NEWS : TECH (NFPC)

One Step Closer to the Borg

This week, a research breakthrough at the University of Washington brings us one step closer to living as cyborgs. Chao Zhong and his colleagues have built a biocompatible solid state device made from the shells of crustaceans tha's able to monitor and control the flow of protons. Unlike electronic machines that transfer information via electrons, our bodies and brains do it via ions and protons. And that difference between machines and bodies -- we're incompatible technology -- has been one challenge to advancing cybernetics.

That's not the only challenge. Several technologies allow people to control machines with their minds. Take the video embedded in this blog, where a man is controlling his prosthetic hand with his mind. But it involves extensive electrode implants to monitor electrical activity in the brain. Other methods may use brain caps studded with electrodes that analyze brainwaves and convert them into some kind of action controlled by a computer.

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WATCH VIDEO: Man Controls Robotic Hand with Mind.

Instead of complex electrode array or brainwave monitoring rigs, Zhong and his team's solution involves a very small transistor roughly one twentith the width of a human hair. The decrease in size will allow for direct implantation, as well as the construction of more complex pieces of equipment as the technology continues to advance.

According to their paper in Nature Communications, the material used is an, "ideal means for interfacing with biological systems," and can "control and monitor both ionic (electron) and protonic (proton) currents."

It's too early to implement the device directly, but the ideas for future use are extensive. From implanting in the brain to monitor Parkinson's, to rerouting functions through healthy tissue when the brain is damaged by Alzheimer's or concussions.

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According to KurzweilAI, the UW students used a modified form of a molecule called chitosan, which is created from chitin, the structural element in the exoskeleton of crustaceans (such as crabs and shrimp). Plus, the "is easily manufactured, and can be recycled from crab shells and squid pen discarded by the food industry," says KurzweilAI.

With the rate of technological advancement we may someday use this type of technology to download -- or upload -- information from the brain. With implants that interface directly with our tissues and bodies the possibilities are limited (literally) only by the power of our imagination.

If you're considering changing your name to Seven of Nine, don't worry, we're not part of the collective yet.

Sources: Technovelgy, Nature Communications, KurzweilAI

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Silicon Glass Stores Data...Forever

"If I ever find forever, I will share it with you," sings Tim Fite on his song, "Forever". Well, in the quest for data storage superiority, a group of scientists from the University of Southampton say they've found forever and they, too, would like to share it with you.

Led by professor Peter Kazansky at the university's Optoelectronics Research Center, the research team is developing a new type of nanostructured glass capable of storing data forever. Which begs the question: Forever? Forever ever? Forever ever?

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To do so, the team altered the way light passes through glass by creating millimeter-sized devices called monolithic glass space-variant converters. Besides being a mouthful to say, these little devices, when imprinted on silicon glass, alter the polarization of laser light as it travels through the glass in short pulses. These pulses imprint tiny, 3-D pixel-like "voxels" into the glass.

As the glass is read by the laser, the voxels produce nanoscopic whirlpools of light, which are actually individual nuggets of data that can be written, erased and rewritten into the glass's molecular structure.

The researchers say this new method for microscopic data storage is 20 times cheaper and more compact than existing methods.

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“Before this we had to use a spatial light modulator based on liquid crystal which cost about £20,000,” said Professor Peter Kazansky. “Instead we have just put a tiny device into the optical beam and we get the same result.”

The team published their findings in a paper for Applied Physics Letters.

“We have improved the quality and fabrication time and we have developed this five-dimensional memory, which means that data can be stored on the glass and last forever,” said lean researcher, Martynas Beresna, in a university press release. "No one has ever done this before."

[Via GizMag]

Credit: University of Southampton

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First Laser Made of Living Cells Has Arrived

Lasers emit highly concentrated, amplified light. Usually it takes a complex array of crystals, gels or gases to amplify light particles, known as photons, as they bounce around between mirrors inside laser machines. But now scientists have found another way: using engineered living cells that can perform the feat.

The project took place at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine in Massachusetts. The key to this breakthrough involved the use of the widely studied protein known as green fluorescent protein (GFP). This protein, which was first discovered in jellyfish, has (as the name implies) the property of generating light.

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In an article published in Nature Photonics, researchers Malte Gather and Seok Hyun Yun describe how a solution made from GFP was used in combination with a mirrored chamber to create a laser. From this preliminary test, Gather and Yun were able to determine how much GFP was required to create the laser light. Using this result, they then moved ahead to genetically engineer mammalian cells that could express the GFP at the required levels.

The researchers report that they were able to create bright laser pulses that lasted a few nanoseconds with a single cell. Amazingly the cells were not damaged during the production of the laser light but were able to withstand hundreds of pulses. Furthermore, the spherical shape of the cell itself acted as a lens “refocusing the light and inducing emission of laser light at lower energy levels than required for the solution-based device.”

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Although there are no immediate plans to use this technology, the erosion of the barrier between optical technologies and biology could open many doors in therapy and research. Gather tells PhysOrg.com that they “hope to be able to implant a structure equivalent to the mirrored chamber right into a cell, which would [sic] the next milestone in this research."  

Credit: Nature Photonics and Malte Gather, Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Mass. General Hospital

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Stretchy Solar Cells Make Self-Powering 'Skin'

What if robotic skin could detect and alert people of illness, drunkenness or toxic chemicals, and on top of that would be super flexible and sense the lightest of light touches? Stanford chemical engineer Zhenan Bao is working on just such a thing.

Her stretchy solar cells are pleated like an accordion and are able to expand up to 30 percent extra in two directions. The device's electrode is made from a unique liquid metal called eutectic gallium-indium, which conforms to a surface as it lengthens and relaxes. "Eutectic" refers to a mix of elements or compound that remains liquid at lower temperature than either of its components does alone. The gallium-indium compound is unique from other liquid metals, which tend to spontaneously “ball up” on the microscale (think mercury on the kitchen floor after the thermometer breaks); eutectic gallium-indium remains spread out, even as the surface it rests on buckles.

Solar power makes sense for the artificial skin, since it is simpler and lighter than batteries or wiring. And stretchability, not just flexibility, is necessary so that the solar cells don't crack as they move with different surfaces, which could include Bao's dream of super skin, but also cars, buildings, lenses – the list goes on. Like the world's tiniest computer I recently blogged about, the solar cells could theoretically be put to use with anything people want to make “smart.” Er, I suppose that is anything smart, but not for use in the dark.

Photo: L.A. Cicero

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Friday News Feedbag for November 13th, 2009

If this is your first exposure to the Friday News Feedbag...we're glad to have you in the club. Welcome to Feedbag Nation. Below you'll find an audio link to a weekly podcast where you can hear three of us Discovery News folks pitching the 6 weirdest/most interesting/didn't-make-the-big-headlines science news stories of the week.

After you listen, you can vote on which story you like the best. Personally, I like James' stories the best because I'm James.

You can also subscribe to this show on iTunes and chat with fellow Feedbaggers on Facebook. Hope you like it and feel free to let us know if you do/don't by emailing pod_cast@discovery.com. Thanks!

November 13 - Friday News Feedbag

Nanopower Springs Into Battery Territory

It sounds like magic: teeny tiny little springs made from carbon could store as much energy as lithium ion batteries. New research out of MIT shows it's possible, at least according to the theoretical models.

Carol Livermore, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at the Institute, led research to show through mathematical modeling and testing that carbon molecules coaxed into tiny spring shapes have the potential to store exponentially more energy for their weight than springs made of steel. The work was published recently in Nanotechnology and the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering.