Remind Me Again, Why Isn't Pluto a Planet? : Discovery News

Artist impression of Pluto and largest moon Charon from the surface of either Nix or Hydra, two smaller moons. "P4" is the new addition.

Last week, news broke that a team of astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope had discovered a new moon in orbit around Pluto.

They were actually looking for signs of a ring system when they stumbled across another tiny object -- now imaginatively called "P4" -- bringing Pluto's moon count to four. 

After addition of a new moon, will Pluto be called a planet again? NO... Why? click on the link and Read More in this article.

Fundamental constants 'change': Gravity weaker, electromagnetic force stronger, according to latest recommended values

The constants, which range from relatively famous (the speed of light) to the fairly obscure (Wien frequency displacement law constant) are adjusted every four years in response to the latest scientific measurements and advances. These latest values arrive on the verge of a worldwide vote this fall on a plan to redefine the most basic units in the International System of Units (SI), such as the kilogram and ampere, exclusively in terms of the fundamental constants.

The values are determined by the Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA) Task Group on Fundamental Constants, an international group that includes NIST members. The adjusted values reflect some significant scientific developments over the last four years.

Parallel Universes: Are we really alone in this 'Universe'?

The debate on weather the Multiverse really exist or not is a hot topic since many years. The proponents of parallel universes strike back with multiverse. Read the links for a fascinating overview of these reveling concepts which challenge our perceptions.

Finally a man (Theoretical Physicist) who is a rebel in his own field always challenging his fellow men about current concepts or theories. He even disputed Stephen Hawking about black holes and eventually made him concede with his black hole physics. He is the man behind the development of parallel universe concept again challenging with the concept of a Level 1 multiverse.

We may never be able to grasp that reality. The universe and its ingredients may be impossible to describe unambiguously - Leonard Susskind

Neural signature of 'mental time travel': Memories formed in the same context become linked, evidence shows

Almost everyone has experienced one memory triggering another, but explanations for that phenomenon have proved elusive. Now, University of Pennsylvania researchers have provided the first neurobiological evidence that memories formed in the same context become linked, the foundation of the theory of episodic memory. Read More

NASA's Dawn spacecraft returns close-up image of giant asteroid Vesta

NASA's Dawn spacecraft returns close-up image of giant asteroid Vesta

Nanotechnology: injections or sampling? New 'molecular syringes' under testing

Which is better, a quick vertical jab on the buttock or the delicately soft entry of a blood sample? Waiting to find out "for what," some are already wondering "how" to use those tiny "molecular syringes" which are carbon nanotubes. With a diameter of less than one millionth of a millimetre (nanometre) and a maximum length of just a few millimetres, the first use that springs to mind when we think of this ethereal tubes -- the smallest ever made by man -- is as potential needles for injecting drugs or genes into sick cells. And if a syringe it is, we had better start thinking about how to use them. Read More

The above picture is an illustration of how a nanorobot or a nanobot injects drug into a red blood cell and Phil Ball, a science writer warns in his column how pictures which are a combination of photographic reality and graphic inventions can persuade us into believing such things!  

NASA's Dawn spacecraft enters orbit around asteroid Vesta

NASA's Dawn spacecraft enters orbit around asteroid Vesta

Monitoring cellular interactions at nano-scale in more detail than ever before

"We can now monitor how individual cells talk to one another in real-time with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution," says Jeffrey Karp, senior study author, and co-director of the Center for Regenerative Therapeutics (ReGen Rx) at BWH. "This allows us to understand signaling between cells and interactions with drugs in great detail that should have broad implications for basic science and drug discovery", Read More

‪NASA | Riding on a Sounding Rocket‬‏

Journey of a rocket from earth to space and back again released by NASA. Watch it! 

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Intelligent street lighting saves up to 80% on energy

Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) is currently testing an intelligent street lighting system on its campus, which uses up to 80% less electricity than the current systems and is also cheaper to maintain. The system consists of street lights with LED lighting, motion sensors and wireless communication. This enables the installation to dim the lights when there are no cars, cyclists or pedestrians in the vicinity. Wireless communication between the street lights and a control room is also possible. The system was developed by TU Delft alumnus Management of Technology, Chintan Shah, who won a competition in 2010 with this concept for improving energy efficiency on the university campus. 

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ATM: now for semi-literate and illiterate

The pillar ATM, which NCR corp. is designing for rural areas in developing countries such as India and China, is waist high and could be secured to the ground with bolts or weights. The cylindrical shape is designed to minimize places where a crowbar might be applied to pry open the ATM. As an added measure of security, the machine's cash box is designed to collapse in on itself if the ATM is breached.

Read More

Future Computers May Be DNA-Based : Discovery News

We've all heard our brain likened to a computer. But professor Jian-Jun Shu and his students at Nanyang Technical University are taking that comparison quite literally.

Shu and his team at the university's School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering have proposed a way to use DNA strands for computing operations.

Their article “DNA-Based Computing of Strategic Assignment Problems,” was recently published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

Shu points out that the human body performs computations that are naturally more faster than even the fastest silicon-based computer.

Read More

Smile: Wow! This is called Illusion!

Smile: Wow! This is called Illusion!

NASA - NASA TV

NASA - NASA TV

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

Go to this link to see the Live docking of space shuttle with the space station!

Life-like Dental Training Robots to help Dental Students to Learn!

Remember how it is to go to a dental teaching institute and become a guinea pig to dental students with all their anxiety of trying to experiment their theory knowledge on us? Well it could sometimes be disastrous combination of shaking hands, confusion and apprehension. 

Japan's Showa University for the first time has invented in collaboration with Orient Industry a life-like dental training robot that is capable of  mimicking human's gagging reflex, coughing, blinking, sneezing, head shaking and snapping the mouth shut like a real life human. The robot's face is made of silicone which gives a real-life effect. It also is capable of moving its tongue. The speech recognition has enabled the robot to respond to certain instructions. The robot has a name: Showa Hanako-2. And whats more, it can also store and analyse each student's performance and provide feedback through a computer link! 

Surely, this will help dental students to learn and trained better with a simulation of real life situation. 

Watch this video to witness the superb simulation this 'Showa Hanako 2' provides to a student.

Reprogram Brain and Skin cells into Heart cells

A group of researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine of Pennsylvania University for the first time have succeeded in transforming two different cell-types (astrocyte, a brain cell and a fibroblast, a skin cell) into a heart cell using mRNAs (messenger RNAs are the molecules which contain the blueprints for protein). It is a breakthrough in medicine as it is going to pave the way for cell-based therapy for cardiovascular diseases.

Researchers have used a method called Transcriptome Induced Phenotype Remodeling which is similar to prior nucleus transfer from one cell to another cell which then directs the cell to change the phenotype based on the RNAs that are made. The advantage of this method is that it does not need an intermediate step. This research might make it possible now to repair the injured hearts by replacing lost tissue.  

Science through Technology

This blog will try to give a glimpse of the 'art' or 'skills' used by humans which is influencing man and other living species to adapt to their natural environment. This is a place where my perceptions about how science which provides knowledge is helping/challenging/counterfeiting/ruining/re-creating the natural environment. It might be just reporting the updated news/scoops, sometimes with my opinions or with a review of experts opinion.

My only desire is to share what I learn everyday to everyone else out there!