13. The Lost Fleet Series

14. The Mysterious Benedict Society Series

15. Caryatids