Beauty and Brawn in Rally-Style Camry for SEMA Show

NASCAR driver Parker Kligerman, Kyle Busch Motorsports Build Functional Rally Car

NASCAR driver Parker Kligerman is no stranger to speed and powerful vehicles. But sometimes leaving the track brings a little extra thrill. Kligerman and Kyle Busch Motorsports plunged into the rally racing world to transform the 2013 Camry SE into the “CamRally” for the Toyota Dream Build Challenge.

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New recyclable MDF could help solve UK waste problem

Natural sources including potatoes help to create new award-winning product

A new biodegradable and recyclable form of medium density fibreboard (MDF) has been created that could dramatically reduce the problem of future waste. Today (31 October), Professor Andrew Abbott is awarded the Royal Society Brian Mercer Award for Innovation 2013 that will help him make the critical step from prototype to product.

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Scientists modify Botox for the treatment of pain

* Modified Botox could be used for the treatment of chronic pain and epilepsy

* A single injection could relieve pain for months

* The research could improve the quality of life for people who suffer from chronic pain conditions

Scientists have manufactured a new bio-therapeutic molecule that could be used to treat neurological disorders such as chronic pain and epilepsy.

A team of 22 scientists from 11 research institutes led by Professor Bazbek Davletov, now at the University of Sheffield, created and characterised a new molecule that was able to alleviate hypersensitivity to inflammatory pain.

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Defective nanotubes turned into light emitters

UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country researchers have developed and patented a new source of light emitter based on boron nitride nanotubes and suitable for developing high-efficiency optoelectronic devices.

Scientists are usually after defect-free nano-structures. Yet in this case the UPV/EHU researcher Angel Rubio and his collaborators have put the structural defects in boron nitride nanotubes to maximum use. The outcome of his research is a new light-emitting source that can easily be incorporated into current microelectronics technology. The research has also resulted in a patent.

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The first European Alfa Romeo 4C 'Launch Edition' units are delivered at Balocco

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* The numbered limited edition of 500 cars in Europe, the 'Launch Edition', offers exclusive features such as carbon fibre trims or the matt 'Carrara White' body colour

* Official ceremony for the first five customers coming from Switzerland, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy

* They were also given an exclusive driving experience with Alfa Romeo test drivers to test the racing spirit of the new Alfa Romeo supercar in its ideal environment: the track

* Guest of honour at the event was driver Nicola Larini, who received a trophy for the 20th anniversary of the DTM victory behind the wheel of the Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti

* The driver treated the five 4C 'Launch Edition' owners to thrilling laps around the track

Today a ceremony was held at the Balocco (Vercelli, Italy) Test Centre to memorialise the delivery of the first five Alfa Romeo 4C 'Launch Edition' cars. This European numbered limited edition of 500 supercars marks Alfa Romeo's comeback to the world of lightweight sports coupés.

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Fear of Night Driving? 2014 Chevrolet Impala Can Help

Study shows high-intensity discharge headlamps can help drivers stop sooner

With Daylight Saving Time ending this Sunday, many people will drive in the dark more often. For those uneasy with night driving, the 2014 Chevrolet Impala can help brighten the task.

The enhanced visibility provided by Impala’s headlamps can help drivers avoid crashes after dark, the riskiest time of day. According to a study cited by the Federal Highway Administration, the risk of a fatality at night among drivers not impaired by alcohol is more than two times higher than in daytime due to less visibility.

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From “made in China” to “created in China”: the first full-function wearable computer is successfully developed

A striking title ‘The first wearable computer EYETOP is coming, are you ready?’ was showing on a giant screen in Times Square, New York, which attracted a lot attentions from people passing by. Ji Dongxia, the marketing director of Yunnan North OLIGHTEK Opto-Electronic Technology Co.,Ltd. (OLIGHTEK Corporation) , said that the wearable computer is one of the wearable devices through integrating with computer monitors and intelligent computation systems into a pair of glasses, and the users could surf the internet while they are wearing them.

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European Union sponsors fabrication of molecular electronic components on the sub-nanometer scale

Mainz chemist Angelika Kühnle participates in cross-border joint project in the field of information and communication technology

Professor Angelika Kühnle and her work group at the Institute of Physical Chemistry at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) are participating in a new EU project focusing on information and communication technology. Over the next four years, a total of eight partners from six European countries will be involved in the "Planar Atomic and Molecular Scale Devices" (PAMS) project. The goal is to manufacture planar electronic components to enable technological and scientific research to be conducted at the atomic or sub-molecular level. Kühnle's work group will receive some EUR 700,000 in funding under the 7th EU Research Framework Program.

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Toshiba's T1100 Laptop PC Receives Prestigious IEEE Milestone Award

Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO:6502) today announced that the company’s T1100 laptop PC, first shipped in Europe in 1985, has received certification as a major innovation under the IEEE Milestone Program. The T1100 was recognized for its invaluable contribution to the development of laptop PC.

The IEEE, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., the world’s leading professional association for electrical and electronics engineers, established the Milestones Program in 1983 in order to recognize important historical achievements. Approximately 140 milestones have been awarded worldwide. For Toshiba, this will be 2nd award since Toshiba's JW-10 Japanese-language word processor also won recognition as an IEEE Milestone in 2008.

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Suzuki Announces Exhibits for the 43rd Tokyo Motor Show 2013

Suzuki Motor Corporation will display the following exhibits at the 43rd Tokyo Motor Show 2013 (organizer: Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association), which will be open to the public at the Tokyo Big Sight from November 23 to December 1, 2013.

The Suzuki booth’s theme of the Tokyo Motor Show exhibits is: “Let’s Create a Brand New Story”. Suzuki recognizes that the daily life of each and every customer is a story, and by adding something to each of those stories, our desire to create different, brand new stories together with our customers, is put into the theme.

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Panasonic to Release Solar LED Lantern for People Living in Areas Without Electricity

Panasonic Corporation today announced that it will start selling a solar LED lantern that doubles as a charger for people living in areas without electricity. With a built-in rechargeable battery to store solar energy during the day, the lantern provides light at night and can also be used as a power source to charge small mobile devices, such as mobile phones. The company plans to bring the lantern to regions without electricity, starting from Asia and Africa in December this year. The functions of the BG-BL03 Solar LED Lantern, such as 360-degree illumination and a charging time of approximately 6 hours*1, make it practical and convenient for everyday use in these areas.

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D-SLR handling meets compact casing – Premium Olympus STYLUS 1 is first of its kind

Big-sensor compact combines D-SLR shooting style and portable design – Serious photographers have a practical alternative to D-SLR that matches the superior handling of top-flight cameras: the new Olympus STYLUS 1 premium compact. Olympus engineers were determined the STYLUS 1 would stand out for its excellent quality. Mission accomplished. Of course they applied the same high standards to the compact design. The STYLUS 1 is a genuinely portable, slim, ‘anytime anywhere’ camera with the manual controls, eye-to-the-viewfinder stability and picture quality to satisfy the most discerning photographers. Be they compact enthusiasts or D-SLR owners looking for a more compact, second camera. A big 1/1.7-inch BSI CMOS sensor heads an impressive list of credentials that includes a new and versatile, ultra-slim, constant-aperture 1:2.8 10.7x (28-300mm*) high-power i.ZUIKO DIGITAL lens and a highperformance TruePic VI image processor. A large-format, high-definition electronic viewfinder, Fast AF and shoot-and-share WiFi round off a persuasive semi-pro package. The STYLUS 1 is available in classic black for €599.99, from late November 2013.

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Neutrons, electrons and theory reveal secrets of natural gas reserves

Gas and oil deposits in shale have no place to hide from an Oak Ridge National Laboratory technique that provides an inside look at pores and reveals structural information potentially vital to the nation’s energy needs.

The research by scientists at the Department of Energy laboratory could clear the path to the more efficient extraction of gas and oil from shale, environmentally benign and efficient energy production from coal and perhaps viable carbon dioxide sequestration technologies, according to Yuri Melnichenko, an instrument scientist at ORNL’s High Flux Isotope Reactor.

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SPFW - São Paulo Fashion Week Oficial

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UNC neuroscientists discover new ‘mini-neural computer’ in the brain

Dendrites, the branch-like projections of neurons, were once thought to be passive wiring in the brain. But now researchers at UNC have shown that dendrites actively process information, multiplying the brain’s computing power. The finding could help researchers better understand neurological disorders.

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Chinese look to follow Israel’s example of quick success

Growing partnerships abound in manufacturing, telecom, agriculture, biotech, alternative energy and even in academia and the arts.

Earlier this year, actors and support crew took the 12-hour flight from Beijing to Tel Aviv to make the first Chinese feature film in Israel — a romantic comedy shot in locations including Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and the Dead Sea.

The Tourism Ministry, which facilitated the shoot, predicts the number of Chinese tourists will reach a record 28,000 this year. But ties between these two Asian countries — one with a population of eight million, the other 1.3 billion – go way beyond tourism.

Israeli-Chinese partnerships in business, academia and culture have rapidly grown since the countries established diplomatic relations in 1992.

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China Fashion Week S/S 2014: day 2

Models present creations by designer Lu Weixing at China Fashion Week S/S 2014 in Beijing October 26, 2013.[Photo/Xinhua]

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Chinese scientists develop revolutionary “smart window”

Window both reflects heat and generates electricity.

Scientists in China said they had designed a smart window that can both save and generate energy. Existing smart windows are limited to regulating light and heat from the sun but allow a lot of potential energy to escape. The Chinese Academy of Sciences said it has developed a concept smart window device for the simultaneous generation and saving of energy.

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‘Profound abnormalities’ found in footballers’ brains

Scans have revealed “profound abnormalities” in the brain activity of retired American football players, a study into the long-term risks of the combative sport said.

Unusual activity in the frontal lobe, observed in former National Football League (NFL) players as they carried out a cognitive test, matched records for heavy blows they had received to the head while on the field.

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Leakage Detection IC for Automotive BD9582F-M

In recent years, with the increased proliferation of electric and hybrid vehicles comes a demand for 100V AC outlets for powering consumer electronics/appliances and to act as an emergency power source. With a guaranteed operating range up to 105C, the BD9582F-M is the industry's first*1 leakage detection IC specifically designed for AC outlets in automotive systems (i.e. AC inverters). In addition, ultra-low current operation reduces battery consumption considerably.

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AquaTop Display Digital Interactive Bathing, a Unique and Wet Digital Experience

Group of researchers at the University of Electro-Communication, Koike Laboratory has developed a unique interactive water surface display which allows users to touch the surface of cloudy water as if it were a screen. The projector system makes use of commercial bath salts in water to create a touchable, splashable, liquid surface for digital interactive bathing.

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World's first 1-liter vehicle debuts in Beijing

Volkswagen XL1 hybrid car, the world's first 1-liter vehicle, made its debut in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 23, 2013. The vehicle, dubbed "the world's most efficient car," consumes only 0.9 liter of fuel when traveling 100 kilometers. It's said that only 250 units will be produced for sale across the world. (Xinhua/Photo)

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China Fashion Week S/S 2014

A model presents a creation from NE-TIGER Haute Couture Collection at China Fashion Week S/S 2014 in Beijing October 25, 2013.[Photo/Agencies]

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Scientists' new approach improves efficiency of solar cells

An international team of scientists, led by researchers from the Universities of York and St Andrews, has developed a new method to increase the efficiency of solar cells.

The new approach achieves highly efficient broad-band light trapping in thin films, with more light captured in the film in order to maximise absorption and electricity generation.

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Looking ahead to greener vehicle components

Aluminium components make vehicles lighter, which reduces fuel consumption. If a Norwegian project is successful, manufacturing them will soon also be less energy-intensive.

Several years ago, aluminium components started to be used in larger private car designs. Now they are beginning to appear in smaller cars as well.

Parts for suspension systems are among the more important automotive applications for aluminium. Today, many of these parts are kneaded into shape by means of forging in order to give them the required mechanical properties, a sure way to turn up the “energy taximeter”.

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New Microscopes at NIH Reveal Live, Developing Cells in Unprecedented 3-D Clarity

Biology moves into the third dimension, may help observe how a brain develops and viruses attack

Researchers at NIH have developed two new microscopes, both the first of their kind. The first captures small, fast moving organisms at an unprecedented rate and the second displays large cell samples in three dimensions while decreasing the amount of harmful light exposure to the cells. Both microscopes surpass in clarity any other currently on the market.

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Green algae move to the beat

Max Planck researchers in Dresden explain the flagellar synchronisation of swimming algae

The beating of flagella is one of the basic principles of movement in the cellular cosmos. However, up to now, scientists were unsure as to how the movements of several of these small cellular appendages are synchronised. Dresden-based researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics and the MPI for the Physics of Complex Systems have now succeeded in demonstrating how the green alga Chlamydomonas synchronises the movements of its two flagella using a resourceful rocking movement. To do this, the researchers started by developing a theoretical model which they were then able to substantiate in experiments with the microscopic breaststroke swimmers: when the two flagella lose their rhythm, the cell begins to rock. This causes the swimming movements to slow down or accelerate. The resulting synchronisation mechanism is based solely on the coupling of the two movements of the body and the flagella; no special sensors or chemical signals are needed.

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ASU collaboration creates breakthroughs for solar cell efficiency

Did you know that crystals form the basis for the penetrating icy blue glare of car headlights and could be fundamental to the future in solar energy technology?

Crystals are at the heart of diodes. Not the kind you might find in quartz, formed naturally, but manufactured to form alloys, such as indium gallium nitride or InGaN. This alloy forms the light emitting region of LEDs, for illumination in the visible range, and of laser diodes (LDs), in the blue-UV range.

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Pocono race to be a 500-mile event in 2014

INDYCAR fans in the northeast will get more racing on July 4 weekend.

Pocono Raceway announced its IndyCar Series event will be called the Pocono INDYCAR 500 fueled by Sunoco, and add 100 miles (50 laps) to the series’ return to the “Tricky Triangle.”

“I’m very excited about these changes for 2014,” said Brandon Igdalsky, Pocono Raceway President and CEO. “After last year’s IndyCar Series race, droves of open-wheel fans immediately took to our social media channels, sent emails, called us to let us know they wanted more.

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Canberra Rally Cars Kick Off From Albatross

Over 120 classic and vintage vehicles assembled at HMAS Albatross on 19 October prior to setting off on the Centenary of Canberra Car Rally.

Event registrations were held at the Fleet Air Arm Museum from 7am which provided plenty of opportunity for car owners to show off their vehicles and car enthusiasts to admire the automobiles on display.

The emphasis of the rally was on having fun and enjoying the excitement and elegance of the automobile. Particularly popular were the AC Cobras which were out in force, a classic Cadillac and some lovingly maintained VW Kombis and Beetles.

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Epson Adds New Paper to Renowned Signature Worthy Media Collection

Epson Exhibition Watercolor Paper Textured Provides Quality and Versatility for Professional Photography and Fine Art Reproduction Markets

Epson America today announced the newest addition to its award winning portfolio of Signature Worthy® media. Engineered for the most discerning professional photographers, artists, museums, and fine-art reproduction houses, Epson Exhibition Watercolor Paper Textured is designed to deliver a distinctive feel along with rich blacks, a wide color gamut and smooth tonal gradations for the ultimate in quality, both visually and tactility.

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SaskTel and Kodiak Networks Launch Next Generation “4G Push-to-Talk” Service

SaskTel launches 4G Push-to-Talk (4G PTT) service, the new alternative for the current 10-4 service that operates on the CDMA network.  SaskTel selected Kodiak Networks InstaPoC™ as the technology platform for its next generation of 4G PTT. The new 4G PTT service will run over SaskTel's 4G network that covers more than 98 per cent of Saskatchewan's population and connects to the national 4G network.

"Working closely with Kodiak, we have developed an excellent service for our 4G customers," said Jason Durant, SaskTel’s acting Chief Marketing Officer, "We expect the transition to be smooth.  We will waive any early device upgrade fees for current 10-4 subscribers who are ready to upgrade to the new 4G Push-to-Talk devices so they can continue to enjoy the benefits of push-to-talk."

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Chevrolet Previews Performance-Oriented SEMA Concepts

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Sonic, Impala and Spark EV get aftermarket makeovers

Chevrolet today previewed several performance-oriented concepts of some of the brand’s most popular passenger cars, including the Sonic and all-new Impala. The cars will debut at the SEMA Show, Nov. 5-8, in Las Vegas. It’s the world’s largest convention of automotive aftermarket parts and accessories.

Chevrolet also showed a personalized version of the Malibu, which features new and enhanced technologies for 2014 that improve efficiency and personal connectivity. Stop/start engine technology contributes to 14-percent greater estimated city fuel economy (25 mpg), and new Siri with Eyes Free Mode and Text-to-Voice features allow hands-free texting via the available MyLink system.

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New Range Rover Sport set to challenge 'Empty Quarter' desert crossing

* New Range Rover Sport set to challenge fastest recorded time across one of the most treacherous terrains in the world

* 650,000 sq km of hostile, unforgiving desert will provide a backdrop for the gruelling test of man and machine

* Dawn-to-dusk drive in a standard production vehicle piloted by off-road racer Moi Torrallardona

This coming week, Land Rover will attempt to set the fastest recorded time for a land vehicle crossing of the ‘Empty Quarter’ — one of the harshest and most challenging desert environments on the planet — using a standard production New Range Rover Sport.

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Nanoscale engineering boosts performance of quantum dot light emitting diodes

Quantum dots are nano-sized semiconductor particles whose emission color can be tuned by simply changing their dimensions.

Making the light at the end of the tunnel more efficient

Dramatic advances in the field of quantum dot light emitting diodes (QD-LEDs) could come from recent work by the Nanotechnology and Advanced Spectroscopy team at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Quantum dots are nano-sized semiconductor particles whose emission color can be tuned by simply changing their dimensions. They feature near-unity emission quantum yields and narrow emission bands, which result in excellent color purity. The new research aims to improve QD-LEDs by using a new generation of engineered quantum dots tailored specifically to have reduced wasteful charge-carrier interactions that compete with the production of light.

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Women are significantly better at multitasking than men

Women are better than men at carrying out multiple tasks according to new research from a team of psychologists including researchers from the University of Hertfordshire.

Women can juggle different tasks at the same time, while men find it difficult to do more than one thing at a time are commonly-held beliefs. Despite these notions being widely believed, very little research has even examined such notions. However, new research from the Universities of Hertfordshire, Glasgow and Leeds just published in BMC Psychology provides support for the proposal that women are better at multitasking.

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Bees Underwent Massive Extinction When Dinosaurs Did

For the first time ever, scientists have documented a widespread extinction of bees that occurred 65 million years ago, concurrent with the massive event that wiped out land dinosaurs and many flowering plants. Their findings, published this week in the journal PLOS ONE, could shed light on the current decline in bee species.

Lead author Sandra Rehan, an assistant professor of biological sciences at UNH, worked with colleagues Michael Schwarz at Australia’s Flinders University and Remko Leys at the South Australia Museum to model a mass extinction in bee group Xylocopinae, or carpenter bees, at the end of the Cretaceous and beginning of the Paleogene eras, known as the K-T boundary.

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Just two weeks in orbit causes changes in eyes

Just 13 days in space may be enough to cause profound changes in eye structure and gene expression, report researchers from Houston Methodist, NASA Johnson Space Center, and two other institutions in the October 2013 issue of Gravitational and Space Research.

The study, which looked at how low gravity and radiation and oxidative damage impacts mice, is the first to examine eye-related gene expression and cell behavior after spaceflight.

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Scientists Solve Mystery of Odd Patterns of Oxygen in Solar System’s Earliest Rocks

 Cosmochemists at the University of California, San Diego, have solved a long standing mystery in the formation of the solar system: Oxygen, the most abundant element in Earth’s crust, follows a strange, anomalous pattern in the oldest, most pristine rocks, one that must result from a different chemical process than the well-understood reactions that form minerals containing oxygen on Earth.

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EIGHT STATES COMMIT TO 3.3 MILLION NEW ZERO EMISSION CARS AND TRUCKS BY 2025

Today the governors of eight states announced an ambitious partnership to accelerate the adoption of plug-in electric vehicles. Together, the states will develop fueling infrastructure and EV-ready building codes, purchase electric vehicles for state fleets, and expand incentives and public education programs to dramatically increase number of plug-in electric and fuel cell vehicles.

The eight states are: California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

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Team uses forest waste to develop cheaper, greener supercapacitors

Researchers report that wood-biochar supercapacitors can produce as much power as today’s activated-carbon supercapacitors at a fraction of the cost – and with environmentally friendly byproducts.

The report appears in the journal Electrochimica Acta.

“Supercapacitors are power devices very similar to our batteries,” said study leader Junhua Jiang, a senior research engineer at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center at the University of Illinois. While batteries rely on chemical reactions to produce sustained electrical energy, supercapacitors collect charged ions on their electrodes (in this case, the biochar), and quickly release those ions during discharge. This allows them to supply energy in short, powerful bursts – during a camera flash, for example, or in response to peak demand on the energy grid, Jiang said.

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Soundboard Portable Speakers with SoundFlow Wireless Audio Now Available

VOXX Accessories Corporation today announced the launch of the SoundFlow™ Soundboard Portable Speaker.

The SoundFlow Soundboard instantly lets consumers enjoy smartphone audio in a big way, requiring no wires, no pairing or connection. Just place any smartphone on top of the Soundboard. SoundFlow wireless audio does the rest! The Soundboard supports virtually all brands and models of today’s smartphones. In fact, almost any portable device with a speaker works with a Soundboard. The Soundboard is available in 3 different colors: SP20WHBK (white top, chrome trim and black bottom), SP20WDBK (woodgrain top, chrome trim and black bottom), and SP20BKGR (matte black top, lime green trim and black bottom).

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Futuristic Copper Foam Batteries Get More Bang for the Buck

Presentation: MS+AS+EM+EN+NS+TF-MoM-8, “Manufacturing a Three-dimensional, Solid-state Recharceable Battery,” 10:40 a.m., Mon., Oct. 28.

Scientists take step toward safer, cheaper, longer-lasting, and faster-charging solid-state battery

People use their GPS apps, cameras, and mobile internet to navigate strange cities in search of good coffee, record "selfie" commentary while they wait in line, and upload their videos directly to social media sites while they sip their latte. But no amount of high-tech savvy can save a well-loved device from dying when its battery is drained.

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UT, Texas A&M Astronomers Discover Universe's Most Distant Galaxy

 Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at Austin may be former football rivals, but the Lone Star State's two research giants have teamed up to detect the most distant spectroscopically confirmed galaxy ever found -- one created within 700 million years after the Big Bang.

The research is published in the most recent edition of the journal Nature.

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Researchers Find Cause Of Some Allergies May Be Skin Deep

It’s allergy season and for many people that means sneezing, coughing, watery eyes and trouble breathing – there’s nothing worse. Much to our dismay, the prevalence of allergic disorders, such as atopic dermatitis (a skin inflammation brought on by allergies) has been steadily increasing in the past decade for reasons not yet known.

Previously, it had been thought that atopy is caused by a primary dysfunction of the immune system. Consequently, attempts were made to treat the condition through various methods, all aimed at weakening the immune system activity at the cost of often severe side effects such as an increase in the presence of infectious complications.

However, in recent studies, immunological abnormalities have been found to occur in allergic disorders as a result of a primary defect residing within the skin barrier.

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Gum leaves rich in lil’ gold nuggets

While money doesn’t grow on trees per se, we’ve found that precious gold does.

Our scientists have revealed that gum trees from the Western Australian goldfields draw up tiny particles of gold via their roots and it ends up in their leaves and branches.

The study published in Nature Communications today provides the first evidence of gold growing in trees.

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NIH Funds Development of Novel Robots to Assist People with Disabilities, Aid Doctors

Robots enhance mobility for visually and physically impaired, improve treatment for atrial fibrillation

Three projects have been awarded funding by the National Institutes of Health to develop innovative robots that work cooperatively with people and adapt to changing environments to improve human capabilities and enhance medical procedures. Funding for these projects totals approximately $2.4 million over the next five years, subject to the availability of funds.

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Genomic parasite activity revealed by stem cells

A genomic parasite may explain much of the differences between humans and their closest evolutionary relatives, a new study finds.

The parasite, a sequence called L1, is much more active in chimps and bonobos than in humans, according to the study, led by scientists at the Salk Institute in La Jolla. They are part of a group of genetic elements called transposons, or jumping genes.

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Nanodiamonds: a cancer patient’s best friend?

Real-time monitoring of cancer cell processes could soon be possible thanks to nanometric scale diamonds used as biosensors

Diamonds are sometimes considered as a girl’s best friend. Now, this expression is about to have a new meaning. Indeed, nanometric scale diamond particles could offer a new way to detect cancer far earlier than previously thought. This is precisely the objective of a research project called Dinamo, funded by the EU. Specifically, it aims to develop a non-invasive nanotechnology sensing platform for real-time monitoring of biomolecular processes in living cancer cells.

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Super song learners

Researchers uncover a mechanism for improving song learning in juvenile zebra finches

Most songbirds learn their songs from an adult model, mostly from the father. However, there are relatively large differences in the accuracy how these songs are copied. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen now found in juvenile zebra finches a possible mechanism that is responsible for the differences in the intensity of song learning. They provided the nerve growth factor “BDNF” to the song control system in the brain. With this treatment the learning ability in juvenile males could be enhanced in such a way that they were able to copy the songs of the father as good as it had been observed in the best learners in a zebra finch nest.

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