The 'chemputer' that could print out any drug | Science | The Observer. Professor Lee Cronin is a likably impatient presence, a one-man catalyst. "I just want to get stuff done fast," he says. And: "I am a control freak in rehab. " Cronin, 39, is the leader of a world-class team of 45 researchers at Glasgow University, primarily making complex molecules.
But that is not the extent of his ambition. A couple of years ago, at a TED conference, he described one goal as the creation of "inorganic life", and went on to detail his efforts to generate "evolutionary algorithms" in inert matter. He still hopes to "create life" in the next year or two. At the same time, one branch of that thinking has itself evolved into a new project: the notion of creating downloadable chemistry, with the ultimate aim of allowing people to "print" their own pharmaceuticals at home. The idea is very much at the conception stage, but as he walks me around his labs Cronin begins to outline how that "paradigm-changing" project might progress. What would this mean? 32 Innovations That Will Change Your Tomorrow - Interactive Feature. Electric Clothes Physicists at Wake Forest University have developed a fabric that doubles as a spare outlet. When used to line your shirt — or even your pillowcase or office chair — it converts subtle differences in temperature across the span of the clothing (say, from your cuff to your armpit) into electricity.
And because the different parts of your shirt can vary by about 10 degrees, you could power up your MP3 player just by sitting still. According to the fabric’s creator, David Carroll, a cellphone case lined with the material could boost the phone’s battery charge by 10 to 15 percent over eight hours, using the heat absorbed from your pants pocket. Chris Nosenzo The New Coffee Soon, coffee isn’t going to taste like coffee — at least not the dark, ashy roasts we drink today. Analytical Undies Your spandex can now subtly nag you to work out.
The Morning Multitasker The problem with laptops and tablets, says Mark Rolston of the design firm Frog, is that they’re confined by a screen. Bessel beam "tractor beam" concept theoretically demonstrated. Researchers have demonstrated a tractor beam using a Bessel beam (not pictured) is theoretically possible (Photo: Shutterstock) Last year, we looked at three potential “tractor beam” technologies being evaluated by NASA to deliver planetary or atmospheric particles to a robotic rover or orbiting spacecraft. At the time, the third of these, which involved the use of a Bessel beam, only existed on paper. Researchers at Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) have now proven the theory behind the concept, demonstrating how a tractor beam can be realized in the real world – albeit on a very small scale. Haifeng Wang at the A*STAR Data Storage Institute and colleagues studied the properties of Bessel beams, which, unlike normal laser beams, don’t diffract or spread out as they propagate.
The team says the amount of tractor beam force depends on various factors, including the electrical and magnetic properties of the particles. Source: A*STAR Research About the Author. Forces that enable creative design. (Photo: Colourbox) General interest in design is on the rise. Good industrial design may also be the key to successful innovation and commercial success. Unfortunately, however, relatively few Norwegian companies distinguish themselves on the design front. "If Norway is to make a mark in terms of new and future-oriented design, we must dare to do things differently," says Associate Professor Birgit Helene Jevnaker at the BI Norwegian Business School.
In search of industrial design – hidden treasures In her PhD study Jevnaker examined how creative design can be developed through long-term collaboration between enterprising company employees and external specialists in industrial design. Among other things, she followed design development processes at furniture manufacturers Håg and Stokke, the reverse vending solutions company Tomra, and Hamax, a manufacturer of child seats for bicycles, snow sledges, and ski products. Five forces that enable creative design Birgit H. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 1. 2. 3.
Top 10 Ways to Turn Your Retired Gadgetry into the Technology of the Future. Using 3D printing technology to restore ancient treasures of China’s Forbidden City. An example of one of the 3D models created from the arteficts on display at the Palace Museum in Beijing Image Gallery (2 images) We’ve already seen the 3D printing technology that promises to turn a household desk into a mini manufacturing plant used by the Smithsonian Institution to produce replicas of key models for display and traveling exhibitions. Now a 3D printing process is being used to help restore ancient artifacts from China’s Forbidden City. Beijing’s Forbidden City, which houses the Palace Museum, is home to an extensive collection of priceless artwork and artifacts dating back hundreds of years, including the largest collection of preserved wooden structures in the world. Conventional restoration methods involve a painstaking and expensive process of measuring, photographing and manually repairing of objects.
After the shape of the original objects is captured using laser or optical scanners, damaged areas can be digitally restored ready for 3D printing. About the Author. Ocean-powered robotic jellyfish could theoretically run forever. Researchers have created a robot that mimics the motion of a jellyfish and draws energy from the water in which it swims Image Gallery (4 images) Researchers have created a silicone submarinal robot that gets about by mimicking the motion of a jellyfish. The robot is powered by heat-producing reactions catalyzed by its surface, and using hydrogen and oxygen present in the water as fuel. It's claimed that that the Robojelly, so named by its Virginia Tech creators, could run indefinitely, effectively drawing energy from the water in which it swims.
"To our knowledge, this is the first successful powering of an underwater robot using external hydrogen as a fuel source," said Yonas Tadesse, lead author of a Robojelly study, published on Tuesday. The actuators themselves are made of a nickel-titanium shape memory alloy wrapped with multi-wall carbon nanotube sheets which are themselves coated with a catalytic platinum powder. Sources: Institute of Physics, Virginia Tech About the Author. Scientists Have Invented the Lightest Material on&Earth. Image Credit: LA Times Imagine something so light, it can rest on top of a dandelion without disturbing the seeds. This material actually exists, and its creators are claiming it's the lightest substanc on Earth.
In fact, styrofoam is 100 times heavier than this stuff. So, what is it? It's called ultralight metallic microlattice. "The trick is to fabricate a lattice of interconnected hollow tubes with a wall thickness 1,000 times thinner than a human hair," lead author Tobias Shandler of HRL said in a press release. Now, what will the microlattice be used for? Might I suggest extremely expensive -- but lightweight -- Christmas packing material? A Camera That Makes the Speed of Light Look&Slow. JuiceTank iPhone cover integrates collapsible wall charger. The JuiceTank iPhone case's integrated, collapsible electrical plug eliminates the need for a charging cable Image Gallery (9 images) When you think of wireless charging, the JuiceTank iPhone case probably isn't what springs to mind. The new smartphone case from phone accessory maker, Dedicated, features a collapsible electrical plug on the back that fits into any North American wall socket. Connecting the JuiceTank case to a phone not only gives it solid protection without much bulk, but also ensures you'll always have a "cordless" charger with you.
View all The JuiceTank iPhone cover is a concept so straightforward that it's a wonder there isn't a similar product on the market right now. Pressing a spring-loaded button on the back of the case deploys two prongs, which come together to form a plug that will fit most electrical outlets in North America, as well as any other region that uses the same type of socket. The only question is just how useful the JuiceTank would be at home. Absolutely Genius Ideas - StumbleUpon. Data-original="images/genius/29.jpg" class="lazy image"/> data-original="images/genius/75.jpg" class="lazy image"/>
Cambridge scientists use LEGO MINDSTORMS to build bone-making robots. Scientists at Cambridge University have built robots out of LEGO, to assist in their research into creating artificial bone Image Gallery (5 images) Despite what TV shows like CSI would have us believe, a lot of lab work tends to be highly monotonous. It’s the type of work that could be assigned to robots, were it not for the fact that many facilities can’t afford the things, or can’t rationalize bringing one in for a single project. When scientists at Cambridge University were recently faced with a very mindless, repetitive task that was part of their research into creating artificial bone, one of them got creative, and built a couple of robots out of LEGO. View all Department of Engineering lecturer Michelle Oyen is leading a team that is looking at ways of creating bone in the lab, primarily for use in medical implants, but possibly also as a building material – bone has a very good strength-to-weight ratio.
Source: YouTube About the Author Post a CommentRelated Articles. Pin Lights stake your tent and light up your campsite. The Pin Light gives you a safer campsite Pin Lights are an innovative camping concept from a group of designers. The lights are essentially large pins that take the place of tent stakes. Not only do they keep your tent stable in the wind, but they light up your campsite ... so that wee-hour pee doesn't have to be a life-risking affair. The Pin Light was imagined by a team of designers - Kim Jung Su, Kim Dong Hwan, Yoon Ji Soo and Yoon Jae Sun. Similar to yard lighting, Pin Lights are designed to be stuck into the ground. The top of the lamp is diagonal, so that you can hammer it into the ground without smashing the light itself (though I'm sure it'd be easy to slip).
As someone who's tripped on his tent lines and stakes pretty much every time he's camped, I have to say that this could be a very useful design. The design could stand to be tweaked a little, though. The large size also makes Pin Lights pretty impractical for actually staking a tent out. Source: Red Dot About the Author. Download Physical Objects To Your 3D Printer. Download music, movies, games, software! The Pirate Bay - The galaxy's most resilient BitTorrent site. World Economic Forum lists top 10 emerging technologies for 2012. The World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Emerging Technologies has drawn up a list of the top 10 emerging technologies for 2012 (Image: Shutterstock) Our goal here at Gizmag is to cover innovation and emerging technologies in all fields of human endeavor, and while almost all of the ideas that grace our pages have the potential to enhance some of our lives in one way or another, at the core are those technologies that will have profound implications for everyone on the planet.
For those looking to shape political, business, and academic agendas, predicting how and when these types of technologies will effect us all is critical. Recognizing this, the World Economic Forum's (WEF's) Global Agenda Council on Emerging Technologies has compiled a list of the top 10 emerging technologies it believes will have the greatest impact on the state of the world in 2012. 1.
Source: World Economic Forum Blog About the Author Post a CommentRelated Articles. Bruce Sterling on design fictions. Photo by CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP/Getty Images I’m in Tempe, Ariz., today for Emerge: Artists and Scientists Redesign the Future, a conference at Arizona State University. One intriguing new way to think about the future is through the concept of “design fiction.”
When you first hear the phrase, it sounds slightly nebulous. One usefuldefinition calls design fiction “an approach to design that speculates about new ideas through prototyping and storytelling.” Torie Bosch is the editor of Future Tense, a project of Slate, the New America Foundation, and Arizona State that looks at the implications of new technologies. Bruce Sterling, a Hugo Award-winning science-fiction writer, has been one of the most vocal advocates of design fictions.* In the edited conversation below, he explains why design fictions are so important—and what the hell the term means. Slate: So what is a design fiction? Slate: Can you give an example? Here are two design-fiction videos Sterling particularly enjoys: Kids Flex Cultural Muscles. 3D printing, Kickstarter and old-fashioned perseverance: The tools of the modern inventor. The near concurrent rise of Kickstarter and semi-affordable 3D printing means we live in a time when it is easier than ever to be an inventor of physical things.
Kickstarter, the social network which lets members of the public invest, or, more accurately, support and become early adopters of new technology, has opened a completely new route to funding that is both democratic and meritocratic. 3D printing on the other hand means inventors can create test prototypes with relatively little expense and minimal difficulty. But though it may be easier than ever to be an inventor, that is not to say it is at all easy.
Gizmag spoke at length to David Alden, whose spring-loaded Recoil Winder cable management device clearly struck a chord raising more than 14 times the original US$10,000 investment target. Both Kickstarter and 3D printing may have been essential to the development of the Recoil Winder, but Alden's story also demonstrates the need for good old-fashioned perseverance. TED: Ideas worth spreading. Buddhism and the Brain & SEEDMAGAZINE.COM - StumbleUpon. Credit: Flickr user eschipul Over the last few decades many Buddhists and quite a few neuroscientists have examined Buddhism and neuroscience, with both groups reporting overlap. I’m sorry to say I have been privately dismissive. One hears this sort of thing all the time, from any religion, and I was sure in this case it would break down upon closer scrutiny.
When a scientific discovery seems to support any religious teaching, you can expect members of that religion to become strict empiricists, telling themselves and the world that their belief is grounded in reality. They are always less happy to accept scientific data they feel contradicts their preconceived beliefs. But science isn’t supposed to care about preconceived notions. Despite my doubts, neurology and neuroscience do not appear to profoundly contradict Buddhist thought. Buddhists say pretty much the same thing. Mr. Although I despaired, I comforted myself by looking at the overlying cortex. The next day Mr. Zero Gravity Roller Coaster Could Bring Weightless Thrills to Earth | Zero Gravity Roller Coaster 'Vomit Comet' | BRC Imagination Arts | LiveScience. Graphene could find use as world's thinnest anti-corrosion coating.