Mostly Medical

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Source: EurekAlert! A recent study by the American Journal of Medical Genetics revealed that people with genetic-based illnesses are twice as likely to report being denied health insurance as those with other types of chronic illnesses.

Source: PhysOrg Scientists have successfully cloned healthy mice that have lived to adulthood from adult skin stem cells. The stem cells, called keratinocytes, are obtained from part of the hair follicles and are involved in skin repair and hair growth. Stem cells from male mice were found to be significantly more successful in producing viable embryos (5.4% versus 1.6%), and all mice were eventually found to be healthy and fertile.

Source: New Scientist Scientists are experimenting with modifying a type of protein found in the hair cells of the human ear, called prestin, which can be used to convert motion into electricity. They envision using this to create a "power skin" that generates electricity when the wearer moves. The first application they describe is to augment the power supplies of astronauts by having their suits generate energy every time the astronauts move.

Source: New Scientist Researchers at the University of Geneva have developed a haptic glove that allows you to experience the feel of different fabrics. The glove contains an array of pins, 24 pins per square centimetre, under each finger which move to emulate the feel of a particular fabric. The challenge is that the "refresh rate" of your touch sensors is more than 500 times each second, compared to the 20 to 30 times per second of the average person's visual system. So far, they have been able to achieve 40 refreshes per second. Now, what else could this be used for....

Source: Sci Fi Tech This is a mod of a standard in-car cassette player in which the internal workings have been replaced with an iPod mount. Unfortunately, it's not for sale, but expect to see something similar offered in cars soon as the iPod wave continues.