Switched http://www.switched.com Switched http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.switched.com/media/feedlogo.gif Switched http://www.switched.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Philip's Interactive LED Tattoos Could Be the Future of Body Art]]>http://www.switched.com/2009/11/21/moveable-interactive-led-tattoos-may-be-the-next-wave-for-phili/http://www.switched.com/2009/11/21/moveable-interactive-led-tattoos-may-be-the-next-wave-for-phili/http://www.switched.com/2009/11/21/moveable-interactive-led-tattoos-may-be-the-next-wave-for-phili/#commentsFiled under:


Ah, human progress. It's long been possible to get drunk with your friends and make a permanent mistake on your body on spring break in Mexico, but soon you'll be able to do it electronically, too. That's right, we are entering the era of the LED tattoo.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have been developing micro-thin, flexible, silicon electronics that have already been successfully implanted under the skin of mice without any harm. These devices can conform to the body's shape without causing any irritation or interfering with its normal physiological processes. (The silk is eventually dissolved and absorbed by the body.)

Continue reading Philip's Interactive LED Tattoos Could Be the Future of Body Art

SwitchedPhilip's Interactive LED Tattoos Could Be the Future of Body Art originally appeared on Switched on Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>cyborgledmedicalphilipsresearchtattootopweirdSat, 21 Nov 2009 13:18:00 EST<![CDATA[Shrinky Dinks Build Chips on the Cheap]]>http://www.switched.com/2009/11/13/shrinky-dinks-build-chips-on-the-cheap/http://www.switched.com/2009/11/13/shrinky-dinks-build-chips-on-the-cheap/http://www.switched.com/2009/11/13/shrinky-dinks-build-chips-on-the-cheap/#commentsFiled under:

Shrinky Dinks Used to Build Chips on the Cheap
Do you remember Shrinky Dinks? That's okay. Neither do most of the Switched staffers -- the bunch of whippersnappers they are [Ed Note: Not true. We love them.]. The once-popular, plastic arts-and-craft set, which first hit the scene in 1973, allowed children to color and cut out shapes on a thin sheet of plastic. When the shapes were put in the oven, they would shrink to one-third of their original width, becoming thick and rigid. Well, it turns out that making tacky charms is just scratching the surface of this toy's potential.

Back in 2006, University of California at Irvine assistant professor Michelle Khine couldn't afford to outfit her lab with the $100,000 worth of equipment needed to create microfluidic chips. Frustrated and impatient, she turned to an updated version of Shrinky Dinks -- one that lets you run the aforementioned plastic sheets through a standard inkjet or laser printer. Needing the chips to create medical diagnostic tests, she took a shot in the dark by printing her chip designs on Shrinky Dinks, and then baking them. When the sheets shrunk, the ink clumped together and formed tiny ridges. She then used the minis as molds for the circuits she made out of a flexible polymer called PDMS.

Continue reading Shrinky Dinks Build Chips on the Cheap

SwitchedShrinky Dinks Build Chips on the Cheap originally appeared on Switched on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Normally when we speak of "the cloud," we're talking about intangible bits and bytes stored on the Web. That digital cloud has inspired the design of the very much tangible The Cloud, one of the finalists in a competition to build a tourist attraction in London's planned 2012 Olympic Village. The Cloud was designed by an international team of architects, scientists, and artists, including people from Google and MIT. The proposed structure would consist primarily of bubbles -- constructed of an advanced plastic called Ethylene tetrafluoroethylene, interconnected, and resting atop a series of 400-foot-tall towers.

Of course, if this design ended with space-age plastics, you wouldn't be seeing it on Switched. The ambitions for the design are lofty enough to live up to its heavenly name. The spheres would serve as an observation deck, while the walls would be used to project highlights from the games, results and scores from events, and information about the city (provided by Google). Projected information would serve as a tribute to the digital cloud of data that inspired the design of the structure.

Continue reading Digital Cloud Inspires Physical One Proposed for London Skies

SwitchedDigital Cloud Inspires Physical One Proposed for London Skies originally appeared on Switched on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>architecturecrowd sourcingCrowdSourcingolympicsthe cloudTheCloudFri, 13 Nov 2009 07:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Ultrasound Could Protect Pacemakers From Hackers]]>http://www.switched.com/2009/11/11/ultrasound-could-protect-pacemakers-from-hackers/http://www.switched.com/2009/11/11/ultrasound-could-protect-pacemakers-from-hackers/http://www.switched.com/2009/11/11/ultrasound-could-protect-pacemakers-from-hackers/#commentsFiled under: ,

You never want your wireless device open to attacks, but if that device is implanted inside your body, security becomes even more important. With pacemakers and other medical devices being controlled and monitored from afar, scientists say it's time to step up protection. Those concerns in mind, a group of researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and the French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control have developed a new safety net.

According to Technology Review, the system uses ultrasound waves to measure the distance between a medical device and the wireless reader trying to communicate with it. This could prevent potential hackers from wirelessly gaining access to private information stored on the device, draining its battery, or causing it to malfunction. With the ultrasound system, access to the device would be restricted to the physical proximity of the communicator. In the plan proposed by senior researcher Claude Castelluccia and his team, you'd need to go through a series of authentication steps and be within 10 meters of the device in order to gain access.

Continue reading Ultrasound Could Protect Pacemakers From Hackers

SwitchedUltrasound Could Protect Pacemakers From Hackers originally appeared on Switched on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>hackhealthmedicalpacemakerresearchsciencesecuritytopultrasoundwirelessWed, 11 Nov 2009 16:01:00 EST<![CDATA[Toddler Gets Telescopic, Prosthetic Arm Bone]]>http://www.switched.com/2009/11/09/toddler-gets-telescopic-prosthetic-arm-bone/http://www.switched.com/2009/11/09/toddler-gets-telescopic-prosthetic-arm-bone/http://www.switched.com/2009/11/09/toddler-gets-telescopic-prosthetic-arm-bone/#commentsFiled under:

In a strange meeting of James Cameron and feel-good medical magic, a young boy who was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer a year ago is now cancer free, thanks to an experimental prosthetic replacement.

Mark Blinder was three years old when doctors determined he had Ewing's sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, in his arm's humerus bone. The Los Angeles Times reports that doctors initially tried chemotherapy, which alleviated the pain without reducing the size of the tumor. The only other option, it seemed, was amputation. Stanford University doctor Lawrence Rinsky, though, convinced the Blinders to try a less conventional option: a telescoping, artificial bone replacement from Biomet, Inc. Unlike most artificial bones, which tend to be only "partial" replacements, this particular procedure required the total removal of the cancer-ridden bone.

Continue reading Toddler Gets Telescopic, Prosthetic Arm Bone

SwitchedToddler Gets Telescopic, Prosthetic Arm Bone originally appeared on Switched on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bonescancerdoctorhealthmedicalmedicineprostheticsurgerytopMon, 09 Nov 2009 10:24:00 EST<![CDATA[Are Mobile Devices Getting Too Complex?]]>http://www.switched.com/2009/11/07/cell-phone-inventor-says-mobile-devices-are-too-complex/http://www.switched.com/2009/11/07/cell-phone-inventor-says-mobile-devices-are-too-complex/http://www.switched.com/2009/11/07/cell-phone-inventor-says-mobile-devices-are-too-complex/#commentsFiled under: ,


Last year, Martin Cooper, the man credited with inventing the cell phone at Motorola in 1973, made headlines when he complained at a Boston conference that the iPhone was too complex. Further cementing his reputation as a curmudgeon, Cooper told a gathering in Madrid this week pretty much the same thing -- that modern cell phones are too feature-packed to be useful. "Whenever you create a universal device that does all things for all people, it does not do any things well," he told the crowd.

Now, our knee-jerk reaction was to dismiss Cooper as a crotchety, out-of-touch coot when he said, "[Our] future... is a number of specialist devices that focus on one thing." Clearly, the trend in technology has been convergence -- cramming more and more capabilities into fewer, smaller gadgets. Many of us at the Switched offices lug around smartphones that can snap photos, record video, play games, browse the Internet, get directions via GPS, play music and video, and make calls. Yet a quick survey revealed that most of us own, and still use, dedicated iPods and GPS devices, as well. And no one would even contemplate ditching a computer to rely purely on a smartphone for Web access.

Continue reading Are Mobile Devices Getting Too Complex?

SwitchedAre Mobile Devices Getting Too Complex? originally appeared on Switched on Sat, 07 Nov 2009 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>cellphonehistoryMartin CooperMartinCoopersmartphonetopSat, 07 Nov 2009 08:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Harvard Gets $10M to Create RoboBee Swarms]]>http://www.switched.com/2009/10/08/harvard-gets-10m-to-create-robobee-swarms/http://www.switched.com/2009/10/08/harvard-gets-10m-to-create-robobee-swarms/http://www.switched.com/2009/10/08/harvard-gets-10m-to-create-robobee-swarms/#commentsFiled under: ,

The world of insect cyborgs is abuzz over news about the latest addition to the ever-expanding robo phylum. In news that may soon send even the most cuddly winged creatures to the unemployment line, Harvard researchers have received a $10 million grant from the National Science Foundation to spawn an army of robot bees, reports Network World. The RoboBee project is slated to span 5 years, and, according to the Harvard RoboBee Web site, could not only provide insight about how to mimic the collective behavior and intelligence of a typical bee community, but also lead to further advances in the electrical engineering and construction of micro flying devices. If all goes according to plan, the robotic bees will be able to fly on their own, and work cooperatively with each other to coordinate hive business, just like the real thing. The similarities, though, stop at the stinger; scientists confirm that the robots, unlike their organic counterparts, will not have stingers.

Most importantly, perhaps, is the bees' potential social and environmental impact. Researchers expect the machine bees to pollinate plants autonomously, a feature that could lead to more efficient agricultural practices. They may also be able to provide assistance in coordinated emergency rescue efforts, using mobile sensor and environmental monitoring networks to help search for and locate, for instance, workers who are in danger.

Continue reading Harvard Gets $10M to Create RoboBee Swarms

SwitchedHarvard Gets $10M to Create RoboBee Swarms originally appeared on Switched on Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>beesbiomimicryharvardnaturerobotrobotstopThu, 08 Oct 2009 14:25:00 EST<![CDATA[Device That Grows Meat in Your Kitchen Wins Design Prize]]>http://www.switched.com/2009/09/26/device-that-grows-meat-in-your-kitchen-wins-design-prize/http://www.switched.com/2009/09/26/device-that-grows-meat-in-your-kitchen-wins-design-prize/http://www.switched.com/2009/09/26/device-that-grows-meat-in-your-kitchen-wins-design-prize/#commentsFiled under:




Meat "ethics" are about to get even more complicated.

For electronics manufacturer Electrolux's recent design competition, first place went to a device that creates meat and fish by heating animal cells and growing them into edible food.

While still in the design phase, the Cocoon would theoretically replicate real meat by synthesizing the compounds that make it up. The controversial product would heat food packets containing muscle cells, oxygen and nutrients. "This will create 100% pure meat without the need for animals to be killed and with no risk of contamination," said Cocoon creator Rickard Hederstierna, a 27 year-old Swedish design student. "It will change everything."

Continue reading Device That Grows Meat in Your Kitchen Wins Design Prize

SwitchedDevice That Grows Meat in Your Kitchen Wins Design Prize originally appeared on Switched on Sat, 26 Sep 2009 12:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>designfoodresearchsciencetopweirdSat, 26 Sep 2009 12:59:00 EST<![CDATA[Students Set Altitude Record With Unmanned Model Plane]]>http://www.switched.com/2009/09/23/students-set-new-altitude-record-with-unmanned-model-plane/http://www.switched.com/2009/09/23/students-set-new-altitude-record-with-unmanned-model-plane/http://www.switched.com/2009/09/23/students-set-new-altitude-record-with-unmanned-model-plane/#commentsFiled under:


Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) perform a wide variety of important tasks for NASA and the U.S. military. The drones are deployed during times of conflict to track and annihilate enemy combatants, but they can also be used to monitor weather, agriculture, pollution, traffic, and fires. The only drawback to the awesome little guys is that they can be exorbitantly expensive, sometimes costing hundreds of millions of dollars for a single vehicle.

Last week at the NASA Dryden center, Stanford University Aeronautics and Astronautics professor Juan Alonso, along with a team of graduate students, attempted to break the altitude record for a self-piloted plane (one that flies without human aid, using electronics and software). The incredibly frugal yet highly creative team built two $500 electrically-powered balsa wood UAVs. The winner of the two, the Blue Panther, managed to eclipse standing records by twice climbing over 7,000 feet and properly landing. On its third flight, it reached a staggering 8,169 feet, but crashed back to Earth after leaving NASA airspace.

Continue reading Students Set Altitude Record With Unmanned Model Plane

SwitchedStudents Set Altitude Record With Unmanned Model Plane originally appeared on Switched on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 08:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nolan Bushnell has always been a man slightly ahead of his time. After co-founding Atari in 1972 -- and some might say the video game industry as a whole -- he was forced from the company just before it became a multi-billion dollar business. He followed that up by launching the Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant chain, but again left the company in the mid-'80s over a disagreement with management. (There are more than 500 locations now.) Bushnell's latest venture takes him into uncharted territory on a smaller scale but is nonetheless bold: He's going to the future.

Continue reading Atari and Chuck E. Cheese's Founder Writing Sci-Fi Book

SwitchedAtari and Chuck E. Cheese's Founder Writing Sci-Fi Book originally appeared on Switched on Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>atarifeaturesinterviewnolanbushnellswitchedinterviewtopThu, 17 Sep 2009 13:28:00 EST<![CDATA[NASA Levitates Mice With Magnetic Fields]]>http://www.switched.com/2009/09/11/nasa-levitates-mice-with-magnetic-fields/http://www.switched.com/2009/09/11/nasa-levitates-mice-with-magnetic-fields/http://www.switched.com/2009/09/11/nasa-levitates-mice-with-magnetic-fields/#commentsFiled under:


We could tell you all the scientific stuff right out of the box, but first things first, good readers. Mice are now capable of flight. Or, at least, float, thanks to the efforts of NASA scientists.

Apparently not content with pigeons, researchers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California have successfully used magnetic fields to introduce yet another species of filthy vermin to our skies. According to LiveScience, the secret lies in a superconducting magnet that so strongly attracts a living body's water content that the body itself will actually float. The mice apparently levitate in comfy, climate-controlled cages. In time, the mice grow accustomed to the microgravity -- eating, drinking and being filthy just as they normally would. The study is intended to give scientists a better understanding of bone loss in astronauts.

Continue reading NASA Levitates Mice With Magnetic Fields

SwitchedNASA Levitates Mice With Magnetic Fields originally appeared on Switched on Fri, 11 Sep 2009 08:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>astronautgravitymicrogravitynasaspacetopFri, 11 Sep 2009 08:29:00 EST<![CDATA[Hair-Brained Teen May Revolutionize Solar Panel Industry]]>http://www.switched.com/2009/09/09/hair-brained-teen-may-revolutionize-solar-panel-industry/http://www.switched.com/2009/09/09/hair-brained-teen-may-revolutionize-solar-panel-industry/http://www.switched.com/2009/09/09/hair-brained-teen-may-revolutionize-solar-panel-industry/#commentsFiled under: ,

Milan Karki, an 18-year-old Nepalese student who idolizes inventor Thomas Edison, has been experimenting with electricity since he was a child. His goal is to create low-cost, low-maintenance providers of energy in order to cheaply and efficiently bring power to remote, impoverished villages.

Karki and four of his classmates now believe they have successfully accomplished that task and are publicizing the details of their attempts to revolutionize solar electricity. Instead of the expensive silicon components typically used to conduct energy in solar panels, the Karki team used human hair in their working panel.

Continue reading Hair-Brained Teen May Revolutionize Solar Panel Industry

SwitchedHair-Brained Teen May Revolutionize Solar Panel Industry originally appeared on Switched on Wed, 09 Sep 2009 18:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Internet Turns 40, Faces New ChallengesIt's hard to believe that just 40 years ago, the Internet was but a glimmer in the eye of researchers at UCLA. On September 2nd, 1969, Len Kleinrock and his team successfully passed test data between two giant computers via a 15-foot cable. This small victory was just the beginning of what would eventually become Arpanet, the government project that eventually led to the creation of the Internet.

Sadly, on its 40th anniversary, the Web's open-by-design nature is under attack from multiple sides. What was originally intended, and allowed to blossom, as an unrestricted place to exchange information has now become a place controlled by the commercial interests of service providers, the whims of paranoid regimes, and necessary security software like firewalls.

Of course, the Internet is still, more or less, a free and open space, and the government may soon take steps to ensure that it stays that way thanks to the Net neutrality movement. The Web continues to grow in capacity and reach, as well, extending services (like YouTube, which didn't exist in dreams 40 years ago) to some of the poorest and most remote areas of Earth.

So, while there is reason to fear for our precious Web, we have even more reason to celebrate. [From: USA Today]

SwitchedInternet Turns 40, Faces New Challenges originally appeared on Switched on Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>anniversaryarpanethistoryinternetnet neutralityNetNeutralitytopFri, 04 Sep 2009 14:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Paralyzed Graffiti Writer Tags Again With 'EyeWriter' Design]]>http://www.switched.com/2009/08/26/paralyzed-graffiti-writer-tags-again-with-eyewriter-design/http://www.switched.com/2009/08/26/paralyzed-graffiti-writer-tags-again-with-eyewriter-design/http://www.switched.com/2009/08/26/paralyzed-graffiti-writer-tags-again-with-eyewriter-design/#commentsFiled under:



It must be nice to have friends as kind and brilliant as those of Los Angeles graffiti artist Tony Quan. And Quan must be a great guy (and artist), to boot. Since 2003, Quan has had Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a disorder that renders its sufferers largely paralyzed, while allowing them full use of their minds and eyes. As they hated to see their comrade incapable of any longer writing his tag, TEMPTONE, they gathered in Southern California this month to come up with a solution. Well, they did. And, though we don't pretend to understand exactly how it works, if you're so inclined, you can read it yourself. Behold, dear friends, the EyeWriter. [From: F.A.T., via BoingBoing]



SwitchedParalyzed Graffiti Writer Tags Again With 'EyeWriter' Design originally appeared on Switched on Wed, 26 Aug 2009 08:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>accessibilityalsartdisabledeyeseyewritergraffititopWed, 26 Aug 2009 08:25:00 EST<![CDATA[Robo-Fish Swim Just Like the Real Thing]]>http://www.switched.com/2009/08/25/robo-fish-swims-just-like-the-real-thing/http://www.switched.com/2009/08/25/robo-fish-swims-just-like-the-real-thing/http://www.switched.com/2009/08/25/robo-fish-swims-just-like-the-real-thing/#commentsFiled under:


It's good to hear that engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are starting to spend some time outside every once in a while. Pablo Alvarado, a mechanical engineer, and his colleagues at that prestigious university must have done so in developing their latest project: the robo-fish.

Between five and eight inches long, the prototypes are comprised of a mere 10 movable parts and covered with a highly flexible, water- and heat-resistant polymer. Modeled to swim (check out a video after the break) like their aquatic inspirations, the robots can apparently accurately imitate the movements of freshwater bass, trout and tuna. While so specifically mirroring natural movements might seem like a gimmick, Alvarado and his associates are actually delving into biomimicry, which hinges on the idea that -- in many cases -- nature's design is the best one.

Continue reading Robo-Fish Swim Just Like the Real Thing

SwitchedRobo-Fish Swim Just Like the Real Thing originally appeared on Switched on Tue, 25 Aug 2009 10:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>biologybiomimicryfishmitnaturerobotsciencetopTue, 25 Aug 2009 10:58:00 EST<![CDATA[Robots Learn to Lie and Deceive Each Other in Search for 'Food']]>http://www.switched.com/2009/08/20/robots-learn-to-lie-and-deceive-each-other-in-search-for-food/http://www.switched.com/2009/08/20/robots-learn-to-lie-and-deceive-each-other-in-search-for-food/http://www.switched.com/2009/08/20/robots-learn-to-lie-and-deceive-each-other-in-search-for-food/#commentsFiled under:

If you grew up with a few brothers and sisters, you know there are certain unspoken rules when it comes to food. You have to move fast without being noticed to get the last fish stick. According to a new study, it's not just humans who can learn these survival rules; robots can, too.

Technology Review reports that a team of scientists at Switzerland's Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne are soon to release a study on robots equipped with artificial neural networks and programmed to locate 'food.' When a robot neared the 'food,' it flashed a blue light so other robots could also find it. With limited space around the 'food,' the robots soon learned this wasn't the best idea. The researchers copied and combined the artificial neural networks of the most 'intelligent' robots, and made a few changes to the code to mimic biological mutations. As a result, the robots 'evolved' -- learning not to alert other each other to the food. After a few hundred (increasingly intelligent) 'generations,' the majority of robots didn't flash a light at all.

Continue reading Robots Learn to Lie and Deceive Each Other in Search for 'Food'

SwitchedRobots Learn to Lie and Deceive Each Other in Search for 'Food' originally appeared on Switched on Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>artificialintelligencebiologycommunicationevolutionexperimentrobotsciencetopThu, 20 Aug 2009 14:12:00 EST<![CDATA[Fermilab Exploring the Universe by Blasting Neutrinos Under Wisconsin]]>http://www.switched.com/2009/08/20/fermilab-exploring-the-universe-by-blasting-neutrinos-under-wisc/http://www.switched.com/2009/08/20/fermilab-exploring-the-universe-by-blasting-neutrinos-under-wisc/http://www.switched.com/2009/08/20/fermilab-exploring-the-universe-by-blasting-neutrinos-under-wisc/#commentsFiled under:


Fermilab, perhaps the premier research facility in the United States, peers into "the fundamental nature of matter and energy" in order to answer the most elemental questions surrounding the composition of the universe. Over the decades, the lab has played an integral role in the birth of the Internet and can even lay claim to the second Web site in the U.S.

While the lab lost $50 million in funding two years ago, Fermilab is now receiving over $100 million in economic stimulus aid to further its research, reports the Washington Post. The funding specifically focuses on continuing a project that involves blasting a beam of neutrinos (or tiny, neutrally charged particles with very little mass) in a straight, 500-mile line, through the curving surface of the Earth, from Illinois to northern Minnesota. Neutrinos are so minuscule, posses such a slight amount of mass, and interact so strangely with matter that they can pass through solid objects.

Continue reading Fermilab Exploring the Universe by Blasting Neutrinos Under Wisconsin

SwitchedFermilab Exploring the Universe by Blasting Neutrinos Under Wisconsin originally appeared on Switched on Thu, 20 Aug 2009 06:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>economic stimulusEconomicStimulusFermilabLarge Hadron ColliderLargeHadronColliderneutrinoneutrino detectorNeutrinoDetectorparticle acceleratorParticleAcceleratorparticlessciencetopThu, 20 Aug 2009 06:45:00 EST<![CDATA[DNA Evidence Can Be Fabricated, Research Says]]>http://www.switched.com/2009/08/19/dna-evidence-can-be-fabricated-research-says/http://www.switched.com/2009/08/19/dna-evidence-can-be-fabricated-research-says/http://www.switched.com/2009/08/19/dna-evidence-can-be-fabricated-research-says/#commentsFiled under:

It's hard to believe that crime scenes could get any more complicated than they are on 'CSI,' but The New York Times reports that scientists in Israel have discovered that DNA evidence can be fabricated -- and easily, at that. Apparently, DNA can be cooked up like cookies in an E-Z bake oven...

Scientists at the Tel Aviv-based company Nucleix have been able to infuse one individual's DNA into blood and saliva samples of a completely different person. Also, according to the research, DNA can be fabricated to match DNA profiles saved in databases, without even having an original sample.

Continue reading DNA Evidence Can Be Fabricated, Research Says

SwitchedDNA Evidence Can Be Fabricated, Research Says originally appeared on Switched on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>crimednaevidencesciencetopWed, 19 Aug 2009 16:18:00 EST<![CDATA[Stanford Professor Sequences His Genome in Just One Week]]>http://www.switched.com/2009/08/11/stanford-professor-sequences-his-genome-in-just-one-week/http://www.switched.com/2009/08/11/stanford-professor-sequences-his-genome-in-just-one-week/http://www.switched.com/2009/08/11/stanford-professor-sequences-his-genome-in-just-one-week/#commentsFiled under:

Reading an entire novel is often considered a nice week's accomplishment, but a Stanford University professor has put that idea to shame. In just seven days, he mapped his entire DNA.

According to an AP story on the Denver Post's Web site, bioengineering professor Stephen Quake, PhD, announced yesterday that he'd sequenced his genome in just one week, using only one machine and drawing on less than $50,000 in funds. When you consider the fact that the same task took the Human Genome Project 13 years and about $300 million, it's easy to understand how Quake's accomplishment could shake up the scientific community. He told the Stanford University News, "This can now be done in one lab, with one machine, at a modest cost."

Continue reading Stanford Professor Sequences His Genome in Just One Week

SwitchedStanford Professor Sequences His Genome in Just One Week originally appeared on Switched on Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Numerous studies have demonstrated that various gadgets, including cell phones and iPods, can result in significant hearing loss, but a 2008 survey of teens revealed an alarming lack of concern over the issue. Perhaps adults don't give kids enough credit, though. Because that nonchalance could be attributable to (instead of youthful naivete and feelings of invulnerability) faith that technology will provide a timely solution.

Scientists have been developing cochlear implants, or surgically-implanted hearing aids, for decades; several are currently approved by the FDA. Bone-anchored implants, which surgeons actually affix to the bone in order to promote bone conduction, are still relatively new, though. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Colin Hughes, who was born with narrow Eustachian tubes (basically making traditional hearing aids ineffective), is set to become one of the first Australians to receive a bone-anchored cochlear implant.

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SwitchedAussie to Receive Bone-Anchored, MP3-Playing Bionic Ear originally appeared on Switched on Tue, 11 Aug 2009 08:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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