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$550 dock turns a smartphone into a medical lab
Smartphones can now be used as laboratory-grade medical testing devices thanks to new kit designed by the University of Illinois. The transmission-reflectance-intensity (TRI) analyzer attaches to a smartphone to examine blood, urine or saliva samples as reliably as large, expensive equipment, but costs just $550. The technology uses a high-performance spectrometer. First, a fluid sample is illuminated by the phone's internal white LED flash, then the light is collected in an optical fiber. The light is then guided through a diffraction grating into the phone's rear-facing camera, and a reading is provided on-screen.
Scientists' realistic lab-grown gut tissue thrives in mice
A team of scientists have not only created gut tissue that's so close to the real thing, they've also successfully grafted it into mice for the first time. The team converted ordinary skin and white blood cells into pluripotent stem cells, which have the capability to transform into any type of cell. By providing the right nutrients, they were able to induce the stem cells to turn into basic intestinal tissues. But they didn't stop there -- they also created nerves that gave the tissue the ability to pulsate, which is what moves food through our gastrointestinal tract.
Key ingredient of life might have come from comets
Life on Earth might not have developed as we know it without a little sprinkling of sugar from space. A new study by a group of French scientists suggests the possibility that early Earth got its first dose of the simple sugar ribose from comets. Ribose, as you might know, is an important ingredient in RNA, which is one of the three macromolecules essential for life.
The Big Picture: The world's most powerful x-ray laser
This is a photo of the Linac Coherent Light Source or LCLS -- an x-ray free-electron laser in Stanford University's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. It's also dubbed as the most powerful x-ray laser in the world. The SLAC Lab took a group of amateur and pro photographers on a tour of its facilities, giving them the chance to shoot photos of both the LCLS and the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL) for a contest. This image captured by Nathan Taylor is one of the top three entries taken by people from the group and will be submitted to this year's Global Physics Photowalk, which aims to show behind-the-scenes photographs of the world's leading particle physics laboratories. You can see all the winners, including another winning picture by Daniele Fanelli that features toy dinosaurs, along with the other entries that got honorable mention on SLAC's website. [Image credit: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory/Nathan Taylor]
NASA to launch mini lab, test for cancer and disease in space
It's hard to find a good specialist on earth, let alone when you're floating 240 miles above it. That's why NASA will test the Microflow, a breadbox-sized device that instantly detects cancer and infectious diseases, and can even sense the presence of rotten food. The Canadian-made device is a "flow cytometer," which works by analyzing microparticles in blood or other fluids and replaces hospital versions weighing hundreds of pounds. Here on Earth, the device could let people in remote communities be tested more quickly for disease, or permit on-site testing of food quality, for instance. It will be particularly advantageous in space, however, where Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield will test it during his six-month ISS mission, allowing crew to monitor, diagnose and treat themselves without outside help. Now, if we could just get it down to a hand size, and use some kind of radio waves instead -- oh wait, that's not until Stardate -105352.
IBM sees stacked silicon sitting in fluid as the way to power future PCs
Generally, the combination of microchips, electricity and fluids is usually considered an incredibly bad thing. IBM, however, thinks it can combine those three to make super small and super powerful computers in the future. The idea is to stack hundreds of silicon wafers and utilize dual fluidic networks between them to create 3D processors. In such a setup, one network carries in charged fluid to power the chip, while the second carries away the same fluid after it has picked up heat from the active transistors. Of course, 3D chips are already on the way, and liquid cooled components are nothing new, but powering a PC by fluids instead of wires has never been done before. Bruno Michel, who's leading Big Blue's research team, has high hopes for the technology, because future processors will need the extra cooling and reduced power consumption it can provide. Michel says he and his colleagues have demonstrated that it's possible to use a liquid to transfer power via a network of fluidic channels, and they to plan build a working prototype chip by 2014. If successful, your smartphone could eventually contain the power of the Watson supercomputer. Chop, chop, fellas, those futuristic fluidic networks aren't going to build themselves.
Google X lab is full of smart people with crazy dreams and frozen yogurt machines, probably
A Google lab so secret that even some of the company's own employees don't know of its existence? That's Google X -- or it was, before The New York Times ran a profile on the lab's super secret goings-on at an undisclosed location somewhere in the San Francisco Bay Area. Naturally, the paper doesn't have a ton of information about the lab, which some claim is "run like the CIA," though it paints a picture populated by robots who are are learning menial work tasks and how to take photos for Google Maps. There are around 100 concepts in all from the lab that helped give rise to those driverless cars, including social networking dinner plates and internet-connected refrigerators. No word on the lab's production of an adamantium-laced super soldier for the Canadian government, but we're sure it's around there somewhere.
Verizon opens Application Innovation Center in San Francisco, we go eyes-on (video)
Verizon's made good on its promise to open an Application Innovation Center in San Francisco, and kindly invited us down to have a gander. It's much like its sister facility in Boston, except it eschews the LTE focus for one on mobile-app innovation. Developers both big and small will be able to take advantage of several labs, where they'll be privy to Verizon equipment and services "not available elsewhere," all while being a stone's throw from Big Red's in-house engineers and developers. On hand was Qualcomm, whose MDPs garnished the test lab, and Chomp, whose app-search tech powered an impressive nine pane multi-touch App Wall -- allowing one to find and explore apps, replete with informative videos and QR codes for each. Want to know more? Check the gallery, videos and PR after the break. Myriam Joire contributed to this report. %Gallery-130367%
First light wave quantum teleportation achieved, opens door to ultra fast data transmission
Mark this day, folks, because the brainiacs have finally made a breakthrough in quantum teleportation: a team of scientists from Australia and Japan have successfully transferred a complex set of quantum data in light form. You see, previously researchers had struggled with slow performance or loss of information, but with full transmission integrity achieved -- as in blocks of qubits being destroyed in one place but instantaneously resurrected in another, without affecting their superpositions -- we're now one huge step closer to secure, high-speed quantum communication. Needless to say, this will also be a big boost for the development of powerful quantum computing, and combine that with a more bedroom friendly version of the above teleporter, we'll eventually have ourselves the best LAN party ever.
A grand tour of nanotechnology at Nokia Research Center, Cambridge
We've all seen what a bumpy ride Nokia's had over the last few months -- disappointing profits, the departure of a couple of old friends, and the slight delay of the forthcoming N8. Despite all that, Espoo seems to have at least one stronghold that remained unshaken throughout the storm: its research center in Cambridge, UK. Yep, we're talking about the magical place where Nokia and University of Cambridge co-develop the core technologies for the futuristic Morph concept. Actually, "futuristic" might be too strong a word here, as we were fortunate enough to see some of Nokia's latest research at the heart of Morph -- namely flexible circuitry and nanowire sensing -- demonstrated live yesterday. Curious as to how well the demos went? Then read on -- you know you want to.%Gallery-103427%
Inside Apple's 'black lab' wireless testing facilities (update: video)
It's not surprising that after Apple finished explaining the iPhone 4 antenna issues to the press today, the company wanted to go one step further and say "yes, actually, we do test the hell out of these phones before we release them to the public." Though Steve Jobs went over the lengthy and intensive kinds of radio evaluation that goes on at Apple's headquarters, it didn't seem to be enough for the folks in Cupertino. And that, we suspect, is why we were invited (along with a small group of other journalists) to take a brief tour of Apple's Infinite Loop labs. Though we weren't allowed to shoot video or take pictures, we can tell you about what we did -- and what we didn't -- see and hear behind closed doors.
Play against your pets in virtual reality
If you've ever wanted to play something more meaningful than "Fetch!" with your pets, this research project might prove just the thing. A collaboration between the Emerging Art and Architecture Research Group and the Mixed Reality Lab, Singapore, Mice Arena allows your hamster to chase you -- in a virtual reality.By using a tank with an elastic floor, which is manipulated to reflect the digital terrain, pets can experience the virtual world first-hand. It's an interesting idea, though we're hard pressed to see a practical side to it. Still, the researchers are hoping for "unexpected results", so you never know -- we just may learn something after all.[Via Engadget]
