archatheist - Slashdot User

Submission + - Laser zaps viruses in blood (pressesc.com)

Submitted by

amigoro

on Tuesday September 04, 2007 @03:28PM

amigoro writes: "Lasers can be used to zap viruses in blood, making the process of disinfecting blood for transfusions more efficient, a father-son team reported in the Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter. The researchers aimed a low-power 425 nm wavelenghth visible laser with a pulse lasting 100 femtoseconds (10-13 second) into glass tubes containing saline-diluted viruses that infect bacteria, also known as bacteriophages and the amount of infectious virus within each cube plummeted 100- to 1000-fold after the laser treatment."

Steve Fossett Missing 317

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday September 04, 2007 @03:13PM from the high-flier dept.

jd writes "Steve Fossett, the first person to fly a plane around the world without refueling, the first person to fly around the world in a balloon, and possibly the record-holder for the highest-altitude glider flight, is missing in Nevada. He is reported to have taken off in a light aircraft last night and has not been seen since. As he had filed no flight plan, would-be rescuers have no idea where to even begin looking. The plane took off from a private airstrip on a ranch at the south end of Smith Valley in western Nevada."

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