(PhysOrg.com) — Sander Nieuwenhuis and his associates from the Netherlands have done a study on one particular type of statistical error that apparently crops up in an inordinately large number of papers published in neuroscience journals. In their paper, published in Nature Neuroscience, they claim that up to half of all papers published in such journals contain the error
If this doesn’t convince you that evolution is real, we’re not sure what will.
Scientists at The Academy Of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia claim that a new fossil may be an important link between sea-dwelling fish and terrestrial animals. According to a press release, Laccognathus embryi, as the newly discovered species has been named, was found in the same region as Tiktaalik roseae, the fish that is considered the original stepping stone to backboned, terrestrial animals.
It was also discovered by the same researchers in the same region, the remote Nunavut Territory of Arctic, Canada, as the first "missing link."
ScienceDaily (Sep. 8, 2011) — Stem cells show great potential to enable treatments for conditions such as spinal injuries or Lou Gehrig’s disease, and also as research tools. One of the greatest problems slowing such work is that researchers have found major complications in purifying cell mixtures, for instance to remove stem cells that can cause tumors from cells developed for use in medical treatments. But a group of Scripps Research scientists, working with colleagues in Japan, have developed a clever solution to this purification problem that should prove more reliable than other methods, safer, and perhaps 100 times cheaper.
DURHAM, N.C. – Electrical engineers at Duke University have determined that unique man-made materials should theoretically make it possible to improve the power transfer to small devices, such as laptops or cell phones, or ultimately to larger ones, such as cars or elevators, without wires.
This advance is made possible by the recent ability to fabricate exotic composite materials known as metamaterials, which are not so much a single substance, but an entire man-made structure that can be engineered to exhibit properties not readily found in nature. In fact, the metamaterial used in earlier Duke studies, and which would likely be used in future wireless power transmission systems, resembles a miniature set of tan Venetian blinds.
What’s the News: Researchers have developed the fastest yet self-healing polymer: The new class of materials dubbed “metallo-supramolecular polymers” heal after only one minute under UV light even when they’re repeatedly cut. This could eventually lead to self-repairing floor varnishes, automotive paints, and other applications. University of Illinois at Urbana researchers Nancy Sottos and Jeffrey Moore say these these healable polymers “offer an alternative to the damage-and-discard cycle” that is rampant in our consumer society, and could pave the way for products “that have much greater lifespans than currently available materials.” (You can see the process below in a press video from Case-Western Reserve University.)
A Disruptive Technology is an innovation that disrupts an existing market, economy or business model. Often these technologies emerge very quickly and are…
More than 30 years after they left Earth, NASA’s twin Voyager probes are now at the edge of the solar system. Not only that, they’re still working. And with each passing day they are beaming back a message that, to scientists, is both unsettling and thrilling…
Medical ethicist Harvey Fineberg shows us three paths forward for the ever-evolving human species: to stop evolving completely, to evolve naturally — or to control the next steps of human evolution, using genetic modification, to make ourselves smarter, faster, better. Neo-evolution is within our grasp. What will we do with it?
Click here to transfer to the TED Talks website to watch the video.
The Engineering and Physical Research Sciences Center in the UK is working on a new type of fabric that uses solar photovoltaic cells, thermoelectric devices and advanced lightweight batteries…
Click here to view the entire Popular Science report.
Click here for more information on the use of solar power.
Enjoy BTS?
Subscribe and get this blog delivered to you via RSS!
Blogging the Singularity Bloggers:
Chris Williamson: Filmmaker, science enthusiast, and futurist concerned with the accelerating nature of technological growth and where it's headed. He is currently studying for his MFA in Film Production.
Frank Whittemore: As an IT professional since 1961, the accelerating change of technology is not news to him but the wonder will never cease! Be sure check out Frank's blog about Life Extension!
A blog devoted to journaling our ascent toward the Technological Singularity.
Copyright Notice:
Blogging the Singularity is devoted to journaling our ascent toward the Technological Singularity.
All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners.
Bloggingthesingularity.com makes no claim to copyrighted materials owned by other entities.
The use of copyrighted material on BloggingtheSingualrity.com is intended as fair use to document and inform the public, which is vital to the functioning of a democratic republic.
BloggingtheSingularity.com is a non-profit news information service.