Technology

The combined supercomputing power of the UK and US ‘national grids’ has enabled UCL (University College London) scientists to simulate the efficacy of an HIV drug in blocking a key protein used by the lethal virus. The method – an early example of the Virtual Physiological Human in action – could one day be used to tailor personal drug treatments, for example for HIV patients developing resistance to their drugs. The study, published online today in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, ran a large number of simulations to predict how strongly the drug saquinavir would bind to three…

NEW YORK, January 28 /PRNewswire/ -- QTRAX (www.QTRAX.com), the world's first free and legal peer-to-peer music service announced that at today's V.2 Beta launch, its ground-breaking service had approximately 61,000 unique users per hour (between 7am and 1pm EST). This translates to approximately 1,464,000 unique users per day. QTRAX believes that a significant percentage of users were unable to access the site due to this massive demand and has now dramatically increased its download capacity. "The response to the service is clearly unprecedented. We launched at MIDEM, the leading music…

LONDON, January 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Elertz has launched its widget technology, a patented desktop messaging system which provides online marketers with a new way of communicating with their users and driving website interaction. The elertz widget is non-intrusive to users and sits in the system tray of their computer waiting quietly for notifications. Critically, end-users are always in complete control of the communication channel and they can manage the information they receive, meaning they are more likely to respond positively to brand marketers who are providing relevant services or…

The rushing floodwaters in Evan Almighty, the heaving seas of the latter two Pirates of the Caribbean movies and the dragon's flaming breath in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire all featured computer-generated fluids in spectacular action. The science behind those splashy thrills will be recognized Feb. 9 with an Academy Award for Ron Fedkiw, associate professor of computer science at Stanford, and two collaborators at the special effects firm Industrial Light and Magic (ILM). "The primary work started a few years ago when we developed a system designed for the female liquid terminator in…

Has substantial progress been made in computers that can see like humans? Not as much as thought, according to MIT researchers. They say recent results are misleading because the tests being used are stacked in favor of computers. Computer vision is important for applications ranging from “intelligent” cars to visual prosthetics for the blind. Recent computational models show apparently impressive progress, boasting 60% success rates in classifying natural photographic image sets. These include the widely used Caltech101 database, intended to test computer vision algorithms against the…

Electrochemical DNA biosensors are a growing field and a new study published in PLoS Biology shows that the next generation in odor detection technology could involve artifical noses based on DNA. The study demonstrates a previously unreported property of deoxyribonucleic acid; single-stranded DNA molecules tagged with a fluorescent reporter and dried onto solid surfaces can respond to vapor phase odor pulses in a sequence-selective manner. In the context of detecting chemicals in either the aqueous or vapor phase, two general biological approaches have emerged. The first relies on individual…

The World Wide Web offered a way to use computers to bring people together but the ".com" era turned it into a cash machine and it became a way to do advertising and push information out to people. Web 2.0 took that back with user-generated content and social communities that gave birth to YouTube, Facebook and ScientificBlogging.com. Could the foundation of Web 3.0 be something as minor as user-generated networks? WIP is a project in Europe funded by the EC and in partnership with companies like Siemens. It is basically an all-wireless mobile internet architecture using cross-layer design…

Researchers in Hong Kong have miniaturized technology needed to perform the versatile polymerase chain reaction (PCR) — widely used in criminal investigations, disease diagnosis, and a range of other key applications. Published in Analytical Chemistry, they report development of a long-sought PCR microchip that could permit use of PCR at crime scenes, in doctors’ offices, and other out-of-lab locations. I-Ming Hsing and colleagues note that PCR works like a biological copy machine, transforming a few wisps of DNA into billions of copies. However, existing PCR machines are so big and complex…

Texas Children’s Hospital has been named the national lead center for a 12-hospital, 36-month clinical trial of the German-manufactured pediatric heart pump called Berlin Heart EXCOR® Pediatric Ventricular Assist Device (VAD). Charles D. Fraser, Jr., MD, chief of pediatric and congenital heart surgery at Texas Children’s and professor, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine, will serve as the National Principal Investigator for the Investigational Device Exemption prospective study. Between 2000 and 2007, prior to FDA approval to begin the study, pediatric…

Hubert Burda Media has invited a select circle of guests to join their fourth conference on global issues of the 21st century: Digital-Life-Design (DLD). Participants will address concerns and innovations in the fields of digital lifestyle, media, science and arts. Approximately one hundred international experts are expected in Munich between 20 and 22 January 2008 to discuss future challenges arising for society as a whole as well as for corporate citizens and individuals. The only conference in Europe to offer such a wide range of topics, select circle of speakers and exclusive set-up, DLD…