[tt] KurzweilAI.net Daily Newsletter

Mon Apr 7 14:06:42 UTC 2008

KURZWEILAI.NET NEWSLETTER

NEWS
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Stem Cell Advance Yields Over 140
Cell Types
Medical News Today April 3, 2008
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A team of North American scientists
has unveiled a new technology that
could revolutionize the
industrialization and
commercialization of stem cell
therapies. They have found a method
to produce 140 cell types from human
embryonic progenitor (hEP) cells
(partially differentiated cells).
Current differentiation protocols
are inefficient and...
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Human-Computer Interaction in the
Year 2020
KurzweilAI.net April 7, 2008
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What will human-computer
Interaction (HCI) be like in the
year 2020? That's the focus of a
Microsoft Research report, "Being
Human: Human-Computer Interaction in
the year 2020," just released. Among
its conclusions for the year 2020
and beyond: We're in the Mobility
Era now, but we'll be in the
Ubiquity Era in 2020 and beyond,
with...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8361&m=37981

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Identical Twins' Genes Are Not
Identical
Scientific American April 3, 2008
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University of Alabama at Birmingham
researchers have found that twins'
DNA can differ due to copy number
variants (different number of copies
of the same gene). These differences
in identical twins can be used to
identify genetic regions and genes
that coincide with specific diseases
due to copy number changes.
Differences between identical...
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Alzheimer's Vaccine Clears Plaque
But Has Little Effect On Learning
And Memory Impairment
KurzweilAI.net April 7, 2008
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A promising vaccine being tested
for Alzheimer's disease that clears
beta-amyloid plaques from the brain
does not seem to help restore lost
learning and memory abilities,
according to a new study by
University of California at Irvine
researchers. The results suggest
that treating plaques by themselves
may have limited clinical benefit if...
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Rare genetic mutations protect
against hypertension
KurzweilAI.net April 7, 2008
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Yale University and Howard Hughes
Medical Institute researchers have
found that rare genetic variants can
be associated with a dramatically
lower risk of developing high blood
pressure. High blood pressure is a
condition that affects a billion
people worldwide and contributes
significantly to heart and kidney
disease, and stroke. About 100...
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Single virus gene may cause obesity
New Scientist April 4, 2008
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Louisiana State University
researchers have shown that a single
viral gene from adenovirus-36 can
cause obesity by triggering fat
precursor cells to differentiate
into fat cells. 30 per cent of obese
people and 11 per cent of people of
average weight already have
antibodies against the virus,
suggesting prior infection by
adenovirus-36....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8357&m=37981

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One third of dementia risk
attributable to small vessel disease
KurzweilAI.net April 7, 2008
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University of Washington
researchers studying autopsies have
found that for a third of people who
became demented before death, the
cause was small blood vessel
disease--the cumulative effect of
multiple small strokes caused by
hypertension and diabetes. A person
with this disease experiences no
sensation or problems until the
cumulative effect...
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Meteorites delivered the 'seeds' of
Earth's left-hand life
PhysOrg.com April 6, 2008
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Columbia University scientists
presented evidence today that desert
heat, a little water, and meteorite
impacts may have been enough to cook
up one of the first prerequisites
for life: The dominance of
left-handed amino acids, the
building blocks of life on this
planet. The finding suggests a
higher probability that there is
life somewhere...
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Qutrit breakthrough brings quantum
computers closer
Physics arXiv blog April 4, 2008
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University of Queensland scientists
have built and tested quantum logic
gates that are vastly more powerful
than those that have gone before by
exploiting the higher dimensions
available in quantum mechanics. For
example, a qubit can be encoded in a
photon's polarization. But a photon
has other dimensions which can also
be used to carry...
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In Web World of 24/7 Stress,
Writers Blog Till They Drop
New York Times April 6, 2008
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A growing work force of home-office
laborers and entrepreneurs, armed
with computers and smartphones and
wired to the hilt, are toiling under
great physical and emotional stress
created by the around-the-clock
Internet economy that demands a
constant stream of news and...
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Peering into the Heart, Safely
Technology Review April 7, 2008
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Biomedical engineers are developing
a new heart-imaging method, optical
Fourier-domain imaging, that could
dramatically reduce the time
required for imaging, making it
safer and easier for doctors to
check stents for stability and keep
track of new scar tissue. (LightLab
Imaging/Helios Heart Center)...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8352&m=37981

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Longer-Lasting Batteries for
Laptops
Technology Review April 7, 2008
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Argonne National Laboratory
scientists have developed composite
battery materials that can make
batteries for laptops and cell
phones both safer and longer lived,
while increasing their capacity to
store energy by 30 percent. The new
materials are one example of a new
generation of lithium-ion electrode
chemistries that address the
shortcomings...
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Inside Intel's New Chip
Technology Review April 7, 2008
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Intel's new Atom lineup of small,
low-power chips for the mobile
Internet play well with websites and
are designed to run media, including
high-definition content. They are
also designed for power saving, and
will appear in pocket-sized
computers by summer. In 2009 the
company will release a
next-generation platform called
Moorestown,...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8350&m=37981

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The rise of the emotional robot
New Scientist news service April 5, 2008
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Figuring out just how far humans
are willing to go in shifting the
boundaries towards accepting robots
as partners rather than mere
machines will help designers decide
what tasks and functions are
appropriate for robots. To work out
which kinds of robots are more
likely to coax social responses from
humans, researchers led by Frank
Heger at...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8349&m=37981

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Let Computers Compute. It's the Age
of the Right Brain.
New York Times April 6, 2008
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Now that computers can emulate many
of the sequential skills of the
brain's left hemisphere, Daniel
Pink, author of "A Whole New Mind,"
argues that it's time for our
imaginative right brain, which sees
the entire forest all at once, to
take center stage. Much of the
left-brain-centric work that the
Information Age workers of America
once did --...
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A Shift in the Debate Over Global
Warming
New York Times April 6, 2008
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With recent data showing an
unexpected rise in global emissions
and a decline in energy efficiency,
a growing chorus of economists,
scientists and students of energy
policy are saying that whatever
benefits a cap on greenhouse gas
emissions yields, it will be too
little and come too...
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Hydrogen-powered plane takes off
BBC News April 4, 2008
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The first manned, hydrogen-powered
plane has been successfully tested
in the skies above Spain, Boeing...
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Giant robots could carry lunar
bases on their backs
NewScientist.com news service April 4, 2008
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NASA engineers are testing out a
giant, six-legged robot that could
pick up and move a future Moon base
thousands of kilometers across the
lunar surface, allowing astronauts
to explore much more than just the
area around their landing...
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Uncle Sam searches for a quantum
leap
NewScientist news service April 1, 2008
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Under its new QuEST (Quantum
Entanglement Science and Technology)
program, DARPA has issued a request
for proposal for research projects
that address ""dramatic
improvements" in "the nature,
establishment, control, or transport
of multi-qubit entanglement."
Applications might include parallel
computing power in a quantum
computer and secure...
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Intelligent paint turns roads pink
in icy conditions
New Scientist news service April 4, 2008
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A new temperature-sensitive varnish
developed by researchers at French
company Eurovia can be applied to
road surfaces to warn drivers about
dangerous conditions near freezing.
(Eurovia)...
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Robotic pen guides the hand of the
blind
New Scientist news service April 4, 2008
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The "McSig," a forced-feedback pen,
has been developed by University of
Glasgow researchers to help blind
and visually impaired children write
clearly and consistently by gently
guiding their hand. In addition to
haptic feedback, the system offers
audio cues, with stereo sound
panning to the left and right as the
pen moved horizontally and the...
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