Harnessing the Energy Beneath Your Tires

Introducing MotionPower™: Harnessing the Energy Beneath Your Tires
One New Jersey Burger King recently equipped its drive-thru with a speed bump that harvests electricity from cars that pass by. The speed bump is part of a pilot project from New Energy Technologies, and if all goes well, drivers could see energy-harvesting speed bumps at drive-thrus, toll plazas and even shopping centres.

The speed bumps, or “MotionPower Energy Harvesters,” look much different from your typical concrete humps. The “bump” is actually flat, with long, skinny pedals running across the top. As cars drive over the speed bump, it pushes the pedals down and turns the gears inside. The spinning creates about 2,000 watts of electricity from a car moving at five miles per hour.

Energy created by the cars is instantaneous (like solar and wind power), meaning that speed bump developers must also figure out a way to store power for later use. To that end, developers at New Energy Technologies are currently experimenting with mini-flywheels (a device that stores energy by spinning), and also plan to look into supercapacitors and other energy-storing mechanisms. Eventually, once storage is perfected, the speed bumps could be used to power street lamps or even feed power directly to the grid.

New Energy Technologies Inc.
is the first public company to develop roadway technology to capture the kinetic energy of vehicles.

Advantages:
• Cost-effective -- easy to manufacture and low operating costs
• Simple and reliable mechanical configuration which is easy to maintain
• Ease of Installation
• Low-profile assembly can be mounted directly atop existing roadways with little or no modifications to roadways
• Modular scalable configuration
• Can be installed in virtually any location

Read more at: http://www.newenergytechnologiesinc.com/

Needle Free Injections

PATEV GmbH & Co KG Developed the PYROFAST: Needle-Free Injection
PYROFAST is an innovative needle-free injection system with novel pyrotechnical gas propulsion that provides accurate and comfortable drug delivery through the skin for intra-dermal, subcutaneous, and intra-muscular injections of liquid and solid (lyophilized) drugs. The needle-free injection occurs within 40 msec; a very fine, high-pressure jet stream of liquid medication painlessly penetrates the skin, depositing medication in the tissue beneath. The skin orifice caused by the jet stream is 4 times smaller than the orifice caused by a conventional needle injection. Therefore, needle-free injection reduces skin trauma and pain and leads to better patient compliance by eliminating patient's needle-phobia. PYROFAST allows patients to self-administer their injectable medication easily.


Benefits Summary: o painless o safe o user-friendly o fast absorption o eliminates needlesticks -- no sharps to dispose of o eliminates bleeding at the injection site
Application and Potential Advantage: Vaccines, epoetin, growth hormone, sex hormones, insulin, triptans, HIV medication, heparins, interferones, hyaluronic acid, analgesics, local anesthetics, etc.
Development Summary: Prototype devices have been developed and tested.

YROFAST has been already tested and is in the prototype phase. It consists of a reusable applicator made from metal or plastic, featuring a small battery that activates the gas generator and a trigger button, plus a disposable medication unit – pre-filled single-use and a single-use unit that takes dosage from an external source.
The battery provides thousands of injections per charge.

PYROFAST’s gas generator is inspired from technologies used to activate car airbags. There is a chemical substance used by the gas generator that starts to generate gas until it reaches a reliable pressure level which causes a plunger in the ampule to push the liquid through the orifice of the noozzle.

Read more at: http://www.yet2.com/app/list/techpak?id=53072&sid=20&abc=0&page=tpprint

Plasmobot: Scientists begin design on first robot using mould

Scientists begin design on first robot using mould
Researchers have received a Leverhulme Trust grant to develop the amorphous non-silicon biological robot, plasmobot, using plasmodium, the a commonly occurring mould which lives in forests, gardens and most damp places in the UK. The Leverhulme Trust funded research project aims to design the first every fully biological (no silicon components) amorphous massively-parallel robot.

Professor Adamatzky explains, “Most people's idea of a computer is a piece of hardware with software designed to carry out specific tasks. This mould, or plasmodium, is a naturally occurring substance with its own embedded intelligence. It propagates and searches for sources of nutrients and when it finds such sources it branches out in a series of veins of protoplasm. The plasmodium is capable of solving complex computational tasks, such as the shortest path between points and other logical calculations. Through previous experiments we have already demonstrated the ability of this mould to transport objects. By feeding it oat flakes, it grows tubes which oscillate and make it move in a certain direction carrying objects with it. We can also use light or chemical stimuli to make it grow in a certain direction.

“This new plasmodium robot, called plasmobot, will sense objects, span them in the shortest and best way possible, and transport tiny objects along pre-programmed directions. The robots will have parallel inputs and outputs, a network of sensors and the number crunching power of super computers. The plasmobot will be controlled by spatial gradients of light, electro-magnetic fields and the characteristics of the substrate on which it is placed. It will be a fully controllable and programmable amorphous intelligent robot with an embedded massively parallel computer.”

Read more at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090827073256.htm

Portable hugs

Portable hugs: Cloth provides mechanical hug to autistic children

New Technology and New Clothing for People with Autism: Children with autism and ADHD may soon get anxiety relief from a novel "deep-pressure" vest developed by Brian Mullen at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The vest, which can also be used for adults with mental illness, delivers a "portable hug" called deep pressure touch stimulation

People with developmental disorders and mental illness are often overwhelmed in everyday environments such as school and the workplace, and solutions available to families and mental health professionals are limited. This is an alternative therapy that can safely and discreetly provide the treatment they need to function in mainstream society.“

Mullen's vest looks pretty much like any down vest you'd want to buy, but it provides a sort of mechanical hug that calms those who are experiencing sensory overload.

Read more at: http://www.naturalnews.com/023585.html

Swish your magic wand to control your TV

Cast a spell on electronic wizardry with the Kymera Magic Wand universal remote
If you’re looking for a universal remote to complement any Harry Potter marathons screening on the tube, you might want to consider the Magic Wand universal remote control from Kymera. Sure to raise the eyebrows of any nearby muggles, the remote allows budding magicians to control their magical picture box or other piece of remote controllable electronic wizardry with a flick of the wrist - 'Abracadabra' optional.

The brain child of Brit Chris Barnardo, The Wand uses its on board processor and accelerometer to control your devices simply by moving your hand. It has predefined hand gestures from gently revolving to a quick downwards thrust, and you can assign a different command to each movement.

To turn up the volume, for example, just give the wand a clockwise motion or gesture counter-clockwise to lower it. Want to change the channel? It’s as easy as a flick of the wrist.
The wand can recognize 13 different gestures in all, and since it’s a learning remote it can be custom programmed to carry out different functions for gestures that include big swish, push forward, pull back and two single and double taps.
The Kymera Magic Wand is designed to work with just about any contraption that can be remote controlled and will be available from October 1st. Until then, Kymera is taking pre-orders for the wand, which retails at UKP£49.95 (approx. USD$83).
See more at: http://thewandcompany.com/index.html

Flow Sensors Based on Hair Structures of Blind Cavefish

Researchers Develop Flow Sensors Based on Hair Structures of Blind Cavefish:

A blind fish that has evolved a unique technique for sensing motion may inspire a new generation of sensors that perform better than current active sonar.
Although members of the fish species Astyanax fasciatus cannot see, they sense their environment and the movement of water around them with gel-covered hairs that extend from their bodies. Their ability to detect underwater objects and navigate through their lightless environment inspired a group of researchers to mimic the hairs of these blind cavefish in the laboratory.

While the fish use these hairs to detect obstacles, avoid predators and localize prey, researchers believe the engineered sensors they are developing could have a variety of underwater applications, such as port security, surveillance, early tsunami detection, autonomous oil rig inspection, autonomous underwater vehicle navigation, and marine research.

Vladimir Tsukruk and graduate students Michael McConney and Kyle Anderson conducted preliminary experiments with a simple artificial hair cell microsensor. “After covering the hair cell with synthetic cupula, our bio-inspired microsensor had the ability to detect flow better than the blind fish. The fish can detect flow slower than 100 micrometers per second, but our system demonstrated flow detection of several micrometers per second”, said Tsukruk.

Read more at: http://www.gtresearchnews.gatech.edu/newsrelease/blind-cavefish.htm

World's first floating wind turbine

The world's first floating full-scale offshore wind turbine has been inaugurated in the North Sea off the coast of Norway, Norwegian energy giant StatoilHydro said Tuesday.

The turbine known as Hywind, which measures 65 metres (213 feet) tall and weighs 5,300 tonnes, lies some 10 kilometres (seven miles) off the island of Karmoey near the Scandinavian country's southwestern coastline, the company said. It rests upon a floating stand that is anchored to the seabed by three cables. Water and rocks are placed inside the stand to provide balast. Three powerful cables anchor the stand to the seafloor.

StatoilHydro plans to test Hywind over the next two years before it looks to set up any more floating wind turbines with international partners. StatoilHydro sees Japan, South Korea, California, the east coast of the United States and Spain as some of the potential markets to where this technology could be exported. Hywind can be used in waters from 120 metres to 700 metres deep allowing it to be placed much further away from the shore than static wind turbines already in operation. "It is not so easily seen from the coast, it can be placed in areas not used by others," she said.

"We could use such wind turbines in countries where coastal waters are very deep or where there is little space left for land-based turbines," Stroemmen Lycke added. A total of 400 million kroner (46 million euros, 66 million dollars) has been invested in the 2.3-megawatt floating turbine, making it a far more expensive option than its fixed counterpart. "Our goal is to bring down the price to the level of fixed wind turbines that are currently installed in waters some 60 metres deep," Stroemmen Lycke said.
Read more at: http://www.statoilhydro.com/en/TechnologyInnovation/NewEnergy/RenewablePowerProduction/Onshore/Pages/Karmoy.aspx
http://w1.siemens.com/press/en/pressrelease/?press=/en/pressrelease/2009/renewable_energy/ere200906064.htm

To see the movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAyPpQ4gnjg

Protective Clothing to block flu, colds

Protective Clothing:

Would you like a coat that can snatch viruses out of the air before they can give you a cold? Scientists and engineers and a clever design student at Cornell University have come up with clothes that do all of that and more.

The garments are unique in that they are coated with microscopic nanoparticles designed to capture viruses and bacteria, but you wouldn't know that if you just looked at them. They look like glitzy outfits that expand the realm of "functional clothing."

"Initially we were just doing this for fun," said chemical engineer Juan Hinestroza, who specializes in fiber science. But as soon as a couple of outfits designed by Olivia Ong hit the runway during a fashion show at Cornell, it became a lot more than just fun. Inspired by Smog: "There's a lot of pollution and smog, and I thought it would be interesting if we could use technology and clothing to prevent it," she said. Out of that came what Hinestroza calls a "personal air purification system," The trick, he said, is to use nanoparticles that are about the same size as the viruses and bacteria he wants to capture.

The particles he uses are a mere five to 20 nanometers in size. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter. They cling to the surface of the cotton fabric because the particles and the fabric have opposite electrostatic charges. The particles are metals that can recognize specific viruses or bacteria, and thus trap them. Silver, for example, is a natural antibacterial agent.

Now, Hinestroza is working on nanoparticles that can decompose gases, like ozone, thus truly reducing the smog. And he’s even produced colors without the use of dyes, by creating nanoparticles that are just the right size to reflect the desired color.

Read more at: http://twenty1f.com/clothing-to-block-flu-colds/

Earthquake resistant design for buildings

New design keeps buildings standing and habitable after major earthquakes

A new earthquake-resistant structural system for buildings, just successfully tested in Japan, will not only help a multi-story building hold itself together during a violent earthquake, but also return it to standing up straight on its foundation afterward, true and plumb, with damage confined to a few easily replaceable parts.

The team that designed the system was led by researchers at Stanford University and the University of Illinois. During testing on a massive shake table, the system survived simulated earthquakes in excess of magnitude 7, bigger than either the 1994 Northridge earthquake or the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in California.

"This new structural system has the potential to make buildings far more damage resistant and easier to repair, so people could reoccupy buildings a lot faster after a major earthquake than they can now," said Greg Deierlein, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford, who led the team that designed the new system.

The system dissipates energy through the movement of steel frames that are situated around the building's core or along exterior walls. The frames can be part of a building's initial design or could be incorporated into an existing building undergoing seismic retrofitting. They are economically feasible to build, as all the materials employed are commonly used in construction today and all the parts can be made using existing fabrication methods.

To see the video and read more click: http://www.physorg.com/news171101621.html

New way to track delay of 1 Millionth of a second

Millionths of a second can cost millions of dollars: A new way to track network delays

Computer scientists have developed an inexpensive solution for diagnosing networking delays in data center networks as short as tens of millionths of seconds. University of California, San Diego and Purdue University computer scientists presented this work on August 20, 2009 at SIGCOMM, the premier networking conference.

The new approach offers the possibility of diagnosing fine-grained delays—down to tens to microseconds—and packet loss as infrequent as one in a million at every router within a data center network. (One microsecond is one millionth of a second.) The solution could be implemented in today's router designs with almost zero cost in terms of router hardware and with no performance penalty. The University of California, San Diego and Purdue University computer scientists call their invention the Lossy Difference Aggregator. With this invention built into every router, a data center manager should be able to quickly pinpoint the offending router and interface that is adding extra microseconds of delay or losing even a few packets in a million, explained Levchenko.

If an investment bank's algorithmic stock trading program reacts to information on cheap stocks from an incoming market data feed just 100 microseconds earlier than the competition, it can buy millions of shares and bid up the price of the stock before its competitors' programs can react, the computer scientists say. Delays in these routers, also known as latencies, can add 100s of microseconds, potentially leading to millions of dollars in lost opportunities.

Solar Panel made of human hair

Solar Panel made of human hair!
A new type of solar panel using human hair could provide the world with cheap, green electricity, believes its teenage inventor.
Milan Karki, 18, who comes from a village in rural Nepal, believes he has found the solution to the developing world's energy needs.

The young inventor says hair is easy to use as a conductor in solar panels and could revolutionise renewable energy. 'First I wanted to provide electricity for my home, then my village. Now I am thinking for the whole world,' said Milan, who attends school in the capital, Kathmandu.

The hair replaces silicon, a pricey component typically used in solar panels, and means the panels can be produced at a low cost for those with no access to power, he explained. In Nepal, one of the poorest countries in the world, many rural areas lack access to electricity and even in areas connected to power lines, users face shortages of up to 16 hours a day.

Milan and four classmates initially made the solar panel as an experiment but the teens are convinced it has wide applicability and commercial viability.
'I'm trying to produce commercially and distribute to the districts. We've already sent a couple out to the districts to test for feasibility,' he said.
The solar panel, which produces 9 V (18 W) of energy, costs around £23 to make from raw materials.

But if they were mass-produced, Milan says they could be sold for less than half that price, which could make them a quarter of the price of those already on the market.
Melanin, a pigment that gives hair its colour, is light sensitive and also acts as a type of conductor. Because hair is far cheaper than silicon the appliance is less costly.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1212005/Teenager-invents-23-solar-panel-solution-developing-worlds-energy-needs-human-hair.html#ixzz0Qa6jfgS9

Solar road to generate power

Solar Roadways Awarded DOT Contract to Pave Roads with Solar Cells
In a first step toward turning highways into energy-generating solar panels, the Sagle, Idaho-based startup Solar Roadways has recently received a $100,000 grant from the US Department of Transportation (DOT). The company will use the money to build a prototype of its Solar Road Panel, made from solar cells and glass, that is meant to replace petroleum-based asphalt on roads and in parking lots.

The 12- x 12-foot panels, which each cost $6,900, are designed to be embedded into roads. When shined upon, each panel generates an estimated 7.6 kilowatt hours of power each day. If this electricity could be pumped into the grid, the company predicts that a four-lane, one-mile stretch of road with panels could generate enough power for 500 homes. Although it would be expensive, covering the entire US interstate highway system with the panels could theoretically fulfill the country's total energy needs. The company estimates that this would take 5 billion panels, but could "produce three times more power than we've ever used as a nation - almost enough to power the entire world."

The Solar Road Panels also contain embedded LED lights that "paint" the road lines from beneath to provide safer nighttime driving. The LEDs could also be programmed to alert drivers of detours or road construction ahead, and can even sense wildlife on the road and warn drivers to slow down. The roads could also contain embedded heating elements in the surface to prevent snow and ice from building up on the road. Further, in the future, fully electric vehicles could recharge along the roadway and in parking lots, making electric cars practical for long trips.

"This feature packed system will become an intelligent highway that will double as a secure, intelligent, decentralized, self-healing power grid which will enable a gradual weaning from fossil fuels," Solar Roadways stated in a recent press release.

Find more at: http://www.solarroadways.com/

Forests of Artificial Trees Could Slow Global Warming

Geo-Engineering – Cooling the Planet?

A new study on how technology could help to regulate climate change has studied hundreds of ideas, and selected three considered practical and able to be implemented quickly. The report's authors propose
1. The construction of forests of artificial trees and
2. Installing tubes of algae on the sides of buildings to absorb carbon dioxide.
3. They also proposed painting the roofs of buildings white to keep the Earth cool by reducing the amount of solar radiation absorbed.

The engineers from Britain's Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IME) have asked their government for an investment of 10 million pounds (around 16.3 million dollars) in these ideas to counter the threat to Britain posed by global warming.

One of the authors of the report, Dr Tim Fox, said geo-engineering techniques could buy us a few extra years' breathing space while we transition to a low-carbon world, and may help ward off the climate change scenarios we fear. The report claimed global temperatures could rise by as much as 6°C in the next 90 years if we don't act soon, and the results would include major refugee movements as well as food and water shortages.


Read more at: http://www.imeche.org/media/press/GeoEngineeringReport.htm

An intelligent system to replace caregiver?

An intelligent system helps old people avoid forgetting things
"The system does not modify the life of the users, but does positively modify that of the people who look after them", indicated Ros, who recalled that elderly people or those with special needs often reject the aid of others and demand more independence. The new system may help to achieve this objective.

A team of researchers from the University of Granada (UGR) has created a system with Artificial Intelligence techniques which notifies elderly people or people with special needs of the forgetting of certain everyday tasks. This system uses sensors distributed in the environment in order to detect their actions and mobile devices which remind them, for example, to take their keys before they leave home.

An elderly lady is about to go to bed. She goes into her room, sits down on the bed, takes off her slippers and turns off the light. Suddenly, before getting into bed, a small alarm goes off and a mobile device reminds her that she has not taken her tablets.

This is how the new intelligent system developed by researchers from the Department of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence of the UGR works. María Ros Izquierdo is from the Higher Technical School of Computer Engineering of the UGR and the co-author of a study which is published this month in the Expert Systems with Applications magazine. "It is a prototype which, in a non-intrusive manner, facilitates the control of the activity of people with special needs and increases their independence", she explained to SINC.

The system recognizes the everyday actions of the users by means of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) labels. These labels are discreetly placed on the objects that the individuals touch most often, in such a way that, when they do so, a signal is sent to a computer or mobile device situated in the house itself or at an assistance centre some distance away.

The activities of the people are assessed with Artificial Intelligence techniques (data mining and formal grammar) in order to compile a list of actions such as remembering to take the keys or the mobile phone before leaving home.

An intelligent system to replace caregiver?

An intelligent system helps old people avoid forgetting things
"The system does not modify the life of the users, but does positively modify that of the people who look after them", indicated Ros, who recalled that elderly people or those with special needs often reject the aid of others and demand more independence. The new system may help to achieve this objective.

A team of researchers from the University of Granada (UGR) has created a system with Artificial Intelligence techniques which notifies elderly people or people with special needs of the forgetting of certain everyday tasks. This system uses sensors distributed in the environment in order to detect their actions and mobile devices which remind them, for example, to take their keys before they leave home.

An elderly lady is about to go to bed. She goes into her room, sits down on the bed, takes off her slippers and turns off the light. Suddenly, before getting into bed, a small alarm goes off and a mobile device reminds her that she has not taken her tablets.

This is how the new intelligent system developed by researchers from the Department of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence of the UGR works. María Ros Izquierdo is from the Higher Technical School of Computer Engineering of the UGR and the co-author of a study which is published this month in the Expert Systems with Applications magazine. "It is a prototype which, in a non-intrusive manner, facilitates the control of the activity of people with special needs and increases their independence", she explained to SINC.

The system recognizes the everyday actions of the users by means of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) labels. These labels are discreetly placed on the objects that the individuals touch most often, in such a way that, when they do so, a signal is sent to a computer or mobile device situated in the house itself or at an assistance centre some distance away.

The activities of the people are assessed with Artificial Intelligence techniques (data mining and formal grammar) in order to compile a list of actions such as remembering to take the keys or the mobile phone before leaving home.

Rag: Cleans Almost Everything With Just Water

The Ultimate Rag: Cleans Almost Everything With Just Water!

Microfibers are tiny fibres that have been slit into millions of finer fibres that are no thicker than one hundredth of a human hair. The special slitting process produces an ultra-fine fibre with wedge shape filaments and a core of nylon. The wedge shape, the nylon core, and the smaller size fibre are the key to their effectiveness. When these tiny fibres are woven together into a cloth through a unique weaving method, the result is a powerful cleaning tool. Each cloth consists of tens of thousands of tiny storage compartments that lift the dirt up, trap the waste and leave a clean streak-free surface. Thy nylon core within the microfiber form tiny cutting edges that break up surface dirt and easily absorb and remove oils and other grimy substances. The only solvent you need is water!

Microfibers can accumulate and absorb more particles of dirt than any other fabric known. The ultra-fine fibres with their wedge shape filaments attract and hold the dirt deep into the core of the splits of fibre. The fibres are so numerous that they drastically increase the surface area of the material, providing superior cleaning power. Chemicals will actually diminish the cloth's ability to clean by filling the thousands of microfiber storage compartments which are reserved for dirt, grease and grime.

Read more at: http://www.theragcompany.com/

Laptop with 2 screens

The world's first laptop with twin monitors is slated to hit the stores by the end of the year.

The dual-screen laptop, entitled Spacebook, was masterminded by Alaska-based technology firm gScreen.

The pioneering technology, that will let users to multi-task while on the move, will have two 15.4 in screens, reports the Telegraph.

The PC is estimated to cost enthusiasts around 3,000 dollars but not without concerns regarding the weight of the Spacebook and the pressure on the batteries to meet the energy demands of running two screens.

Gordon Stewart, the founder of gScreen, told US technology website Gizmodo, that the gadget could be expected to be up for grabs on Amazon by December this year, provided final modifications had been dealt with. He said: "We designed this knowing that many may not need the extra screen at all times."

Spacebook planned Specs:
- 2 LED backlit display screens
- Windows VISTA/ WIN XP PRO (optional)
- Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 2.26-GHz
- 4 GB of RAM (2GB DDR2 SO-DIMM x 2)
- 320GB 7200-rpm HD
- NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800M GT with 512MB dedicated memory (or)
- NVIDIA® Quadro FX 1700M Graphics with 512MB dedicated memory
- 9-cell battery
- IEEE 1394 1 Graphics Card Output (15-pin, D-Sub) X 1, HDMI X 1 Mic-in X 1, Line-in x 1, Headphone X 1 PCI Express Card X 1 AC Power Adaptor Output: 19V DC, 90W Input: 100~240V AC, 50/60Hz universal Battery Pack Li-ion 9 cells

100% North American Sales and Tech support for all gScreen laptop computers.
The gScreen Spacebook is the first dual screen laptop with two 15.4-inch identical screens and a full-size keyboard, built into one laptop unit.
Read more at: http://www.gscreencorp.com/

Antifreeze protein inspired by fleas to help humans

A new antifreeze protein discovered in tiny snow fleas by Queen’s University researchers may lengthen the shelf life of human organs for transplantation.

Drs. Laurie Graham and Peter Davies, from the Department of Biochemistry, found that the potent protein produced by the fleas to protect themselves against freezing is capable of inhibiting ice growth by about six Celsius degrees. This would allow organs to be stored at lower temperatures, expanding the time allowed between removal and transplant.

The results of the Queen’s study, funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), are published today in the international journal Science.

“Transplant organs must now be kept at the freezing point or slightly warmer,” says Dr. Graham. “If we can drop the temperature at which the organ is safely stored, there will be a longer preservation period.”

The hyperactive antifreeze protein produced by snow fleas is different from two other insect proteins discovered earlier at Queen’s, the researchers say.

“Unlike the antifreeze proteins in beetles and moths, AFPs in snow fleas break down and lose their structure at higher temperatures,” explains Dr Davies, Canada Research Chair in Protein Engineering. “This means that if used to store organs for transplants, they will be cleared from a person’s system very quickly, reducing the possibility of harmful antibodies forming.”

Also Scientists in Illinois and Pennsylvania are reporting development of a way to make the antifreeze protein that enables billions of Canadian snow fleas to survive frigid winter temperatures.

Read more at: http://www.physorg.com/news135863044.html
Also Read: http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/life_sciences/report-50696.html

Self-cleaning clothes

Good-bye Laundry:Self-cleaning clothes

Talk of clothing that keeps itself clean, or that at least does not need conventional washing, has percolated for decades. Manufacturers have expressed interest in the technologies underlying such garments, but so far the only advance available commercially is clothing treated with nanoparticles that change the natural characteristics of the fabric to keep stains from soaking into it. That makes dirt easier to wash away. The technology, created by textile company Nano-Tex in 2001, appears in clothing today by retailers Eddie Bauer, Gap and Hugo Boss, to name a few.

Despite today’s limited market, the quest for self-cleaning clothing with the potential for broader use continues. Researchers at Monash University in Australia have found a way to coat keratin protein fibers, such as wool, hemp and silk, with titanium dioxide nanocrystals that oxidize food and dirt in sunlight. According to lead researcher Walid Daoud, the process, outlined in the February 26 Chemistry of Materials, does not employ toxic reagents and is harmless to skin. The drawback: speed, or lack thereof. It takes 20 hours in the sun for a wine stain to disappear.

"The ultimate consequence in developing these self-cleaning fabrics is that we can really limit our use of things like chemicals, energy and water," said organic chemist Walid Dauod of Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. "And of course people will save on dry cleaning bills as well."

Read more at: http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/1852/self-cleaning-clothes-two-years-away