At Home Genotyping

We aren't yet at the stage here everybody has their genetic code sequenced, but it looks like it will be a standard medical tool for people in the future. The main benefits being that you could findout what medical conditions you might have a genetic inclination to get or other physical or dietary traits that knowing about would help you live healthier for longer.

Costs for sequencing are rapidly diminishing and there are now a few companies that offer a similar service, but by using genotyping to rapidly (and much more cheaply) give you access to that kind of information information.

23andMe ($99 to $207)
deCODEME ($500 to $1,100)
Navigenics

It should be noted that even if you do have a genetic marker that suggests you will get heart disease. That just means that you might, there are still many other factors that lead to most conditions.

Mercury Arc Rectifiers

The Mercury Arc Rectifier was used in the days before semiconductors to convert high voltage mains current to CD current for train lines. My favorite thing about this is that they are rather complex pieces of glass that wouldn't look out of place on a TARDIS.

Flash Gravity Simulator

There used to be a game like This in one of the old Microsoft Encartas that I used to love playing with.

Science Won't Save Us

I keep hearing polaticians encuraging more spending in science to combat climate change. I think this is good because I love science, but science already has a silver bullet solution and that is Nuclear Fusion, but as Steven Cowley explains in his Ted Talk, it will be at least until 2030+ before we know how to do it properly. If we wait until that time the planet will be well into a state of rejecting us. So we need to use the techniques we have now to do as much as we can.

DNA Copying

This is the most amazing process in natural science. It begs the question as to wither our knowledge of proteins and DNA could eventually render our current methods of material production, crafting and fitting to create tools, obsolete. A world where everything from transportation and communication devices construct themselves from instructions given from a DNA Engineer.

Wireless Power

This is an interesting TED talk about wireless power that will allow us to power everything without batteries or wall sockets.



If you want to know more there is a How Stuff Works Page on this kind of thing which includes an explanation of the technology in the video.

This Will Blow Your Mind

The rate of technical and scientific achievement of the our people is accelerating all the time. This is both a cause and effect of our global population number, and this video contains some surprising facts around this.



What does it all mean?
It means that we are closer than ever to answering that question.

Barreleye Fish Seen In Wild

I sometimes wonder wither I should have gone into Zoology. So the National Geographic has the First Photos of the Barreleye fish in the wild. This is significant because since the fish was first discovered in 1939 by Chapman, only corpses had been studied, but in the wild it is clear that it is a fish with eyes inside a transparent head. The new discovery here is that it can rotate it's eyes to look up when possibly searching for food or forwards when it eats. What it eats however is still kind of a mystery.

Science, Primates And Sperm

Jacquelin Nascimento is part of a project to findout which primate has the fastest sperm. Not sure who her funders are, but it is quite an odd project.

BBC Radio 4's Coverage Of The LHC

This Wednesday the LHC is officially turned on and the full machine will be used for the first time. BBC Radio 4 will be covering the event live throughout the day.

If you are interested, but don't have a radio (I know I don't) then Wednesday just visit the BBC Radio 4 Homepage and click the Listen Live link at the top right. To listen you will need a real player compatible player. If you are a Windows user I can recommend Real Alternative.

Problem Solving With Video Games

There is a Video Interview With Peter Molyneux where he talks about not being able to do much else but design games, and he wonders if he could apply his knowledge of gaming to other human pursuits and endeavours.

I thought this was an interesting idea, then I realised that I had meant to post about a project that does just that. So here we are.

There are some problem domains in the world where to solve a problem or improve something you have to understand a process completely. Programmers of Artificial Intelligences have been known to spend exorbitant amounts of time looking at quite simple issues so that they can create AIs that model intelligent behaviour. Good examples of this are anything that uses Fuzzy Logic. That is anything from Rice Cookers to Lifts, Thermostats and a huge amount of Control Systems.

There are some problems that are so difficult to understand that they can't yet be translated into software, because we don't fully understand what is going on. The problem I am referring to here is Protein Folding. We know what the acid code of the protein is, we know what it looks like in 3D when it has finished folding, but we don't know how it folds into it's final shape or how it moves, so we don't know what it does.

This is where Fold It! from the guys working on Rosetta@home comes in. It is a game where you as the player are tasked with folding a protein. Higher points are rewarded by finding a structure that requires the lest energy for the protein to fold into. The idea of this is that players will eventually discover general tactics that can be worked into protein folding algorithms and a rosetta method of protein folding be found. From this new drugs could be created in the lab fit for purpose artificially and our understanding of our own bodily processes greatly increases. We might even be able to find a cure for ageing.

Plasma Speakers

I thought Musical Tesla Coils where cool, but the sound quality from Plasma Speakers is so much better.





Apparently you still need a traditional subwoofer for low amplitude sounds, but Plasma arcs are brilliant for higher tone sounds. Unfortunately microphones don't seem to be able to record the audio well, I don't know if this is because they are effected by the plasma's electromagnetic field or if they just can't record higher pitched sounds.

Non-newtonian Fluid

A Non-newtonian Fluid is a fluid that responds like a solid when put under strain. Such a substance can be created with a mixture of Corn Starch and Water.

With this knowledge I am sure you can imagine the hygienics that would ensue if you where to ever fill a pool with such a substance: