Technology

Japanese scientists have made a micro-sized sewing machine to sew long threads of DNA into shape. The work published in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal Lab on a Chip demonstrates a unique way to manipulate delicate DNA chains without breaking them. Scientists can diagnose genetic disorders such as Down's syndrome by using gene markers, or "probes", which bind to only highly similar chains of DNA. Once bound, the probe's location can be easily detected by fluorescence, and this gives information about the gene problem. Detecting these probes is often a slow and difficult process,…

A genome sequence is a long sequence written in a four letter code—3 billion letters in the case of a human genome. How genomic code is deciphered is traditionally left to professional annotators who use information from a number of sources (for instance, knowledge about similar genes in other organisms) to work out where a gene starts, stops and what it does. Even the "gold standard" of professional annotation is an exceptionally slow process. However, new crowdsourcing technology hopes to provide a faster solution. Don't cringe, scientists, but it's Wikipedia. Andrew Su, John Huss III…

European researchers have taken a major step towards the goal of developing printable electronics that can be used for creating radio frequency identification tags and flexible watch displays. Researchers have long dreamed of being able to print electronic components directly onto organic materials such as paper, fabrics, or plastic. In addition to being able to fabricate large numbers of everyday devices such as watch displays and other applications cheaply, they envision novel applications including electronic paper, eyeglasses with embedded displays, or even smart clothing. Researchers in…

A laser-activated antimicrobial offers hope for new treatments of bacterial infections, even those that are resistant to current drugs. Research published today in the open access journal BMC Microbiology describes the use of a dye, indocyanine green, which produces bacteria-killing chemicals when lit by a specific kind of laser light. Michael Wilson led a team from UCL (University College London) who carried out experiments showing that activated indocyanine green is capable of killing a wide range of bacteria including Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes and Pseudomonas aeruginosa…

KARLSRUHE, Germany, June 30 /PRNewswire/ -- RapidSolution Software AG presents new Windows software MP3videoraptor 3.0 that allows users to instantly download and save virtually any song in MP3 format - free of charge. Even the automatic creation of an entire music library is a piece of cake. What makes this principle revolutionary are two functions: an intelligent control and the recording of music from numerous individual Web 2.0 radios - the legal and free way to get your favorite music. "Radiotracker", "Tunebite" and "AudialsOne" - all products of the "Audials" series distributed by…

Researchers at Goldsmiths, University of London, say they are on the way to making true on-demand video games a reality. The research is part of an EU funded project, Games@Large, which aims to develop the delivery of video games anytime, anywhere, and on any device, finding ways to enable consumer electronics devices such as set-top boxes and mobile phones to serve as easy-to-use gaming platforms. It is hoped that this will facilitate more convenient game play options, encouraging uptake by new users who would not usually sit in front of a computer or buy a console. So Grandma could be…

Materials scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a process to build complex, three-dimensional nanoscale structures of magnetic materials such as nickel or nickel-iron alloys using techniques compatible with standard semiconductor manufacturing. The process, described in a recent paper, could enable whole new classes of sensors and microelectromechanical (MEMS) devices. The NIST team also demonstrated that key process variables are linked to relatively quick and inexpensive electrochemical measurements, pointing the way to a fast and efficient…

Typically the palm of your hand doesn’t excite much interest, unless you’re a chirologist – those who divine the future through palm-reading.    Luckily for palmophiliacs, there’s a new show in town, and it just may change the way we think about biometric security systems.   A new biometrics system called PalmSecure, developed by Tokyo-based Fujitsu Ltd., works by matching the unique vein pattern in your palm to an infrared scan of your palm stored in a database. The system is akin to fingerprinting, but improves upon the oft-used identification system of police stations…

A research team from the University of the Basque Country, led by Basilio Sierra, is devising a robot that can identify different locations and will even ask permission before going through a doorway. Let's face it, robots are boring. They never came close to cleaning our houses or delving into Asimovian angst about their existence. A robot that can walk around without having every move programmed and can make decisions for itself is a start. The Autonomous Robotics and Systems Research Team at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) are involved in increasing the autonomy of robots…

A new mass spectrometry test can help sports anti-drug doping officials to detect whether an athlete has used drugs that boost naturally occurring steroid levels. The test is more sensitive compared to previous alternatives, more capable of revealing specific suspicious chemical in the body, faster to perform, and could be run on standard drug-screening laboratory equipment. The new test was announced in a special issue of the Journal of Mass Spectrometry that concentrates on detecting drugs in sports. One of the roles of the masculinising hormone testosterone is to increase muscle size and…