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- Scientists say they've developed a "perfect" invisibility cloak
Scientists successfully gave a cylinder "perfect invisibility" to microwaves using a diamond-shaped cloak, making light pass around it without reflecting. The microwave cloak, which a team of researchers used when the theory of "transformation optics" was demonstrated in 2006, was modified by David Smith and Nathan Landy of Duke University to carefully match the properties at the diamond's corners. "It's like the card people in Alice in Wonderland. If they turn on their sides you can't see them but they're obviously visible if you look from the other direction," Smith said. BBC
(11/11)
    
| Science in the News
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- Researchers spot particle's change into anti-muon, muon in LHC
CERN researchers observed a rare phenomenon in the Large Hadron Collider in which a Bs meson particle transformed into an anti-muon and a muon after collision through a process known as decay. The decay, which experts predict occurs to one Bs meson in every 300 million, was spotted using the so-called Standard Model of physics that depicts how the universe works at the most basic level. Experts expect the finding to boost efforts to find evidence of the super symmetry, or SUSY, theory, which attempts to explain strange cosmic events such as galaxies' odd speed of rotation. Reuters
(11/12)
- Researchers tap cochlea's electric potential using sensor chip
Scientists created a chip that shows promise in harvesting the electrical energy of the inner ear without affecting normal hearing, and use it to power a sensing device. To examine the electric potential of the cochlea, researchers connected a small sensor chip to electrodes inserted into the cochlea's fluid reservoirs. They extracted around 1 nanowatt from an anesthetized guinea pig's ear, sufficient to keep the sensor working and allow it to transmit information wirelessly for five hours. The Scientist online
(11/11)
- Self-healing material may find application in prosthetics
Scientists at Stanford University created a material that can sense pressure and heal itself from cuts, burns and tears. The U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research, which provided partial funding for the project, hopes to use the material in prosthetics, where it could quickly heal exterior damage to artificial limbs. An article about the invention was published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. ABC News/Science blog
(11/12)
- Rocket-like fuel powers new ankle prosthesis
Researchers have developed an ankle prosthesis that is powered by a rocket-like monopropellant fuel and uses a "sleeve muscle actuator" that is smaller, yet more powerful, than a comparable electric motor. The technology may lead to externally powered prostheses that do not require large, heavy batteries. MedGadget.com
(11/9)
- Islet cell transplants could lead to diabetes cure
Dr. Camilo Ricordi is working with other scientists at the University of Miami's Diabetes Research Institute on transplanting islet cells into patients with type 1 diabetes. Half of those treated were able to stay off insulin for five years, comparable with patients who received pancreas transplants. Researchers are working on ways, such as encapsulation, to make the transplanted cells survive longer and minimize use of antirejection drugs. The Miami Herald(free registration)
(11/10)
- Australia will witness a total solar eclipse
A total solar eclipse will be seen in parts of the southern Pacific Ocean and Australia as the moon blocks the sun early Wednesday. The phenomenon will be first seen at the Garig Ganak Barlu National Park in the Northern Territory of Australia and afterward in Cairns. The event will reach its final moments at 11:48 p.m. Coordinated Universal Time around 500 miles west of the coastline of Chile. National Geographic News
(11/12)
- Researcher finds evidence grass-eating began earlier than thought
Early hominins started dining on grass 3 million to 3.5 million years ago, half a million years earlier than previously believed by scientists, according to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Julia Lee-Thorp, study author and an archaeological science professor at the University of Oxford, examined bones of Australopithecus bahrelghazali from grassland areas near Lake Chad in Africa, and discovered high levels of carbon-13, which is common to animals that consume a lot of sedges and grasses. New Scientist
(11/12)
| Funding Watch
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- Texas Biomed gets $2M grant to develop Chagas disease test
A $2 million grant was awarded to the Texas Biomedical Research Institute in San Antonio to develop a test for detecting Chagas disease. The money is part of a $3 million grant awarded by the Wellcome Trust to the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative. "The studies this grant will fund will enable us to determine which of several drugs are most effective at treating the disease," said John VandeBerg, chief scientific officer at Texas Biomed. San Antonio Express-News
(11/13)
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