Alt-week peels back the covers on some of the more curious sci-tech stories from the last seven days.
Technology is all relative. We imagine there was a time when even the wheel was the latest must-have gadget. This week we straddle the past and the future of exploration technology to illustrate this point wonderfully. Two very different objects, both a marvel of their time. There are also two hat tips to the every impressive power of mother nature, too. Where else but alt-week? Exactly.
Alt-week peels back the covers on some of the more curious sci-tech stories from the last seven days.
Life -- as they say -- is short. So, you gotta cram in as much as you can while you're here. Right? How about a once in a lifetime trip around Mars? Well, if that's on your bucket list, then you might just be in luck. There's other news pertaining to one of life's biggest events over the fold, too, but we'll leave you to figure out which story that is. Hint: it's not the robotic bird. This is alt-week.
Source: Virtual Press Office
Alt-week peels back the covers on some of the more curious sci-tech stories from the last seven days.
The discovery of what is hoped to be the Higgs boson was an exciting time for anyone with a curious mind. It turns out, that the price of knowledge is often a heavy one. Without putting too much of a negative spin on it... that teeny-weeny boson could predict bad news. On a lighter -- or is that darker -- note, other areas of science and technology bravely march ever-onward with the goal of a better understanding of life, the universe, and tattoos. This is alt-week.
Alt-week peels back the covers on some of the more curious sci-tech stories from the last seven days.
Seven days, 26,000 lightyears, 637 languages, two groups of terrorised rats and one computer that never, ever crashes. We're light on intro, heavy of the numbers. You know the drill by now, this is Alt-week.
Alt-week peels back the covers on some of the more curious sci-tech stories from the last seven days.
The lure of gold, the unpredictable weather and the power of invisibility. What do these three things have in common? We'd argue their almost universal appeal to the human race. Science makes headway in all three of these areas in this edition. On top of that there's a really, incredibly, massive prime number. This is alt-week.
Alt-week peels back the covers on some of the more curious sci-tech stories from the last seven days.
What's black and white, and read all over? This week's dose of sci-tech news, silly. What is less black and white, however, IS where reality ends, and the stuff of science fiction begins. Europe to Australia in 90 minutes? Automatically-melting military technology? A material that hosts multiple universes? It's all here, it's all alt-week.
Curiosity may have spent a while limbering up for the mission ahead, but now it's found evidence of an ancient streambed on Mars that once had "vigorous" water flow. Photos of two rock outcroppings taken by the rover's mast camera between the north rim of Gale Crater and the foot of Mount Sharp reveal gravel embedded into a layer of conglomerate rock. The shape of the small stones indicate to NASA JPL scientists that they were previously moved, and their size (think from grains of sand to golf balls) are a telltale sign that water did the work instead of wind. Evidence of H2O on Mars has been spotted before, but this is the first direct look at the composition of riverbeds NASA has observed from above.
According to Curiosity science co-investigator William Dietrich, it's estimated that water flowed at the site anywhere from thousands to millions of years ago, moved at a clip of roughly 3 feet per second and was somewhere between ankle and hip deep. "A long-flowing stream can be a habitable environment," Mars Science Laboratory Project Scientist John Grotzinger said. "It is not our top choice as an environment for preservation of organics, though. We're still going to Mount Sharp, but this is insurance that we have already found our first potentially habitable environment."
NASA's Curiosity rover finds ancient streambed on Mars, evidence of 'vigorous' water flow originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Sep 2012 02:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Computer World, CNN | 
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Liquid oxygen and kerosene, that's what fuels China's new -- and freshly tested -- rocket engine. When fired up on Sunday, it withstood temperatures as high as 5,432 degrees Fahrenheit (3,000 degrees Celsius) for 200 seconds and powered through almost 20,000 revolutions per minute in a rotational test. "The successful tests confirm the reliability of China's LOX / kerosene engine," test commander Lai Daichu told China Daily. According to China Central Television, the engine is non-toxic, pollution-free and the first of its kind for which China holds proprietary intellectual property rights -- though similar engines have been used by other space agencies. The engine is on track to lend the upcoming Long March 5 rocket a total of 118 tons of thrust, giving it enough oomph to launch a 25-ton payload into low-earth orbit or 14-ton cargo into geostationary orbit. Its expected to haul additional portions of the country's space station and aid lunar exploration, but the first voyage isn't slated until 2014.
[Image Credit: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation]
Filed under: Science
China's new liquid oxygen and kerosene-fueled rocket engine lights up for testing originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Jul 2012 19:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
PermalinkSpace | Xinhua | Email this | Comments 
We've seen fuel cells used in a variety of gadgets -- from cars to portable chargers -- and while medical devices aren't exactly at the top of the list, they're yet another application for these mini power sources. MIT engineers are turning to sugar to make fuel cells for powering brain implants. The scientists developed cells that use platinum to strip electrons from glucose molecules found in a patient's cerebrospinal fluid to create a small electric current. The fuel cells are fabricated on a silicon chip so they can interface with other circuits in a brain implant. The prototype can generate up to hundreds of micro watts, which is enough to power neural implants used to help paralyzed patients move their limbs. Mind you, this technology is years away from making it to market. The next step will be proving that the devices work in animals, which reminds us of one Ricky the rat, who survived a biofuel cell implant back in 2010.
MIT engineers develop glucose-based fuel cell to be used in neural implants originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Jun 2012 20:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
PermalinkExtreme Tech | MIT | Email this | Comments 
We've seen DNA flirt with computing and storage before, but a biological system that can record digital data? That's something different. Stanford researchers used natural enzymes to create rewritable data storage built directly into living cells' DNA. The enzymes can flip DNA sequences back and forth, enabling a programmable, binary-like system where the DNA section is a zero if it points in a particular direction and a one if it points the other way. (Color coding indicates which way a section of genetic code is facing.) The so-called recombinase addressable data (RAD) module can store one bit of information without consuming any power, and in addition to letting scientists switch DNA sequences, it allows them to count how many times a given cell has doubled. That capability could come in handy for studying how cancer spreads, and could even give scientists the ability to "turn off" affected cells. The next step for the scientists will be upping the storage capacity to a byte, which will reportedly take a good ten years. That gives you plenty of time to study up on that science -- for a start, check out a more detailed account of the research in the source link.
Scientists develop rewritable digital storage built into DNA; biological binary exists originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 May 2012 16:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
PermalinkTG Daily | Stanford University School of Engineering | Email this | Comments