[tt] KurzweilAI.net Daily Newsletter

Tue Apr 15 14:19:47 UTC 2008

KURZWEILAI.NET NEWSLETTER

NEWS
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Making the World A Billion Times
Better
Washington Post April 13, 2008
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As powerful as information
technology is today, we will make
another billion-fold increase in
capability (for the same cost) over
the next 25 years, says Ray
Kurzweil. "Only technology possesses
the scale to address the major
challenges -- such as energy and the
environment, disease and poverty --
confronting society. That, at least,
is the...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8428&m=40924

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Too many choices -- good or bad --
can be mentally exhausting
PhysOrg.com April 14, 2008
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Researchers from several
universities have found that people
faced with numerous choices, whether
good or bad, find it difficult to
stay focused enough to complete
projects, handle daily tasks or even
take their...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8427&m=40924

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New Ways to Store Solar Energy for
Nighttime and Cloudy Days
New York Times April 15, 2008
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Solar thermal systems are emerging
as an alternative to batteries
(which are not up to efficiently
storing energy on a large scale) for
storing solar energy....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8426&m=40924

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Gauging a Collider's Odds of
Creating a Black Hole
New York Times April 15, 2008
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Some experts say too much hype and
not enough candor on the part of
scientists about the promises and
perils of what they do could
boomerang into a public relations
disaster for science, opening the
door for charlatans and demagogues.
Some in the public have fears about
the Large Hadron Collider, centering
on about creating black holes or...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8425&m=40924

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Traders' raging hormones cause
stock market swings
New Scientist news service April 14, 2008
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Research from the University of
Cambridge suggests that movements of
money in the financial markets are
correlated to stock traders' levels
of two hormones: the steroids
testosterone and cortisol. They
found that when the traders made
more money, they had elevated levels
of testosterone. When the markets
were particularly variable, they had...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8424&m=40924

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IBM Boosts Performance, Cuts Power
Intake on Chips
PC World April 14, 2008
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IBM demonstrated new "high-k/metal
gate" technology that boosts
performance by up to 30 percent and
reduces power consumption by up to
50 percent on chips manufactured
using the 32-nanometer process. IBM
is also developing silicon
nanophotonics technology, which
could replace some of the wires on a
chip with pulses of light on tiny
optical...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8423&m=40924

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Cancer Therapy Without Side Effects
Nearing Trials
Wired April 13, 2008
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A promising new cancer treatment
that may one day replace radiation
and chemotherapy is edging closer to
human trials. Kanzius RF therapy
attaches gold or carbon
nanoparticles to cancer cells
identified by recognition molecules,
and then "cooks" tumors inside the
body with harmless radio waves....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8422&m=40924

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Can the Brain Be Rebooted to Stop
Drug Addiction?
ScientificAmerican.com April 10, 2008
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University of Washington School of
Medicine researchers have discovered
how methamphetamine works its
long-lasting, addictive effects on
the brain. Mice given
methamphetamines for 10 days
(roughly equivalent to a human using
it for two years) had suppressed
activity in the striatum, a
forebrain region that has been
linked to habit-forming...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8421&m=40924

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Terahertz waveguides are step
toward superfast computers
KurzweilAI.net April 15, 2008
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Taking an early step toward
building superfast computers that
run on terahertz waves instead of
electricity, University of Utah
engineers have developed waveguides
that allow for carrying, splitting,
and coupling terahertz signals. The
next step is to make devices, such
as switches, transistors, and
modulators, that operate at
terahertz...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8420&m=40924

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Genetically altered bacteria
recreate predator-prey interaction
KurzweilAI.net April 14, 2008
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A Duke University bioengineer has
developed a living system using
genetically altered bacteria that he
believes can provide new insights
into how the population levels of
prey influence the levels of
predators, and vice-versa. The Duke
experiment is an example of a
synthetic gene circuit, where
researchers load new "programming"
into bacteria...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8419&m=40924

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Look! In the Sky. It's a Rocket
Racer.
New York Times April 14, 2008
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The Rocket Racing League, an
attempt to create a kind of Nascar
of the skies, will hold its first
exhibition races this year, its
founders said. Rocket Racing The
league's co-founder, Peter
Diamandis, said the league fits into
a broader goal of "making space a
firsthand experience" for people,
and driving down the cost of getting
to space...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8418&m=40924

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Dark matter particle discovered?
ScientificAmerican.com April 14, 2008
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The DAMA (DArk MAtter)
collaboration at the University of
Rome is reportedly expected to
announce this week improved
experimental evidence for the
identity of dark matter. Researchers
from Italy stirred up controversy
eight years ago when they announced
they had discovered the identity of
dark matter, the invisible stuff
that's thought to make...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8417&m=40924

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Shooting clouds with lasers
triggers electrical discharge
NewScientist Environment April 14, 2008
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French and German researchers have
used an ultra-high-power, five
terawatt mobile laser to trigger
electrical activity in storm clouds
over New Mexico. The beams created
channels of ionized molecules known
as "filaments" that conduct
electricity through clouds. The
researchers say enhancements could
achieve...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8416&m=40924

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Heating Plug-in Hybrids
Technology Review April 14, 2008
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Major automakers, such as GM and
Ford, are now developing
more-efficient heating and cooling
systems for plug-in hybrid cars,
based on existing thermoelectric
semiconductors, and experimental
materials using nanotechnology
promise to make such systems even
more appealing....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=8415&m=40924

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