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No-Mow Grass May Be Coming Soon
Now, that vision of suburban bliss-and more-seems plausible as researchers have mapped a critical hormone signaling pathway that regulates the stature of plants. In addition to lawns that rarely require mowing, the finding could also enable the development of sturdier, more fruitful crop plants such as rice, wheat, soybeans, and corn. In a paper reported in the May 4, 2006, issue of the journal Nature, Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers report they have deciphered the signaling pathway for a key class of steroid hormones that regulates growth and development in plants. "By manipulating the steroid pathway.....we think we can regulate plant stature and yield," said Joanne Chory, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, and the senior author of the new report. Manipulation of plant stature has been a longstanding goal in horticulture, agronomy, and forestry. The ability to precisely control plant size would have broad implications for everything from urban forestry to crop and garden plant development. Beyond perpetually short grass, trees could be made more compact for better growth in crowded cities, and berry bushes could be made taller for ease of harvesting......... Posted by: Jessica Permalink Source Sony KDE-W50A12U 50in plasma TV
The fond farewell option certainly seems more likely from the way the TV looks. It's truly a sight to behold with its sexy see-through glass strips to top and bottom, and bold blend of black and silver elsewhere. In fact, even though the set is already over 50in across, the design is so nice that we could happily have lived with even more of it! This style-meister's connectivity is mostly good, with one big disappointment. The good stuff includes HDMI and component sockets for digital and analogue HD sources respectively, three SCARTs (all of which, superbly, can take top-quality RGB signals), and a slot via which you can add subscription services to the set's built in digital tuner. The bad news is that there's no sign of any PC connectivity, shattering our dreams of playing World of Warcraft on a 50in scale. This really does seem a bit of an oversight on what is, after all, one of the costliest 50in plasma TVs in town. As you'd expect of a big flat panel TV costing in the region of £4k, the W50A12U is fully HD Ready, with its native pixel resolution coming in at 1,366 x 768. It can also handle the key HD format duo of 720p and 1080i, though 1080p is not an option......... Posted by: Kevin Permalink Source The Singing Keyboard Prank
Concept. Take the musical element from a musical greeting card and connect it to the caps lock LED on the user's keyboard. Each time the victim presses caps lock the music plays (and quite loud too). This is a great sleeping prank.....It might be found on the first day, or weeks from implementation. It's the perfect prank. Why Caps? True, most people don't use caps lock very often, if ever, but unfortunately not a number of other keys are linked to an LED. Also most keys are only pressed momentarily, which would require a solid-state bounceless switch; which I had trouble getting to work. The num lock LED turns on and off several times during boot time, so that's out and only leaves the caps lock as a viable solution. Disclaimer. If you decide to do this prank understand that it could be a career-limiting move if you do it to your boss and/or somebody without a sense of humor. I would also recommend to first experiment with a dummy keyboard that you don't mind destroying. I will not be held responsible for your problems. ;o)......... Posted by: Kevin Permalink Source Touchless Trashcan
Welcome to the 21st Century! Once you tried the Touchless Trashcan, you will never go back to the traditional or step-on trash can again. After all, it's your most use appliance everyday, make it easier! Touchless TrashcanTM is a patented new product widely recognized in Europe. And it has just been introduced to North America. Sold thousands on infomercial, QVC and HSN home shopping channels. It won the 2002 Invention Show - New Household Product Award. It is a 100% hands-free operated, wireless, lidded waste disposal system. The built-in Artificial Intelligent (AI) Smart-Chip knows when you need to open trash can, and do all the openings and closings for you without touching or step-on anything. How it works? The Touchless Trashcan uses patented invisible harmless infrared technology. Place hand or debris about 6 inches away from the infrared sensor near the lid. It will open instantly when you approach and will close automatically in 3-second after debris has been released and hand moves away. Lid will remain open if debris or hand is within 6 inches range of the infrared sensor. There are 2 buttons on the front to open and close the lid manually and an on/off switch on the back of the trashcan......... Posted by: Kevin Permalink Source A Portable Cubicle
These offices are made from steel, aluminum and wood and measure 190 x 146 x 74 cm. They come with an integrated WiFi access point, so all you have to do is add a chair and computer. Your fleet of evil telemarketers better be good at separating grandma from her money though, cause each of these will set you back a cool 5,000 Euros. They'll hit the market in Spain in the next few months......... Posted by: Kevin Permalink Source The World's First Laptop
While quite revolutionary, the Osborne does have its limitations. For example, the screen is only 5" (diagonal) in size, and can't display more than 52 characters per line of text. To compensate, you can actually scroll the screen display back and forth with the cursor keys to show lines of text up to 128 characters wide. The Osborne was designed with transportation in mind - it had to be rugged and able to survive being moved about. That's one reason that the screen is so small - a larger and heavier screen would be more susceptable to damage. The two pockets beneath the floppy drives work great for floppy disk storage, eventhough the Osborne modem also fits perfectly in the the left pocket and plugs into the front-mounted "modem" port. Designed as a true portable computer system - it can be considered airline carry-on luggage, and it will fit under the passenger seat of any commercial airliner. Here is the Osborne without the case - now you know the real reason the screen is so small. There's not much room left with those two full-height floppy drives......... Posted by: Kevin Permalink Source Embryos In 3-D
"Our method provides a fast, high-quality and inexpensive way to visually explore the 3-D internal structure of mouse embryos so scientists can more easily and quickly see the effects of a genetic defect or chemical damage," says Chris Johnson, a distinguished professor of computer science at the University of Utah. A study reporting development of the new method - known as "microCT-based virtual histology" - was published recently in PLoS Genetics, an online journal of the Public Library of Science. The study was led by Charles Keller, a pediatric cancer specialist who formerly worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of University of Utah geneticist Mario Capecchi. Keller now is an assistant professor at the Children's Cancer Research Institute at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. University of Utah co-authors of the study are Johnson - who directs the university's Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute - Capecchi, medical student Mark S. Hansen and several members of Johnson's institute: computer science undergraduate Thomas Johnson III, research assistant Lindsey Healey and former associate director Greg M. Jones, who now is state science advisor to Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr......... Posted by: Kevin Permalink Source Use Of Switchgrass Could Solve Energy Woes
"Our report indicates the time is right for America to begin a transition to ethanol derived from switchgrass," said Scott Matthews, an assistant professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department. A 25 percent hike in gas prices at the pump since December adds to the researchers' call for more ethanol derived from switchgrass, a perennial tall grass used as forage for livestock. Gasoline prices in the U.S. are approaching an average of $3 a gallon. The Carnegie Mellon findings were reported in the May 1 issue of the American Chemical Society's Journal "Environmental Science and Technology." Matthews, along with W. Michael Griffin, executive director of the Green Design Institute at Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business, and William R. Morrow, a researcher in the university's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, said using switchgrass as a supplement to corn to make ethanol would help ensure the availability of large volumes of inexpensive ethanol to fuel distributors and consumers. "We need to be thinking about how we can make and deliver ethanol once our corn and land resources are maxed out. Switchgrass can be that next step," Griffin said......... Posted by: Kevin Permalink Source Infrared System To See In Fog And At Night
The system doubled airline pilots' ability to detect obstacles in tests simulating poor visibility, and in road tests it boosted automobile drivers' vision up to 400 per cent. It could eventually be used aboard commercial airliners and in cars to improve safety. As Pierre-Albert Breton of Thales Avionics, a partner in the SEE project explains, poor visibility causes flight delays, diversions and cancellations, as well as accidents. Studies also show that far more automobile accidents occur at night than during the day. In the IST-funded SEE project, which ended in December, researchers developed two types of sensors, one detecting the short wave infrared band and another the long wave. Combining complementary data from the two cameras, the system produces a more complete image than either sensor could produce on its own. "The challenge was to develop a low-cost technology to detect all the elements that would be visible to the naked eye in good conditions and display them to the driver or pilot on a screen," says Breton. Since foggy weather is difficult to predict, "An important step was to develop a simulator to validate the system's feasibility in a broad range of visibility conditions, with airline pilots using the simulator," says Breton. "We wanted to determine if pilots would accept the system"......... Posted by: Kevin Permalink Source World-Leading Microscope Shows More Detail
The new microscope in action
The device could lead to advances in a range of areas, such as healthcare (in furthering, for instance, the understanding of conditions such as osteoporosis), the development of better construction materials, improved oil extraction methods and even the study of fossils. Like many other microscopes, the new microscope harnesses X-rays to provide information about an object's internal structure down to micron scale. (A micron is a millionth of a metre.) What makes it unique, however, is its innovative use of a technique called 'time delay integration', which enables it to generate much better images of larger objects than any other device. This means that microscopic structure can be studied with greater accuracy. With EPSRC funding, a multi-disciplinary team drawn from six UK universities has been developing and utilising the microscope, which, eventhough similar to the Computerized axial tomography scanners used in healthcare, can view things in much greater detail. X-ray microscopes can produce 3-d internal pictures of an object by taking a large number of 2-d images from different angles - this is known as X-ray microtomography. However, the new microscope's combining of this technique with time delay integration is completely unique. Through averaging out imperfections in the image across all pixels, this approach enables the microscope to produce clearer and bigger pictures than previously possible (see 'Notes for Editors')......... Posted by: Kevin Permalink Source |
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