NASA troubles and Mutant mice

Physics Org

NASA Shaken by Sabotage, Drinking Claims - America's space agency was shaken Thursday by two startling and unrelated reports: One involved claims that astronauts were drunk before flying. The other was news from NASA itself that a worker had sabotaged a computer set for delivery to the international space station.

Nanotech clay armour creates fire resistant hard wearing latex emulsion paints - Researchers at the University of Warwick's Department of Chemistry have found a way of replacing the soap used to stabilize latex emulsion paints with nanotech sized clay armour that can create a much more hard wearing and fire resistant paint.

Number of Published Science and Engineering Articles Flattens, But U.S. Influence Remains Strong- Number of published U.S. science and technology articles plateaued in the 1990s, despite continued increases in funding and personnel for research and development.

Technology Review Feed - Biotech Top Stories

Playing Piano with a Robotic Hand - By tapping directly into the brain's electrical signals, scientists at John's Hopkins University, in Baltimore, are on their way to developing a prosthetic hand more dexterous than ever before. They have demonstrated for the first time that neural activity recorded from a monkey's brain can control fingers on a robotic hand, making it play several notes on a piano.

Technology Review Feed - Nanotech Top Stories

Ultrastrong Paper from Graphene - Using graphite--the black flaky stuff employed in pencils--researchers at Northwestern University have created a strong, flexible, and lightweight paperlike material. It could be used as electrolytes or hydrogen storage materials in fuel cells, electrodes in supercapacitors and batteries, and super-thin chemical filters. It could also be mixed with polymers or metals to make materials for use in aircraft fuselages, cars, and buildings.

news@nature.com

Medical opinion comes full circle on cannabis dangers - Frequent cannabis use more than doubles the risk of developing psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia, according to the most rigorous analysis of the evidence to date. The finding, which comes from a new study that combines results from 35 previous surveys, represents a significant U-turn from previous suggestions that cannabis is harmless to mental health.

Single gene deletion boosts lifespan - Researchers have created a mutant mouse that lives longer despite eating more and weighing less - all thanks to the loss of a single protein. Without this protein, the body is less susceptible to the heart-pounding effects of the hormone adrenaline, and may become more resistant to some forms of stress. Scientists are already developing drugs to inhibit this protein, called type 5 adenylyl cyclase (AC5).

Religious concepts promote cooperation - A belief in God may have promoted the evolution of cooperative behaviour, say Canadian psychologists. They found that priming people with religious concepts makes them more generous - regardless of whether they declare themselves to be believers.

Mobile telephone masts 'do not cause illness' - There is no evidence that short-term exposure to signals from mobile telephone masts causes illness, say British researchers who have carried out a trial involving dozens of people who claim to be sensitive to the signals. When told that the transmitter was switched on for 50 minutes, 'sensitive' individuals reported higher anxiety, discomfort and tension. But when asked to tell whether the transmitter was on or off, only two of the 44 'sensitive' volunteers were correct six times out of six. Five of the controls were equally successful. This suggests that although peoples' symptoms are genuine, they may be triggered by the knowledge that they are near a telephone mast, rather than being an effect of the electromagnetic waves themselves.

Prospect - Having trouble finishing graduate school? You're not alone. Many students, especially in the United States, drag out their postgraduate education for up to ten years. This week the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS), based in Washington DC, released data for attrition and completion rates in 316 doctoral programmes at 29 colleges and universities in the United States. Completion rates aren't as bad as some had feared: 57% of PhD students get their degree by their tenth year. And in the social sciences and humanities, unlike science and engineering, the proportion actually rises from years 7 to 10.

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Physics Org

See-through transistor fabricated for future e-displays - Scientists have recently taken an important step toward the development of "see-through" flexible electronic displays by fabricating fully transparent, high-speed nanowire transistors. This piece of circuitry, the first transistor to demonstrate full transparency, could help turn ideas such as e-paper, displays on sunglasses, and maps on car windshields into a reality.

Unique Material May Allow Capacitors to Store More Energy - Imagine an electric car with the same acceleration capability as a gas-powered sports car, or ultrafast rechargeable "batteries" that can be recharged a thousand times more than existing conventional batteries. According to physicists at North Carolina State University, all of these things are possible, thanks to their research on a polymer - or plastic material - that when used as a dielectric in capacitors may allow the capacitors to store up to seven times more energy than those currently in use.

Prevent smoking to reduce risk of erectile dysfunction - Men who smoke cigarettes run an increased risk of experiencing erectile dysfunction, and the more cigarettes smoked, the greater the risk, according to a study by Tulane University researchers published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Obese girls less likely to attend college - Obese girls are half as likely to attend college as non-obese girls, according to a new study from The University of Texas at Austin.

Robots Clear Waterways of Deadly Mines - As it slowly moves in the shallow water along a beach, the robot splashes its fins like a small child playing in the surf. But the prototype device has a serious mission: destroying mines that could kill Marines and Navy SEALs as they come on shore. Such technology is considered the future of underwater bomb detection.

More fish oil, less vegetable oil, better for your health - Scientists have provided new evidence that using more fish oil than vegetable oil in the diet decreases the formation of chemicals called prostanoids, which, when produced in excess, increase inflammation in various tissues and organs. The results, by William L. Smith, Professor and Chair of Biological Chemistry at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and colleagues, may help in designing new anti-inflammatory drugs with fewer side effects than the ones currently available.

People, animals behave better when watched: study - When people and animals know they are being watched, they behave in more positive ways toward others, according to a study published Thursday by the US magazine Science.

X-48B Blended Wing Body Research Aircraft Takes First Flight - NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif., provided critical support for the first flight July 20 of the X-48B. The 21-foot wingspan, 500-pound remotely piloted test vehicle took off for the first time at 8:42 a.m. PDT and climbed to an altitude of 7,500 feet before landing 31 minutes later. The Boeing Co. of Seattle developed the blended wing body research aircraft.

MIT duo see people-powered 'Crowd Farm' - Two graduate students at MIT's School of Architecture and Planning want to harvest the energy of human movement in urban settings, like commuters in a train station or fans at a concert.

MySpace Finds 29,000 Sex Offenders - MySpace.com has found more than 29,000 registered sex offenders with profiles on the popular social networking Web site - more than four times the number cited by the company two months ago, officials in two states Tuesday.