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I bio-engineered glowing beer and it hasn’t killed me (yet)
I've been making beer for about 10 years and, in the name of fun and experimentation, I've done some weird stuff. Toss some sarsaparilla and birch bark in the pot? Why not? "Dry hop" with a box of Apple Jacks? Try and stop me. But I may have finally gone a bit too far, when I genetically engineered a beer to glow green. All right, so how did I do it? With a technology called CRISPR, which is pretty much the belle of the science ball right now. CRISPR stands for "clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats" and it essentially lets you snip out bits of DNA and replace them with whatever you want. It actually relies on a basic feature of bacterial immune systems.
Watch a worm's brain light up as it plots its next move
Scientists have created the first ever video of neurons firing in a freely moving animal, a technique that could lead to greater understanding about how our own brains work. The Princeton-led team first programmed a nematode worm's neurons to create a fluorescent protein that lit up in response to calcium. Since calcium is generally present when a neuron fires, that means they could literally visualize the 1 millimeter-long worm "thinking" as it wriggles around. The resulting video (below) shows 77 of the nematode's 302 neurons working in the top panel, while the bottom panel simultaneously shows its activities and brain position.
Near-infrared dye helps doctors spot cancer
Doctors regularly use dyes to highlight blood vessels that would normally be hard to see, but there's now the possibility that they'll use those chemicals to find cancer, too. Stanford researchers have developed a medical dye that emits light at a near-infrared wavelength, which produces sharper images that are visible at deeper skin layers. That, in turn, would let health care workers detect near-the-surface tumors such as breast cancer and melanoma. It leaves the body within a day, so you wouldn't have to worry about any long-term effects.
Genetically modified mongrel takes drugs, glows in the dark
Labradoodles, Cockapoos and Puggles better make way, there's a new designer breed lighting up the pound -- blacklight-style. Using the same somatic cell transfer technique that birthed the first puppy clone, Korean researchers at Seoul National University created Tegon, a glow-in-the-dark female beagle. The four years in the making, 3.2 billion won ($3 million) genetically modified pup fluoresces when exposed to UV light after ingesting a doxycycline antibiotic. No doubt this Frankenweenie should have Uptown girls and Party kids scrambling for a bank loan, but a high-end canine accessory end is not what the team had in mind. Citing the 268 diseases mutt and man share, lead scientist Lee Byeong-chun believes future lab-made pooches could include "genes that trigger fatal human diseases," paving the way for life-saving treatments. If any of this is ringing your PETA alarm, we don't blame you. We'd much rather see this lambent hooch take the starring role in Tim Burton's next, great reboot. [Image credit via Reuters]
Fluorescent nanosensor tattoo monitors glucose under the iPhone's glare
Unless you're a True Blood diehard, the idea of bleeding yourself intentionally shouldn't really seem all that appealing. So imagine how most diabetics feel when they're forced to prick their fingers seven times a day in the name of health. Well, soon they might not have to thanks to a nanosensor tattoo and... an iPhone? Developed by Prof. Heather Clark and her Northeastern University team, this injection of subdermal nanoparticles combines "fluorescent dye, specialized sensor molecules...and a charge-neutralizing molecule" that attach to glucose, releasing ions and altering the tat's glow in the process. The researchers had originally designed a "large boxlike" tattoo-reading device, but an apparent Apple fanboy on the team modded an iPhone case with LEDs and a filter lens to make the whole affair a bit more stylish. Next up for the team is, you guessed it, an app for that -- although this one'll focus on sodium.
Samsung's LN65B650 LCD takes a 65-inch bite out of CEDIA, no LEDs harmed
Plasma TV's have been retreating from LCDs to the safety of sizes larger than 50-inches, but emboldened LCDs are striking into that territory as well. Embarking on recon from CEDIA is Samsung's LN65B650, a 65-inch behemoth sporting a 4ms response time, 120-Hz Auto Motion Plus frame interpolation, Medi@2.0 connectivity, and Samsung's Touch of Color treatment in grey. All the latest wizardry, you say? Not quite -- it's CCFL backlit; but even without LEDs -- the LN65B650 is probably too big for edge-lighting to cover, and would take roughly a gazillion LEDs to backlight directly -- the real plasma killer here might be the little check mark in the "Energy Star qualified" box. The $6,000 price (and we'd guess ultimate picture quality, too) means that biggie-sized plasmas are safe for now, but we know how prices and performance go with time. Full details on this beast after the break.
AUO preps eco-friendlier 32-inch LCD
Even though there are some sketchy figures bandied about in the mad rush to hop on the "green" bandwagon, the trend of producing more efficient devices with less environmental impact is for real. It looks like LCD manufacturer AUO is spreading its tech bets. Only a couple of months ago, the company was touting LED backlighting for a 44-percent reduction in energy consumption (and better images, to boot). Now the company is planning to show off a 32-inch LCD that it claims will cut consumption by 50-percent and will be market-ready in Q2 2008. No radical new technology here, just good engineering that cuts the number of fluorescent tubes used for the backlighting from 16 down to 4. No doubt that LED backlights are the future, but we'll be more than happy to see fluorescent backlights put some pricing pressure on them. [Thanks, Richard!]
Hitachi and Seiyu develop light bulb with replaceable arc tube
While the rest of the world goes off to win the hearts of environmentalists (and laypeople, too) with LED light bulbs, Hitachi Lighting and Seiyu are taking the road (way) less traveled. Reportedly, the duo has collaborated in order to pop out a "bulb-shaped fluorescent lamp that can be separated into a lighting circuit unit and an arc tube unit." What this means is that the lighting circuit can be used repeatedly (up to 30,000 hours) while the arc tube simply gets replaced every 10,000 hours. The pair is hoping that the bulbs will take the place of traditional 60-watt incandescents, and considering that these only draw around 13-watts each, it's fairly easy to see how Mother Earth would just love you for making the switch. As for pricing, we're hearing that these will sell for around ¥1,500 ($14) apiece when they launch this October in Japan, so don't plan on recouping your investment in energy savings right away or anything.
Researchers create Silly Putty lights, plan on making dollar bill impressions
Someday soon, the phrase "dripping with light" won't just be an abstruse lyric in a post-punk song you've written... light may actually be dripping on things. At least that's what researchers at Nikki Chemical Co. and the Nagoya Institute of Technology hope to see happening by 2010. The team of scientists has created a white, fluorescent material which can be used to create white light, yet can be molded into a number of shapes. The mushy lamps consist of an organic compound, which is coupled with ultraviolet light and a glasslike inorganic compound that gives the substance structural protection. The combo can handle temperatures to 500 degrees Celsius, uses half the power of typical fluorescent lights, and will last longer than white LEDs due to heat resistance. Also, did we mention it's like Silly Putty? [Warning: read link requires subscription]
