Robot to be controlled by human brain cells

A robot controlled by human brain cells could soon be trundling around a British lab, New Scientist has learned.

Kevin Warwick and Ben Whalley at the University of Reading, UK, have already used rat brain cells to control a simple wheeled robot.

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AFOSR funds super-fast, secure computing

Air Force Office of Scientific Research(AFOSR)-supported physicists at the University of Michigan are developing innovative components for quantum, or super-fast, computers that will improve security for data storage and transmission on Air Force systems.

According to Professor Duncan Steel, lead researcher from the University of Michigan, the long-term goal of this basic research is to push the frontier of modern electronics and optics into the realm of quantum behavior, where more complex computing problems can be solved at faster speeds.

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New UAV sensors could leave enemy no place to hide

Despite the increase in unmanned airborne surveillance, this rapidly expanding resource is limited when it comes to battlefield focus. It can zero in on just one target at a time, making it tough for unmanned aerial vehicle users when there are numerous, fast-moving targets in the area.

That will start to change in spring 2010, when the Air Force starts introducing a new sensor that allows a number of different users to simultaneously view an area from 12 separate angles.

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Bacteria to convert Radioactive Metals to Inert Substances

Judy Wall, at the University of Missouri, is working with bacteria that convert toxic radioactive metal to inert substances. These findings could be beneficial to heavy metal pollution from storage tanks and industrial waste.

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Researchers simplify fabrication of nano storage, chip-design tools

Advances by the Rice University lab of James Tour have brought graphite's potential as a mass data storage medium a step closer to reality and created the potential for reprogrammable gate arrays that could bring about a revolution in integrated circuit logic design.

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Complete Genomics deciphers 14 human genomes

Complete Genomics, a Mountain View, Calif., startup, has announced that it had deciphered 14 full human genomes for customers that include pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and leading medical research institutes, a significant step for an industry whose work could revolutionize health care.

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New SCANTER 6000 Naval Surveillance Radar

Terma introduced its latest addition to the comprehensive SCANTER Radar program - the SCANTER 6000 Naval Surveillance Rader.

Tailored for maritime environment the SCANTER 6000 offers superior performance through intelligent design and advanced processing. The development is founded on more than 60 years experience of developing radars and surveillance systems for navies, coast guards and other high demanding authorities.

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NIST method detects explosives

A chemist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed a simple method for detecting and measuring small quantities of explosives that is claimed to be more sensitive than conventional techniques.

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The ultimate hack: reverse engineering the human brain

Neuroscientists now say that within a decade it will be possible to create a digital model that replicates all functions of the human brain.

Though the brain has trillions of synapses, billions of neurons, millions of proteins, and thousands of genes, scientists have already begun to build detailed models of the mouse, rat, cat, primate and human brain.

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Raytheon Unveils SPY-5 -- an Affordable, Advanced Naval X-Band Radar

Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has developed a new naval radar -- AN/SPY-5, a multitracking, target-illuminating system for surface combatants that can simultaneously search, detect and precisely track multiple surface and air threats.

The Raytheon-developed SPY-5 is an open architecture, phased-array radar system, providing an advanced and affordable self-defense solution for small and large surface ships operating in the littorals and other maritime environments.

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4 Forgotten Facts About Combat UAVs

The U.S. Air Force squadrons that form the 432d Air Expeditionary Wing here are the first that exist only to fly unmanned aerial vehicles. The base, which currently hosts training and operations for MQ-1 Predators and MQ-9 Reapers, is trailblazing modern military aviation. It's a perfect place for practitioners who fly UAVs every day to set the record straight on some common misconceptions about UAVs.

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A Squirt of Stem Cell Gel Heals Brain Injuries

Scientists have developed a gel that helps brains recover from traumatic injuries. It has the potential to treat head injuries suffered in combat, car accidents, falls, or gunshot wounds. Developed by Dr. Ning Zhang at Clemson University in South Carolina, the gel is injected in liquid form at the site of injury and stimulates the growth of stem cells there.

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Deep-Water Wind: World's First Floating Wind Turbine Launched

Norwegian oil and gas giant StatoilHydro has inaugurated the world's first floating full-scale offshore wind turbine, paving the way for deep-water wind farms possessing the dual appeal of being out of sight as well as more efficient.

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NASA Levitates a Mouse With Magnetic Fields

The effort is part of NASA's desire to investigate how the human body can cope with long-term low gravity situations, for long stints on the ISS and future trips beyond our own moon. One way to model microgravity is to apply a strong magnetic field that opposes gravity, which repels the water in animals' bodies and levitates them slightly.

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"Ring-Wing" Submarine Swarm To Search For Undersea Oil

A robotic swarm of "ring-wing" submarines could someday scout underwater locations for oil.
Engineers from GO Science, an engineering firm specializing in aerodynamic robots, have struck a $10 million deal with an unnamed oil company. GO's ring-wing foil concept has applications for aerial vehicles as well, but the startup company has currently focused on undersea flyers.

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PHOTONIC FRONTIERS: Linac Coherent Light Source begins operation

This month the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (Stanford, CA) will open the world's shortest-wavelength free-electron laser for use by guest scientists. First operated in April at 0.15 nm the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) is the first free-electron laser to emit hard x-rays.1 The LCLS can deliver 80 fs pulses containing about 10 trillion x-ray photons at wavelengths tunable between about 0.15 and 1.5 nm.

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Intelligent RFID Sensors Keep Rotten Produce Out of Grocery Stores

Battery-free RFID tags monitor and record so-called "stress profiles" of food products. Each silicon sensor, which only costs approximately 16 cents, tracks an individual package of food--i.e. a box of strawberries--from the farm to the supermarket. So if the strawberries are battered into submission at some point during their journeys, the tags will keep track.

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US Army Chooses Aimpoint CompM4s Sight as New Close Combat Optic

The sight chosen by the Army, the Aimpoint CompM4s, features a battery compartment positioned near the sight base, which gives the sight a streamlined profile and places the switch and battery in a more protected position. A ruggedized switch knob has been integrated as part of the battery compartment housing and features 7 night vision compatible settings and 9 daylight settings.

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New Military Thermal Imaging Technology for UK Force

STA itself uses military thermal imaging technology which will give UK forces the ability to home in on and engage targets regardless of the prevailing weather conditions and how much light is available to them. This marks an improvement over present night sight technologies, which are rendered inoperable when there is no light whatsoever.

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NASA contractor set for 2nd rocket test in Utah

A private company will try again to test fire the main part of NASA's powerful new moon rocket.
Alliant Techsystems Inc. officials say they've identified the problem that forced them to call off a test last month with just 20 seconds until firing. The culprit was a component in the ground control unit that helps move nozzle controls, which steer a rocket in flight.

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