MetaFilter posts tagged with Technology and research

retrovirally transforming pancreatic cells from adult mice into insulin-producing beta cells

kliuless — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:51:39 -0800

Scientists Repurpose Adult Cells - "Scientists have transformed one type of fully developed adult cell directly into another inside a living animal, a startling advance that could lead to cures for a variety of illnesses and sidestep the political and ethical quagmires associated with embryonic stem cell research." [nature abstract, nature writeup, audio announcement]

There Could Be Blood

kliuless — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 18:36:53 -0800

Andy Grove on Our Electric Future - "Energy independence [viz.] is the wrong goal. Here is a plan Americans can stick to." Perhaps some infrastructure spending^1,2 is in order? [etc., &c., cf.] also see :P - "Tesla Motors Is Delivering Cars" - "Superconducting Power Grid Launches In New York" - "New heights reached in polymer based solar cell efficiency"

[S]pray a sheet of glass with a mixture of dyes combined with a substance called tris(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminium. In combination, the dyes and the glass act as the waveguide, preventing light from escaping. Meanwhile, the interaction between the different dye molecules and those of the tris(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminium allows a quantum-mechanical phenomenon, called Förster energy transfer, to come into play. This eliminates the reabsorption loss by ensuring that light is re-emitted at a frequency which the dye molecules cannot then reabsorb. On top of this—literally—Dr Currie and Dr Mapel have come up with another trick: placing a second sandwich of dye and glass over the first. The upper layer of dye intercepts high-energy light, such as ultraviolet. The lower one captures longer wavelengths that have passed unperturbed through the upper, and also any lower-energy light that has been re-emitted within the top layer and somehow escaped. The upshot is a device that, even as a prototype, converts ten times more of the incident light into electricity than a conventional solar cell. [and btw]

cheers!

Stanford Ovshinsky

kliuless — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 15:23:05 -0800

The Edison of our age? Stanford Ovshinsky may not be a household name, but his inventions have the power to change the world.

Sounds Cool!

paulsc — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 14:41:27 -0800

Sounds Cool! Thermoacoustic refrigeration research at Penn State has been sponsored by Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream company. The aim? To produce an efficient yet environmentally friendly ice cream freezer...[more inside]

Tangible Applications of Science

Gyan — Sat, 22 Oct 2005 17:21:13 -0800

Beyond Discovery - illustrations of the path from research to human benefit

What's up with US science these days??

Fozzie — Tue, 05 Jul 2005 17:56:31 -0800

So yesterday I posted the story about how researchers had discovered that both sexes cared about appearance when selecting dates. Today Stanford (!!) releases the startling discovery that cars get hot when parked in the sun. Meanwhile K State learns that women feel better about their bodies when complemented, and the other shocker story is that problem gamblers share traits with substance abusers. And how about that New Scientist story about the fact we're entering a dark age? So what's up with science lately, particularly in America?

Big Questions of Science

Gyan — Thu, 30 Jun 2005 18:57:47 -0800

Science explores 125 big questions that face scientific inquiry over the next quarter-century. [via]

Mobile-phone radiation damages lab DNA

spock — Tue, 21 Dec 2004 12:50:57 -0800

Mobile-phone radiation damages lab DNA . Sure to be controversial and certainly not the last word, but it raises some interesting points of conversation. Government surveillance becomes much easier with wireless communications and there is a huge corporate financial investment in the infrastructure. Could we really trust the government(s) to tell us if this particular technology was harmful? And at what point would you give serious consideration to giving up a technology that had proved to be such an intrinsic part of your life? Are you addicted beyond the point of no return?
Other media carrying the story via Google News.

The Eyes Have It

stonerose — Wed, 15 Sep 2004 12:08:58 -0800

Eyetracking for fun and profit. The Eyetrack III study observed 46 people for one hour as their eyes followed mock news websites and real multimedia content. This article summarizes their observations. Too impatient to read? Cool transparent heatmap overlay gizmo here. Via the rather cool creativebits.

Let There Be Light

paladin — Sun, 22 Aug 2004 11:36:32 -0800

Let there be light - Canadian researchers have devised a new polymer material by manipulating buckyballs (carbon atoms that look like soccer balls). The technology could be used to create optical (light based) switches to replace electronic network switches. It could lead to an Internet based entirely on light.

Laser-o-vision!

moonbird — Tue, 27 Apr 2004 04:15:03 -0800

Laser-o-vision: A system that projects light beams directly into the eye could change the way we see the world.

mattpfeff — Tue, 08 Oct 2002 09:28:18 -0800

"If you like surfing the web, it is probably because you believe people are basically good." That's the Economist interpreting the results of a recent study by IBM researchers of how cultural characteristics apparently affect people's readiness to adopt new communications technologies.

andrew cooke — Mon, 07 Oct 2002 07:00:09 -0800

this childs game (java applet) is so complex you could use it to construct a computer. the original paper (postscript), is heavy going - if you're not a compter science student but would like to understand more try this wonderful book by one of the authors (example pictures).

dchase — Wed, 28 Aug 2002 09:07:00 -0800

MIT's R&D for the US Army of the future appears to be based on a comic book.

Eloquence — Sun, 25 Nov 2001 11:42:16 -0800

MIT's Erotic Computation Group. "By developing advanced sexual appliances and techniques, we seek to broaden the range of human amative expression and heighten our potential for sexual gratification." Good to see that at least some people are doing research that will benefit all mankind.

skallas — Mon, 27 Aug 2001 01:17:14 -0800

Two months from illiterate to MP3 trading hax0rz. Very cool social experiment showing how easy today's GUIs are to use, especially for kids.

davehat — Wed, 11 Jul 2001 20:54:57 -0800

This breaking story brings a new aspect to a complex debate. Reasearchers in a private clinic in the US have created human embryos specifically for the purpose of extracting stem cells. This seems a good platform on which to discuss the wider issue of the interaction between public/private research funding, technology and life. Here's hoping it won't just end up a pro-life/pro-choice bloodbath.

Steven Den Beste — Sat, 17 Feb 2001 18:02:29 -0800

Bill Joy thinks the world will end unless we stop doing certain kinds of research right now. I think Bill Joy is full of crap, but he has valid points. (More inside)

Steven Den Beste — Sun, 10 Dec 2000 11:11:35 -0800

Lynn Conway is one of the major talents in the history of the development of computers, responsible for major advances without which computers we buy now would be much different. She's also a transsexual, born physically male. While working for IBM she had her sex-change operation, and IBM immediately fired her for it.

faithnomore — Tue, 24 Oct 2000 23:59:23 -0800

Too Much Information? Heavy information overload: the world's total yearly production of print, film, optical, and magnetic content would require roughly 1.5 billion gigabytes of storage. This is the equivalent of 250 megabytes per person for each man, woman, and child on earth.