Nanowire Transistors

Technology Review: By Kevin Bullis

"One of the leading candidates for a technology that could make computers smaller and more powerful is based on transistors made from semiconducting nanowires. But until now, circuits made with such transistors have been impractical, because they were too power hungry and too difficult to manufacture. Now researchers at Caltech have built efficient nanowire-based circuits using a process they believe could be reliable enough for mass production. "

Finally Coming Home

DefenseLink News: News Release

The remains of Army Pvt. Francis Lupo of Cincinnati, Ohio, killed at the Second Battle of the Marne, WW I, have been recovered and returned to his family. The identification was accomplished with the help of mitochondrial DNA.

"First Global Connection between Weather and Space Weather"

SpaceRef

"Weather on Earth has a surprising connection to space weather occurring high in the electrically-charged upper atmosphere, known as the ionosphere, according to new results from NASA satellites.

'This discovery will help improve forecasts of turbulence in the ionosphere, which can disrupt radio transmissions and the reception of signals from the Global Positioning System,' said Thomas Immel of the University of California, Berkeley, lead author of a paper on the research published August 11 in Geophysical Research Letters.

Researchers discovered that tides of air generated by intense thunderstorm activity over South America, Africa and Southeast Asia were altering the structure of the ionosphere."

Gravity Probe B Mission Enters Third Phase

Stanford University

"We are now beginning Phase III—the final phase-of the data analysis—which will last until January-February, 2007. Whereas in Phases I and II the focus was on individual gyro performance, during Phase III, the data from all four gyros will be integrated over the entire experiment. The results of this phase will be both individual and correlated changes in gyro spin axis orientation covering the entire 50-week experimental period for all four gyros. These results will be relative to the position of our guide star, IM Pegasi, which changed continually throughout the experiment. Thus, the final step in the analysis, currently scheduled to occur early in the spring of 2007, will be to combine our gyro spin axis orientation results with data mapping the proper motion of IM Pegasi relative to the unchanging position of a distant quasar. The proper motion of IM Pegasi has been mapped with unprecedented precision using a technique called Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) by Irwin Shapiro and his team at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), in collaboration with Norbert Bartel at York University in Toronto and French astronomer Jean-Francois Lestrade"

The Gravity Probe B Mission:

"Gravity Probe B is the relativity gyroscope experiment being developed by NASA and Stanford University to test two extraordinary, unverified predictions of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity.

The experiment will check, very precisely, tiny changes in the direction of spin of four gyroscopes contained in an Earth satellite orbiting at 400-mile altitude directly over the poles. So free are the gyroscopes from disturbance that they will provide an almost perfect space-time reference system. They will measure how space and time are warped by the presence of the Earth, and, more profoundly, how the Earth's rotation drags space-time around with it. These effects, though small for the Earth, have far-reaching implications for the nature of matter and the structure of the Universe."

Enzyme that Snips Apart Tau Proteins? Let Us Hope

BBC NEWS

"The team of scientists found that an enzyme called puromycin-sensitive aminopeptidase, or PSA, was snipping apart tau proteins in human brain tissue.

They also discovered, looking at fruit flies, that higher levels of PSA protected against brain cell death - neurodegeneration, while lower levels speeded up the brain's demise.
The researchers concluded that PSA may play a 'pivotal' protective role. The team of scientists found that an enzyme called puromycin-sensitive aminopeptidase, or PSA, was snipping apart tau proteins in human brain tissue.

They also discovered, looking at fruit flies, that higher levels of PSA protected against brain cell death - neurodegeneration, while lower levels speeded up the brain's demise.
The researchers concluded that PSA may play a 'pivotal' protective role."

Better fMRI?

Technology Review

"Stefan Posse and colleagues at the University of New Mexico are developing new ways to collect and analyze fMRI data that allow them to detect brain activity from a single thought. They've created their highly sensitive imaging methods by taking more pictures in a shorter amount of time and by developing new algorithms to integrate those images and to reduce background noise.

As described in a paper last month in the journal Neuroimage, Posse's team asked eight volunteers lying in a scanner to think of a word beginning with a letter flashed on a screen above their faces. They then recorded the activity in Broca's area, a part of the brain involved in the generation of language."

Lockheed Martin to Build Shuttle Replacement

SpaceRef

"NASA selected Wednesday Lockheed Martin Corp., based in Bethesda, Md., as the prime contractor to design, develop, and build Orion, America's spacecraft for a new generation of explorers.
Orion will be capable of transporting four crewmembers for lunar missions and later supporting crew transfers for Mars missions. Orion could also carry up to six crew members to and from the International Space Station.
The first Orion launch with humans onboard is planned for no later than 2014, and for a human moon landing no later than 2020. Orion will form a key element of extending a sustained human presence beyond low-Earth orbit to advance commerce, science and national leadership."

Why My Old Friend Tiger Balm Works

Technology Review - By Jennifer Chu

"Creams like BenGay can relieve minor aches and pains. But exactly why they work is a mystery. Now researchers have discovered a neurological mechanism behind such cooling remedies that, if tapped just right, could have implications for people with chronic and nerve-related pain.
A study published yesterday in the journal Current Biology reveals that activating a crucial protein in the skin may counteract the nerve signals associated with chronic pain brought on by nerve injury. One trigger for this protein receptor is menthol, an active ingredient in topical analgesics like BenGay. But an even more effective trigger is icilin -- a chemical originally designed for toothpaste and nasal sprays. The researchers found that when applied to the skin, icilin stimulates the body's natural cooling system, and helps block chronic, nerve-related pain."