Homely Scientist

LOL!  Not really, but learning from how gecko’s stick to walls and even glass, scientists are working on better and better adhesives.
Unbundled, their nanotube tape was nearly as adhesive as a live gecko, but as these same tubes were clustered into bundles, their strength went up. By the time the authors optimized the combination of fiber length and bundle width, their tape was over four times stronger than a gecko: a square centimeter was sufficient to support nearly four kilograms. Although this was weaker than the initial strength of a standard piece of adhesive tape, the “gecko tape” had staying …read more

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 There are very few medical advances that hold both tremendous promise and equal controversy as embryonic stem cells.  Stem cells have the ability to “become” (grow into) any cell in the body.  Embryonic stem stems are the most powerful stem cells, for obvious reasons–they need to make a complete person.  One problem, the only source of embryonic stem cells are human embryos and obtaining them, means destruction of the embryo.  I will not get into this controversy here.  I read today that scientists have been able to take stems cells from mice skin and make them behave like embryonic ones:
(AP) Three …read more

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While we’re not the to point of Johnny Mnemonic, this is a step towards artificial human memory that could be implanted into your brain:
The journey to pack more (proverbial) internal storage into the human brain has been going on for years, but a recent development at Tel-Aviv University could actually bring us one step closer to storing rudimentary memories on a manmade device. Reportedly, a new experiment has shown that it is indeed possible to store said memories “in an artificial culture of live neurons,” which is a fairly significant step towards the “cyborg-like integration of living material into …read more

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 Every summer NASA flies over the Greenland ice sheet to determine its “health”–that is thickness, size, and height.  Essentially how fast is it shrinking:
This summer’s NASA expedition to Greenland has returned with fresh data. Now the analysis begins. One piece of equipment used is an ice-penetrating radar that can find bedrock up to 2 miles below the ice surface. NASA estimates an average drop of 9 inches in the height of Greenland’s glaciers would result in a 0.12-inch rise in global sea levels. Source:Greenland’s ice sheet: The annual checkup | Tech news blog – CNET News.com
 I’m sure when the …read more

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We all know that cleaning a wound is essential to preventing infection. Infected wounds are also irrigated with sterile saline solution to clean them out and reduce infection. So what about water that actually help promote healing by killing pathogens? Pharma company Oculus thinks they are onto something here:

The firm’s Dermacyn topical wound care is an “oxychlorine formulation” using the company’s own Microcyn concoction, which is made by “taking purified water and passing it through a semi-permeable sodium chloride membrane to produce the oxychlorine ions,” and essentially contains “electrically charged molecules which pierce the cell walls of …read more

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This is HUGE.  Sure a successful quantum computer has been tested, but making the chips is the important thing.  Without chips that can be mass produced, making quantum computers is just as much a dream as warp drive.  Now … we’re a step closer:
Enter RIKEN, a team of Japanese researchers who now are able to “controllably couple qubits.” Thought not the first to accomplish this (a team at UC Berkley did so last year), the Japanese findings confirm that qubit coupling is the real deal. Wired calls qubit coupling “analogous to the wiring of transistors on a circuit board. When …read more

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No, I’m not kidding:
The real world version of “kryptonite” – which according to media reports will be officially named “jadarite,” after the place where it was discovered and because it does not contain the element krypton – is white, does not glow and is reportedly harmless to humans and/or natives of the planet Krypton.
Despite the harmless nature of this world’s kryptonite, Superman is far from off the hook. The first storyline in the newly-launched ongoing SUPERMAN CONFIDENTIAL series, from writer Darwyn Cooke (New Frontier) and artist Tim Sale (whose work has been featured on NBC’s “Heroes”), revealed a new take …read more

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Big news yesterday…
A team of astronomers announced they have discovered the smallest and potentially most Earth-like extrasolar planet yet. Five times as massive as Earth, it orbits a relatively cool star at a distance that would provide earthly temperatures as well, signaling the possibility of liquid water.
“The separation between the planet and its star is just right for having liquid water at its surface,” says astronomer and team spokesperson Stephane Udry of the Observatory of Geneva in Versoix, Switzerland. “That’s why we are a bit excited.” Source: All Wet? Astronomers Claim Discovery of Earth-like Planet: Scientific American

Wow!  Cool!  Let’s …read more

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One of the huge problems with solar energy has been a materials science one.  Silicon-based cells are expensive, fragile, and have limited places they can be applied (easily).  Looks like that’s all going to change:
New solar cells developed by Massey University don’t need direct sunlight to operate and use a patented range of dyes that can be impregnated in roofs, window glass and eventually even clothing to produce power.
This means teenagers could one day be wearing jackets that will recharge their equivalents of cellphones, iPods and other battery- driven devices. Source: Solar power breakthrough at Massey – New Zealand …read more

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This isn’t something that I thought I would come across on Zane’s blog, but anyway researchers up here in the Great White North (that would be Canada) have found that a little bacteria loves sugar maple sap and the “output” of that love are some cool bio-polymers:
Researchers in Canada have discovered that maple syrup may aid in the production of bioplastic. It turns out that a form of bacteria called alcaligenes latus has a sweet tooth, and behaves particularly ravenously when exposed to maple sap and syrup. Researchers found that the bacteria not only thrive when added to maple syrup, …read more

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