Scientists have discovered an antibiotic capable of fighting infections that kill hundreds of thousands of people each year, a breakthrough that could lead to the field’s first major new drug in more than a quarter-century.The experimental drug, which was isolated from a sample of New England dirt, is called teixobactin. It hasn’t yet been tested Read more about Antibiotic Pulled From Dirt Ends 25-Year Drug Drought – Bloomberg[…]

Scientists at the University of B.C. searching for ways to slow the deterioration of blood vessels may have stumbled on to the key to youthful skin. While exploring the effects of the protein-degrading enzyme Granzyme B on blood vessels during heart attacks, professor David Granville couldn’t help noticing that mice engineered to lack the enzyme Read more about Rresearchers may have stumbled upon the secret to youthful skin[…]

Users of Watson Analytics feed in their own raw data, say, in the form of a spreadsheet, which the service then crunches with its own statistical analysis to highlight associations between different variables. It saves execs from needing to know how to write their own scripts or understand statistics in order to derive meaning from Read more about IBM’s Watson Analytics enters public beta | ZDNet[…]

▶ How to Cool a Drink in 2 Minutes – YouTube.

We show that non-ionizing, low-power laser (LPL) treatment can instead be used as a minimally invasive tool to activate an endogenous latent growth factor complex, transforming growth factor–β1 (TGF-β1), that subsequently differentiates host stem cells to promote tissue regeneration. LPL treatment induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) in a dose-dependent manner, which, in turn, activated latent Read more about Regrow your teeth with lasers![…]

OK, it only pulls 1cm objects and wouldn’t work in space, but still… Physics – A Macroscopic Tractor Beam with Acoustic Waves.

Doctors in UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania are now waiting for a patient to show up with a gaping chest wound, who’s lost around 50% of his / her blood so they can replace the entire blood supply with a cold saline solution, which rapidly cools the body and stops almost all cellular activity. Read more about Gunshot victims to be suspended by replacing their blood[…]

Cool science, might lead to designer babies – which IMHO are a good thing… Serious mitochondrial disease: new techniques to prevent transmission – Consultations – GOV.UK.

After years of research and hours of gruelling surgery, scientists have successfully attached sensors from a prosthetic hand to human nerve tissue to allow the device to give its wearer a sense of touch. via First man/machine nerve grafts restore amputee's sense of touch • The Register.

In the PNNL process, a slurry of wet algae is pumped into the front end of a chemical reactor. Once the system is up and running, out comes crude oil in less than an hour, along with water and a byproduct stream of material containing phosphorus that can be recycled to grow more algae. http://phys.org/news/2013-12-algae-crude-oil-million-year-natural.html

A team of physicists has provided some of the clearest evidence yet that our Universe could be just one big projection. In 1997, theoretical physicist Juan Maldacena proposed1 that an audacious model of the Universe in which gravity arises from infinitesimally thin, vibrating strings could be reinterpreted in terms of well-established physics. The mathematically intricate Read more about Simulations back up theory that Universe is a hologram – and it seems that wormholes can be created using entanglement[…]

Experiments showed that a traumatic event could affect the DNA in sperm and alter the brains and behaviour of subsequent generations. A Nature Neuroscience study shows mice trained to avoid a smell passed their aversion on to their “grandchildren”. The animals were trained to fear a smell similar to cherry blossom. The team at the Read more about evidence of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance: ‘Memories’ pass between generations[…]

Engineers from the University of Sheffield have developed a way to significantly reduce the volume of some higher activity wastes, which will reduce the cost of interim storage and final disposal. The researchers, from the University’s Faculty of Engineering, have shown that mixing plutonium-contaminated waste with blast furnace slag and turning it into glass reduces Read more about Volume of nuclear waste could be reduced by 90 per cent says new research[…]

This biological microcomputer sprang from the mind of Drew Endy, PhD, an assistant professor of bioengineering at Stanford. In three scientific papers released over a 13-month span in 2012 and 2013, Endy and a team of researchers from his lab showed how they used ordinary genetic engineering techniques to turn the bacterium E. coli — Read more about Microbe computers – Biological computers in living cells[…]

Computing is a high-level process of a physical system. Recent interest in non-standard computing systems, including quantum and biological computers, has brought this physical basis of computing to the forefront. There has been, however, no consensus on how to tell if a given physical system is acting as a computer or not; leading to confusion Read more about When does a physical system compute?[…]

Chinese scientists examined 57 drinks – from herbal teas to fizzy drinks. Found that some helped to speed up the process where the body breaks down alcohol, helping relieve a hangover quicker. But some slowed the process down, meaning symptoms remained Young people – and regular drinkers – produce more of the alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme, Read more about SPRITE found to be best cure for hangover[…]

University of Adelaide researchers have developed a process for turning waste plastic bags into a high-tech nanomaterial. […] The process is also catalyst and solvent free, which means the plastic waste can be used without generating poisonous compounds. via Turning plastic bags into high-tech materials.

In an advance that could dramatically shrink particle accelerators for science and medicine, researchers used a laser to accelerate electrons at a rate 10 times higher than conventional technology in a nanostructured glass chip smaller than a grain of rice. via SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory – Researchers Demonstrate 'Accelerator on a Chip'.

http://www.feynmanlectures.info/docroot/I_toc.html

University of Adelaide applied mathematicians have extended Einstein’s theory of special relativity to work beyond the speed of light. Einstein’s theory holds that nothing could move faster than the speed of light, but Professor Jim Hill and Dr Barry Cox in the University’s School of Mathematical Sciences have developed new formulas that allow for travel Read more about Beyond light speed – possible in theory using special relativity[…]

By comparing the specimens’ ages and degrees of DNA degradation, the researchers calculated that DNA has a half-life of 521 years. That means that after 521 years, half of the bonds between nucleotides in the backbone of a sample would have broken; after another 521 years half of the remaining bonds would have gone; and Read more about DNA has a 521-year half-life – so no cloning dinosaurs[…]

the metal-tolerant bacteria Cupriavidus metallidurans can grow on massive concentrations of gold chloride — or liquid gold, a toxic chemical compound found in nature. Brown and Kashefi fed the bacteria unprecedented amounts of gold chloride, mimicking the process they believe happens in nature. In about a week, the bacteria transformed the toxins and produced a Read more about Alchemy! Superman-strength bacteria produce 24-karat gold[…]

The panels are laminated glass infused with photovoltaic cells. Each panel contains rows of cells arranged so that natural light can shine through. The new product is said to deliver a solar power conversion efficiency of about 6.8-percent with a maximum output of 95 watts. The module can also act as a heat shield, preventing Read more about Sharp’s semitransparent black solar panels[…]