Time Travel and Boiling bodies

Physics Org

Researcher Presents Origin-Of-Life Theory for Young Earth - Some of the elements necessary to support life on Earth are widely known - oxygen, carbon and water, to name a few. Just as important in the existence of life as any other component is the presence of adenine, an essential organic molecule. Without it, the basic building blocks of life would not come together. Scientists have been trying to find the origin of Earth's adenine and where else it might exist in the solar system. University of Missouri-Columbia researcher Rainer Glaser may have the answer. Using a theoretical model, Glaser is hypothesizing the existence of adenine in interstellar dust clouds.

New imaging detectors could take snapshots from deep space - An imaging detector under development by a team of scientists from Rochester Institute of Technology and University of Rochester promises to revolutionize future NASA planetary missions with technology that could withstand the harsh radiation environments in space. The lightweight device will be smaller and consume less power than technology currently in use. The novel readout circuitry design will give the device a radiation tolerance not possible in standard optical detectors.

Beyond batteries: Storing power in a sheet of nanocomposite paper - A sample of the new nanocomposite paper developed by researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Infused with carbon nanotubes, the paper can be used to create ultra-thin, flexible batteries and energy storage devices for next-generation electronics and implantable medical equipment.

UK firm: Don't burn bodies, boil them - A British company says it has an eco-friendly alternative to cremation: boiling bodies into dust. In the process, called resomation, the body is encased in a silk coffin and submerged in water mixed with potassium hydroxide. It is then heated to 302 degrees Fahrenheit, which rapidly turns it into a white dust, The Mail on Sunday reported.

Israeli Researcher Develops New Theoretical Model of Time Machine - Technion Israel Institute of Technology researchers have developed a theoretical model of a time machine that, in the distant future, could possibly enable future generations to travel into the past. “In order to travel back in time, the spacetime structure must be engineered appropriately,” explains Prof. Amos Ori of the Technion’s Faculty of Physics. Prof. Ori is proposing a theoretical model for spacetime that could develop into a time machine. The model overcomes some of the questions, which, until now, scientists have not succeeded in solving. Prof. Ori emphasizes that we still do not have the technology to control gravitational fields at will, despite the fact that the theoretical principles of how to do this exist.

Technology Review Feed - Nanotech Top Stories

Levitating Nanomachines - As mechanical devices shrink down to the nanoscale, they fall victim to a strange quantum effect that makes their moving parts stick together. But theoretical physicists at the University of St. Andrews, in Scotland, have found a way to turn that effect against itself, producing completely frictionless nanomachines. St. Andrews researchers Ulf Leonhardt and Thomas Philbin have calculated that a specially engineered material called a perfect lens can reverse the direction of the Casimir effect.

National Geographic News

'Lunar Ark' Proposed in Case of Deadly Impact on Earth - The moon should be developed as a sanctuary for civilization in case of a cataclysmic cosmic impact, according to an international team of experts. NASA already has blueprints to create a permanent lunar outpost by the 2020s. But that plan should be expanded to include a way to preserve humanity's learning, culture, and technology if Earth is hit by a doomsday asteroid or comet, said Jim Burke, a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

Photo in the News: Dancing Robot to Preserve Japan's Folk Arts - The mighty Transformer Optimus Prime might be able to save the universe, but who's going to teach the Autobots to do the Hustle? Enter HRP-2, a humanoid robot designed by Japanese researchers that is programmed to reproduce dance steps with the practiced grace of an electronic geisha. To teach HRP-2 its groove, the researchers devised a new approach that transforms motion-capture video of a human dancer into data for the robot's sequence of limb motions. A report on the work appears in this month's issue of the International Journal of Robotics Research.

news@nature

Genetic popsicle - Microbes frozen in the oldest ice on Earth have been thawed out and brought back to life in the laboratory, providing new insights into how long living creatures can be frozen. However the poor health of the thawed-out microbes has led their discoverers to cast doubt on a notion long cherished by some — that life on Earth arrived here on comets from outside our solar system.

Not just a bunch of bones - The traditional view of the skeleton as an inert frame is challenged by a new study showing that it also plays an important part in the body's hormonal system. Cells in the bone produce a hormone that influences blood sugar levels and fat deposition. The study could in time lead to new approaches to the treatment of diabetes, and is being heralded by others in the field as a landmark.

Assorted robotic and medical tech photos

( Tech photos under the cut )