A group of scientists has succeeded in creating the first transistor made from a single molecule. The team, which includes researchers from Yale University and the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea, published their findings in the December 24 issue of the journal Nature.
The team, including Mark Reed, the Harold Hodgkinson Professor of Engineering & Applied Science at Yale, showed that a benzene molecule attached to gold contacts could behave just like a silicon transistor.
The researchers were able to manipulate the molecule's different energy states de. . .
A model that replicates the functions of the human brain is feasible in 10 years according to neuroscientist Professor Henry Markram of the Brain Mind Institute in Switzerland.
"I absolutely believe it is technically and biologically possible. The only uncertainty is financial. It is an extremely expensive project and not all is yet secured."
The apparent complexity of the human mind is not a barrier to building a 'replica' brain claims Professor Markram. "The brain is of course extremely complex because it has trillions of synapses, billions of neurons, millions of proteins, an. . .
"I absolutely believe it is technically and biologically possible. The only uncertainty is financial. It is an extremely expensive project and not all is yet secured."
The apparent complexity of the human mind is not a barrier to building a 'replica' brain claims Professor Markram. "The brain is of course extremely complex because it has trillions of synapses, billions of neurons, millions of proteins, an. . .
Scientists are only months away from creating artificial life, it was claimed yesterday.
Dr Craig Venter – one of the world’s most famous and controversial biologists – said his U.S. researchers have overcome one of the last big hurdles to making a synthetic organism.
The first artificial lifeform is likely to be a simple man-made bacterium that proves that the technology can work.
But it will be followed by more complex bacteria that turn coal into cleaner natural gas, or algae that can soak up carbon dioxide and convert it into fuels.
They could also be used to create ne. . .
Dr Craig Venter – one of the world’s most famous and controversial biologists – said his U.S. researchers have overcome one of the last big hurdles to making a synthetic organism.
The first artificial lifeform is likely to be a simple man-made bacterium that proves that the technology can work.
But it will be followed by more complex bacteria that turn coal into cleaner natural gas, or algae that can soak up carbon dioxide and convert it into fuels.
They could also be used to create ne. . .
A Canadian palaeontologist believes that he can manipulate chicken embryos in order to create a dinosaur.
Hans Larsson, the Canada Research Chair in Macro Evolution at McGill University in Montreal, said he aims to develop dinosaur traits that disappeared millions of years ago in birds.
Mr Larsson believes that by flipping certain genetic levers during a chicken embryo's development, he can reproduce the dinosaur anatomy, he told AFP in an interview.
Though still in its infancy, the research could eventually lead to hatching live prehistoric animals, but Mr Larsson said he has. . .
Hans Larsson, the Canada Research Chair in Macro Evolution at McGill University in Montreal, said he aims to develop dinosaur traits that disappeared millions of years ago in birds.
Mr Larsson believes that by flipping certain genetic levers during a chicken embryo's development, he can reproduce the dinosaur anatomy, he told AFP in an interview.
Though still in its infancy, the research could eventually lead to hatching live prehistoric animals, but Mr Larsson said he has. . .
Jeffrey Steinberg, a US doctor, is offering British couples the chance to choose the sex of their child at his New York clinic.
Dr Steinberg provoked anger earlier this year when he said his fertility clinic could allow parents to produce "designer babies" - choosing eye, hair, skin colour and gender.
Under American law, he is allowed to use pre-implentation genetic diagnosis (PGD) to reveal an embryo's sex. In Britain, it can only be used in screening for genetic diseases. Half of the embryos undergoing tests in Dr Steinberg's laboratory reportedly belong to British couples whil. . .
Dr Steinberg provoked anger earlier this year when he said his fertility clinic could allow parents to produce "designer babies" - choosing eye, hair, skin colour and gender.
Under American law, he is allowed to use pre-implentation genetic diagnosis (PGD) to reveal an embryo's sex. In Britain, it can only be used in screening for genetic diseases. Half of the embryos undergoing tests in Dr Steinberg's laboratory reportedly belong to British couples whil. . .
A six-year-old boy got an extraterrestrial surprise when he went to collect eggs from his flock of hens and found a meteorite in his garden.
Josh Chapple found the egg-sized meteorite the morning after Britain was blitzed by the Perseid meteor shower.
The rock measures 6cm by 4cm and is black with a shiny crystal-like gleam. Josh first thought it was a lump of coal but when he showed it to his parents they realised what he had found.
The youngster said: "I saw it on the ground near our back door – there were burn marks all over it. I've never seen anything like it before. It w. . .
Josh Chapple found the egg-sized meteorite the morning after Britain was blitzed by the Perseid meteor shower.
The rock measures 6cm by 4cm and is black with a shiny crystal-like gleam. Josh first thought it was a lump of coal but when he showed it to his parents they realised what he had found.
The youngster said: "I saw it on the ground near our back door – there were burn marks all over it. I've never seen anything like it before. It w. . .
First planet that orbits in the opposite direction to the spin of its star discovered
(http://news.bbc.co.uk)
Astronomers have discovered the first planet that orbits in the opposite direction to the spin of its star.
Planets form out of the same swirling gas cloud that creates a star, so they are expected to orbit in the same direction that the star rotates.
The new planet is thought to have been flung into its "retrograde" orbit by a close encounter with either another planet or with a passing star.
The work has been submitted to the Astrophysical Journal for publication.
Co-author Coel Hellier, from Keele University in Staffordshire, UK, said planets with retrograde orbits were th. . .
Planets form out of the same swirling gas cloud that creates a star, so they are expected to orbit in the same direction that the star rotates.
The new planet is thought to have been flung into its "retrograde" orbit by a close encounter with either another planet or with a passing star.
The work has been submitted to the Astrophysical Journal for publication.
Co-author Coel Hellier, from Keele University in Staffordshire, UK, said planets with retrograde orbits were th. . .
In a bizarre parasitic death sentence, a fungus turns carpenter ants into the walking dead and gets them to die in a spot that's perfect for the fungus to grow and reproduce.
Scientists have no clue how the fungus takes control of the brains of ants so effectively. But a new study in the September issue of the American Naturalist reveals an incredible set of strategies that ensue.
The carpenter ants nest high in the canopy of a forest in Thailand, and they trek to the forest floor to forage. The fungus, Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, prefers to end up on the undersides leaves sprou. . .
Scientists have no clue how the fungus takes control of the brains of ants so effectively. But a new study in the September issue of the American Naturalist reveals an incredible set of strategies that ensue.
The carpenter ants nest high in the canopy of a forest in Thailand, and they trek to the forest floor to forage. The fungus, Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, prefers to end up on the undersides leaves sprou. . .
A new experimental treatment for multiple sclerosis completely reverses the devastating autoimmune disorder in mice, and might work exactly the same way in humans, say researchers at the Jewish General Hospital Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research and McGill University in Montreal.
MS is an autoimmune disease in which the body's own immune response attacks the central nervous system, almost as if the body had become allergic to itself, leading to progressive physical and cognitive disability.
The new treatment, appropriately named GIFT15, puts MS into remission by suppressin. . .
MS is an autoimmune disease in which the body's own immune response attacks the central nervous system, almost as if the body had become allergic to itself, leading to progressive physical and cognitive disability.
The new treatment, appropriately named GIFT15, puts MS into remission by suppressin. . .
In a daring experiment in Europe, scientists used mosquitoes as flying needles to deliver a "vaccine" of live malaria parasites through their bites.
The results were astounding: Everyone in the vaccine group acquired immunity to malaria; everyone in a non-vaccinated comparison group did not, and developed malaria when exposed to the parasites later.
The study was only a small proof-of-principle test, and its approach is not practical on a large scale. However, it shows that scientists may finally be on the right track to developing an effective vaccine against one of mankind's t. . .
The results were astounding: Everyone in the vaccine group acquired immunity to malaria; everyone in a non-vaccinated comparison group did not, and developed malaria when exposed to the parasites later.
The study was only a small proof-of-principle test, and its approach is not practical on a large scale. However, it shows that scientists may finally be on the right track to developing an effective vaccine against one of mankind's t. . .
For the female half of the population, it may bring a satisfied smile. Scientists have found that evolution is driving women to become ever more beautiful, while men remain as aesthetically unappealing as their caveman ancestors.
The researchers have found beautiful women have more children than their plainer counterparts and that a higher proportion of those children are female. Those daughters, once adult, also tend to be attractive and so repeat the pattern.
Over generations, the scientists argue, this has led to women becoming steadily more aesthetically pleasing, a “beauty r. . .
The researchers have found beautiful women have more children than their plainer counterparts and that a higher proportion of those children are female. Those daughters, once adult, also tend to be attractive and so repeat the pattern.
Over generations, the scientists argue, this has led to women becoming steadily more aesthetically pleasing, a “beauty r. . .
Nasa finds monster black hole sucking up gas, dust and stars at centre of galaxy
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk)
Nasa has found a monster black hole 100 million times the mass of the Sun feeding off gas, dust and stars at the centre of a galaxy 50 million light-years away.
The star-ringed black hole forms the eye of a galaxy called NGC-1097 which was photographed by the US space agency's Spitzer Space Telescope in California.
A black hole is a region of space in which the gravitational pull is so powerful that nothing, including whole planets, can escape being sucked in if they come within its reach.
The galaxy in the photograph is spiral-shaped, like our Milky Way, and extends long arms o. . .
The star-ringed black hole forms the eye of a galaxy called NGC-1097 which was photographed by the US space agency's Spitzer Space Telescope in California.
A black hole is a region of space in which the gravitational pull is so powerful that nothing, including whole planets, can escape being sucked in if they come within its reach.
The galaxy in the photograph is spiral-shaped, like our Milky Way, and extends long arms o. . .
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