Demonstration of Communication using Neutrinos
"We report on the performance of a low-rate communications link established using the NuMI beam line and the MINERvA detector at Fermilab. The link achieved a decoded data rate of 0.1 bits/sec with a bit error rate of 1% over a distance of 1.035 km, including 240 m of earth."
Researchers have demonstrated a penny-sized "nuclear battery" that produces energy from the decay of radioisotopes.
As radioactive substances decay, they release charged particles that when properly harvested can create an electrical current.
Nuclear batteries have been in use for military and aerospace applications, but are typically far larger.
The University of Missouri team says that the batteries hold a million times as much charge as standard batteries.
They have developed it in an attempt to scale down power sources for the tiny devices that fall under the category of micro- and nano-electromechanical systems (Mems and Nems).
The means to power such devices has been a subject of study as vigorous as the development of the devices themselves.
Liquid solution
Nuclear batteries are an attractive proposition for many applications because the isotopes that power them can provide a useful amount of current for phenomenally long times - up to hundreds of years or more.
As a result, they have seen use in spacecraft that are fired far off into the cosmos. But for applications here on Earth, their size has limited their use.
The Missouri team, led by Jae Wan Kwon, employed a liquid semiconductor to capture and utilise the decay particles.
Most nuclear batteries use a solid semiconductor to harvest the particles, but the particles' extremely high energies means that the semiconductors suffer damage over time.
This means that to build a battery that can last as long as the isotope inside, they must be built larger.
The team's solution incorporates a liquid semiconductor, in which the particles can pass without causing damage. They are now working to further miniaturise the batteries.
And although the whole idea hinges on the use of radioactive materials, the devices are safe under normal operating conditions.
"People hear the word 'nuclear' and think of something very dangerous," Dr Jae said.
"However, nuclear power sources have already been safely powering a variety of devices, such as pacemakers, space satellites and underwater systems."
1. Three Assaults on Parkinson’s Disease.
This week researchers announced (i) the discovery of a new class of experimental drugs called LRRK2 inhibitors that are believed to be the most exciting target for neuroprotection to have ever been identified for Parkinson’s Disease, and which may directly counter inflammation and nerve cell death http://www.uab.edu/n...neuroprotection , (ii) the demonstration of safe implantation of extradural (under the skull, but not in the brain) electrodes that effectively stimulated the motor cortex of Parkinson’s patients and provide an improvement in walking and other symptoms http://www.eurekaler...h-lmo101612.php , and (iii) demonstrated that neural-like stem cells from muscle tissue were able to thrive and migrate in the brain and could offer drug delivery and possible repair of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s http://www.wakehealt...ve_Diseases.htm .
2. Stacking Graphene and Other 2-Dimensional Crystals for Novel Electronic / Photonic Materials.
A new class of materials have been fabricated by stacking two dimensional sheets of graphene and boron nitride in predetermined configurations http://www.mancheste...isplay/?id=8856 . The researchers proved that it is possible to construct these materials plane by plane with atomic precision and that complex materials can be formed with various functionalities; in the proof of concept example graphene was used as a one-atom thick conductive plane with four layers of boron nitride serving as the electrical insulator, which resulted in a nanoscale electrical transformer. One of the most exciting things about this development is that there is a whole library of two dimensional materials to play with so this is going to be a very exciting space to watch.
3. Three Different Robotic Exoskeleton Products Announced.
This week there were three different robotic exoskeletons announced, which included (i) the University of Tokyo’s upper body bionic suit that uses pneumatic artificial muscles driven by air that provide a power-to-weight ratio 400 times greater than motor driven units to help lift 50kg weights http://singularityhu...f-50-kilograms/ , (ii) NASA’s lower-body X1 can assist or inhibit movements in leg joints and so could provide resistance exercise training for astronauts in microgravity and also enahnce leg strangth when needed or enable assisted mobility for parapleigics http://www.nasa.gov/...xoskeleton.html , (iii) CYberdyne systems releases its latest HAL full-body exoskeleton for disaster response http://nextbigfuture...-will-wear.html .
4. Light Induced Assembly of Nanowire Yarns.
Researchers developed a new nanowire fabrication technique called Light Induced Nanowire Assembly, which uses light to induce charge on the nanowires which may then be manipulated by electric fields http://www.nanowerk....potid=27026.php . The proof-of-concept produced yarns 10 microns across and 25 cm long, but it is an automated process that lends itself to being scaled up and so industrial production of much longer yarns is not expected to be difficult. Yarns spun from nanowires comprised of a range of materials were produced, and even yarns with controllable mixed composition. With a huge library of nanowire materials on offer we might soon see the birth of spun nanowire textiles with various properties.
5. A Vision Prosthetic to Bypass the Eyes & Plug Into The Visual Cortex.
So this is still very early work but researchers unveiled their latest results in this effort by showing that electrical stimulation of the visual cortex can evoke the sensation of flashes of light as well as spatial information about those flashes http://www.technolog...ass-the-visual/ . The team plans to continue the work with the next goal being to coordinate these flashes to evoke the sensation of different letters; baby steps on the way to the ultimate goal of plugging sensory information directly into the cortex.
6. Elucidating Mechanisms for Single Cells to Form Three-Dimensional Structures.
Researchers uncovered basic mechanisms for cell, tissue, and organ formation by determining how groups of bacterial cells in a bioflim form large three-dimensional structures http://www.utdallas....ticle-wide.html . The stiffness of the cells and timing of cell death was crucial to forming wrinkles and arbitrary shapes. In related news another milestone in organ engineering was achieved with a breakthrough enabling the creation of mini-kidney organs able to implant into an animal and carry out normal kidney function http://www.scienceda...21018184850.htm .
7. Mapping Specific Brain Circuits That Perform Specific Functions.
A new brain and neuron imaging technique was developed that allows researchers to monitor the coordination of neurons and so map specific brain circuits to specific functions http://web.mit.edu/n...lcium-1017.html , with the proof-of-concept in mice enabling the mapping of neural circuits responsible for sensing when whiskers are touched and also for responding to certain scents. The next step is to combine the technique with optogenetics for even finer mapping capability. In related news another group has developed a new algorithm and method for mapping and decoding neural circuit diagrams http://www.mpg.de/65...ivity-algorithm .
8. New Nanostructure Self-Assembly Technique Based on Nanorods.
Researchers developed a new technique for growing and assembling novel structured nanomaterials out of nanorod precursors http://news.ufl.edu/...cture-assembly/ . The technique is characterised by a high degree of precision and control, and was successfully used in this first study to create a polarised film that could be used in LED screens to significantly increase efficiency. By assembling building blocks of superparticles from nanoscale particle precursors the team achieved a level of control that significantly advances the field.
9. Gene Therapy Mediated by Nanoparticles Not Viruses.
After a decade of development Johns Hopkins researchers have developed nonviral nanoparticles for effective gene therapy http://releases.jhu....rticle-therapy/ . The new techniques allow the DNA-carrying nanoparticles to be structured in shapes that mimicked the size and shape of viral particles, and which only deliver their DNA payload once they have traveled through the bloodstream and entered the target cell. The advance was powered, in part, by advances in computational modelling of nanoparticle assembly - to the extent that the team can now predict what nanoparticle components to choose in order to produce a desired shape. This is important because certain shapes are more effective than others at finding and entering target cells.
10. On The Origin of Life and The Power of Cooperating Modular Molecular Systems.
It is commonly believed that the first life to arise may have been comprised of a primordial soup of RNA molecules. Now, in a powerful demonstration of the effectiveness of cooperating modular replicators a team has shown how such RNA molecules can get around the problems of molecular / informational stability by cooperating as a three-way molecular or modular network http://www.newscient...ooperating.html . This cooperative network, which repaired each other, was shown to outcompete a selfish, single, self-repairing molecule; and by showing this with three RNA molecules the lesson is applicable to much larger networks, with the implication being that such cooperation can help to build complexity. Modularity in evolving replicating systems, in part due to the redundancy it enables, is incredibly powerful; as much so in life as it is in technology.