Tech post for 18-October-2007

Among the stories in today's post: Energy-harvesting mechanical fish, the world's smallest radio, the benefits of swearing at work, and soy's affects on sperm count.

New Scientist - Energy and Fuels

Mechanical 'fish' could tap turbulence for energy - Devices that harvest energy from swirling wakes surrounding buildings are being developed by US researchers. Their novel designs – inspired by fish – could generate electricity using eddies, something that conventional turbines cannot do.

Multi-touch display can 'see' objects too - A computer screen that also acts as a two-handed touch interface and a crude infrared camera has been developed by researchers at Microsoft's labs in the UK. The technology – dubbed ThinSight – was developed by adding an extra layer of electronics behind a normal laptop screen. This adds a couple of centimetres to the overall thickness, but completely transforms its abilities. The screen "sees" by using a grid of paired infrared sensors and transmitters that sit just behind the backlight of the laptop's LCD panel. The sensors can form crude images when infrared light bounces off an object (see images, right). This could allow the screen to identify hand gestures or to see objects, and let them interact with onscreen images.

Physics Org

Look, Ma, no batteries: Powering nanoelectronics with light - Scientists have developed solar cells 200 hundred times thinner than a human hair that they believe will power the nanoscale gadgetry of tomorrow, according to a study released Wednesday. Virtually invisible to the naked eye, a single strand can crank out up to 200 picowatts. Two hundred billionths of a watt may not seem much, but at nanoscale it is enough to provide a steady output of electricity to run ultralow power electronics, including some that could be worn on -- or even inside -- the body.

Toward world's smallest radio: nano-sized detector turns radio waves into music - Researchers in California today report development of the world’s first working radio system that receives radio waves wirelessly and converts them to sound signals through a nano-sized detector made of carbon nanotubes. The “carbon nanotube radio” device is thousands of times smaller than the diameter of a human hair. The development marks an important step in the evolution of nano-electronics and could lead to the production of the world’s smallest radio, the scientists say.

National Geographic News

Gene-Altered Plant, Tree Can Suck Up Toxins - Two types of genetically modified plants can remove toxic compounds from the environment, according to research by a pair of independent groups. One group developed Arabidopsis plants—small plants related to cabbage and mustard—that can clean up soil contaminated with cyclonite, or RDX. The widely used explosive is highly toxic and carcinogenic. The other team modified a poplar tree to soak up a host of cancer-causing compounds from soil, groundwater, and air.

Slashdot

Swearing at Work is Bleeping Good For You - This is the kind of news that your HR folks don't want to hear, but researchers today said letting workers swear at will in the workplace can benefit employees and employers. The study found regular use of profanity to express and reinforce solidarity among staff, enabling them to express their feelings, such as frustration, and develop social relationships, according to researchers at the University of East Anglia (UES).

How the U.S. Became Switchboard to the World - A lucky coincidence of economics is responsible for routing much of the world's internet and telephone traffic through switching points in the United States, where, under legislation introduced this week, the U.S. National Security Agency will be free to continue tapping it. ...International phone and internet traffic flows through the United States largely because of pricing models established more than 100 years ago... The United States, where the internet was invented, was also home to the first internet backbone. Combine that architectural advantage with the pricing disparity inherited from the phone networks, and the United States quickly became the center of cyberspace as the internet gained international penetration in the 1990s.

Purpose of Appendix Believed Found - Some scientists think they have figured out the real job of the troublesome and seemingly useless appendix: It produces and protects good germs for your gut. That's the theory from surgeons and immunologists at Duke University Medical School, published online in a scientific journal this week.

ABC News: Technology & Science

Study: Eating Soy May Slash Sperm Count - Men who eat just half a serving of soya a day have drastically fewer sperm than those who do not consume such foods, according to a small, preliminary study. The study's researchers say larger trials are needed to determine whether men hoping to conceive a child should try to avoid soya foods, such as tofu, tempeh and soya milk. However, soya industry representatives caution that the new findings contradict earlier studies that have shown no impact on sperm count from soya-based products.

BBC News | Science/Nature | World Edition

Gene-block birth control 'on way' - An American Society for Reproductive Medicine conference was told a technique called "RNA interference" could stop sperm entering the egg. However, the new "Pill" is at least a decade away - and may have its own side-effects.