by bintangkecil on Saturday, February 20th, 2010 | News, Science | 1 Comment

Top US Scientist, Irving Weissman, said that clinics that offer to “bank” stem cells from the umbilical cords of newborns for use later in life when illness strikes are fraudsters.

Clinics in many countries allow parents to deposit stem cells from their neonate’s umbilical cord with a view to using the cells to cure major illnesses that could occur later in life.

In Thailand, for example, parents pay in the region of 3,600 dollars to make a deposit in a stem cell bank, thinking they are taking out a sort of health insurance for their child.

But Weissman, director of the Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at Stanford University in California, said the well-meaning parents were being fleeced by the stem cell bankers.

“Umbilical cords contain blood-forming stem cells at a level that would maintain the blood-forming capacity of a very young child,” Weissman told reporters at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

“They could also have derived mesenchymal cells — fiberglass-like cells that have a very limited capacity to make scar, bone, fat — but they don’t make brain, they don’t make blood, they don’t make heart, they don’t make skeletal muscle, despite what various people claim,” he said.

Weissman said these “unproven stem cell therapeutic clinicians” tend to set up shop in countries with poor medical regulations, but AFP found websites for umbilical cord stem cell banks in European Union member states and in the United States.

“They do the therapies, then they let the patients go on their own, short of maybe 50-150,000 dollars for a therapy that has no chance — taken away from a family that needs them when they have an incurable disease,” Weissman said.

“It is wrong.”

The International Stem Cell Society is due to issue a report in April about unproven stem cell therapies such as banking a baby’s umbilical cord blood for future use.

via AFP

Tags: AAAS, American Association for the Advancement of Science, cell therapeutic, cell therapies, Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicin, International Stem Cell Society, Irving Weissman, mesenchymal cells, stanford university, stem cell, stem cell banks, stem cell banks fraud, stem cells, umbilical cord, umbilical cord stem cell banks

by nate on Friday, January 22nd, 2010 | News, Science, Tech/Gadget, World | No Comments

Back at the dawn of the Web, the most popular account password was “12345.”

What is “123456″ Password Means to Hackers?

Today, it’s one digit longer but hardly safer.

According to a new analysis, one out of five Web users still decides to leave the digital equivalent of a key under the doormat: they choose a simple, easily guessed password like “abc123,” “iloveyou” or even “password” to protect their data.

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Tags: computer, Hackers, hackers' code, password, popular password, technology, top dangerous passwords, top safest passwords

by bintangkecil on Saturday, January 2nd, 2010 | News, Science | No Comments

Robo-Einstein Learns to Smile - Courtesy Erik Jepsen/UC San Diego

A hyper-realistic Einstein robot at the University of California, San Diego learned, through a process of self-guided machine learning, to make facial expressions (by way of about 30 facial ‘muscles’, each moved by a miniscule servo motor connected to the muscle by a string). Right now, the servos must be set up by an expert so that they pull the muscles in the exact combinations to form facial expressions, but the researchers at the Machine Perception Laboratory at the University are using the Einstein-bot to find ways to automate this process, looking to both machine learning and developmental psychology.

Planetary Nebula NGC 6302 - NASA

The newly-refurbished Hubble Space Telescope sent back its first breathtaking images after being repaired in September. Here, Nebula NGC 6302 with its butterfly wings of 36,000-degree gas.

Ferrofluid - Andrew Magill

Ferrofluids are made up of tiny magnetic fragments of iron suspended in oil (often kerosene) with a surfactant to prevent clumping (usually oleic acid). The fluid is relatively easy to make at home yet extremely expensive to buy on-line. How does $165 a liter sound? Pretty bad, right? Click here to learn how to make ferrofluids on the cheap.

Kurtsystems Horse-Training Car - Courtesy Kurtsystems/Revolve Technologies

A horse trots along a dirt road in Turkey, encased by the Kurtsystems Car equine training system. What may look like a complex horse-drawn carriage is actually a high-tech way to automate the delicate process of training racehorses. The horse isn’t pulling the four-and-a-half-ton, $427,000 vehicle. Rather, the vehicle keeps pace with the animal, and trainers fit the horse with equipment such as an electrocardiogram machine, oxygen masks and movement sensors to monitor its performance. They can then subtly regulate the horse’s speed for optimal training. Mehmet Kurt, the company’s founder, developed the device after his own horse died as a result of overtraining and human error. Kurt wanted a machine that would train horses to their full potential and eliminate such afflictions as lactic acidosis, by alerting trainers to muscular, circulatory and respiratory problems early.

An Aerial View of Yellowstone’s Grand Prismatic Spring - Paul D. Stewart/BBC Earth

The Grand Prismatic hot spring is a deep thermal spring, richly colored by growths of exotic heat-loving micro-organisms. Some believe they offer a glimpse of what the first life on earth would have looked like.

Image from BBC Earth’s Yellowstone: Battle for Life.

Berti the Robot - Ian Nicholson/AP PHOTO

Berti (or Bristol Elumotion Robotic Torso 1), developed by Elumotion, interacts with a Sony Aibo dog robot at the Science Museum in London on Tuesday February 17, 2009. Berti is less than two years old but is helping scientists develop artificial intelligence outstripping anything previously seen before.

Source: PopSci Magazine

Tags: amazing scientific images, berti robot, einstein robot, ferrofluid, kurtsystems, kurtsystems horse training car, nebula picture, Photography, planetary nebula, science, scintific images, yellowstone grand prismatic spring

by nate on Friday, January 1st, 2010 | Design, News, Science, Tech/Gadget | No Comments

If you recently tweeted about how you were chillaxin for the holiday, take note: Fifteen particularly over- or mis-used words and phrases have been declared “shovel-ready” to be “unfriended” by a U.S. university’s annual list of terms that deserve to be banned.

After thousands of nominations of words and phrases commonly used in marketing, media, technology and elsewhere, wordsmiths at Lake Superior State University on Thursday issued their 35th annual list of words that they believe should be banned.

Ripe for exile is “sexting,” shorthand for sexy text messaging, a habit that has caused trouble this year for public figures from politicians to star athletes.

Similarly, list makers showed distaste for tweeting, retweeting and tweetaholics, lingo made popular by users of the popular Twitter networking website. And don’t even get them started on the use of friend as a verb, as in: “He made me mad so I unfriended him on Facebook,” an Internet social site.

One list contributor wanted to know if there was an “app,” short-hand for “application” popularized by the mobile iPhone’s growing array of software tools, for making that annoying word go away.

Male acquaintances need to find another word than “bromance” for their friendships, and the combination of “chillin” and “relaxin’” into “chillaxin” was an easy pick for banishment.

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Tags: banned words, iphone application, iphone language, iphone users, languages, new words, obama, sexting, technology, tweets

by bintangkecil on Tuesday, December 29th, 2009 | News, Science | No Comments

Peter Terren, a physics fanatic from Australia is having a very Tesla Christmas this year, creating a 30-foot electrifying display of yuletide cheer by attaching a rotating rod to the top of a Tesla coil, making for quite the colorful Christmas tree. Using such specialized science tools as a fishing rod and sinker, household power, and a Nikon D300, physician and Tesla buff Peter Terren manipulated 500,000 volts at a time to produce the images seen below.

Nikola Tesla (1856–1943), was a Serbian-American physicist and electrical engineer, inventor of the radio and the electric motor and generator.

Using what he calls “electrickery,” Dr. Terren — known for a few other Tesla coil adventures including an electro-colorful remake of Rodin’s “Thinker” — used a really long exposure on his camera, several different lens filters and his knowledge of physics to create the high-voltage scene, manipulating the rod to create different visual effects.

Nothing in the images is Photoshopped, but someone watching Dr. Terren create the images would see something quite different than the image itself. Rather than a fiery display of colorful plumage, a passerby would see two minutes of intense sparking at the coil while Dr. Terren scrambled about switching filters on the camera from green to yellow to red and so on while gradually raising the rod atop the Tesla coil. But when the camera shutter finally snaps shut 120 seconds later, what’s captured is the bright white light, filtered into Christmas wavelengths.

A Discovery Channel segment about Dr. Terren’s tree is in the works, but you can catch more images below:

Source: Popular Science

Tags: Christmas, dr terren, electric motor inventor, electricity, electrickery, generator inventor, holidays, inventor of the radio, lights, nikola tesla, peter terren, physics, radio inventor, science, tesla, tesla coil, tesla coil christmas tree

by bintangkecil on Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 | Business, News, Science, World | No Comments

The new Boeing 787 Dreamliner finally takes off, more than two years later than the company had planned. About 25,000 people braved the cold and damp to watch the 787 take off.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes’ new airplane is the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, a super-efficient airplane.
In addition to bringing big-jet ranges to mid-size airplanes, the 787 will provide airlines with unmatched fuel efficiency, resulting in exceptional environmental performance. The airplane will use 20 percent less fuel for comparable missions than today’s similarly sized airplane. It will also travel at speeds similar to today’s fastest wide bodies, Mach 0.85. Airlines will enjoy more cargo revenue capacity. Passengers will also see improvements with the new airplane, from an interior environment with higher humidity to increased comfort and convenience. (scroll down for interior pictures of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner)

Shares in Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) fell 0.6 percent to $55.74 after its long-awaited 787 Dreamliner took to the skies for the first time on Tuesday.The stock has risen 18 percent since the end of October and is up 30.5 percent so far this year.

Pilots Michael Carriker and Randall Neville lifted off in the big blue and white jet shortly after 10 a.m. PST from Everett’s Paine Field on a four-hour flight over Washington state, beginning the extensive flight test program needed to obtain the plane’s Federal Aviation Administration certification.

Watch a video of the Boeing’s 787 first flight below:

The plane is the first of six 787s Boeing will use in the flight test program, expected to last about nine months that will subject the planes to conditions well beyond those found in normal airline service. Chicago-based Boeing, which has orders for 840 787s, plans to make the first delivery to Japan’s All Nippon Airways late next year.

The 787 remains Boeing’s best-selling new plane to date, though some airlines have been forced to cancel or postpone purchase plans due to the weak global economy.

The version being tested will be able to fly up to 250 passengers about 9,000 miles. A stretch version will be capable of carrying 290 passengers and a short-range model up to 330.

Here are few pictures of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner interior:

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by bintangkecil on Monday, December 14th, 2009 | Health, News, Science, World | No Comments

An East Tampa house fire that started in the fireplace has prompted local authorities to remind residents to take proper precautions before using a fireplace during cold snaps.

(cold snap: a period of intensely cold and dry weather.)

This afternoon’s fire was at 2904 N. 56th St., at the home of Lewis and Mildred Watson. Lewis Watson had a “big and hot” fire going in the fireplace when he noticed smoke coming from the attic.

Tampa Fire Rescue officials said heat and flames from the fireplace flue got into the attic and started the fire. More than 20 firemen responded from four different fire stations. Damage was estimated at $25,000.

Such fires tend to be more common during cold weather like the Bay area is now experiencing because more people use their fireplaces.

Local fire departments offer the following safety tips:

* Fireplaces need occasional maintenance to assure the flues are clean and intact; use a certified chimney sweep.

* Never leave a fireplace burning unattended; extinguish the fire before going to bed or leaving the house.

* Always use a spark arrestor/metal-mesh screen in front of a fireplace.

* Do not burn paper or other trash in a fireplace.

* Make sure you have a working smoke alarm and carbon monoxide alarm in your home.

FIRE on ICE is a revolutionary fireplace accessory product invented by Mark Georgantas, South Coast Entrepreneur of the Year 2000.

Quoted from their website:
FIRE on ICE ® specially formulated tempered glass is exceedingly CLEAN, environmentally SAFE, and never needs replacing.

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by wildcherry on Monday, December 14th, 2009 | News, Science | No Comments

Delhi,the capital of India, is all set to witness the grand celestial spectacle of Geminids meteor shower, roughly from December13 (Sunday) midnight till early Monday.

SPACE (Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators) Head of Observation Ajay Talwar claims Geminids, one of the most reliable meteor showers, are expected to peak on December 13, with more than 100 meteors entering the earth’s atmosphere per hour.

In 1998, Geminids are supposed have reached a peak of 140 per hour. The Geminids are the debris of a “strange object” called 3200 Phaethon that was earlier thought to be an asteroid but is now classified as an extinct comet.

Earth runs into the stream of debris from 3200 Phaethon every year in mid-December. Bits of dust travelling at 80,000 mph hit our atmosphere, turning into glowing meteors — due to friction — that seem to be emanating from the constellation Gemini, Talwar said.

The first Geminid meteors were spotted in the mid-1800s but then they had only 10-20 shooting stars per hour. Since then, however, the Geminids have grown in intensity.

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