[tt] KurzweilAI.net Daily Newsletter

Tue Apr 8 14:08:29 UTC 2008

KURZWEILAI.NET NEWSLETTER

NEWS
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Newly discovered 'superinsulators'
promise to transform materials
research, electronics design
PhysOrg.com April 7, 2008
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Scientists at the U.S. Department
of Energy's Argonne National
Laboratory in collaboration with
several European institutions have
found that titanium nitride chilled
to near absolute zero converts to a
superinsulator, with resistance
suddenly increased by a factor of
100,000. Superinsulators could
eventually find their way into a
number of...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8378&m=37981

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As nanotechnology goes mainstream,
'toxic socks' raise concerns
Nanowerk News April 6, 2008
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Ordinary laundering can wash off
substantial amounts of nanosilver
particles from socks impregnated
with the material, Arizona State
researchers suggest. The particles,
intended to prevent foot odor, could
travel through a wastewater
treatment system and enter natural
waterways where they might have
unwanted effects on aquatic
organisms living...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8377&m=37981

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Helping a micromachine to work
Nature News April 7, 2008
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A dilute gas may soon become the
lubricant of choice for
microelectromechanical systems, or
MEMS, devices. (Sandia National
Laboratories, SUMMiTTM Technologies)
By saturating devices with argon gas
containing a small amount of
1-pentanol vapor, they can make
microscopic machines run at least
100,000 times longer without
failing. The...
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One Avatar, Many Worlds
Technology Review April 8, 2008
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Several companies are developing
software to allow people to carry
their avatars from one virtual world
to another, and even out onto
ordinary Web pages. These
developments point to a convergence
between virtual worlds and social...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8375&m=37981

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Solar System's 'look-alike' found
BBC News April 6, 2008
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Astronomers have discovered a
planetary system orbiting a distant
star which looks much like our own.
They found two planets that were
close matches for Jupiter and Saturn
orbiting a star about half the size
of our Sun and about 5,000
light-years away....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8374&m=37981

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Open source 3D printer copies
itself
Computerworld April 8, 2008
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New Zealand software developers are
developing an open-source,
self-copying 3D printer. The RepRap
(Replicating Rapid-prototyper)
printer can replicate and update
itself. It can print plastic
objects, 2D or 3D circuits, and its
own parts, including updates....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8373&m=37981

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Limited nuclear war would decimate
ozone layer
New Scientist news service April 7, 2008
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Apart from the human devastation, a
small-scale nuclear war between
India and Pakistan with 100
Hiroshima-sized bombs would destroy
much of the ozone layer, leaving the
DNA of humans and other organisms at
risk of damage from the Sun's rays,
say University of Colorado at
Boulder...
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Microsoft creates 'instant backing
band' for singers
New Scientist news service April 7, 2008
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Microsoft's MySong software takes a
sung vocal melody as an input and
generates appropriate chords
automatically....
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Reprogrammed Stem Cells work on
Parkinson's
Technology Review April 8, 2008
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MIT and Harvard scientists have
shown that induced pluripotent stem
(iPS) cells can become functioning
neurons when transplanted into the
brains of mice and rats; they also
showed that the cells can improve
symptoms in a rat model of
Parkinson's disease. They used a
previously developed method for
reprogramming cells, in which skin
cells of a...
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Transplanted cells could 'catch'
Parkinson's
NewScientist.com news service April 7, 2008
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Perplexing new studies from Rush
University Medical Center and
Wallenberg Neuroscience researchers
suggest cells transplanted into the
brains of people with Parkinson's
disease (to produce dopamine)
"catch" the disorder from the
surrounding tissue. They studied
brains of three people who'd
received grafts between 11 and 16
years before death....
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First diagnostic test for
Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease
KurzweilAI.net April 8, 2008
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Power3 Medical Products is
launching what it claims is the
first blood test for
neurodegenerative diseases such as
Parkinson's, Lou Gehrig's and
Alzheimer's. The test measures a
suite of 59 protein biomarkers
associated with the presence or
absence of these diseases.
Currently, there are no diagnostic
tests, only clinical diagnosis of...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8368&m=37981

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Stem cells made to mimic disease
BBC News April 7, 2008
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Harvard Medical School and
Nottingham scientists have taken
skin cells from patients with eight
different diseases and turned them
into stem cells, moving one step
closer to using stem cells from
patients themselves to treat
disease....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8367&m=37981

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Dyslexic diversity
Nature News April 7, 2008
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University of Hong Kong researchers
have found that the location of
structural abnormalities in the
brains of children with dyslexia
depends on what language they are
attempting to learn. They used MRI
plus a technique called voxel-based
morphometry to measure the actual
volume of the brain's gray matter at
the key sites that appeared to vary...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8366&m=37981

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Mitochondrial Mutations Make Tumors
Spread
ScienceNOW Daily News April 3, 2008
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University of Tsukuba researchers
and colleagues found that tumor
metastasis can be spurred by
mutations in mitochondrial DNA that
create reactive oxygen species
(ROS). Antioxidants helped prevent
this metastasis in mice. Two
mutations caused the mitochondria to
overproduce ROS, which are toxic,
DNA-damaging molecules.
Transplanting this...
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First direct observations of
protein-synthesis mechanism
PhysOrg.com April 7, 2008
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In a first, UC Santa Cruz
researchers and colleagues have
directly observed the mechanism for
protein synthesis in living cells,
using "optical tweezers" to probe
the physical steps of the ribosome
machine as it translates genetic
code into a protein molecule.
Optical tweezers hold messenger RNA
(Laura Lancaster and Courtney
Hodges) They...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8364&m=37981

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Study Is Setback for Some RNA-Based
Drugs
New York Times April 2, 2008
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University of Kentucky researchers
have found that
RNA-interference-activating drugs
now being tested in clinical trials
do not work by silencing genes but
by activating the immune system.
That could mean these drugs are not
really precise tools and could have
unexpected side effects. The drugs
aim to inactivate a gene
contributing to...
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