[tt] KurzweilAI.net Daily Newsletter

Wed Apr 9 14:09:07 UTC 2008

KURZWEILAI.NET NEWSLETTER

NEWS
====

*************************
Dorgan: Study on oil potential in
Bakken formation to be released
AP April 7, 2008
*************************
Sen. Byron Dorgan says the U.S.
Geological Survey is slated to
release a study Thursday on the oil
potential of the area known as the
Bakken formation in North Dakota,
Montana, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.
In 1995, the Geological Survey
estimated the amount of recoverable
oil in the Bakken at 151 million
barrels. Dorgan says technology has
come...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8392&m=37981

*************************
Harnessing Biology, and Avoiding
Oil, for Chemical Goods
New York Times April 9, 2008
*************************
As petroleum prices go up, the
chemical industry is beginning to
make a transition to a chemical base
derived from plant materials such as
vegetable oils and corn sugar. The
effort to tap biomass for chemicals
runs parallel to the higher-stakes
research aimed at developing
biofuels. Researchers hope that the
two will come together soon to help...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8391&m=37981

*************************
HP unveils small laptop for
schoolkids
AP April 8, 2008
*************************
HP has announced an under-$500
laptop computer called a "Mini-Note"
that weighs less than 3 pounds, with
a screen that measures 8.9 inches
diagonally (prices go up for Windows
Vista models with faster
processors). The Mini-Note will
compete primarily with Intel's
Classmate PCs, Asustek's Eee PC, and
to a lesser extent, the XO laptop
from the...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8390&m=37981

*************************
Social networking sites to go 3D
New Scientist news service April 9, 2008
*************************
Vivaty of Menlo Park, California,
is creating a hybrid of conventional
social networking sites such as
Facebook and virtual worlds like
Second Life. To be offered to
Facebook users, Vivaty users will
get access to a virtual room where
they can adorn the walls with
photos, watch a virtual television
that plays YouTube, invite friends
over to...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8389&m=37981

*************************
Colorado senator calls for
space-based interceptors
EE Times April 8, 2008
*************************
Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) called
Tuesday (April 8) for the addition
of a "space-based layer of
interceptors for ballistic missile
defense" in his opening keynote at
the National Space...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8388&m=37981

*************************
RSA: Chertoff Likens U.S. Cyber
Security To 'Manhattan Project'
Information Week April 8, 2008
*************************
Homeland Security Secretary Michael
Chertoff warned that the damage
caused by a large-scale cyberattack
might result in consequences
comparable to the Sept. 11, 2001,
attack on the World Trade Center.
Chertoff likened the government's
attempt to improve its cybersecurity
to the intensive effort of the
Manhattan Project....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8387&m=37981

*************************
Manufactured buckyballs don't harm
microbes that clean the environment
Nanowerk News April 8, 2008
*************************
Even large amounts of manufactured
nanoparticles, also known as
Buckyballs, don't faze microscopic
organisms that are charged with
cleaning up the environment,
according to Purdue University...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8386&m=37981

*************************
Millennium Foundation Recognizes
Inventors and Technologies That
Changed the World:
ScientificAmerican.com April 8, 2008
*************************
Trailblazing technologies that
improved high-speed long-distance
communication, provided the
blueprint for mobile phone networks,
introduced DNA fingerprinting, and
created new drug delivery systems
were announced Tuesday as finalists
for Finland's 2008 Millennium
Technology Prize. The six scientists
who will share the $1.8-million
award will...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8385&m=37981

*************************
Alligator blood proteins may fight
antibiotic-resistant infections
PhysOrg.com April 8, 2008
*************************
Louisiana State University and
McNeese State University researchers
have found that proteins in
alligator blood may provide a source
of new antibiotics to help fight
infections. Alligators have an
unusually strong immune system that
is very different from that of
humans. It fights microorganisms
such as fungi, viruses, and bacteria
without...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8384&m=37981

*************************
'Darwin chip' brings evolution into
the classroom
NewScientist.com News Service April 8, 2008
*************************
Scripps Research Institute
researchers have created an
automated device that evolves a
biological molecule on a chip filled
with hundreds of miniature chambers.
The molecule, a ligase that stitches
together strands of RNA, became 90
times more efficient after just 70
hours of evolution. All the
reactions occurred in a miniature
chamber on...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8383&m=37981

*************************
Biofuel corn makes enzymes to
digest itself
NewScientist.com News Service April 8, 2008
*************************
Michigan State University, East
Lansing researchers and colleagues
have grown corn engineered to
produce key enzymes needed to break
down cellulose into sugar for use in
making biofuel. The three enzymes
added to the transgenic corn came
from a hot-spring microbe (breaks
cellulose up), a fungus (breaks
cellulose into a pair of sugar...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8382&m=37981

*************************
Needle-size device created to track
tumors, radiation dose
KurzweilAI.net April 9, 2008
*************************
Purdue University engineers are
creating a wireless needle-sized
device designed to be injected into
tumors to tell doctors the precise
dose of radiation received and
locate the exact position of tumors
during treatment. Conventional
imaging systems can provide a 3D fix
on a tumor's shifting position
during therapy, but they are
difficult to...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8381&m=37981

*************************
Prostate cancer metastasis lowered
by blocking inflammation-causing
cells' signal
KurzweilAI.net April 9, 2008
*************************
Northwestern University Feinberg
School of Medicine researchers have
blocked an early step in metastasis
of prostate cancer cells by
interrupting the communication
between the cancer cells and other
cells that promote inflammation.
Recent studies have suggested an
association between chronic
inflammation and cancers of the
prostate, colon,...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8380&m=37981

*************************
Filter removes prions from blood
product used in transfusions
KurzweilAI.net April 9, 2008
*************************
ProMetic Life Sciences researchers
have developed a blood filter able
to remove the prions that cause
variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
(the human form of mad cow disease)
from a blood product used for
transfusions. The filter contains
ligands on a resin scaffold material
that recognize and bind to prions.
It can remove them from red blood
cell...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8379&m=37981

<------Related Company Message------------>

Preserve your health and you just
might "Live Long Enough to Live
Forever," as Ray Kurzweil and Terry
Grossman M.D. discuss in their
best-selling book Fantastic Voyage.
To help you maintain optimum
wellness, Ray and Terry created a
line of natural nutritional
supplements rooted in scientific
research. For details, see
http://www.RayandTerry.com
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/adRedirect.php?id=31&m=37981

<------------------------->

*******************************************************************************
You are currently subscribed to the KurzweilAI.net newsletter as "tt at postbiota.org".

To change your email preferences or unsubscribe, please visit

http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/preferences.html?hash=ca95e1a17def621bf9513aa49e51f2bd&m=37981

To see all news items and new articles, please visit http://www.kurzweilai.net

If you have news or editorial related questions, please reply to: news at kurzweilai.net