BBC NEWS | Health | Universal embryo test ‘very near’.
A gene mapping test that can test embryos for almost any inherited disease could be available in the UK within a year, say researchers.
DailyTech – Scientists Use Sudoku to Speed Genome Sequencing.
Scientists thing the new method can save millions in sequencing costs
Scientists at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) have discovered a new method of pooling a multitude of DNA samples for sequencing. The new method is being called DNA Sudoku because it uses a method similar to the math game to greatly increase the speed at which DNA can be sequenced.
The researchers report that DNA Sudoku method allows for tens of thousands of DNA samples, short combinations of polynucleotides with A, T, G, and C bases, to be combined and sequenced. The simultaneous sequencing is done by looking at the letter order and comparing it to the correct order of the known human genome using an algorithm that resembles those used to solve Soduku puzzles.
The ability to do all the sequencing at once is a massive improvement over past methods that allowed only a single DNA sample to be sequenced at a time. It is also an improvement on current techniques that can ideally only combine hundreds of samples.
DailyTech – New Study: Smoking and Second Hand Smoke Cause Brain Damage.
A new study shows that smoking tobacco cigarettes, like consuming alcohol, can lead to severe brain damage, though the mechanism is different. The study also suggests that second hand smoke exposure can also lead to brain damage. (Source: The New York Times)
BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Most complete Earth map published.
The most complete terrain map of the Earth’s surface has been published.
The data, comprising 1.3 million images, come from a collaboration between the US space agency Nasa and the Japanese trade ministry.
The images were taken by Japan’s Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (Aster) aboard the Terra satellite.
BBC NEWS | Health | New cancer drug ‘shows promise’.
Researchers say a new type of cancer treatment has produced highly promising results in preliminary drug trials.
Olaparib is the first successful example of a new type of personalised medicine using a technique called “synthetic lethality” – a subtle way of exploiting the body’s own molecular weaknesses for positive effect.
DailyTech – Micron Prepares Improved 34nm Flash for Better SSDs.
New SSDs should be faster, more power efficient, and smaller thanks to die shrink
BBC NEWS | Health | Hysterectomies a stem cell source.
Discarded fallopian tubes from hysterectomies could be a good source of donor stem cells, say researchers.
DailyTech – Researchers Develop Color Changing Microspheres.
A team of researchers at the University of California, Riverside has been able to fabricate microscopic polymer beads that can change colors instantly with the application of an external magnetic field. The most interesting aspect of the color changing properties of the polymer beads is that the color change can be reversed.
The beads are technically magnetochromatic microspheres and have excellent structural stability according to the researchers. The microspheres are also very compatible with multiple types of dispersion media including water, alcohol, hexane, and polymer solutions. This allows the beads to retain their ability to be magnetically tunable in color when dispersed inside a variety of chemicals.
DailyTech – MIT Patterns New Super-Antenna After Human Ear.
New antenna is ultra wide-band while using 1/100th of the power of a standard antenna
DailyTech – Spaceport America Under Construction in New Mexico.
Virgin Galactic is expected to begin launching tourists into space from the spaceport in 2010, as more than 45,000 people have registered to take a trip from New Mexico. The Spaceport America web site each person will have to pay $200,000 per trip to go up to 50,000 feet into the air before accelerating into space.
Specifically, spacecraft will lift off from a 10,000-foot runway, fly up to 50,000 feet, break free and fly up to 62 miles in total height. Each trip will take around two hours with five minutes of weightlessness.
DailyTech – New Memory Can Store Data Safely for 1,000 Years.
Japanese researchers have come up with a new form of ultra-long term memory that they say can last over 1,000 years. They dub their memory the Digital Rosetta Stone, or DRS memory for short.
The system consists of a stack of four 15-inch wafers, each containing special memory chips. The wafers are sealed with SiO2 and SiN to insulate them from oxygen gas and water. This key feature maintains the humidity at below 2 percent, essentially allowing the long life. The wafers will be built on a 45nm CMOS technology and offer 2.5 Tbits of total memory capacity
In order to get at the memory and read from and write to it, researchers use a electron-beam direct-writing technology. A mask ROM on the chips provides inductive coupling and allows contactless communication.
The test prototype used larger scale 0.18?m CMOS technology and 5mm x 5mm test chips. With the reader and the wafers separated from contact by 0.2 mm, a four-channel communication speed of 150Mbps was achieved, using only 56mW of power.
DailyTech – China Blocks Google Access; Confusion Over Internet Filter Remains High.
Google has been accused of spreading pornography — breaking strict Chinese law — and now both the Google.com and its Chinese language counterpart have been unavailable. Furthermore, Gmail and several other Google-based services also were disabled since Wednesday afternoon China time.
BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Ocean monster shows hidden depths.
For a while during its design, Asahiko Taira told me, the ship became known as “Godzilla-maru”, so unusual and top-heavy were its projected lines.
“We started planning the Chikyu about 15 years ago, and there were some people who thought we were too ambitious,” he recalled.
“But now we can see that the ship is doing what it is designed to do and is opening up new possibilities.”
As director-general of the Center for Deep Earth Exploration (CDex), an arm of Japan’s Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (Jamstec), Dr Taira played a key role in steering the Chikyu from vague concept to steel reality.
The idea was simple. Scientists wanted to drill down into the Earth’s crust – and even through the crust – to get samples from the key zones 6 or 7km down where earthquakes and lots of other interesting geological processes begin; but that was impossible with existing ships.
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