In the PNNL process, a slurry of wet algae is pumped into the front end of a chemical reactor. Once the system is up and running, out comes crude oil in less than an hour, along with water and a byproduct stream of material containing phosphorus that can be recycled to grow more algae.
http://phys.org/news/2013-12-algae-crude-oil-million-year-natural.html
A team of physicists has provided some of the clearest evidence yet that our Universe could be just one big projection.
In 1997, theoretical physicist Juan Maldacena proposed1 that an audacious model of the Universe in which gravity arises from infinitesimally thin, vibrating strings could be reinterpreted in terms of well-established physics. The mathematically intricate world of strings, which exist in nine dimensions of space plus one of time, would be merely a hologram: the real action would play out in a simpler, flatter cosmos where there is no gravity.
via Simulations back up theory that Universe is a hologram : Nature News & Comment.
ie models that work in lower dimensional universes, can be proven to work in higher dimensional universes. This means that we are projected ‘up’ from lower dimensions.
Now the following article becomes properly relevant because of the above article: A Link Between Wormholes and Quantum Entanglement.
wo independent teams of scientists say that it should also be possible to create a wormhole connection between two ordinary quantum particles, such as quarks that make up protons and neutrons.
This article was detracted as being a fun mathematical excercise but impractical because it only worked in a lower dimensional universe. Now, however we know that our universe is a projection of that universe, and so the laws that hold there, definitely hold here and are practical.
Experiments showed that a traumatic event could affect the DNA in sperm and alter the brains and behaviour of subsequent generations. A Nature Neuroscience study shows mice trained to avoid a smell passed their aversion on to their “grandchildren”. The animals were trained to fear a smell similar to cherry blossom. The team at the Emory University School of Medicine, in the US, then looked at what was happening inside the sperm. They showed a section of DNA responsible for sensitivity to the cherry blossom scent was made more active in the mice’s sperm. Both the mice’s offspring, and their offspring, were “extremely sensitive” to cherry blossom and would avoid the scent, despite never having experiencing it in their lives. hanges in brain structure were also found. “The experiences of a parent, even before conceiving, markedly influence both structure and function in the nervous system of subsequent generations,” the report concluded.
The findings provide evidence of “transgenerational epigenetic inheritance” – that the environment can affect an individual’s genetics, which can in turn be passed on.
via BBC News – ‘Memories’ pass between generations.
Using inexpensive materials configured and tuned to capture microwave signals, researchers at Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering have designed a power-harvesting device with efficiency similar to that of modern solar panels.
The device wirelessly converts the microwave signal to direct current voltage capable of recharging a cell phone battery or other small electronic device, according to a report appearing in the journal Applied Physics Letters in December 2013. (It is now available online.)
It operates on a similar principle to solar panels, which convert light energy into electrical current. But this versatile energy harvester could be tuned to harvest the signal from other energy sources, including satellite signals, sound signals or Wi-Fi signals, the researchers say.
http://www.pratt.duke.edu/news/wireless-device-converts-lost-energy-electric-power
This is bad news for energy companies, great for the environment
Engineers from the University of Sheffield have developed a way to significantly reduce the volume of some higher activity wastes, which will reduce the cost of interim storage and final disposal.
The researchers, from the University’s Faculty of Engineering, have shown that mixing plutonium-contaminated waste with blast furnace slag and turning it into glass reduces its volume by 85-95 per cent. It also effectively locks in the radioactive plutonium, creating a stable end product.
http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/news/nr/nuclear-research-sheffield-university-fukushima-1.324913
This biological microcomputer sprang from the mind of Drew Endy, PhD, an assistant professor of bioengineering at Stanford. In three scientific papers released over a 13-month span in 2012 and 2013, Endy and a team of researchers from his lab showed how they used ordinary genetic engineering techniques to turn the bacterium E. coli — that stalwart of the Petri dish — into a machine capable of the basic functions of a computer: logic, data storage and data transmission. They also showed that their techniques will work in any type of living cell, not just bacteria.
And while others have accomplished similar feats, Endy’s system has the singular advantage of being able to amplify the information flow.
“Amplification is what makes this system the best,” says Endy. “It’s the equivalent of the transistor in an electronic device. It’s what makes our computer really useful.”
[…]
An advocate of open-source technology (which, as with open-source software, makes its discoveries and technologies free to the public), he has made the instructions available free online. A video primer is also on YouTube (http://stan.md/15u6OtC); it’s been viewed nearly 30,000 times.
Computing is a high-level process of a physical system. Recent interest in non-standard computing systems, including quantum and biological computers, has brought this physical basis of computing to the forefront. There has been, however, no consensus on how to tell if a given physical system is acting as a computer or not; leading to confusion over novel computational devices, and even claims that every physical event is a computation. In this paper we introduce a formal framework that can be used to determine whether or not a physical system is performing a computation. We demonstrate how the abstract computational level interacts with the physical device level, drawing the comparison with the use of mathematical models to represent physical objects in experimental science. This powerful formulation allows a precise description of the similarities between experiments, computation, simulation, and technology. We give conditions that must be satisfied in order for computation to be occurring, and apply these to a range of non-standard computing scenarios. The framework also covers broader computing contexts, where there is no obvious human computer user. We define the critical notion of a ‘computational entity’, and show the role this plays in defining when computing is taking place in physical systems.
http://arxiv.org/abs/1309.7979
Chinese scientists examined 57 drinks – from herbal teas to fizzy drinks. Found that some helped to speed up the process where the body breaks down alcohol, helping relieve a hangover quicker. But some slowed the process down, meaning symptoms remained
Young people – and regular drinkers – produce more of the alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme, so they don’t feel the effects of alcohol as much as older people, said consultant hepatologist Dr Rajiv Jalan of University College Hospital London.The only good news is that, with age, hangover headaches become less of a problem.The headaches are the result of alcohol damaging the brain, causing it to swell temporarily and crash against the skull.But as we age our brains shrink, so there is more room for it to swell before it hits the bone.
via SPRITE found to be best cure for hangover | Mail Online.
University of Adelaide researchers have developed a process for turning waste plastic bags into a high-tech nanomaterial.
[…]
The process is also catalyst and solvent free, which means the plastic waste can be used without generating poisonous compounds.
via Turning plastic bags into high-tech materials.
In an advance that could dramatically shrink particle accelerators for science and medicine, researchers used a laser to accelerate electrons at a rate 10 times higher than conventional technology in a nanostructured glass chip smaller than a grain of rice.
via SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory – Researchers Demonstrate 'Accelerator on a Chip'.
This interactive chart gives links to the scientific evidence for a whole load of supplements, stating if they work or not and for what malady.
University of Adelaide applied mathematicians have extended Einstein’s theory of special relativity to work beyond the speed of light.
Einstein’s theory holds that nothing could move faster than the speed of light, but Professor Jim Hill and Dr Barry Cox in the University’s School of Mathematical Sciences have developed new formulas that allow for travel beyond this limit.
The research has been published in the prestigious Proceedings of the Royal Society A in a paper, ‘Einstein’s special relativity beyond the speed of light’. Their formulas extend special relativity to a situation where the relative velocity can be infinite, and can be used to describe motion at speeds faster than light.
“We are mathematicians, not physicists, so we’ve approached this problem from a theoretical mathematical perspective,” said Dr Cox. “Should it, however, be proven that motion faster than light is possible, then that would be game changing.
via Extending Einstein's theory beyond light speed | Science Codex.
By comparing the specimens’ ages and degrees of DNA degradation, the researchers calculated that DNA has a half-life of 521 years. That means that after 521 years, half of the bonds between nucleotides in the backbone of a sample would have broken; after another 521 years half of the remaining bonds would have gone; and so on.
The team predicts that even in a bone at an ideal preservation temperature of −5 ºC, effectively every bond would be destroyed after a maximum of 6.8 million years. The DNA would cease to be readable much earlier — perhaps after roughly 1.5 million years, when the remaining strands would be too short to give meaningful information.
DNA has a 521-year half-life : Nature News & Comment.
the metal-tolerant bacteria Cupriavidus metallidurans can grow on massive concentrations of gold chloride — or liquid gold, a toxic chemical compound found in nature.
Brown and Kashefi fed the bacteria unprecedented amounts of gold chloride, mimicking the process they believe happens in nature. In about a week, the bacteria transformed the toxins and produced a gold nugget.
via Superman-strength bacteria produce 24-karat gold.
The panels are laminated glass infused with photovoltaic cells. Each panel contains rows of cells arranged so that natural light can shine through. The new product is said to deliver a solar power conversion efficiency of about 6.8-percent with a maximum output of 95 watts. The module can also act as a heat shield, preventing heat from passing through the glass.
Sharp's solar panels throw posh light on city high-rise.
During their research, they used water-repellent ferrous nanoparticles mixed in with the oil, in order to separate it later with magnets. The amazing part is that once the nanoparticles are magnetically removed from the oil, they can then be reused.
Wait, can’t they then throw nanoparticles into an oil resevoir and then use a magnet to lift the oil without pumping?
The GeoDa Center for Geographical Analysis & Computation, led by ASU Regents’ Professor Luc Anselin, has just released a new version of its signature software, OpenGeoDa. The software provides a user-friendly interface to implement techniques for exploratory spatial data analysis and spatial modeling. It has been used to better understand issues ranging from health care access to economic development to crime clusters. It is freely downloadable and open-source.
via New software helps reveal patterns in space and time.
You can download the software (and other analytics software) here
Two dwarf stars – oribiting each other every 13 minutes – have been observed to slightly change the size of their orbits as well as the time it takes to complete them. The effect occurs when expected to happen as they hit the waves.
BBC News – Gravitational waves spotted from white-dwarf pair.
If you keep it in your mouth for a minute, it will cavity proof you for a few hours…
Scientists Create Molecule to Make Teeth Cavityproof.
BAE systems has developed a system based on radio frequency systems to position itself. It’s a learning system that uses GPS to track it’s own location whilst reading the unique RF signals strength and ID.
One Per Cent: TV and radio signals take over when GPS goes wrong.
Through a process involving thin layers of material deposited on a surface and then selectively etched away, the MIT team produced a surface covered with tiny cones, each five times taller than their width. This pattern prevents reflections, while at the same time repelling water from the surface
via Researchers find a way to make glass that's anti-fogging, self-cleaning and free of glare.
Feeding rats bucky balls (Buckminster Fullerine) resulted in a doubling of the lifespan for rats. Immortality is coming!
oral administration of C60 dissolved in olive oil (0.8 mg/ml) at reiterated doses (1.7 mg/kg of body weight) to rats not only does not entail chronic toxicity but it almost doubles their lifespan
All of Einstein’s notes and papers scanned and collected in one place for your perusal.