************************
Artificial Intelligence Enters
Brave New World
NPR Dec. 2, 2007
*************************
A recent "Singularity Summit"
brought together those who imagine
and invent the future of AI....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7566&m=14673



*************************
Duke Scientists Map 'Silenced
Genes'
AP Nov. 30, 2007
*************************
Duke University scientists now have
identified switched-off "silenced
genes," creating the first map of
this unique group of about 200 genes
believed to play a profound role in
people's health. The work marks an
important step in studying how our
environment -- food, stress,
pollution -- interacts with genes to
help determine why some people...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7565&m=14673



*************************
Software That Organizes
Intelligently
Technology Review Dec. 3, 2007
*************************
A soon-to-be-released product
called Smart Desktop, from a
division of Seattle-based company Pi
Corporation, aims to help people
sort that information automatically
and intelligently, unifying the
information into a single view....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7564&m=14673



*************************
Mass-Producing 3-D Particles
Technology Review Dec. 3, 2007
*************************
MIT researchers have invented a
microfluidic way to efficiently make
particles. It could provide a way to
create millions of labeled tags with
the potential to become ultrafast,
ultrasensitive biosensors for
medical diagnostics. (Ji-Hyun Jang,...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7563&m=14673



*************************
Nanoscale 'barcodes' can tag
individual molecules
NewScientist.com news service Nov. 30, 2007
*************************
Nanoscopic "barcodes" made from
nickel nanowires beaded with gold
discs could make it easier to
authenticate valuable products, and
study a variety of biological
molecules at the same time,
Northwestern University researchers
say. (Nano...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7562&m=14673



*************************
NEC develops real-time
Japanese-to-English mobile
translation software
engadget Nov. 30, 2007
*************************
NEC has developed a system that can
understand around 50,000 Japanese
words and translate them to English
text on the mobile's display in just
a second or two....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7561&m=14673



*************************
New Form of Cell Death Discovered
ScienceNOW Daily News Nov. 29, 2007
*************************
Scientists have discovered a novel
form of cell death in which cells
crawl inside other cells to die. The
process, dubbed entosis, may be a
method of suppressing tumors,
Harvard Medical School researchers
say. A cancer cell (left) and a
normal breast cell (right) sit
inside other cells (green rings).
(Michael Overholtzer/Harvard Medical...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7560&m=14673



*************************
LLF claims efficiency record from
high-CRI warm-white LED lamp
Semiconductor News Nov. 30, 2007
*************************
LED Lighting Fixtures Inc. says
that its LRP-38 lamp has set a new
standard for energy-efficient
lighting by producing 659 lumens
while consuming just 5.8W of
wall-plug power (113.6 delivered
lumens per watt), compared with 60W
for an equally bright incandescent
bulb. The lamp uses less than 9% and
30% of the energy consumed by
incandescent and...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7559&m=14673



*************************
How Africa's desert sun can bring
Europe power
The Guardian Dec. 2, 2007
*************************
Europe is considering plans to
spend more than 5 billion pounds on
a string of giant solar power
stations along the Mediterranean
desert shores of northern Africa and
the Middle East. An estimated 100
billion watts of power could be
generated. Two thirds of it would be
kept for local needs, the
rest--around 30 billion watts--would
be exported...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7558&m=14673



*************************
Study Details How U.S. Could Cut
28% of Greenhouse Gases
New York Times Nov. 30, 2007
*************************
The United States could shave as
much as 28 percent off the amount of
greenhouse gases it emits at fairly
modest cost and with only small
technology innovations, according to
a new report from McKinsey &
Company. The innovations include
changes in the lighting, heating and
cooling of buildings, for example,
that would reduce carbon dioxide...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7556&m=14673



*************************
Delivering Drugs with MEMS
Technology Review Nov. 30, 2007
*************************
MicroChips has developed prototypes
of an implantable
microelectromechanical systems
(MEMS) devices for healing bones
damaged by osteoporosis--replacing
500 daily injections with a single
outpatient implant procedure--and
for monitoring glucose levels in
diabetics. Reservoirs carved from
silicon can be used to store drugs
in new implantable...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7555&m=14673



*************************
Software That Learns from Users
Technology Review Nov. 30, 2007
*************************
CALO ("cognitive assistant that
learns and organizes"), a massive,
four-year-old AI project to help
computers understand the intentions
of their human users, tries to
assist users in three ways: by
helping them manage information
about key people and projects, by
understanding and organizing
information from meetings, and by
learning and...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7554&m=14673



*************************
Monkey brains use web link to
control robot legs
NewScientist.com news service Nov. 27, 2007
*************************
Duke University researchers
implanted electrodes in the brains
of two rhesus macaques and analyzed
the electrical signals that drive
their legs. The team then mapped the
signals to specific leg movements
and, via the Internet, used them to
control a pair of robot legs at the
Advanced Telecommunications Research
Institute International in...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7553&m=14673



*************************
Online library gives readers access
to 1.5 million books
PhysOrg.com Nov. 27, 2007
*************************
The Million Book Project, an
international venture led by
Carnegie Mellon University in the
United States, Zhejiang University
in China, the Indian Institute of
Science in India and the Library at
Alexandria in Egypt, has completed
the digitization of more than 1.5
million books, which are now
available...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7552&m=14673



*************************
The transistor at 60
Sydney Morning Herald November 27, 2007
*************************
In December 1947, Bells Labs
scientists first revealed what would
come to be known as the transistor.
Physical limits to transistor
miniaturization and performance are
being approached, but many research
laboratories are looking for new and
novel devices that could replace
transistors inside computers, such
as nanotubes and and molecular...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7550&m=14673



*************************
New Flexible, Transparent
Transistors made of Nanotubes
PhysOrg.com Nov. 27, 2007
*************************
Hanyang University researchers have
constructed a thin-film transistor
from single-wall carbon nanotubes,
eliminating the need to control each
nanotube. Thin film transistor array
on a glass substrate and scanning
electron microscope image of network
of nanotubes (Ju Bae, et al.) The
method provides a practical way to
fabricate...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7549&m=14673



*************************
A molecular map for aging in mice
PhysOrg.com Nov. 28, 2007
*************************
Researchers at the National
Institute of Aging and Stanford
University have used gene arrays to
identify genes whose activity
changes with age in 16 different
mouse tissues. The study describes
how aging affects different tissues
in mice, and ultimately could help
explain why lifespan is limited to
just two years in...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7548&m=14673



*************************
Rambus shows path to terabyte
memories
EE Times Nov. 26, 2007
*************************
Rambus Inc. is expected to
demonstrate technologies this week
that could enable links to memory
chips delivering at up to a
terabyte/second. The company
believes its signaling techniques
will provide a lower cost
alternative to 3D chip stacking....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7547&m=14673



*************************
Google Mobile Finds You, No
Satellite Required
TechNewsWorld Nov. 28, 2007
*************************
Google has announced version 2.0 of
Google Maps for mobile, featuring a
beta version of its new "My
Location" service that serves as an
alternative to GPS technology, which
is not widely available on cell
phones. It uses cell-tower ID
information to provide users with
their approximate location, helping
them determine where they are,
what's...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7546&m=14673



*************************
A New Way to Control Weight?
ABC News Nov. 28, 2007
*************************
University of Missouri-Columbia
researchers have found that sitting
results in retention of fat (from
lipase reduction), lower HDL (good
cholesterol), and overall reduction
in metabolic rate. Related news:
"Walkstation" burns calories at work...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7545&m=14673



*************************
Canadian student maps brain to
image search
Computerworld Nov. 29, 2007
*************************
A University of Ottawa computer
science grad is mapping the way the
human brain works to technology that
will power a search engine for
visual...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7544&m=14673



*************************
Liver Models Go to Market
Technology Review Nov. 29, 2007
*************************
New 3-D models of the human liver
by TE-bio will help uncover toxicity
problems before drugs reach the
clinic. Salman Khetani,...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7543&m=14673



*************************
The Longevity Pill?
Technology Review Nov. 28, 2007
*************************
Drugs 1,000 times more potent than
resveratrol, found in red wine, will
be tested by Sirtris to treat
diabetes. The new drugs target an
enzyme called SIRT1, which belongs
to a class of proteins known as
sirtuins that have been shown to
lengthen life span in lower
organisms, bringing the benefits of
caloric restriction without the
strict...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7542&m=14673



*************************
MIT launches contest to fire up
energy entrepreneurs
CNET News.Com Nov. 28, 2007
*************************
MIT is kicking off a competition to
award $200,000 to entrepreneurs in
the green-energy field. There will
also be three secondary prizes of
$20,000...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7541&m=14673



*************************
Your Robotic Personal Assistant
Technology Review Nov. 28, 2007
*************************
New software lets robots pick up
objects they have never seen
before--an important step toward
creating multifunctional domestic
helpers. Stanford's STAIR robot sits
on a Segway wheel base (Computer
Science Department, Stanford
University) Some roboticists are
building perception systems for
robots that look for certain
features on objects...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7540&m=14673



*************************
A Working Brain Model
Technology Review Nov. 28, 2007
*************************
Scientists in Switzerland working
with IBM researchers have shown that
their computer simulation of the
neocortical column, arguably the
most complex part of a mammal's
brain, appears to behave like its
biological counterpart. By
demonstrating that their simulation
is realistic, the researchers say,
these results suggest that an entire
mammal...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7539&m=14673



*************************
Google's Next Frontier: Renewable
Energy
New York Times Nov. 27, 2007
*************************
Google will spend hundreds of
millions of dollars to develop and
help stimulate the creation of
renewable energy technologies that
are cheaper than coal-generated...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7538&m=14673



*************************
Major advances made in predicting
crystal structures
physOrg.com Nov. 26,2007
*************************
Researchers have met the challenge
of predicting the crystal structures
of small organic molecules by
computational methods without
experimental input, a goal that has
been described as the Holy Grail of...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7537&m=14673



*************************
Smarter energy storage for solar
and wind power
PhysOrg.com Nov. 26,2007
*************************
Development of the first hybrid
battery suitable for storing
electricity from renewable energy
sources such as solar and wind is
now a step clo CSIRO and Cleantech
Ventures have invested in technology
start-up Smart Storage Pty Ltd . The
Smart Storage battery technology
aims to deliver a low cost, high
performance, high power stationary
energy...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7535&m=14673



*************************
Google Plans Service to Store
Users' Data
Wall Street Jounral nov. 27, 2007
*************************
Google is preparing a service that
would let users store on its
computers essentially all of the
files they might keep on their
personal-computer hard drives --
such as word-processing documents,
digital music, video clips and
images. The service could let users
access their files via the Internet
from different computers and mobile
devices...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7534&m=14673



*************************
After Stem-Cell Breakthrough, the
Work Begins
New York Times Nov. 27,2007
*************************
Two biotechnology companies hope
next year to begin the first
clinical trials of therapies derived
from human embryonic stem cells.
Geron plans to test a type of neural
cell as a treatment for spinal cord
injuries, and Advanced Cell
Technology wants to plant retinal
epithelium cells into the eye to
treat retina...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7533&m=14673



*************************
Prosthetic Limbs That Can Feel
Technology Review November 27, 2007
*************************
Scientists from Northwestern
University, in Chicago, have shown
that transplanting the nerves from
an amputated hand to the chest
allows patients to feel hand
sensation there. The findings are
the first step toward prosthetic
arms with sensors on the
fingers--now under development--that
will transfer tactile information
from the device to the...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7532&m=14673



*************************
How sci-fi influences today's
gadgets
NewScientist news service Nov. 26,2007
*************************
Movie interfaces like that in
Minority Report can influence public
perception of real-world ideas for
new ways to interact....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7531&m=14673



*************************
Cheap sensors could capture your
every move
NewScientist news service Nov. 26, 2007
*************************
Small, cheap sensors for tracking
the movement of a person's entire
body could lead to "whole-body
interfaces" for controlling
computers or playing games,
researchers say. Several sensors
measuring about 2.5 centimetres on
each side are attached to a person's
legs and arms. The sensors detect
movement in two different ways:
accelerometers...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7530&m=14673



<------Related Company Message------------>

Science, Supplementation, Service:
Ray Kurzweil and Terry Grossman M.D.
created their line of nutritional
supplements to make it easy to
follow the science-based
recommendations described in their
best-selling book Fantastic Voyage:
Live Long Enough to Live Forever.
See http://www.RayandTerry.com to
learn more.
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/adRedirect.php?id=27&m=14673

http://www.futurepundit.com/archives/004830.html
FuturePundit: Implanted Microchip Dispenses Drugs

http://www.technologyreview.com/Biztech/19784/
Technology Review: Delivering Drugs with MEMS

http://www.mchips.com/index.html
MicroChips

I test negli animali inizieranno a Gennaio e a metà del 2009 sono
previsti negli umani.

Le possibili applicazioni sono piuttosto numerose e ci vorrebbe un libro
per descriverle tutte.

Mirco
--
[Intangible capital is] the preponderant form of wealth.
When we look at the shares of intangible capital across income classes,
you see it goes from about 60 percent in low-income countries to 80
percent in high-income countries.
That accords very much with the notion that what really makes countries
wealthy is not the bits and pieces, it's the brainpower, and the
institutions that harness that brainpower.
It's the skills more than the rocks and minerals.
—Kirk Hamilton
Chiacchiera con i tuoi amici in tempo reale!
  http://it.yahoo.com/mail_it/foot/*http://it.messenger.yahoo.com

Quanto vorresti vivere? Le opzioni:

100 anni
Fino a quando Dio/Madre Natura/il Destino vorra'
1000 anni
Finche' ne avro' voglia
Fino alla morte termica dell'universo
Indefinitivamente - morte termica dell'universo? Bah! Me ne vado in
un'universo parallelo!

Per votare:

www.estropico.blogspot.com    (sulla colonna di destra)

Ciao,
Fabio

La notizia è che la Virgin Galactic si aspetta di iniziare i test di
volo a luglio del 2008.

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2007/12/07/220152/virgin-galactic-sets-out-\
year-of-the-spaceship.html
Virgin Galactic sets out Year of the Spaceship

La società si aspetta di poter offrire entro il 2015 un servizio di
lancio per satelliti di piccole dimensioni in orbita bassa al costo di 3
milioni di $ usando il White Knight II o il suo successore, il White
Knight III.

La compagnia ha già incassato 30 milioni di $ in biglietti già pagati e
prenotazioni per i futuri voli.

Mirco


--
[Intangible capital is] the preponderant form of wealth.
When we look at the shares of intangible capital across income classes,
you see it goes from about 60 percent in low-income countries to 80
percent in high-income countries.
That accords very much with the notion that what really makes countries
wealthy is not the bits and pieces, it's the brainpower, and the
institutions that harness that brainpower.
It's the skills more than the rocks and minerals.
—Kirk Hamilton
Chiacchiera con i tuoi amici in tempo reale!
  http://it.yahoo.com/mail_it/foot/*http://it.messenger.yahoo.com

Segnalo brevemente che in una dichiarazione in esclusiva a
KurzweilAI.net, Eric Drexler ha annunciato la pubblicazione della
Technology Roadmap for Productive Nanosystems. Mi ci vorra' un po' per
leggermi il tutto (e molte delle parti piu' tecniche dovro'
saltarle...), ma ne riparlero' sicuramente sul blog, prossimamente, e
sarei curioso di sapere cosa ne pensano altri. Nel frattempo, per i
link:

http://estropico.blogspot.com/2007/12/pubblicata-la-roadmap-per-i-nanosistemi.ht\
ml

Ciao,
Fabio

*************************
The Robots Among Us
S.F. Chronicle Dec. 9, 2007
*************************
If robotics technology now stands
where computing did in the '70s,
what can we expect in the...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7605&m=14673



*************************
Do our brains work like Google?
New Scientist (subscription required) Dec. 8, 2007
*************************
Google's patented and powerful
search algorithm, PageRank, may
mimic the way the human brain
retrieves information. Our memory
for words can be modelled as a
network in which each point
represents a different word, with
each linked to words that relate to
it. In tests against other
word-retrieval algorithms, PageRank
most clearly matched the...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7604&m=14673



*************************
The 7th Annual Year In ideas
NY Times Magazine Dec. 10, 2007
*************************
The Times' 70 best ideas of 2007
include Wireless Energy, Wave
Energy, Crowdware, Wikiscanning, and
The Best Way to Deflect an Asteroid....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7603&m=14673



*************************
Mechanical Mind
American Scien January-February 2008
*************************
In Mind as Machine: A History of
Cognitive Science, Margaret A.
Boden's goal, she says, is to show
how cognitive scientists have tried
to find computational or
informational answers to frequently
asked questions about the mind --
"what it is, what it does, how it
works, how it evolved, and how it's
even possible." How do our brains
generate...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7602&m=14673



*************************
Warning sounded over 'flirting
robots'
CNET News.Com Dec. 7, 2007
*************************
A program that can mimic online
flirtation and then extract personal
information from its unsuspecting
conversation partners is making the
rounds in Russian chat forums. The
artificial intelligence of
CyberLover's automated chats is good
enough that victims have a tough
time distinguishing the "bot" from a
real potential...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7601&m=14673



*************************
Earliest galaxies had building
blocks of life
NewScientistSpace Dec. 8, 2007
*************************
The universe might have been
hospitable for life 500 million
years earlier than we thought,
according to researchers at the
University of Texas in...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7600&m=14673



*************************
Argosy Visible Body Out in Beta
Medgadget Dec. 10, 2007
*************************
Argosy Publishing has released its
impressive 3D anatomic visualization
system to the public through their
Internet Explorer-only site (free
with registration). (Argosy
Publishing) It is a powerful tool to
look at the body at every depth and
from every angle, browse through the
various anatomical systems, and
easily locate obfuscated and...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7599&m=14673



*************************
Picture-sorting dogs show
human-like thought
NewScientist.com news service Dec. 8, 2007
*************************
University of Vienna researchers
have trained dogs to distinguish
photographs that depicted dogs from
those that did not, showing that
dogs have some good reasoning
abilities....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7598&m=14673



*************************
Toyota's new robot can play the
violin, help the aged
Breitbart.com Dec. 6, 2007
*************************
Toyota Motor on Thursday unveiled a
robot that can play the violin as
part of its efforts to develop
futuristic machines capable of
assisting humans in Japan's graying
society. (AFP) Toyota also unveiled
a two-wheeled, single-seat "mobility
robot" that could be used to
transport an elderly or disabled
person over uneven ground and around...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7597&m=14673



*************************
THE MAGLEV: The Super-powered
Magnetic Wind Turbine
inhabitat Nov. 26, 2007
*************************
The new MagLev wind turbine is
expected take wind power technology
to the next level by using magnetic
levitation. One large MagLev wind
turbine could generate one gigawatt
of clean power (vs. five megawatts
for the largest conventional wind
turbines), enough to supply energy
to 750,000 homes. It would also
increase generation capacity by...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7596&m=14673



*************************
Adult Cells, Reprogrammed To
Embryonic Stem Cell Like State,
Treat Sickle-cell Anemia In Mice
ScienceDaily Dec. 7, 2007
*************************
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical
Research scientists have
successfully treated mice with a
human sickle-cell anemia disease
trait in a process that begins by
directly reprogramming their own
cells to an embryonic-stem-cell-like
state, without the use of eggs. This
is the first proof-of-principle of
therapeutic application in mice of
directly...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7594&m=14673



*************************
Gate leakage, down and out?
EE Times Dec. 4, 2007
*************************
A high-k dielectric (gate
insulation) process for CMOS
transistors promises to eliminate
the gate-leakage problem at advanced
semiconductor nodes down to 10
nanometers, extending the
International Semiconductor Roadmap.
Overheating due to excessive gate
leakage is the number one hurdle to
reaching advanced semiconductor
nodes below 45...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7593&m=14673



*************************
Giant offshore wind farms to supply
half of UK power
Times Online Dec. 9, 2007
*************************
Britain plans to launch a huge
expansion of offshore wind-power,
with enough turbines to generate
nearly half of Britain's current
electricity consumption, energy
secretary John Hutton announced.
Hutton wants to see this target
raised to 33GW-worth of wind
turbines installed in the seas
around Britain by 2020. If energy
consumption remains...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7592&m=14673



*************************
In fruit flies, homosexuality is
biological but not hard-wired
PhysOrg.com Dec. 9, 2007
*************************
University of Illinois at Chicago
researchers have discovered that
sexual orientation in fruit flies is
controlled by a previously unknown
regulator of synapse strength. Armed
with this knowledge, the researchers
found they were able to use either
genetic manipulation or drugs to
turn the flies' homosexual behavior
on and off within...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7591&m=14673



*************************
Renewables investments seen over
$100 bln in 2007
Reuters Dec. 8, 2007
*************************
World annual investments in
renewable energy will top $100
billion for the first time in 2007,
led by wind power, according to a
report issued at United Nations
climate talks on Saturday. For wind
power, growth has been about 25-30
percent a year since 2000....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7590&m=14673



*************************
Nanotechnology roadmap published:
statement by Eric Drexler
KurzweilAI.net Dec. 7, 2007
*************************
EXCLUSIVE TO KURZWEILAI.NET -- I'm
pleased to report that the
Technology Roadmap for Productive
Nanosystems has finally been
released. This marks the completion
of the first broad,
multidisciplinary effort to explore
how current laboratory techniques
for atomically precise fabrication
can be extended, step by step,
toward increasingly advanced...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7589&m=14673



*************************
Researchers can read thoughts to
decipher what a person is actually
seeing
PhysOrg.com Dec. 6, 2007
*************************
Following research that neurons in
the human brain respond in an
abstract manner to particular
individuals or objects, University
of Leicester researchers have
discovered that from the firing of
this type of neuron, they can tell
what a person is actually seeing.
They recorded simultaneously from up
to 100 neurons in the human brain
and applied...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7588&m=14673



*************************
Stem cells show power to predict
disease, drug toxicity
PhysOrg.com Dec. 6, 2007
*************************
UW-Madison researchers have found
that human embryonic stem cells
could be used for drug dicovery and
screening, and could also generate
chemical biomarkers that can be used
to predict the onset of disease....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7587&m=14673



*************************
This is your brain on violent media
PhysOrg.com Dec. 6, 2007
*************************
Researchers at Columbia University
Medical Center's Functional Magnetic
Resonance Imaging (fMRI) Research
Center have shown that watching
violent programs can cause parts of
your brain that suppress aggressive
behaviors to become less active.
Depictions of violent acts have
become very common in the popular
media," said Christopher Kelly, the...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7586&m=14673



*************************
Brain Sensor for Market Research
Technology Review Dec. 7, 2007
*************************
Emsense claims that it has
developed tools to monitor a
person's true reactions during a
commercial or video game, using EEG
at the forehead, and other sensors
that monitor breathing rate, head
motion, heart rate, blink rate, and
skin temperature. While it hasn't
published in peer-reviewed journals,
the company has 22 patents that
cover related...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7585&m=14673



*************************
Free software brings affordability,
transparency to mathematics
PhysOrg.com Dec. 6, 2007
*************************
An open-source math tool called
Sage, based at the University of
Washington, won first prize in the
scientific software division of Les
Trophées du Libre, an
international competition for free
software. Until recently, a student
solving a calculus problem, a
physicist modeling a galaxy or a
mathematician studying a complex
equation had to...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7584&m=14673



*************************
Are Humans Evolving Faster?
PhysOrg.com Dec. 6, 2007
*************************
University of Utah researchers have
discovered genetic evidence that
human evolution is speeding up --
and has not halted or proceeded at a
constant rate, as had been thought
-- indicating that humans on
different continents are becoming
increasingly different. [This
article has been removed from the
PhysOrg site, which states "it will
be back...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7583&m=14673



*************************
IBM Researchers Build
Supercomputer-on-a-Chip
PC World Dec. 6; 2007
*************************
Supercomputers may soon be the same
size as a laptop if IBM brings to
market research in silicon
nanophotonics, in which pulses of
light replace electricity to make
data transfer between processor
cores on a chip up to one-hundred
times faster. The technology, which
can transfer data up to a distance
of a few centimeters, is about 100
times...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7582&m=14673



*************************
Researchers develop better
membranes for water treatment, drug
delivery
PhysOrg.com Nov. 29, 2007
*************************
Researchers at the University of
Illinois have developed a new
generation of biomimetic membranes
for water treatment and drug
delivery. The highly permeable and
selective membranes are based on the
incorporation of the functional
water channel protein Aquaporin Z
into a novel A-B-A triblock
copolymer. The experimental
membranes, currently...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7581&m=14673



*************************
Virtual 3D nanorobots could lead to
real cancer-fighting technology
PhysOrg.com Dec. 5, 2007
*************************
Robert A. Freitas, Jr. and
colleagues have developed NCD
(nanorobot control design), a
software system that serves as a
test bed for nanorobot 3D
prototyping. Nanorobots search for
organ-inlets demanding protein
injection (Adriano Cavalcanti, et
al.) Nanorobots are tiny devices
that will travel through arteries
for diagnosing or treating...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7580&m=14673



*************************
Monitoring the Heart without
Missing a Beat
Technology Review Dec. 6, 2007
*************************
Researchers at the Interuniversity
Micro-Electronic Centre (IMEC) in
the Netherlands have developed a
flexible, wireless cardiac patch
that could help preempt serious
illness by detecting early symptoms
of heart trouble through continuous
monitoring. (IMEC) The new device
just sticks onto the patient's chest
and wirelessly sends...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7579&m=14673



*************************
Remotely Controlled Drugs
Technology Review Dec. 6, 2007
*************************
MIT engineers are developing
remote-controlled, multipurpose
nanoparticles. These compounds act
as both precise drug-delivery
vehicles and contrast agents for
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Nanoparticles implanted in model
tumors in mice release a drug (dyed
green) into surrounding tissues when
the mouse is exposed to
radio-frequency waves...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7578&m=14673



*************************
Your Personal Genome
Technology Review Dec. 6, 2007
*************************
George Church, a Harvard geneticist
and pioneer in developing
gene-sequencing technology, is
spearheading the Personal Genome
Project, a nonprofit effort to make
both the DNA sequence and the health
records of many individuals publicly
available. The project, which is now
recruiting 100,000 people to have
parts of their genomes sequenced,
aims...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7577&m=14673



*************************
Will you soon be able to buy your
own bladder?
The Scientist December 2007
*************************
Eventually, scientists will take
one of the white spheres floating in
the jars -- the scaffolds -- and add
layers upon layers of human bladder
cells, then ship the organ to a
surgeon, who will implant it in the
body of its donor. From biopsy to
surgery, Tengion's process takes six
to eight weeks. That patient just
bought a new bladder, made...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7576&m=14673



*************************
Stanford researchers produce
short-term reversal of skin aging in
mice
KurzweilAI.net Dec. 4, 2007
*************************
Researchers at the Stanford
University School of Medicine have
reversed the effects of aging on the
skin of mice, at least for a short
period, by blocking the action of a
single critical protein, NF-kappa-B.
After two weeks, the skin of
2-year-old mice had the same genes
active as cells in the skin of
newborn mice. The work backs up the...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7575&m=14673



*************************
New hypothesis for origin of life
proposed
PhysOrg.com Dec. 4, 2007
*************************
Life may have begun in the
protected spaces inside of layers of
the mineral mica, in ancient oceans,
according to a new hypothesis by
Helen Hansma, a research scientist
with the University of California,
Santa Barbara. Photo of mica from an
abandoned mica mine, with brown
bands of organic material (Helen
Greenwood Hansma, UC Santa...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7574&m=14673



*************************
Treating Breast Cancer with Heat
Technology Review Dec. 5, 2007
*************************
Heating breast-cancer cells with
focused beams of microwave energy
after chemotherapy can significantly
shrink and kill tumors, according to
results from a new clinical trial.
The treatment increases blood flow
into tumors, allowing chemotherapy
drugs to more easily invade cancer
cells....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7573&m=14673



*************************
Nanoelectrodes could provide bird
flu test
NewScientistTech Dec. 4, 2007
*************************
Single-walled nanotubes can be
employed as efficient nanoelectrodes
for identifying specific genes more
easilyi, using direct measurements
of charge transport in DNA....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7572&m=14673



*************************
Researchers aim to harness sperm
power for nano-robots
Physorg.com Dec. 3, 2007
*************************
Researchers at Cornell are
attemping to use the same energy
that drives sperm to power nanoscale
robots, or to deliver chemo drugs or
antibiotics, for example, to
targeted sites within the body.
(Atsushi Asano) By breaking down the
individual steps in the biological
pathway that sperm use to generate
energy, the researchers plan to...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7571&m=14673



*************************
Radio Waves Fire Up Nanotubes
Embedded in Tumors, Destroying Liver
Cancer
Physorg.com Dec. 3, 2007
*************************
Scientists at the University of
Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
and Rice University have
demonstrated in preclinical
experiments that cancer cells
treated with carbon nanotubes can be
destroyed by noninvasive radio waves
that heat up the nanotubes while
sparing untreated tissue. The
technique completely destroyed liver
cancer tumors in...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7570&m=14673



*************************
The Feel of Cancer Cells
Technology Review Dec. 4, 2007
*************************
UCLA researchers are using
atomic-force microscopy to probe the
surface of cancer cells in an
attempt to improve diagnostic
accuracy. Cancer cells found in
samples they studied were much
softer than normal cells. Using the
sharp point of an atomic-force
microscope, UCLA researchers apply
pressure to living cancer cells
taken from patients...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7569&m=14673



*************************
A Molecular Map of Aging
Technology Review Dec. 4, 2007
*************************
Researchers at Stanford University
and the National Institute on Aging
have generated a database that
catalogues how gene expression--a
measure of how active a gene
is--changes in different parts of
the body as the animals age. The
findings suggest that different
tissues age very differently, and
this could help pinpoint when it is
appropriate...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7568&m=14673



*************************
Chimps Exhibit Superior Memory,
Outshining Humans
New York Times Dec. 4, 2007
*************************
Researchers have shown that young
chimps outperform adult humans in a
memory test, a Concentration-like
game using numerals on a computer...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7567&m=14673



<------Related Company Message------------>

Science, Supplementation, Service:
Ray Kurzweil and Terry Grossman M.D.
created their line of nutritional
supplements to make it easy to
follow the science-based
recommendations described in their
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Live Long Enough to Live Forever.
See http://www.RayandTerry.com to
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http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/adRedirect.php?id=27&m=14673

Erano le quattro di mattina, in California, ma il mio corpo continuava
a farmi presente che a Cambridge era ancora mezzogiorno. Ero sfinito
dal volo intercontinentale e da una giornata intera spesa discutendo
con alcune delle più influenti personalità nel campo della
biogerontologia, ad un evento per soli invitati - una "officina delle
idee" sul tema di come combattere l'invecchiamento. Fra i presenti, il
biologo evolutivo Michael Rose, gli esperti di restrizione calorica
Richard Weindruch e George Roth, il nanotecnologo Robert Freitas e
molti altri. Ma ora non riuscivo a dormire: colpa non solo del fuso
orario sfasato, ma anche della frustrazione causata da quello che per
me era l'esito negativo della giornata - l'assenza di progresso verso
una concreta, realistica roadmap anti-invecchiamento. Ogni volta che
stavo per addormentarmi, una domanda sulla natura del metabolismo e
dell'invecchiamento si infiltrava nel mio cervello e non mi dava
tregua. Nel mio stato di insonnolita irritazione, mi sono alzato e ho
cominciato ad andare avanti e indietro nella mia stanza,
accarezzandomi la barba e rimuginando la questione. Il metabolismo
"normale" è semplicemente troppo caotico, come dimostrato dal
dibattito che si scatena fra biogerontologi quando si cerca di
stabilire quali perturbazioni metaboliche siano le cause
dell'invecchiamento e quali invece ne siano gli effetti (o cause
secondarie) che potrebbero semplicemente scomparire, una volta rimosse
le cause principali. Come intervenire positivamente su di un sistema
talmente complesso e poco compreso? Sarebbe possibile evitare che un
intervento sul metabolismo risulti, come il famoso battere d'ali di
una farfalla, in un uragano da qualche altre parte?

Leggi tutto, su Estropico: Il momento Eureka, di Aubrey de Grey e Michael Rae.

http://www.estropico.com/id317.htm

Ciao,
Fabio

Ha compiuto 90 anni!!!

http://attivissimo.blogspot.com/2007/12/tanti-auguri-arthur-clarke.html
Il Disinformatico: Tanti auguri, Arthur Clarke!

Per chi volesse fargli gli auguri:
http://sirarthurcclarke90.blogspot.com/

Ed un messaggio video di saluto di A.C.Clarke:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=eLXQ7rNgWwg

Mirco
--
[Intangible capital is] the preponderant form of wealth.
When we look at the shares of intangible capital across income classes,
you see it goes from about 60 percent in low-income countries to 80
percent in high-income countries.
That accords very much with the notion that what really makes countries
wealthy is not the bits and pieces, it's the brainpower, and the
institutions that harness that brainpower.
It's the skills more than the rocks and minerals.
—Kirk Hamilton
Chiacchiera con i tuoi amici in tempo reale!
  http://it.yahoo.com/mail_it/foot/*http://it.messenger.yahoo.com

Probabilmente, per alcune materie, è una rivoluzione che aspetta di
avvenire.

Mirco

--------------------------------


'Immersive Education' Submerges Students in Online Worlds Made for
Learning
The Chronicle of Higher Education  Information Technology
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v54/i17/17a02201.htm
>From the issue dated December 21, 2007

By ANDREA L. FOSTER
Cambridge, Mass.

Students at Boston College stumbled across a jackal in the underground
chambers of an ancient Egyptian tomb in early December. One student
explained that the animal was the god Anubis, who helped transport dead
bodies to the underworld.

In reality, the students never left the Boston area. They were inside a
virtual world where tombs were three-dimensional digital objects and
students were represented by digital alter egos, or avatars.

Their trip was showcased at a conference at Harvard University this month
devoted to Immersive Education, a multimillion-dollar project to build
virtual-reality software exclusively for education within commercial and
nonprofit fantasy spaces like Second Life. The project combines
interactive three-dimensional graphics, Web cameras, Internet-based
telephony, and other digital media.

At the meeting, Aaron E. Walsh, founder of the nonprofit endeavor and an
instructor at Boston College, and two other researchers showed a gathering
of about 40 people how virtual spaces can do more than entertain.

Their goal is to build three-dimensional, interactive lessons that will
grab students' attention in the same way that popular computer games like
World of Warcraft do — but without the violence and titillation associated
with many online games.

"It's important to allow educators to mix and match media types to
construct a virtual learning environment that's right for their students,"
said Mr. Walsh.

Some critics have complained that promoting video games in schools and
colleges dumbs down education. Yet Immersive Education has gathered an
impressive roster of backers. In addition to Boston College and Harvard
University, its supporters include Amherst College, Columbia University,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sweden's Royal Institute of
Technology, Japan's University of Aizu, the Israeli Association of Grid
Technologies, NASA, Sun Microsystems, the City of Boston, and the New
Media Consortium, a higher-education technology group.

Colleges are developing educational games on their own, too. Parsons the
New School for Design, in New York, announced last week it was starting a
laboratory to create games that might promote social change and civic
participation.

The Immersive Education project is about to get additional financial
support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which promotes
entrepreneurship, Mr. Walsh announced at the conference. The foundation
has agreed to provide $750,000 to the Federation of American Scientists
for the development of online games and virtual environments. Part of the
money will go toward developing Immersive Education software's technical
specifications and documentation.

The science federation, which has worked with universities to develop
educational video games, will also continue that kind of work with his
project, Mr. Walsh said.

Games Turn Serious

Immersive Education builds on Mr. Walsh's experience, beginning in 2001,
with online teaching. He was working with Boston College students on ways
to build virtual three-dimensional objects. In 2003, after virtual worlds
like Unreal Tournament started using a new game engine that allowed
players to speak to one another, he began holding his classes completely
online.

Mr. Walsh developed a prototype of Immersive Education in 2001. He was
motivated to create an educationally oriented virtual-reality space, in
large part to discourage students from viewing the sexual content of
virtual worlds like Second Life and the violence in online games like
Gears of War and Crysis. Now his educational environment is moving into
its third generation, which will allow high-resolution graphics, more
realistic avatars, the use of Web cameras, and the sharing of documents.

Avatars are becoming less cartoonish and more lifelike, Mr. Walsh said at
the conference. He showed how the faces of some avatars, contorting into
various expressions, were nearly indistinguishable from the faces of the
real people they were modeled after. The avatars can greatly improve
online communication among students and professors, he added.

At the Cambridge meeting, the audience watched the avatars created by some
of Mr. Walsh's students take their trips inside the Egyptian tomb. The
event took place inside Second Life, but the tomb was created with digital
media from a variety of sources, including the Theban Mapping Project,
based at the American University in Cairo.

This technology can be used to create interactive lessons within Second
Life and other virtual spaces called Croquet and Project Wonderland, Mr.
Walsh said. Those three environments make their code freely available to
the public, so people can easily tailor the environments to their own
needs.

Gene Koo, a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard
Law School, followed up on that point. At the meeting, he described how
students at Emerson College and Boston residents were using Second Life to
foster civic engagement. They are using the virtual world to design real
public spaces, including a park that will be located near Harvard's campus
expansion in the Allston neighborhood. And they recreated Boston's subway
system to provide tours of the city's neighborhoods. Their Boston Island
in Second Life was formally presented to the city's mayor last week.

New Frontiers in Games

At the meeting, Jeff Orkin, a researcher at MIT's Media Lab, discussed an
online game he had created called the Restaurant Game. It uses artificial
intelligence to mimic the experience of being in a real restaurant as
either a waiter or a patron.

Mr. Orkin collects and organizes huge amounts of data about people's
experiences in the game to develop automated responses to players' remarks
or questions. If someone was about to start a job as a waiter, he or she
could play the game and be more prepared for work. Similar games could
train workers for other types of jobs, Mr. Orkin said. He is co-chairman
of a group that is developing open standards and best practices for
Immersive Education.

But not everyone thinks that encouraging students to play online games is
a good idea. Michael Bugeja, director of the journalism school at Iowa
State University, said video games do not help students handle real-life
challenges.

"Education and entertainment are two different processes," he said. "They
require two different interfaces. Our whole society is being eroded by
entertainment."

Still, he said, Mr. Walsh's idea of walling off parts of virtual worlds
for educational purposes is a "step in the right direction."

Chiacchiera con i tuoi amici in tempo reale!
  http://it.yahoo.com/mail_it/foot/*http://it.messenger.yahoo.com

http://www.news.com/greentech/8301-11128_3-9835241-54.html?tag=nefd.top
Nanosolar 'prints' first flexible solar cells | Green Tech blog - CNET
News.com

A regime le celle solari potrebbero costare solo 1$/watt, cioè meno del
costo dell'elettricità prodotta con il carbone.
Tutta la produzione del 2008 pare sia già stata prenotata e il primo
Megawatt di celle prodotte sarà usata in una centrale solare nell'est
della Germania

Mirco
--
[Intangible capital is] the preponderant form of wealth.
When we look at the shares of intangible capital across income classes,
you see it goes from about 60 percent in low-income countries to 80
percent in high-income countries.
That accords very much with the notion that what really makes countries
wealthy is not the bits and pieces, it's the brainpower, and the
institutions that harness that brainpower.
It's the skills more than the rocks and minerals.
—Kirk Hamilton
Chiacchiera con i tuoi amici in tempo reale!
  http://it.yahoo.com/mail_it/foot/*http://it.messenger.yahoo.com

http://www.repubblica.it/2007/12/sezioni/cronaca/fecondazione-sentenza/fecondazi\
one-sentenza/fecondazione-sentenza.html

[Sono state eliminare la parti non di testo del messaggio]

http://blogs.zdnet.com/emergingtech/?p=781
» CAD software leads to faster chips | Emerging Technology Trends |

In pratica, all'UCLA, i ricercatori hanno dimostrato che con algoritmi
specializzati ed avanzati è possibile ridurre del 30% (in pratica di una
generazione) la distanza che i segnali devono percorrere all'interno dei
chips; questo significa chip del 30% più veloci.
Il tutto senza dover modificare il sistema di produzione del substrato
di silicio.

Mirco
--
[Intangible capital is] the preponderant form of wealth.
When we look at the shares of intangible capital across income classes,
you see it goes from about 60 percent in low-income countries to 80
percent in high-income countries.
That accords very much with the notion that what really makes countries
wealthy is not the bits and pieces, it's the brainpower, and the
institutions that harness that brainpower.
It's the skills more than the rocks and minerals.
—Kirk Hamilton
Chiacchiera con i tuoi amici in tempo reale!
  http://it.yahoo.com/mail_it/foot/*http://it.messenger.yahoo.com

http://astuteblogger.blogspot.com/2007/12/new-iq-data-show-that-flynn-effect-is.\
html
THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS: NEW IQ DATA SHOW THAT THE FLYNN EFFECT IS NOW DEAD

Apparentemente, i dati più recenti sull'IQ della popolazione mondiale
mostrano che l'Effetto Flynn (l'aumento dell'intelligenza media con il
tempo) è terminato.

Per ora.
Le future tecnologie transumaniste vedranno di farlo riprendere.

Mirco
--
[Intangible capital is] the preponderant form of wealth.
When we look at the shares of intangible capital across income classes,
you see it goes from about 60 percent in low-income countries to 80
percent in high-income countries.
That accords very much with the notion that what really makes countries
wealthy is not the bits and pieces, it's the brainpower, and the
institutions that harness that brainpower.
It's the skills more than the rocks and minerals.
—Kirk Hamilton

Chiacchiera con i tuoi amici in tempo reale!
  http://it.yahoo.com/mail_it/foot/*http://it.messenger.yahoo.com

Near term low earth orbit space based solar power
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/advancednano/~3/205749892/near-term-low-\
earth-orbit-space-based.html

Avevo letto degli studi compiuti da un gruppo nipponico sulla produzione
di energia con satelliti solari in orbita bassa, ma credevo che
l'interesse si fosse spento.
Probabilmente il costo del petrolio lo ha riacceso.

Lo "Space Island Group" è convinto di poter effettuare le prime prove
entro il 2010 e di poter avere un sistema in funziona già nel 2012 che
fornisca energia al mercato domestico inglese a prezzi competitivi
(intorno ai 0.10 $ per kWh).

La start up californiana ha quasi completato la raccolta di
finanziamenti per poter mettere in orbita il suo primo sistema, ad un
costo finale di 200 milioni di $.
Il sistema dovrebbe trasmettere a varie località dell'Europa tra i 10 e
i 25 MW e trasmettendo ad ogni una di queste circa 90 minuti.

Non solo, Space Island Group ha un intera serie di idee finanziarie e
commerciali per rendere il sistema economicamente sostenibile, fornendo
tutta una serie di servizi a pagamento come: riparazione di satelliti in
orbita, turismo spaziale, affitto di spazio per equipaggi e materiali
utilizzati per ricerche scientifiche e tecnologiche e la produzione di
energia in orbita sia per l'utilizzo a terra sia per fornire energia ad
altri satelliti.

Mirco
--
[Intangible capital is] the preponderant form of wealth.
When we look at the shares of intangible capital across income classes,
you see it goes from about 60 percent in low-income countries to 80
percent in high-income countries.
That accords very much with the notion that what really makes countries
wealthy is not the bits and pieces, it's the brainpower, and the
institutions that harness that brainpower.
It's the skills more than the rocks and minerals.
—Kirk Hamilton

Chiacchiera con i tuoi amici in tempo reale!
  http://it.yahoo.com/mail_it/foot/*http://it.messenger.yahoo.com

http://www.futurepundit.com/archives/004877.html
$350,000 Full Personal Genome Sequencing Service

Se non avete 350.000$ non rattristatevi troppo, perché il costo della
sequenzializzazione dimezza ogni anno e quindi, tra dieci anni, potreste
avere la sequenzializzazione completa del vostro DNA per soli 350 $.

Mirco
--
[Intangible capital is] the preponderant form of wealth.
When we look at the shares of intangible capital across income classes,
you see it goes from about 60 percent in low-income countries to 80
percent in high-income countries.
That accords very much with the notion that what really makes countries
wealthy is not the bits and pieces, it's the brainpower, and the
institutions that harness that brainpower.
It's the skills more than the rocks and minerals.
—Kirk Hamilton

Chiacchiera con i tuoi amici in tempo reale!
  http://it.yahoo.com/mail_it/foot/*http://it.messenger.yahoo.com

E non è il primo anno.
Dal 2002 la produzione è aumentata del 48% in media ogni anno, in
termini di potenza prodotta.
Nel 2007 sono stati prodotti 3.800 MW in tutto il mondo, mentre la
potenza installata totale è di 12.400 MW
Questo fa del solare fotovoltaico la fonte di energia che cresce più
velocemente al mondo.

http://thefraserdomain.typepad.com/energy/2007/12/fyi-solar-cell.html
The Energy Blog: FYI: Solar Cell Production Jumps 50 Percent in 2007

Mirco
--
[Intangible capital is] the preponderant form of wealth.
When we look at the shares of intangible capital across income classes,
you see it goes from about 60 percent in low-income countries to 80
percent in high-income countries.
That accords very much with the notion that what really makes countries
wealthy is not the bits and pieces, it's the brainpower, and the
institutions that harness that brainpower.
It's the skills more than the rocks and minerals.
---Kirk Hamilton
Chiacchiera con i tuoi amici in tempo reale!
  http://it.yahoo.com/mail_it/foot/*http://it.messenger.yahoo.com

Si tratta del primo di una serie di articoli sul tema.

http://www.loccidentale.it/node/10936
L'etica dell'uomo e l'etica dei robot | L'Occidentale


Mirco
--
[Intangible capital is] the preponderant form of wealth.
When we look at the shares of intangible capital across income classes,
you see it goes from about 60 percent in low-income countries to 80
percent in high-income countries.
That accords very much with the notion that what really makes countries
wealthy is not the bits and pieces, it's the brainpower, and the
institutions that harness that brainpower.
It's the skills more than the rocks and minerals.
—Kirk Hamilton
Chiacchiera con i tuoi amici in tempo reale!
  http://it.yahoo.com/mail_it/foot/*http://it.messenger.yahoo.com

Molte interessanti storie di fine anno, riassunti dei progressi in
vari campi (eg robotica), selezioni delle notizie scientifiche piu'
interessanti del 2007, etc.

Segnalo anche un nuovo sondaggio sul blog: che tipo di postumano vuoi essere?

Per votare: www.estropico.blogspot.com

Ciao,
Fabio

************************
The Year in Robots
ScientificAmerican.com December 28, 2007
*************************
Robots made significant advances in
2007. In the 2007 DARPA Urban
Challenge, autonomous vehicles
demonstrated their abilities in
changing lanes, merging onto
roadways amidst fast-moving traffic,
and traversing busy intersections.
Robots also became more humanoid.
Toyota and Honda introduced advanced
robots capable of playing music,
serving...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7721&m=14673



*************************
2008: your guide to the year in
science
Popular Science December 2007
*************************
IBM's 3-D chip stacks, "physmatics"
(the blurry line between math and
physics), and high-resolution
imaging satellites will be part of
2008's biggest science stories,
predicts Popular Science....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7720&m=14673



*************************
Popular Science's Best of What's
New 2007
Popular Science December 2007
*************************
The first five-finger bionic grip,
the world's most efficient solar
panels, and a home 3-D printer are
in the "Best of What's New 2007"
list from Popular Science....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7719&m=14673



*************************
Flexible robot i-Snake
BBC News Dec. 29, 2007
*************************
Experts are developing a flexible
surgical robot that will enable
surgeons to do complex procedures
previously possible only through
more invasive techniques. The
i-Snake--a long tube housing special
motors, sensors and imaging
tools--is being developed for heart
bypass surgery, but could also be
used to diagnose problems in the gut
and bowel...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7718&m=14673



*************************
Internet Opens Elite Colleges to
All
Washington Post Dec. 29, 2007
*************************
More than 100 universities
worldwide, including Johns Hopkins,
Tufts and Notre Dame, have joined
MIT in a consortium of schools
promoting their open
courseware--college courses
available online for free. MIT's
OpenCourseWare's site gets more than
1 million hits per month, with
translated versions getting 500,000
more. About 60 percent of users...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7717&m=14673



*************************
Top 25 Science Stories of 2007
Scientific American Dec. 21, 2007
*************************
The first quantum computer,
stopping a cancer by killing its
triggering virus, personalized
genome scans, and the first wireless
power transmission were among
Scientific American's picks for the
top 25 science and health news
stories of 2007....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7716&m=14673



*************************
Is time slowing down?
New Scientist Dec. 21, 2007
*************************
Jose Senovilla at the University of
the Basque Country and colleagues
suggest we are fooled into thinking
that the expansion of the universe
is accelerating, because time itself
is slowing down. If he is correct,
things will seem to get faster and
faster until time finally
disappears. "Then everything will be
frozen, like a snapshot of one...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7715&m=14673



*************************
The Year in Biotech
Technology Review Dec. 28, 2007
*************************
Stem cells from skin, myriad
microbes, and a $350,000 personal
genome are among Technology Review's
list of top biotech stories in...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7714&m=14673



*************************
Mapping Professional Networks
Technology Review Dec. 28, 2007
*************************
With its Lotus Connections and
Atlas software, IBM is exploring how
different visualizations of the
social graph could be useful within
businesses, as a way of helping
people work more efficiently and
make better connections. (IBM)...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7713&m=14673



*************************
IDC serves up top 10 storage
predictions for 2008
Computerworld Dec. 24, 2007
*************************
Online storage services and
solid-state disk drives are among
IDC's top 10 storage predictions for
2008....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7712&m=14673



*************************
2007: The year in technology
New Scientist Dec. 24, 2007
*************************
Leech-like robots that crawl along
the heart to deliver drugs, robots
with a fish-like electrical sensing
system, and boredom-detecting
software are among the key new
technologies featured in New
Scientist magazine in 2007....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7711&m=14673



*************************
2007: The year in biology and
medicine
NewScientist.com news service Dec. 26, 2007
*************************
Obesity research (including
potential causes from genetics or
viruses), the emergence of
completely drug-resistant TB, other
infectious diseases, and stem cells
were among the big biology and
medicine news stories covered by New
Scientist in 2007....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7710&m=14673



*************************
Gene find boosts allergy research
BBC News Dec. 27, 2007
*************************
Imperial College London and Swiss
scientists have discovered one
gene-based mechanism for why the
immune system does not work properly
in people who have allergies or hay
fever. They found the gene GATA-3
prevents the body from producing
enough regulatory T-cells to stop
allergies (regulatory T-cells help
the body avoid allergic responses to...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7709&m=14673



*************************
Scientists uncover a clue to
stopping the spread of cancer
through the body
BBC News Dec. 28, 2007
*************************
Scientists at the London Research
Institute have identified a protein
that reduces the formation of
secondary cancer tumors by blocking
a protein that helps cancer cells
spread out from the initial tumor.
The discovery may help in the design
of new drug treatments for cancer to
prevent cancer-cell migration....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7708&m=14673



*************************
Top 10 Scientific Breakthroughs of
2007
Wired News Dec. 27, 2007
*************************
A transparent material as strong as
steel, stem cells from a cloned
Rhesus monkey, and smaller
transistors made with new materials
are among the top 10 scientific
breakthroughs covered by Wired in
2007....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7707&m=14673



*************************
Drugs to build up that mental
muscle
L.A. Times December 20, 2007
*************************
Forget sports doping. The next
frontier is brain doping. Cognitive
enhancers -- to clarify the mind,
improve concentration or control
emotions -- include attention
deficit drug Adderall, narcolepsy
pill Provigil, Ritalin, and beta
blockers, such as the heart drug
Inderal. Researchers have been
investigating the drug Aricept,
which is...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7706&m=14673



*************************
Fish Oil Is A Deterrent Against
Alzheimer's Disease
Medical News Today Dec. 26, 2007
*************************
Researchers at UCLA's Alzheimer
Disease Research Center have found
evidence that fish oils do indeed
reduce your chances of developing
late-onset Alzheimer's, and why this
is so. Using tests on both rat and
human neuronal tissue (and dietary
fish oil in young rats with insulin
resistance), they found that even
low doses of omega-3 fatty acid...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7705&m=14673



*************************
2007: The Year in Energy
Technology Review Dec. 26, 2007
*************************
Advanced biofuels, more-efficient
vehicles, and solar power (using
quantum dots and mimicking
photosynthesis) top the most notable
energy stories covered by Technology
Review in 2007....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7704&m=14673



*************************
2007: The Year in Hardware
Technology Review Dec. 26, 2007
*************************
Touch screens, context-aware
gadgets, autonomous vehicles, and
brain-computer interfaces
(controlling computer games, market
research, facial recognition) were
among the top hardware developments
covered by Technology Review in
2007....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7703&m=14673



*************************
The Top 10 New Organisms of 2007
Wired Magazine Dec. 26, 2007
*************************
Organisms invented in 2007 include
insulin-producing lettuce, yeast
with poison-sensing rat genes,
cancer-fighting Clostridium
bacteria, artful fluorescent
tadpoles and butanol-producing E.
coli....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7702&m=14673



*************************
World's only ultrafast electron
microscope takes 4-D 'movies' of
molecules
PhysOrg.com Dec. 24, 2007
*************************
California Institute of Technology
researchers have developed an
electron microscope that can create
real-time 3D images of molecules as
they form and break apart in
femtosecond reactions, using a
modified transmission electron
microscope interfaced with an
ultrafast laser....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7700&m=14673



*************************
Alien astronomers could discern
Earth's features
NewScientist.com news service Dec. 21, 2007
*************************
Aliens spying on us from another
star system might be able to discern
continents and oceans on our planet
by plotting the fluctuation in
brightness as sunlight falls on
different surface features such as
forests, deserts and...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7699&m=14673



*************************
The Afterlife Is Expensive for
Digital Movies
New York Times Dec. 23, 2007
*************************
Storing digital data for a movie
produced using all-electronic
processes costs $208,569 a year, vs.
the $486 it costs for film, audio
recordings, on-set photographs and
annotated scripts, according to a
study of digital archivng by the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences. In addition, digital media
have a limited life and formats are...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7698&m=14673



*************************
The Generational Divide in
Copyright Morality
New York Times Dec. 20, 2007
*************************
Today's college students don't find
file-sharing wrong, according to one
informal audience...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7697&m=14673



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http://www.greencarcongress.com/2007/12/continental-aut.html
Continental Automotive to Begin Series Production of Li-Ion Packs in 2008

Inizia la produzione in serie di batterie al litio per le auto
elettriche e ibride (nel 2008 solo alcune migliaia). Ma la parte
importante della notizia è la "produzione in serie", non la quantità.
Se la produzione in serie è fattibile, la quantità seguirà se la domanda
è sufficientemente forte.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/advancednano/~3/206873477/brain-enhancin\
g-drugs-and-procedures.html
Brain enhancing drugs and procedures




http://www.futurepundit.com/archives/004891.html
Pregnancy Surrogacy Outsourced To India

Il futuro non aspetta e la concorrenza aiuta.



http://www.futurepundit.com/archives/004899.html
FuturePundit: Photovoltaic Prices To Drop In Half By 2010?

Idem come per le batterie di cui sopra, anche qui la notizia importante
è che la produzione avviene in serie con metodologie industriali. Quindi
se la domanda c'è saranno costruite più industrie per soddisfarla.






--
[Intangible capital is] the preponderant form of wealth.
When we look at the shares of intangible capital across income classes,
you see it goes from about 60 percent in low-income countries to 80
percent in high-income countries.
That accords very much with the notion that what really makes countries
wealthy is not the bits and pieces, it's the brainpower, and the
institutions that harness that brainpower.
It's the skills more than the rocks and minerals.
—Kirk Hamilton

Chiacchiera con i tuoi amici in tempo reale!
  http://it.yahoo.com/mail_it/foot/*http://it.messenger.yahoo.com

Casomai fosse sfuggito:

Finalmente un video in italiano... Una presentazione di David Orban
sul tema della singolarita' (40 minuti circa). Orban ci introduce al
tema e ne esplora le ramificazioni: "la Singolarità Tecnologica è un
punto nello sviluppo di una civilizzazione, dove il progresso
tecnologico accelera oltre la capacità di comprensione e previsione
umane ed è più specificamente caratterizzata dall'avvento di una
intelligenza superiore a quella umana. Questo seminario tenuto presso
l'Università di Milano percorre le premesse che portano alla
Singolarità e ne analizza promesse e pericoli."

http://estropico.blogspot.com/2008/01/david-orban-sulla-singolarita.html

Ciao,
Fabio

A Pittsburgh negli Stati Uniti un gruppo di
ricercatori della Carnegie Mellon University ha fatto
un primo, cruciale passo in avanti: con l'aiuto di un
sofisticato scanner e di uno speciale computer ha
trovato il modo di scoprire se il cervello sta
pensando ad una cosa o all'altra.

LA RICERCA - Per il momento - riferisce il tabloid
londinese «Daily Mail» - i ricercatori di Pittsburgh
possono individuare, con un'accuratezza del 97%,
soltanto se il soggetto sta pensando ad un dato
oggetto presentato in precedenza tra dieci diverse
immagini di edifici e di utensili. Infatti sono in
grado di identificare le attività delle zone del
cervello corrispondenti alle immagini di alcuni
oggetti e al loro uso. Contano però di poter fare
rapidamente dei progressi sulla scia di questo
importante successo. «Speriamo - ha detto la
dottoressa Svetlana Shinkareva - di poter identificare
non soltanto i pensieri associati a immagini ma anche
quelli connessi a parole e poi a frasi».

  UTILIZZAZIONI PRATICHE - In dichiarazioni riportate
dalla rivista «Plos One», il professor Marcel Just -
caposquadra dei ricercatori di Pittsburgh - spiega che
la gente «riflette ad una cosa nello stesso modo» per
diversa che sia. «Ci siamo sempre chiesti a livello
filosofico - afferma - se la percezione di un colore
come il blu sia lo stesso per tutte le persone e
adesso grazie al nostro studio abbiamo riscontrato che
analoga è l'attività cerebrale in risposta ad immagini
di utensili ed edifici». A giudizio dei ricercatori di
Pittsburgh una migliore conoscenza dei meccanismi
cerebrali alla base del pensiero dovrebbe tornare
utile in disparati campi. In medicina dovrebbe ad
esempio gettare nuova luce su malattie tuttora poco
conosciute come l'autismo. E in campo giudiziario
dovrebbe permettere la messa a punto di più affidabili
«macchine della verità»



       ___________________________________
L'email della prossima generazione? Puoi averla con la nuova Yahoo! Mail:
http://it.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html

http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=3867.php
UConn developing implantable chip for soldiers

La data ipotizzata per l'utilizzo sul campo è il 2014; ma c'è molta
competizione nel campo il che significa che potremmo avere risultati
prima. I sensori sviluppati hanno la capacità di funzionare fino a 3
mesi dopo l'impianto e sono abbastanza piccoli da essere inseriti con un
ago da siringa e sono pensati per monitorare il livello di glucosio e di
acido lattico. Il che ha importanti ricadute per applicazioni civili.

Mirco

--
[Intangible capital is] the preponderant form of wealth.
When we look at the shares of intangible capital across income classes,
you see it goes from about 60 percent in low-income countries to 80
percent in high-income countries.
That accords very much with the notion that what really makes countries
wealthy is not the bits and pieces, it's the brainpower, and the
institutions that harness that brainpower.
It's the skills more than the rocks and minerals.
—Kirk Hamilton
Chiacchiera con i tuoi amici in tempo reale!
  http://it.yahoo.com/mail_it/foot/*http://it.messenger.yahoo.com

*************************
GM Envisions Driverless Cars on
Horizon
AP Jan. 7, 2008
*************************
Cars that drive themselve--even
parking at their destination--could
be ready for sale within a decade,
General Motors Corp. executives say.
GM plans to use an inexpensive
computer chip and an antenna to link
vehicles equipped with driverless
technologies. The first use likely
would be on highways; people would
have the option to choose a...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7759&m=14673



*************************
Microsoft patents
frustration-detecting help system
ars technica Jan. 3, 2008
*************************
A new Microsoft patent describes a
system that monitors certain
behaviors tied to frustration (such
as elevated heart rate or taking an
abnormally long time to complete a
task), then triggers a routine that
asks other users for help....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7758&m=14673



*************************
Napkin PC Enables High-Tech
Doodling
PhysOrg.com Jan. 5, 2008
*************************
Designer Avery Holleman has
developed the concept of a Napkin
PC, a device that uses e-paper and
radio frequency (RF) technology to
enable creative groups to
collaborate more effectively. The
technology includes a "napkin"
holder filled with rewritable
e-paper napkins, as well as a place
for colored pens. When someone gets
an inspiration,...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7757&m=14673



*************************
Scientists Use Sunlight to Make
Fuel From CO2
WIRED Jan. 4, 2008
*************************
Researchers at Sandia National
Laboratories in New Mexico have
found a way of using sunlight to
recycle carbon dioxide and produce
fuels like methanol or gasoline.
(Randy Montoya/Sandia) The Sunlight
to Petrol, or S2P, project
essentially reverses the combustion
process, recovering the building
blocks of hydrocarbons. The Sandia
team...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7756&m=14673



*************************
An Interface of One's Own
New York Times Jan. 6, 2008
*************************
New writing programs offer creative
alternates to Microsoft...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7755&m=14673



*************************
Next Steps for Stem Cells
Technology Review Jan. 7, 2008
*************************
Recently developed new methods to
reprogram adult cells into
embryonic-like stem cells could also
create cells that are genetically
matched to an individual, meaning
that it's now possible to create
novel cell models that capture and
study all the genetic quirks of
complex diseases....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7754&m=14673



*************************
Pocket Printer
Technology Review Jan. 7, 2008
*************************
Polaroid spinoff Zink Imaging has
unveiled the "digital instant mobile
photo printer," a Bluetooth-coupled
color printer available by the
summer for less than $150. Polaroid
printer prints photos on
two-inch-by-three-inch sheets of
paper, without using ink or toner,
using a novel type of
thermal-printing technology: a
special paper contains...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7753&m=14673



*************************
New Sling Products Clip, Catch, and
Receive TV
PC Magazine Jan. 7, 2008
*************************
Sling Media's Player 2.0 PC video
streaming software will let users
"clip and sling"--or clip chunks of
TV video that can then be shared
with friends in streaming Flash
format on a Web page....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7751&m=14673



*************************
Intel Quits Effort to Get Computers
to Children
New York Times Jan. 5, 2008
*************************
A partnership between Intel and the
One Laptop Per Child educational
computing group has dissolved in a
conflict between Intel's $350
Classmate PC and One Laptop's $200
XO...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7750&m=14673



*************************
Scientists restore walking after
spinal cord injury
PhysOrg.com Jan. 6, 2008
*************************
A UCLA study shows that the central
nervous system can reorganize itself
after spinal cord damage and follow
new pathways to restore the cellular
communication required for...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7749&m=14673



*************************
Scientists find key to avian flu in
humans
PhysOrg.com Jan. 6, 2008
*************************
MIT researchers have uncovered a
critical difference between flu
viruses that infect birds and
humans--it can bind to one specific
shape of receptor on the surface of
human respiratory cells. The
discovery could help scientists
monitor the evolution of avian flu
strains and aid in the development
of vaccines against a deadly flu...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7748&m=14673



*************************
Wikia Wants to Shake Up Search
Business Week Jan. 7, 2008
*************************
Wikia Search, launching Jan. 7,
will encourage users to rate the
effectiveness of search results and
favor the most helpful results.
Users can build Facebook-esque
profiles to forge ties to people
with common interests. The engine
will also use wikis to publish brief
Wikipedia-like articles along with
search...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7747&m=14673



*************************
Boron nanotubes could outperform
carbon
NewScientist.com news service Jan. 4, 2008
*************************
Boron nanotubes could have many of
the same properties as carbon
nanotubes, but should be better
conductors than carbon, and be
superconducting at higher
temperatures, Tsinghua University
researchers believe. (Tsinghua
University) Boron nanotubes should
also have variable electrical
properties--some as conductors and
some as...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7746&m=14673



*************************
Super-Charging Lithium Batteries
Technology Review Jan. 4, 2008
*************************
Stanford University materials
scientists have unveiled a silicon
nanowire electrode that could more
than triple lithium batteries'
energy storage capacity and improve
their safety. Existing lithium
batteries can enable battery-powered
electrical vehicles to travel
hundreds of miles on a charge, but
major automakers need to demonstrate
that the...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7745&m=14673



*************************
Microsoft Money Pushes Time-Lapse
Space Camera Closer to Action
Wired Jan. 3, 2008
*************************
Bill Gates and ex-Microsoft
executive Charles Simonyi have
donated a combined $30 million to
the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope,
which will feature the largest
digital camera ever constructed.
Scientists say it will provide a
"color movie" of the universe.
(Michael Mullen Design, LSST
Corporation) Its speed and wide
field will allow...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7744&m=14673



*************************
Cyclists' cellphones help monitor
air pollution
New Scientist Jan. 2, 2008
*************************
Cellphones used by bicycle couriers
are monitoring air pollution in
Cambridge, UK, using small wireless
pollution sensors....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7743&m=14673



*************************
Sea Cucumber Protein Used To
Inhibit Development Of Malaria
Parasite
Science Daily Jan. 3, 2008
*************************
Scientists have genetically
engineered a mosquito to release a
sea-cucumber protein into its gut,
which impairs the development of
malaria parasites, a step towards
preventing malaria transmission. In
laboratory tests, the international
research team showed that the method
significantly impaired the
parasite's development....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7742&m=14673



*************************
Yeast-Based Oral Diabetes Treatment
Discovered
Science Daily Jan. 3, 2008
*************************
University of Haifa researchers
have discovered a yeast-derived
substance called Glucose Tolerance
Factor (GTF) that acts similarly to
insulin and may become an oral
treatment for diabetes and its
complications. In the studies--done
on cell cultures and on diabetic
rats--GTF inhibited oxidation
processes that could cause
atherosclerosis and...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7741&m=14673



*************************
Fuel Cell Uses Bacteria To Generate
Electricity
Science Daily Jan. 3, 2008
*************************
Biodesign Institute researchers
have described how bacteria in
microbial fuel cells---fuel cells
that can use any kind of waste, such
as sewage or pig manure, to generate
electrical energy--are able to
transfer electrons to a "biofilm
anode." Conventional fuel cells are
limited to hydrogen gas as a fuel
source....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7740&m=14673



*************************
'Electronic Switch' Opens Doors In
Rheumatoid Joints
Science Daily Jan. 3, 2008
*************************
University of Leeds scientists have
identified a previously unknown
natural mechanism that opens ion
channels by donating electrons to
them like "an electronic on-switch."
The new mechanism occurs through the
naturally occurring protein
thioredoxin--a protein generated to
counter inflammation--so the
research could eventually lead to
new...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7739&m=14673



*************************
Dreams: Night School
Psychology Today Magazine Nov/Dec 2007
*************************
Finnish psychologist Antti Revonsuo
believes that dreams are a sort of
nighttime theater in which our
brains screen realistic scenarios.
This virtual reality simulates
emergency situations and provides an
arena for safe training....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7738&m=14673



*************************
Scientists look to sperm to power
nanobots
MSNBC Jan. 2, 2007
*************************
A tiny assembly line using ATP,
which powers the whip-like tail of
sperm, could be harnessed to propel
future nanobots or other tiny
medical devices inside the human
body, Cornell University scientists
report. (Atsushi Asano/Cornell
University) For their research, the
scientists used mouse sperm proteins
as templates so the proteins stuck...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7737&m=14673



*************************
World's Smallest Projector Set for
Launch
PC Magazine Jan. 2, 2008
*************************
Microvision is unveiling a full
functioning, self-contained
prototype of "the world's smallest
business and personal projector,"
using tiny lasers to shoot a WVGA
(848 by 480, roughly DVD resolution)
image on virtually any surface....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7736&m=14673



*************************
The Genetics of Language
Technology Review January/February 2008
*************************
Neurogeneticists have begun to
tease out how we evolved the
capacity for sophisticated speech,
using improved techniques for
detecting DNA, cutting-edge
analytical tools, and the genome
sequences of species from humans to
mice....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7735&m=14673



*************************
The Year in Nanotech: Better
batteries and supersticky glues are
on the horizon
Technology Review Jan. 3, 2008
*************************
Nanowires and nanotubes for
generating and storing energy, new
classes of materials that could
render objects invisible, and
non-stick or supersticky materials
are a few of the nanotechnology
items in Technology Review's "The
Year in...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7734&m=14673



*************************
Model is first to compare
performance of biosensors
Science Daily Jan. 2, 2008
*************************
Purdue University researchers have
developed a new modeling technique
to study and design miniature
biosensors, providing a conceptual
framework and computational model to
relate the shape of a sensor to its
performance and explain why certain
designs perform better than others.
Biosensors integrate electronic
circuitry with natural...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7733&m=14673



*************************
When It Comes To Metal, Smaller Is
Stronger: Now Scientists Know Why
Science Daily Jan. 3, 2008
*************************
Scientists have reported that a
previously unobserved process known
as "mechanical annealing" explains
why structures made of metal get
stronger as their dimensions shrink
to the micrometer scale or less....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7732&m=14673



*************************
A Few of Our Favorite Things:
ScienceNOW's top stories of 2007
Science NOW Jan. 1, 2008
*************************
Arguments that black holes do not
exist and quantum mechanics research
that finds an observer can change
the behavior of light, even after it
has been measured, are two of
Science Now's top stories of 2007....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7731&m=14673



*************************
National Nanotechnology Initiative
releases new strategic plan
KurzweilAI.net Jan. 2, 2008
*************************
The new 2007 NNI Strategic Plan for
the work of the National
Nanotechnology Initiative has been
released, describing the vision,
goals, and priorities of the NNI,
high-impact application
opportunities, and critical research
needs....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7730&m=14673



*************************
Toward A Rosetta Stone For
Microbes' Secret Language
Science Daily Dec. 31, 2007
*************************
Scientists are on the verge of
decoding the special chemical
language that bacteria use to "talk"
to each other, British researchers
report. The research could lead to
new treatments for
antibiotic-resistant bacteria,
including "superbugs" that infect
more than 90,000 people in the
United States each...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7729&m=14673



*************************
Researchers Reverse Effects of
Sleep Deprivation
KurzweilAI.net Jan. 2, 2007
*************************
Researchers at Wake Forest
University School of Medicine have
shown that the effects of sleep
deprivation on cognitive performance
can be reversed when the naturally
occurring brain peptide, orexin-A,
is administered in...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7728&m=14673



*************************
The Sex Singularity: When Machines
Surpass Human Hotness
Boing Boing Dec. 28, 2007
*************************
A Paul Spinrad short story explores
the future of sexbots....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7727&m=14673



*************************
Stranger than fiction: parallel
universes beguile science
PhysOrg.com Dec. 30, 2007
*************************
In the movie "The Golden Compass,"
released in December, an orphaned
girl living in an alternate universe
goes on a quest to rescue kidnapped
children and discover the secret of
a contaminating dust said to be
leaking from a parallel realm. There
are several competing and
overlapping theories about parallel
universes, but the most basic is...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7726&m=14673



*************************
The Year in Software
Technology Review Jan. 2, 2008
*************************
New search technologies (such as
speech recognition), cloud
(web-based)computing, virtual
worlds, self-expression, new
social-networks features, and
expanded mobile-phone services were
Technology Review's key software
developments of...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7725&m=14673



*************************
Regenerating Nerves
Technology Review Jan. 2, 2007
*************************
Georgia Institute of Technology
researchers have triggered the
regrowth of neurites (neurons'
information-carrying projections),
using a polymer coated with chemical
structures that resemble
acetylcholine, a common
neurotransmitter. The research could
one day lead to treatments for
neurodegenerative diseases and
spinal-cord...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7724&m=14673



*************************
Storage Projects Rise in Importance
Computerworld Dec. 31, 2007
*************************
Private-sector archive capacity
will hit 27,000 petabytes (27
billion gigabytes) by 2010,
according to a study by Enterprise
Strategy Group Inc. Skyrocketing
rates of e-mail growth account for
much of this...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7723&m=14673

Il governo della Corea del Sud ha in programma di spingere per
l'adozione di soluzioni robotizzate (di tutta la filiera) per l'edilizia.
Questo allo scopo di ridurre i costi e gli incidenti sul lavoro.
Obiettivo da conseguire entro il 2010.

Si proiettano risparmi del 15% nel tempo di costruzione dei grattacieli,
del 33% nella forza lavoro impiegata, per un totale del 25% di costi in
meno.

http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=2154486
PI: Grattacieli, in Corea li faranno i robot

http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200801/200801080017.html
Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition) : Daily News in English About Korea



Mirco
--
[Intangible capital is] the preponderant form of wealth.
When we look at the shares of intangible capital across income classes,
you see it goes from about 60 percent in low-income countries to 80
percent in high-income countries.
That accords very much with the notion that what really makes countries
wealthy is not the bits and pieces, it's the brainpower, and the
institutions that harness that brainpower.
It's the skills more than the rocks and minerals.
—Kirk Hamilton
Chiacchiera con i tuoi amici in tempo reale!
  http://it.yahoo.com/mail_it/foot/*http://it.messenger.yahoo.com

Un articolo molto interessante al riguardo di come il cervello tratta
queste condizioni.

http://alfin2100.blogspot.com/2007/12/belief-disbelief-and-uncertainty-how.html
Al Fin: Belief, Disbelief, and Uncertainty: How the Brain Makes Us What


Schizofrenia e ragionamento logico
Gli schizofrenici sono più logici dei volontari sani?

http://www.schizophrenia.com/sznews/archives/005699.html
Schizophrenia Daily News Blog: Schizophrenia and Logic Versus
Commonsense Reasoning

http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/abstract/191/5/453?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10\
&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=people+with+schizophrenia+more+logical&searchid=1&FIRSTI\
NDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWCIT
Are people with schizophrenia more logical than healthy volunteers?
British Journal of Psychiatry, 191, 453-454.

Quest'ultimo articolo è interessante in quanto pone una domanda molto
provocatoria anche per la filosofia.

Mirco
--
[Intangible capital is] the preponderant form of wealth.
When we look at the shares of intangible capital across income classes,
you see it goes from about 60 percent in low-income countries to 80
percent in high-income countries.
That accords very much with the notion that what really makes countries
wealthy is not the bits and pieces, it's the brainpower, and the
institutions that harness that brainpower.
It's the skills more than the rocks and minerals.
—Kirk Hamilton
Chiacchiera con i tuoi amici in tempo reale!
  http://it.yahoo.com/mail_it/foot/*http://it.messenger.yahoo.com

http://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=3938.php

http://alfin2100.blogspot.com/2008/01/nanomedicine-timeline.html

Tra il 2010 e il 2015 dovremmo vedere parecchie nuove applicazioni di
crescente complessità.

Mirco

--
[Intangible capital is] the preponderant form of wealth.
When we look at the shares of intangible capital across income classes,
you see it goes from about 60 percent in low-income countries to 80
percent in high-income countries.
That accords very much with the notion that what really makes countries
wealthy is not the bits and pieces, it's the brainpower, and the
institutions that harness that brainpower.
It's the skills more than the rocks and minerals.
—Kirk Hamilton
Chiacchiera con i tuoi amici in tempo reale!
  http://it.yahoo.com/mail_it/foot/*http://it.messenger.yahoo.com

Un ottimo documentario della Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (The
Longevity Revolution) sulla rivoluzione longevista all'orizzonte (52
minuti). Interviste a Kevin Perrott (di FightAging), Terry Grossmann
(autore, con Ray Kurzweil, di Viaggio Fantastico), la ricercatrice
Cynthia Kenyon, Ray Kurzweil, il pioniere della vitrificazione di
organi Greg Fahy (della 21st Century Medicine - da non perdere: i reni
di coniglio criopreservati), Jennifer Lemon (concorrente del Mprize
che arricchisce la dieta di topi da laboratorio con integratori
alimentari - da non perdere: la differenza fra i topi "supplementati"
e quelli no), April Smith (praticante della restrizione calorica),
Michael West (della Advanced Cell Tecnology) e altri. Il tutto
presentato nientemeno che da Michael Rose, nel cui laboratorio sono
stati creati moscerini della frutta tre volte piu' longevi della
media, con l'assistenza di Kevin Perrot il quale conduce le interviste
"sul campo". Fra i temi toccati: medicina rigenerativa, cellule
staminali, ultracentenari, nanomedicina e i motivi psicologici che si
nascondono dietro i dubbi etici circa le terapie longeviste.

http://estropico.blogspot.com/2008/01/la-rivoluzione-longevista.html

Ciao,
Fabio

Ho aggiunto il feed rss della lista alla ormai lunghissima colonna di
destra del blog:

www.estropico.blogspot.com

Sengalate, segnalate, segnalate! ;-)

Ciao,
Fabio

Il prototipo WB-7 (fusione nucleare ottenuta attraverso confinamento
inerziale elettrostatico del plasma - basato sulle teorie di Bussard) è
stato attivato e ha iniziato a produrre plasma.

Sebbene ci sia molto ancora da fare, questo è certamente un passo in
avanti verso lo sviluppo di nuove fonti di energia abbondante e a basso
costo.

http://advancednano.blogspot.com/2008/01/bussards-inertial-electrostatic.html
Bussard's inertial electrostatic confinement fusion WB-7 prototype activated

Mirco
--
[Intangible capital is] the preponderant form of wealth.
When we look at the shares of intangible capital across income classes,
you see it goes from about 60 percent in low-income countries to 80
percent in high-income countries.
That accords very much with the notion that what really makes countries
wealthy is not the bits and pieces, it's the brainpower, and the
institutions that harness that brainpower.
It's the skills more than the rocks and minerals.
—Kirk Hamilton
Chiacchiera con i tuoi amici in tempo reale!
  http://it.yahoo.com/mail_it/foot/*http://it.messenger.yahoo.com

Vivere in modo sostenibile (ma con molta energia e in modo
economicamente proficuo) sull'Oceano.


http://www.ecofriend.org/entry/sustainable-ocean-living-sea-power-could-solve-th\
e-energy-crises/
Sustainable Ocean Living – Sea power could solve the energy crises

Mirco

--
[Intangible capital is] the preponderant form of wealth.
When we look at the shares of intangible capital across income classes,
you see it goes from about 60 percent in low-income countries to 80
percent in high-income countries.
That accords very much with the notion that what really makes countries
wealthy is not the bits and pieces, it's the brainpower, and the
institutions that harness that brainpower.
It's the skills more than the rocks and minerals.
—Kirk Hamilton
Chiacchiera con i tuoi amici in tempo reale!
  http://it.yahoo.com/mail_it/foot/*http://it.messenger.yahoo.com