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Comment Cameron test run (Score 1) 165

by RogerRoast (#38544450) Attached to: Running Great Britain? There's an App For That!
Cameron was doing a test run with the ipad to see if he can run the country with it. Now he allowed others to have it, to run the country so that he can run the country with them. Without the ipad the country would have stalled, rocked and capsized as it is an island, as the US congressman mentioned (he probably did not have an ipad).
Technology

Submission + - Graphene's 'Big Mac' -next generation of chips (manchester.ac.uk)

Submitted by RogerRoast
RogerRoast writes: Scientists at the University of Manchester have come one step closer to creating the next generation of computer chips using graphene. By sandwiching two sheets of graphene with another two-dimensional material, boron nitrate, the team created the graphene ‘Big Mac’ – a four-layered structure which could be the key to replacing the silicon chip in computers. The research results were published in Nature Physics

Comment No wonder (Score 1) 203

by RogerRoast (#37621336) Attached to: India Launches $35 Tablet
I recently bought a cell phone accessory through ebay for 50 cents, no shipping charge. The material arrived safely in a padded envelope from Hongkong. Leave alone the postage or the cost of the material, the nice envelope itself will cost more than 50 cents in the United States. So it is no wonder Indians can make a tablet for $35. I am sure eventually we might be able to buy them for $35 and free shipping from India.
Technology

Submission + - Superior Anode For Lithium-Ion Batteries Developed (lbl.gov)

Submitted by RogerRoast
RogerRoast writes: The anode is a critical component for storing energy in lithium-ion batteries. The Berkeley Lab (D.O.E) has designed a new kind of anode that can absorb eight times the lithium of current designs, and has maintained its greatly increased energy capacity after over a year of testing and many hundreds of charge-discharge cycles. According to the research published in Advanced Materials they used a tailored polymer that conducts electricity and binds closely to lithium-storing silicon particles, even as they expand to more than three times their volume during charging and then shrink again during discharge.
Technology

Submission + - Smarter robot arms (mit.edu)

Submitted by RogerRoast
RogerRoast writes: A combination of two algorithms developed at MIT allows autonomous robots to execute tasks much more efficiently and move more predictably. Researchers built the new robotic motion-planning system that calculates much more efficient trajectories through free space. Not only do robots guided by the system move more efficiently, saving time and energy, but they also move more predictably, a crucial consideration if they’re to interact with humans.
Technology

Submission + - Pumping Fluid With No Moving Parts 1

Submitted by RogerRoast
RogerRoast writes: In a study published in Physical Review B, researchers demonstrate for the first time an approach that allows ferrofluids to be pumped by magnetic fields alone. The invention could lead to new applications for this mysterious material. Though numerous industrial, commercial, and biomedical applications for ferrofluids have since been created, the original goal-to pump liquids with no machinery-remained elusive, until now. The ferrohydrodynamic pump method works when electrodes wound around a pipe force magnetic nanoparticles within the ferrofluids to rotate at varying speeds. Those particles closest to the electrodes spin faster, and it is this spatial variation in rotation speed that propels the ferrofluid forward.
Technology

Submission + - Device to generate energy from small vibrations (mit.edu)

Submitted by RogerRoast
RogerRoast writes: Researchers at MIT have designed a device the size of a U.S. quarter that harvests energy from low-frequency vibrations, such as those that might be felt along a pipeline or bridge. The tiny energy harvester — known technically as a microelectromechanical system, or MEMS — picks up a wider range of vibrations than current designs, and is able to generate 100 times the power of devices of similar size. The team published its results in the Aug. 23 online edition of Applied Physics Letters.
Science

Submission + - Hair Growth Signal Dictated by Fat Cells 1

Submitted by RogerRoast
RogerRoast writes: According to an article published in the journal Cell, molecular signals from fat cell (adipocyte) precursors under the skin are necessary to spur hair growth in mice. Yale researchers report in the paper that these cells produce molecules called PDGF (platelet derived growth factors), which are necessary to produce hair growth. The discovery of the source of signals that trigger hair growth may lead to new treatments for baldness. The trick is in getting adipocyte precursors under the skin to talk to stem cells at the base of the hair follicles.
Science

Submission + - First stem cells from endangered species (eurekalert.org)

Submitted by RogerRoast
RogerRoast writes: Starting with normal skin cells, scientists from The Scripps Research Institute have produced the first stem cells from endangered species. Such cells could eventually make it possible to improve reproduction and genetic diversity for some species, possibly saving them from extinction, or to bolster the health of endangered animals in captivity. The study was published in the recent issue of Nature methods.
Science

Submission + - Localizing language in the brain (mit.edu)

Submitted by RogerRoast
RogerRoast writes: A new study by MIT scientists pinpoints areas of the brain used exclusively for language, providing a partial answer to a longstanding debate in cognitive science. According to the study, there are parts of our brain dedicated to language and only language.

After having their subjects perform the initial language task, which they call a “functional localizer,” they had each one do a subset of seven other experiments: one on exact arithmetic, two on working memory, three on cognitive control and one on music, since these are the functions “most commonly argued to share neural machinery with language.” The authors say, the results don’t imply that every cognitive function has its own dedicated piece of cortex; after all, we’re able to learn new skills, so there must be some parts of the brain that are both high-level and functionally flexible.

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