“Physicists…have induced thousands of atoms trapped by laser beams to swap “spins” with partners simultaneously. The repeated exchanges, like a quantum version of swinging your partner in a square dance but lasting a total of just 10 milliseconds, might someday carry out logic operations in quantum computers, which theoretically could quickly solve certain problems that today’s best supercomputers could not solve in years…” Full Slice

My aggregator showed me a blurb about inserting chips into brains, and it reminded me that the brain is “just another organ” (in everything it does, including doing the mind). So then I went over to PLOS, and found an open source peer reviewed article about brain-machine interfaces.

I don’t have time to go over any of this with the ol’ comb tonight, but I’ll try to upload a hype-free review in the next couple of days.

“…the payoff is scientific as well as technological. Scientists had already discovered that the electronic properties of semiconductor material can change dramatically when its tiniest metallic components are tightly packed between organic molecules, a phenomenon called nano-confinement. “But now we find that mechanical properties can also change dramatically. On a basic science level, that’s why this is exciting,”…” Full Slice

“…“We have demonstrated the application of strain engineering in a colloidal quantum-dot system by introducing a method that spontaneously creates a regularly spaced arrangement of quantum dots within a colloidal quantum rod…A linear array of quantum dots within a nanorod effectively creates a one-dimensional superlattice, or striped nanorod.”…” Full Slice

“Northrop Grumman’s 100 percent equity plans for Scaled Composites in Mojave, California will not impact work underway in developing the commercial, passenger-carrying SpaceShipTwo…on July 5 Northrop Grumman agreed to increase their ownership of Scaled Composites. The large aerospace firm has had for several years approximately 40 percent of Scaled, now increasing its equity to 100 percent…Northrop Grumman values the mode of operation that Scaled Composites has currently.” Full Slice - Another step toward private space activity success

“A typical human mouth teems with as many as 700 different species of microbes. A handful of these have been specifically implicated in promoting gum disease, dental cavities, and bad breath, but for the most part, the make-up of this complex ecosystem and its impact on human health remain largely unexplored. A new device created by…researchers, however, may make some of the most reclusive members of this and other microscopic communities much more accessible for laboratory study.

The vast majority of microbes are notoriously resistant to growing in laboratory cultures because they are so intricately linked to their own unique ecosystems…The microfluidic chip designed…for the current study is equipped with tiny chambers and valves that allow researchers to isolate microbes at the nanoliter scale. Because each microbe is isolated in a vanishingly small volume of liquid, the concentration of its genetic material within that solution is actually quite high…” Full Slice

“This study represents great potential for the use of standard ceramic processing methods for nanotechnology…The phase separation occurs spontaneously, providing two phases whose dimensions both extend into the nanometer scale. This unique feature could lead to its application as a template for the assembly of nanostructures or molecular monolayers.”” Full Slice

“…Maybe the reason civilizations don’t get around to colonizing other planets is that there’s a narrow window when they have the tools, population and will to do so, and the window usually closes on them. “In 1970 everyone figured we’d have humans on Mars by now, but we haven’t taken the opportunity,…We should it do soon, because colonizing other worlds is our best chance to hedge our bets and improve the survival prospects of our species. Sooner or later something will get us if we stay on one planet. By the time we’re in trouble and wish we had that colony on Mars, it may be too late.”

You could argue that he’s being too pessimistic about space exploration…” Full Slice

“The electronics industry to date has relied largely on the control of charge flow through size scaling (i.e. reducing the physical size of elements such as transistors) to increase the performance of existing electronics…size scaling clearly cannot continue indefinitely as atomic length scales are reached, and new approaches must be developed. Basic research efforts…have shown that spin angular momentum, another fundamental property of the electron, can be used to store and process information in metal and semiconductor based devices…The realization of efficient electrical injection and significant spin polarization using a simple magnetic tunnel barrier compatible with “back-end” silicon processing should greatly facilitate development of silicon-based spintronic devices.” Full Slice

“…“At 2,000 feet, I had topside turn off all the lights, and it was like a star show. The phosphorescence that was naturally in the water and in most of the sea life down there started to glow,” Jackson said. “When I started to travel back up, all the lights looked like a shower of stars going down as I was coming up. It was the best ride in the world.”” Full Slice

OK, hokey puns there in the title. ~Sorry.

I’m just astonished to feed a link that SecureCare hasn’t gotten to yet. At least they mention Webb towards the bottom of the link. Mechanical counterpressure, you’ve got to like it. Now stick in all-skin haptics and give it some secreting capability, and you’ve got tele-di… well, perhaps Mr. Care has a link in that direction.

“…Tandem cells are comprised of two multilayered parts that work together to gather a wider range of the spectrum of solar radiation –– at both shorter and longer wavelengths. “The result is six and a half percent efficiency,” said Heeger. “This is the highest level achieved for solar cells made from organic materials. I am confident that we can make additional improvements that will yield efficiencies sufficiently high for commercial products.” He expects this technology to be on the market in about three years…”…“Tandem solar cells, in which two solar cells with different absorption characteristics are linked to use a wider range of the solar spectrum, were fabricated with each layer processed from solution with the use of bulk heterojunction materials comprising semiconducting polymers and fullerene derivatives,”…” Full Slice

“A potential outward bound destination for astronauts: Phobos and Deimos - the two moons of Mars.

NASA is stirring up the exploration pot by co-sponsoring in early November the first international conference on sending robots and humans to Phobos and Deimos…Russia is already spearheading a multi-nation project to explore Phobos, dubbed the Phobos-Grunt mission, a sample return effort eyed for 2009…” Full Slice

“…Right now, the iPhone is not a mature enterprise instrument. If Apple had tried to shoehorn the iPhone into the business sector, it would have added complications and defocused the product from its very large and intended audience. Remember, of those billion cell phones sold each year, only a fraction are used by Fortune 100 companies tied into MS Exchange.

So it made perfect sense for Apple to do what it does on the Macintosh side, namely, build a mobile phone for the rest of us, that demonstrates simplicity, technical restraint, and joy…” Full Slice

“…Based at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, the optical telescope is made up from 36 separate hexagonal mirror segments which together form the 10.4m primary mirror.

Its vast size will enable it to capture some of the most distant light in the Universe, helping researchers look for information that might help to explain the evolution of the cosmos.

It will probe far-off galaxies, look into the secrets of star formation, and hunt for Earth-like planets…” Full Slice