Synthetic biology and the rise of the 'spider-goats' Freckles looks like a perfectly normal kid. She has bright eyes, a healthy white pelt and gambols happily with Pudding, Sweetie and her five other siblings, exactly as you might imagine young goats do. Until I fend her off, she's very keen on chewing my trousers. To the casual observer, and to goatherds, she shows no signs that she is not a perfectly normal farmyard goat. Graphene conducts electricity ten times better than expected John Hankinson/Georgia Tech Electrons (blue in this artist's impression) travel nearly unimpeded along ribbons of graphene (black) that have been grown on steps etched in silicon carbide (yellow atoms). Physicists have produced nanoribbons of graphene — the single-atom-thick carbon — that conduct electrons better than theory predicted even for the most idealized form of the material. The finding could help graphene realize its promise in high-end electronics, where researchers have long hoped it could outperform traditional materials such as silicon. In graphene, electrons can move faster than in any other material at room temperature.
The Living Factory: Designing and Manufacturing with Synthetic Biology Central Saint Martins, Textile Futures Research Centre (TFRC) and InCrops are holding an evening of talks and discussion on the opportunities, risks and challenges associated with designing and manufacturing with synthetic biology horizon 2050. The word factory conjures up very specific images, but what if in future a factory resembled a greenhouse? Synthetic biology is an emerging science which allows us to reprogram living organisms with the purpose of generating custom-made materials. Bacteria and algae are re-programmed to produce biofuel or silk, yeast is engineered to make vanilla flavour. Still in its infancy, this science is fast developing and is often presented as a technology which can help us face future sustainable challenges, such as how to produce enough food for 9 billion people, how to develop efficient carbon capture technologies to combat climate change, or even how to use synthetic organisms for bio remediation.
Apple: We’re the patent trolls’ top target, facing 92 lawsuits in 3 years Recent public comments by Apple show that the Cupertino gadget company has reason to believe it's the most popular target of so-called "patent trolls," companies whose only business is suing over patents. "No firm has been targeted by PAEs more than Apple," wrote Apple in public comments filed with the Federal Trade Commission. "Apple has litigated against PAEs 92 times in the past three years alone and has received many more demands." Apple's most recent filings, at the FTC and in Supreme Court amicus briefs, are unusual in the amount of detail they offer about the particulars of its patent battles. The statistical information it revealed comes from internal Apple legal information as well as a study that Apple commissioned conducted by PatentFreedom, a defense-oriented patent consultancy. In its amicus brief for Highmark v.
Grudgingly, Virologists Agree to Redact Details in Sensitive Flu Papers Two groups of scientists who carried out highly controversial studies with the avian influenza virus H5N1 have reluctantly agreed to strike certain details from manuscripts describing their work after having been asked to do so by a U.S. biosecurity council. The as-yet unpublished papers, which are under review at Nature and Science, will be changed to minimize the risks that they could be misused by would-be bioterrorists. But the stricken details may still be made available to influenza scientists who have a legitimate interest in knowing them under a new system the journals and U.S. government officials have been actively debating for some time.
Weekend Diversion: Spider Webs… on drugs? “If I see a spider in my house, I put it in a cup, and then I take it outside. I save it. What is wrong with me?” -Jacqueline Emerson There’s something not only incredibly useful but also beautiful about the intricate structure of a spider web. It’s such a universally admired phenomenon that it’s become a metaphor for many other things, as Welbilt sings you in their song, 5 ways China's WeChat is more innovative than you think Tech in Asia has been covering WeChat, China’s most popular mobile message app, before it even had an English name. Meanwhile, international tech media outlets (including ourselves) have also been following the evolution of other messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Line, Facebook Messenger, and many, many others. Over the past year or so there’s been lots of talk about how these messengers are maturing into “platforms” – or, apps that users will use to buy things, and that business and organizations can use to reach an audience. However, as others have correctly pointed out, it’s not appropriate to lump China’s WeChat alongside these other chat apps. This is in large part because it’s simply far ahead of its like-minded competitors with respect to the “platform” side of things.
Security in H5N1 Bird Flu Study Was Paramount, Scientist Says Q. What was your reaction to efforts to censor the research? A. The draft recommendations reached us at the end of November, and since that time we have been working with the journals and the international organizations to figure out a way to deal with it, because this is an unprecedented issue in science. In principle, we of course understand the statement by the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity and the United States government. New Online Magazine Bridges the Divide Between Art and Science Detail of the cover of the October 2013 issue of SciArt in America, showing the “Observe” exhibition at Williamson Gallery in Pasadena (photograph by Steven A. Heller/Art Center College of Design) It’s no revelation that science and art have long been linked, the curiosity about the workings of the world aligned with artistic creativity. Recently, however, there seems to be more of a movement towards connecting the two worlds into a tighter community. One of these voices — a bimonthly online magazine called SciArt in America — launched in August and published their third issue in December. ”When I came to New York I was sure I would find a science-art community right away, but it was not that easy,” Julia Buntaine, editor-in-chief of the publication, told Hyperallergic.
Are these pictures of water flowing on Mars, right now? I'm not a smart person when it comes to science, but I'm curious if it has to be water? I know they're going with this based on the 'iron/water mixture' idea, but I know that there are methane lakes on Titan so I'm wondering what other possible liquids it could be. Well, they've already done chemical analyses of the soil and atmosphere, so I'd presume they would know if it was methane. Or I hope so, anyway.
Scientist who deliberately created 'Armageddon' bird flu virus in lab says he will not publish details By Fiona Macrae and Katie Silver Updated: 08:38 GMT, 22 December 2011 A super-strain of bird flu that could infect and wipe out millions will not be published by the virologist developers. Dutch scientists who created ‘probably one of the most dangerous viruses you can make' have agreed to leave out details on how to construct the virus from published reports. But the scientists warned that the data had already been shared with hundreds of researchers. The decision was made after the US government warned releasing the details could be kill millions of people if it was used as a weapon of biological warfare. Deadly: The new strain of bird flu could wipe out millions of people at a time
With Emotion Recognition Algorithms, Computers Know What You’re Thinking Back when Google was first getting started, there were plenty of skeptics who didn’t think a list of links could ever turn a profit. That was before advertising came along and gave Google a way to pay its bills — and then some, as it turned out. Thanks in part to that fortuitous accident, in today’s Internet market, advertising isn’t just an also-ran with new technologies: Marketers are bending innovation to their needs as startups chase prospective revenue streams. A handful of companies are developing algorithms that can read the human emotions behind nuanced and fleeting facial expressions to maximize advertising and market research campaigns.
‘Our Mathematical Universe,’ by Max Tegmark Halfway into his new book, “Our Mathematical Universe,” the M.I.T. physicist Max Tegmark describes his “Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde Strategy”: During the day he would do respectable work on mainstream topics in cosmology, but at night he would “transform into the evil Mr.