Science and Technology in 2011

[BaalChatzaf]

(01/03) American pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson announces a partnership for the development of a test for the detection of metastatic in the bloodstream.

(01/05) Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania find that a major cause of baldness may be related to the inability of some stem cells to grow into full-sized hair follicles.

(01/10) Kepler-10b, the first confirmed small rocky exoplanet, is discovered in the Draco constellation using NASA's Kepler space telescope.

(01/12) Researchers announce that salty junk food can damage arteries in as little as thirty minutes after being eaten.

(01/14) A conducted at the Innsbruck Medical University in Austria reveals that stainless steel or titanium tongue piercings harbor more bacteria than plastic piercings.

(01/15) In a study funded by the US National Cancer Institute, researchers reveal that smoking cigarettes damages the body in minutes rather than years.

(01/18) Researchers in announce that sharks are colourblind, after examining the eyes of 17 separate shark species.

(01/19) A Cochrane Library review suggests that antioxidants may improve male fertility.

(01/20) A landmark study unveils a medical technique that renders T-cells resistant to HIV.

(01/20) Scientists achieve 10 billion bits of quantum entanglement in silicon, a significant step in quantum computing.

(01/20) The World Meteorological Organization concludes that 2010 was the joint-hottest year on record.

(01/21) An article in Science reveals the discovery of a Darwinopterus pterosaur in China with an unhatched egg, thereby allowing the genders to be differentiated.

(01/24) An article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals the discovery of Linhenykus monodactylus, an alvarezsaurid theropod dinosaur, in Inner Mongolia; though a cousin to the giant Tyrannosaurus rex, it is no bigger than a modern parrot, and possesses only one claw on each forelimb.

(01/24) Researchers publish direct evidence that massive volcanic eruptions took place 250 million years ago, likely causing the Permian–Triassic extinction event, the biggest extinction event in Earth's history.

(01/24) Scientists and students have built a 3D printer that makes edible food.

(01/26) The number of Internet users worldwide reaches approximately 2 billion.

(01/27) Under pressure from and governments, the European Commission is putting the final touches on a strategy to reduce Europe’s dependence on Chinese-supplied rare earth metals, which are essential in export products like cars and electronics.

(01/30) Molybdenite is revealed to be up to 100,000 times more efficient than silicon transistors, and to have better electrical properties than graphene.

(02/02) The Linac Coherent Light Source, an X-ray source a billion times brighter than previous sources, becomes operational at Stanford University, potentially revolutionizing existing 3D bioanalysis techniques, especially in the analysis of proteins and viruses.

(02/03) A blood test to detect vCJD is developed by British scientists, who say it could identify healthy people who are carriers of the disease.

(02/03) Further data from the Kepler space telescope published in Nature reveals that the star Kepler-11, located 2,000 light years from Earth, has a solar system including six planets, which range between two and four-and-a-half times the radius of Earth, and between two and thirteen times its mass. Five orbit the star closer than Mercury orbits our Sun, and all are likely to have atmospheres made of light gases, and to be too hot to support life. The data also includes details of more than 1,000 additional exoplanet candidates.

(02/04) Scientists reveal a tiny artificial brain, derived from rat neurons, that exhibits 12 seconds of short-term memory.

(02/07) Scientists at Oxford University successfully test a universal flu vaccine, which should work against all known strains of the illness.

(02/09) Using 25 years of evidence from over 470,000 participants, researchers show that sleep deprivation and disrupted sleep patterns can have long-term, serious health implications.

(02/10) Scientists identify the root molecular cause of a variety of illnesses brought on by advanced age, including waning energy, failure of the heart and other organs, and metabolic disorders such as diabetes.

(02/11) Scientists show that stem cells delivered via a nasal spray lead to an improvement of motor functions in rats with Parkinson's disease-like symptoms.

(02/15) A significant milestone in artificial intelligence is reached, as the Watson IBM supercomputer defeats two humans on the "Jeopardy!" quiz show.

(02/15) Scientists report stimulation of mouse muscle fibers in a way similar to the regeneration of severed limbs in newts and salamanders.

(02/16) Researchers find a way of manipulating tiny swimming robots, just 1.3 millimetres long, using electric currents in water.

(02/17) A hummingbird-like "Nano Air Vehicle" is demonstrated for the first time, in an attempt to secure a DARPA contract to create small surveillance aircraft.

(02/17) Scientists build the world's first anti-laser, capable of absorbing an incoming laser beam entirely.

(02/19) Scientists reveal the results of a cosmic census, which suggest there are at least 50 billion planets in the Milky Way, at least 500 million of which are in the Goldilocks zone where life could exist.

(02/20) Stanford University researchers create new stretchable solar cells that could power artificial electronic 'super skin', capable of detecting chemicals and biological molecules. The potential applications include clothing, robotics, prosthetic limbs and more.

(02/21) New research indicates that bilingual speakers are better at multitasking, because they are better at editing out irrelevant information; this overturns previous assumptions of bilingualism causing confusion, especially in children.

(02/22) Chinese scientists calculate a quantum law of protein folding that explains the impact of temperature on folding.

(02/22) The first complete millimeter-scale computing system is developed.

(02/22) The first full-color quantum dot display prototype is unveiled by Samsung.

(02/24) STS-133 / Discovery: ISS assembly flight ULF5, PMM Leonardo (to be left permanently attached), ELC 4. Final flight of Discovery.

(02/28) A pacemaker the size of a Tic Tac is announced by Medtronic.

(02/28) Scientists at Yale University demonstrate that bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) can be blow-molded into shapes that would be impossible with normal metals without loss in strength or durability.

(03/01) Scientists have determined how to generate a backward-pulling force from a forward-propagating beam, effectively creating a form of "tractor beam".

(03/01) Swiss researchers discover a gene in wasps that allow them to reproduce asexually.

(03/01) UK researchers demonstrate the highest-resolution optical microscope ever – capable of imaging objects as little as 50 nanometres across.

(03/04) A groundbreaking study of mice indicates the liver, not the brain, could be the source of amyloid brain plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease.

(03/04) Researchers transform a human embryonic stem cell into a critical type of neuron that dies early in Alzheimer's disease and is a major cause of memory loss; the discovery may have major implications in the treatment of the disease.

(03/08) The world's first tissue-engineered urethras are successfully used.

(03/14) Archeologists believe that they have found the lost city of Atlantis in mud swamps near Cadiz, Spain. They theorize that a tsunami struck the ancient settlement; a television special on the National Geographic Channel later investigates their findings.

(03/16) Scientists report the first successful use of microcarriers to bring anti-cancer drugs to the targeted area in the liver of a living rabbit.

(03/18) NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft successfully enters orbit around the planet Mercury– the first probe to do so.

(03/20) A new way of delivering drugs to the brain, using the body's own exosomes, is developed by scientists, overcoming a major barrier to the delivery of potential new drugs for many neurological diseases, including Alzheimer's.

(03/20) A new way of making battery electrodes, based on nanostructured metal foams, can be used to make a lithium-ion battery that recharge by 90% in under two minutes.

(03/20) Researchers announce the development of a three-dimensional nanostructure for battery cathodes that allows for dramatically faster charging, without sacrificing energy storage capacity. This could lead to cellphones that charge in seconds, and electric cars that charge in minutes.

(03/20) Scientists demonstrate how SHANK3, a brain protein, may trigger autism-like behavior in mice by stopping effective communication between brain cells.

(03/22) A 6 cm-by-6 cm chip holding nine quantum devices, among them four "quantum bits", is demonstrated at the American Physical Society meeting in Dallas, Texas.

(03/24) A landmark study indicates that pioglitazone prevents the development of type 2 diabetes in 72% of pre-diabetic subject participants, the largest such decrease yet demonstrated by any intervention.

(03/24) The first sperm cells are grown in a lab.

(03/27) Harvard University scientists demonstrate use of an electric field to extinguish an open flame more than 1 foot tall, a development they say could yield fire-suppression alternatives to water and chemical retardants.

(03/30) Scientists design robots able to hit a ball to and fro while hovering in the air.

(03/31) Scientists announce the successful controlled entanglement of 14 quantum bits (qubits), realizing the largest quantum register yet produced—nearly double the previous record for the number of entangled quantum bits realized.

(04/04) A human heart is grown in a laboratory from stem cells, marking a major advance in personalized medicine.

(04/04) A meta-study indicates that people with autism process visual information differently to neurotypical people.

(04/04) A particle accelerator in the United States shows compelling hints of a never-before-seen particle – researchers say it could be "the most significant discovery in physics in half a century".

(04/04) Five more genes which increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's have been identified, taking the number of genes linked to the disease to 10.

(04/05) Scientists develop a novel approach to inhibiting angiogenesis for cancer treatment.

(04/06) Japanese scientists announce that they have created working retinas from mouse stem cells.

(04/07) Political views are determined to some extent by differences in brain structure.

(04/12) According to a controversial study, the aging process can be reduced by increasing telomere lengths without cancer risk.

(04/12) Scientists produce the first comprehensive analysis of the greenhouse gas footprint of shale gas, concluding that its environmental impact is worse than coal.

(04/13) Cellphones may be contributing to a global decline in honeybee populations, according to researchers.

(04/14) More than 1,000 UK patients with advanced pancreatic cancer have joined a trial using a new vaccine to treat the disease.

(04/14) Shrinkage in parts of the brain of some Alzheimer's disease sufferers can be detected up to a decade before symptoms appear.

(04/15) Scientists have teleported wave packets of light by destroying them in one location and re-creating them in another.

(04/15) The world's first human brain map is unveiled, providing an interactive research tool that will help scientists to understand how the brain works. The map is to be used as an aid new discoveries in disease and treatments; one thousand anatomical sites in the brain can be searched, supported by more than 100 million data points that indicate the gene expression and biochemistry of each site.

(04/17) Researchers have injected biodegradable nanofiber spheres carrying cells into wounds to grow tissue.

(04/18) A new design for thin-film solar cells has been developed that requires significantly less silicon than standard models, and may be more efficient at capturing solar energy.

(04/18) Scientists demonstrate mathematically that asymmetrical materials should be possible; such material would allow most light or sound waves through in one direction, while preventing them from doing so in the opposite direction; such materials would allow the construction of true one-way mirrors, soundproof rooms, or even quantum computers that use light to perform calculations.

(04/19) An international research team publishes a new method to produce belts of graphene, called nanoribbons. By using hydrogen, they have managed to transform single-walled carbon nanotubes into ribbons.

(04/20) Scientists describe a Chinese spider they say is the biggest fossilised arachnid yet found; Nephila jurassica, as they have called their specimen, would have had a leg span of some 15 cm.

(04/21) Israeli engineers have built an artificial device capable of detecting cancers of the head and neck by analysing breath.

(04/21) Researchers have built a carbon nanotube synapse circuit whose behavior in tests reproduces the function of a neuron, the building block of the human brain.

(04/21) Scientists successfully cause a modified anti-malaria gene to spread amongst a population of mosquitoes.

(04/22) Gene transcription is observed in real time in a live cell.

(04/24) Small lasers capable of igniting a fuel/air mixture more efficiently, resulting in less pollution, may replace spark plugs in gasoline engines.

(04/25) Some microbes can survive gravity more than 400,000 times that felt on Earth, a new study says. By contrast, most humans can tolerate three to five times Earth's surface gravity before losing consciousness.

(04/25) The European Commission has approved plans to build a trio of lasers that will each dwarf the power of any previous laser. The project, called the Extreme Light Infrastructure, will lay the groundwork for building an even more powerful laser that could try to pull "virtual" particles out of the vacuum of space-time.

(04/28) According to an American Physical Society report, technologies for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere are unlikely to offer an economically feasible way to slow human-driven climate change for several decades.

(04/28) Researchers publish findings of three more genes linked to the most common form of breast cancer, which could provide targets for new treatments.

(05/01) A Detroit entrepreneur has invented a heat-treatment that makes steel 7 percent stronger than any steel on record in less than 10 seconds.

(05/01) Researchers successfully store a qubit in a single atom by writing the quantum state of single photons into a rubidium atom and reading it out again later.

(05/03) Middle-aged people who are overweight but not obese are 71% more likely to develop dementia than those with a normal weight, according to new research; links between obesity and dementia had previously been found.

(05/03) Scientists have used nanoscale capsules to release an immune system-stimulating protein directly into lung cancer tumors.

(05/04) CERN scientists have confined antihydrogen atoms for 1,000 seconds, four orders of magnitude longer than has ever been achieved before in capturing and maintaining antimatter atoms.

(05/04) Experimental data gathered by the Gravity Probe B satellite confirms two aspects of the general theory of relativity, which was published by Albert Einstein in 1916.

(05/04) Intel unveils its next generation of microprocessor technology, codenamed Ivy Bridge. The upcoming chips will be the first to use a 22 nanometre manufacturing process, which packs transistors more densely than the current 32nm system, providing greater efficiency.

(05/04) Yukon fossils may represent the first early traces of biomineralization in eukaryotes.

(05/06) A machine used for measuring impurities in semiconductors can be used to analyze immune cells in far more detail than has been previously possible, researchers from Stanford University have shown.

(05/06) A new study suggests that the drop in production of neurons in old age is due to the shrinking cache of adult stem cells in our brains.

(05/06) Researchers have identified a group of mitochondrial proteins, the absence of which allows other protein groups to stabilise the genome. This could delay the onset of age-related diseases and increase lifespan.

(05/09) Smog-eating aluminium panels which clean themselves and the air around them are unveiled; their titanium dioxide coating, when combined with sunlight, acts as a catalyst to break down pollutants into harmless matter that rain washes away.

(05/11) A new phylum of fungi is announced, and named cryptomycota ("hidden fungi").

(05/11) A new vaccine can protect macaques against the monkey equivalent of HIV, and could provide a fresh approach to an HIV vaccine, a study suggests.

(05/11) D-Wave Systems, after some 12 years of research, the accumulation of 60 patents, and the filing of 100 more, has released the world's first commercial quantum computer, priced at $10 million.

(05/12) The exoplanet Gliese 581d can be considered the first confirmed exoplanet that could potentially support Earth-like life, according to a team of French scientists.

(05/13) According to new research, a small set of genes located within the mitochondria of cells is crucial to unravelling the secrets of male infertility.

(05/13) Contaminated water can be cleaned much more effectively using a novel, cheap material, which could offer a low-cost way to purify water in the developing world.

(05/13) The discovery of a new physical phenomenon could yield transistors with greatly enhanced capacitance – a measure of the voltage required to move a charge. This, in turn, could lead to the revival of clock speed as the measure of a computer’s power.

(05/15) Researchers have found that KLF14, a gene linked to type 2 diabetes and cholesterol levels, is in fact a 'master regulator' gene, which controls the behaviour of other genes found within fat in the body.

(05/16) NASA's Space Shuttle Endeavour launches on its final mission.

(05/16) STS-134 / Endeavour: ISS assembly flight ULF6, ELC 3, ROEU, Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer. Final flight of Endeavour.

(05/18) Japanese developers have unveiled an electric car that can travel more than 300 kilometres on a single battery charge.

(05/18) Rogue planets lacking parent stars may outnumber "normal" exoplanets by at least 50 percent, and are nearly twice as common in our galaxy as main-sequence stars.

(05/18) Scientists have achieved optical invisibility in the visible light range of the spectrum.

(05/19) By using electrical stimulation of the spinal cord, a man from Oregon who became paralyzed after being hit by a car can stand and move his legs on his own.

(05/19) Scientists have developed an open-source desktop genome analyzer. It works in conjunction with a browser that allows biologists to rapidly and easily analyze and process their high-throughput information.

(05/20) A highly developed sense of smell kick-started the evolution of mammals' big brains, according to new research.

(05/23) Researchers have set a new record for the rate of data transfer using a single laser: 26 terabits per second.

(05/23) The bacteria responsible for stomach ulcers have been linked to Parkinson's disease, according to American researchers.

(05/24) A superhot substance recently made in the Large Hadron Collider is the densest form of matter ever observed, scientists have announced.

(05/25) NASA ends its operational planning activities for the veteran Mars rover Spirit; it will now transition the Mars Exploration Rover Project to a single-rover operation focused on Spirit's still-active twin, Opportunity.

(05/25) Reexamination of data indicates that the gamma-ray burst GRB 090423 may be the most distant single object yet detected; scientists believe the blast, which was detected by NASA's Swift Observatory, occurred a mere 520 million years after the Big Bang.

(05/25) Swedish scientists unveil a technique that causes the brain to misinterpret the size of the human body.

(05/26) Researchers believe they have made the first experimental observation of the dynamical Casimir effect, using a rapidly moving mirror that turns virtual photons into real ones.

(05/26) Stanford University researchers have managed to turn human skin cells directly into neurons, without first turning them into pluripotent stem cells.

(05/29) Human organs could be grown inside pigs for use in transplant operations, following research using stem cells.

(05/31) A NASA-led research team unveils the most precise map ever produced of the carbon stored in Earth's tropical forests; the data is expected to provide a baseline for ongoing carbon monitoring and research.

(05/31) A team of Chinese physicists successfully entangles eight photons simultaneously and observes them in action; the previous record was six.

(05/31) Researchers have demonstrated the first true nanoscale waveguides for next generation on-chip optical communication systems; this holds potential for nanoscale photonic applications such as intra-chip optical communication, signal modulation, nanoscale lasers and bio-medical sensing.

(06/01) Elements 114 and 116 are officially added to the periodic table, becoming its heaviest members yet.

(06/01) Scientists have discovered a worm that is the deepest-living animal known to science, surviving in 48-degree-Celsius (118 Fahrenheit) water at depths of 1.3 kilometres (0.81 mi).

(06/02) A team of students at the University of California is developing a first-of-its kind, phase-change memory solid-state storage device that provides performance thousands of times faster than a conventional hard drive, and up to seven times faster than current state-of-the-art solid-state drives.

(06/03) About one in 10 rocky planets around stars like the Sun may host a moon proportionally as large as Earth's.

(06/03) Researchers have bent one of the most basic rules of quantum mechanics by succeeding in observing light behaving as both a wave and a particle.

(06/03) Six men in the MARS-500 facility near Moscow have now been in isolation for exactly 365 days, simulating a manned mission to Mars.

(06/06) A team of Virginia Commonwealth University scientists has discovered a new class of 'superatoms' – a stable cluster of atoms that can mimic different elements of the periodic table – with unusual magnetic characteristics.

(06/07) Fragranced clothing, triggered by scent molecules that are stable in the dark and only release their aroma when exposed to light, has been described in a thesis written by scientist Dr. Olga Hinze of Cologne University.

(06/08) China's carbon dioxide emissions rose 10.4 percent in 2010 compared with the previous year, as global emissions rose at their fastest rate for more than four decade.

(06/09) Harold Camping, leader of Oakland-based Family Radio, suffers a stroke and is hospitalized.

(06/09) Researchers have achieved a breakthrough in anti-bacterial science, identifying natural ingredients capable of eradicating bacteria that have developed resistance to antibiotics.

(06/09) Type 2 diabetes, previously regarded as inevitably progressive, is successfully reversed in a group of newly-diagnosed patients by an extreme eight-week diet of 600 calories a day.

(06/10) Cross-checks on data that hinted at the discovery of a new sub-atomic particle have failed to find support for the observation.

(06/10) US scientists publish data about how nicotine acts as an appetite suppressant, a finding that could help in fighting obesity.

(06/12) The Nabro Volcano begins to erupt, releasing the highest quantity of sulfur dioxide ever observed by satellite.

(06/13) A study suggests that protostars may be seeding the universe with water. These stellar embryos shoot jets of material from their north and south poles as their growth is fed by infalling dust, which circles the bodies in vast disks.

(06/14) A Japanese experiment sees hints that neutrino particles can oscillate between all three types, opening new lines of research to test why matter became more prevalent than antimatter in the Big Bang.

(06/14) Ten new planets outside our Solar System have been spotted by the French-led COROT satellite, bringing the total number of known exoplanets to 561.

(06/15) A central lunar eclipse takes place, with a totality of 1 hour and 40 minutes.

(06/16) Researchers have developed a scalable approach to fabricating high-speed graphene transistors.

(06/17) Scientists have developed a nano-device that powers itself by harvesting energy from vibrations, while at the same time transmitting data wirelessly with a range of up to 10 metres (33 ft).

(06/17) The United States Department of Energy reports that it will invest $150 million in a private company that has developed a silicon-wafer solar cell that can be manufactured twice as cheaply as standard solar cells.

(06/17) Thousands of insects are being lined up to have their genomes sequenced. The five-year project will help researchers pinpoint vulnerable regions of insects' genomes, which could be targeted with pesticides.

(06/19) Researchers have used a human vaccine to cure prostate cancer in mice.

(06/19) The oceans are in a worse state than previously suspected, with a mass extinction of marine species looming, according to a new report.

(06/20) A Japanese computer has taken first place on the Top 500 supercomputer list, ending China's reign at the top after just six months. Capable of operating at 8.16 petaflops (quadrillion floating-point calculations per second), the K computer is more powerful than the next five systems combined.

(06/22) A newly developed multiferroic composite of nickel, cobalt, manganese and tin can be either non-magnetic or highly magnetic, depending on its temperature, making it capable of converting heat into electricity.

(06/22) Scientists demonstrate an acoustic "cloaking device" that makes objects invisible to sound waves; such acoustic cloaking was proposed theoretically in 2008, but has only this year been put into practice.

(06/22) Stanford University researchers have developed a new method of attaching nanowire electronics to the surface of virtually any object, regardless of its shape or composition. The method could be used in making everything from wearable electronics and flexible computer displays to high-efficiency solar cells and ultrasensitive biosensors.

(06/22) The brains of people living in cities operate differently from those in rural areas, according to a brain-scanning study.

(06/23) Family Radio announces that it will replace Harold Camping’s show, "Open Forum", with new programming.

(06/23) Single-celled yeast has been observed to evolve into a multicellular organism, complete with division of labour between cells. This suggests that the evolutionary leap to multicellularity may be a surprisingly small hurdle.

(06/24) A tiny biological fuel cell powered by bacteria, with a capacity of just 0.3 microliters, has been built by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). The new device, the size of a single strand of human hair, generates energy from the metabolism of bacteria on thin gold plates in micro-manufactured channels.

(06/24) Biologists publish the explanation for yeast cells reversing aging.

(06/25) Stanford researchers have developed a microphone that can be used at any depth in the ocean, even under crushing pressure, and is sensitive to a wide range of sounds, from a whisper in a library to an explosion of TNT. They modeled their device after the extraordinarily acute hearing of orcas.

(06/26) A new gene-editing technique provides the first published successful healing of a genetic condition in a live animal, by curing mice of haemophilia B.

(06/27) A new bacterium is reported to have been produced from an engineered DNA sequence, in which thymine was replaced by the synthetic building block 5-chlorouracil – a substance "toxic to other organisms".

(06/28) The United Nations holds a ceremony in Rome, declaring the once-widespread cattle disease rinderpest to be globally eradicated.

(06/30) Computer corporation IBM develops a form of 'instantaneous' memory, 100 times faster than flash memory.

(07/01) Based on results from the Tevatron particle accelerator, scientists have reported stronger evidence that a small excess of matter over antimatter was present during the Big Bang as particles decayed.

(07/03) China's monopoly over rare-earth metals could be challenged by the discovery of massive deposits of these widely-used minerals on the floor of the Pacific Ocean, a new study suggests.

(07/03) Warming oceans will melt glaciers quicker than expected, according to a new study. As oceans heat up, they could erode ice sheets much faster than warmer air alone.

(07/07) Global investment in renewable energy sources grew by 32% during 2010 to reach a record level of US$211 billion, according to a UN study. Reportedly, the main drivers of investment growth were wind farms in China and rooftop solar panels in Europe.

(07/07) Surgeons in Sweden have carried out the world's first synthetic organ transplant, using an artificial windpipe coated in stem cells.

(07/07) The molecular basis for the breakage of DNA, an important process in the development of cancer, has been identified by Hebrew University of Jerusalem scientists.

(07/07) The world's first artificial organ transplant is achieved, using an artificial windpipe coated with stem cells.

(07/08) STS-135 / Atlantis: Payload Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) Raffaello. Final flight of Atlantis, final flight of the Space Shuttle program. It is the 135th and final flight of the space shuttle program, which started in 1981. For its final mission, the Atlantis is carrying 8,000 lbs of spare parts and supplies to the International Space Station. The space shuttle program officially ends when the Atlantis returns in two weeks.

(07/09) Researchers have reprogrammed brain cells to become heart cells.

(07/10) An international team of scientists based in Scotland have decoded the full DNA sequence of the potato, one of the world's most important staple crops, for the first time.

(07/12) A computer has learned language by playing strategy games, inferring the meaning of words without human supervision.

(07/12) Researchers at the University of Cambridge have identified a part of the brain associated with empathy which may be a 'biomarker' for a familial risk of autism.

(07/13) A string of a dozen underwater volcanoes, several of them active, has been found near Antarctica, the first such discovery in that region.

(07/14) A "fountain of youth" that sustains the production of new neurons in the brains of rodents may also be present in the human brain, researchers have found.

(07/14) Technicians from Kagawa University have developed a robotic, bionic mouth that can sing. The design replicates almost all the human organs that are required for singing.

(07/16) Japanese company Sumitomo Electric Industries develops a new material which they believe can improve the range of electric vehicles by 300%.

(07/16) NASA's Dawn probe enters orbit around the asteroid Vesta.

(07/19) It is announced the Herschel Space Observatory has discovered a dense ribbon of gas and dust more than 600 light years across at the centre of the Milky Way galaxy.

(07/19) Russia's RadioAstron, the largest orbital radio telescope yet constructed, is successfully launched into Earth orbit.

(07/20) An experiment at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory has revealed a heavy relative of the neutron.

(07/20) The Hubble Space Telescope discovers another moon orbiting Pluto.

(07/20) The world's most powerful "split magnet" – one that is made in two halves with holes in the middle to observe experiments – has been built in the US. It operates at 25 Tesla, equivalent to 500,000 times the strength of Earth's magnetic field.

(07/21) A 120-million-year-old fossil is the oldest pregnant lizard ever discovered, according to scientists. The fossil, found in China, is a very complete 30-cm (12-in)-long specimen with more than a dozen embryos in its body.

(07/21) Researchers at the University of Minnesota have discovered a gene required to maintain male gender throughout life.

(07/21) STS-135 / Atlantis: End of America's Space Shuttle Program, as the Space Shuttle Atlantis lands successfully at Kennedy Space Center after completing STS-135, concluding NASA's space shuttle program.

(07/26) DNA circuits have been used to make a neural network and to store memories.

(07/26) Using silicon lithography, liquid silicone, and electrodes that are fashioned into patterns invisible to the naked eye, researchers at Stanford University have created transparent electric batteries.

(07/27) A Chinese fossil of a previously unknown bird-like dinosaur is estimated by scientists to be about 155 million years old – five million years older than Archaeopteryx, which for 150 years has been assumed to be the world's earliest bird.

(07/27) A major clinical trial will investigate whether stem cells can be safely used to stop or even reverse the damage caused by multiple sclerosis.

(07/27) Japanese researchers have developed an electric vehicle motor not reliant on rare-earth metals.

(08/03) Researchers suggest that Earth once had a small second Moon that was destroyed in a slow-motion collision with the far side of its larger companion.

(08/04) A ring of antiprotons has been detected around the Earth.

(08/04) Artificial sperm have been created using stem cells for the first time in a scientific breakthrough that could lead to new treatments for infertile men.

(08/04) New images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter appear to show evidence of flowing, liquid water on Mars.

(08/05) Bypassing stem cells, scientists have made neurons directly from human skin.

(08/05) Juno, the first solar-powered spacecraft on a mission to Jupiter, is launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

(08/05) NASA announces that its Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured photographic evidence of possible liquid water on Mars during warm seasons.

(08/05) Scientists have developed a new class of molecules that target cells' entry systems to ensure harmful organisms do not gain access. The molecules, nicknamed pitstops, could lead to new therapeutic approaches to prevent the spread of viral and bacterial infections.

(08/05) The solar-powered probe Juno is launched from Kennedy Space Center on a five-year mission to Jupiter.

(08/06) A study postulates that the demise of the world's forests 250 million years ago was likely accelerated by aggressive tree-killing fungi, who flourished in conditions brought about by global climate change.

(08/08) A report, based on NASA analysis of meteorites found on Earth, suggests that the building blocks of DNA (adenine, guanine and related organic molecules) may have been formed in outer space.

(08/10) An article published in the New England Journal of Medicine describes a new therapy that has successfully neutralized advanced cases of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in 3 patients.

(08/11) Arctic ice might be thinning four times faster than predicted by the IPCC, according to a new study by MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmosphere, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS).

(08/11) Researchers say they have created the first-ever animal with artificial information in its genetic code. The technique, they say, could give biologists "atom-by-atom control" over the molecules in living organisms.

(08/11) Scientists have shown how an enzyme from a microbe can quickly and cheaply produce hydrogen from water. Hydrogen is seen as vital to future energy systems, but its production has previously been too costly and time-consuming to be viable on a large scale.

(08/12) An ultra-thin, flexible electronic circuit that can be stuck to the skin like a temporary tattoo is developed, with possible applications in cellphone and mobile computing technology.

(08/16) A study of fossilised plants suggests that woody plants first appeared on the Earth about 10 million years earlier than previously thought.

(08/16) Private donors, including actress Jodie Foster, raise enough money to re-open the mothballed SETI radio telescope array, allowing SETI to continue its search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

(08/16) Taiwanese researchers report that 15 minutes of exercise a day can boost life expectancy by three years and cut death risk by 14%.

(08/17) DARPA is offering $500,000 to study what it would take — organizationally, technically, sociologically and ethically — to send humans to another star, a challenge of such magnitude that the study alone could take a hundred years.

(08/17) Researchers at the University of Edinburgh state that near-death experiences are the work of neural pathway disturbances caused by a disruption of the oxygen supply to the brain, and are not supernatural events.

(08/18) IBM has developed a microprocessor which it claims comes closer than ever to replicating the human brain. The system is capable of "rewiring" its connections as it encounters new information, similar to the way biological synapses work.

(08/18) Within decades, solar storms are likely to become more disruptive to planes and spacecraft, say researchers at Reading University.

(08/19) The US Office of Naval Research says that it has successfully tested a new type of explosive material that can dramatically increase weapons' impacts. Missiles made from the high-density substance can explode with up to five times the energy of existing explosives.

(08/22) American researchers prototype a basic form of bulletproof skin, based on genetically-modified silkworm threads.

(08/23) Computer simulations suggest that violent asteroid impacts flinging life from Earth to other planets is more likely than previously thought.

(08/23) Researchers at the University of Leeds have discovered a pain-free way of tackling dental decay that reverses the damage of acid attack and re-builds teeth as new.

(08/23) The natural world contains about 8.7 million species, according to a new estimate described by scientists as the most accurate ever. However, the vast majority of these species have not been identified – cataloguing them all could take more than 1,000 years.

(08/24) Antibiotics' impact on gut bacteria is permanent — and so serious in its long-term consequences that medicine should consider whether to restrict the prescription of antibiotics to pregnant women and young children, according to a new study.

(08/25) A monkey sporting a ginger beard and matching fiery red tail, discovered in a threatened region of the Brazilian Amazon, is believed to be a species new to science.

(08/26) An atomic clock at the UK's National Physical Laboratory (NPL) has the best long-term accuracy of any clock in the world, researchers from NPL and Penn State University have found.

(08/29) Japanese scientists announce an innovation in wind turbine technology, the wind lens, which could triple the energy output of wind turbines, making wind energy affectively cheaper than nuclear energy.

(08/31) A pill to prevent sunburn is being developed, using coral's natural defence against the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays.

(08/31) AMD has broken the world overclocking speed record, thanks to the use of liquid nitrogen and liquid helium coolant. The company achieved an overclocked frequency of 8.429 GHz on a near-production, eight-core AMD FX 8150 Bulldozer processor sample.

(08/31) An engineered virus, injected into the blood, can selectively target and destroy cancer cells throughout the body, in what researchers have labelled a medical first.

(08/31) Graphene, the strongest known material on Earth, could help boost broadband internet speed, say researchers.

(09/02) Researchers create the smallest electric motor ever devised, made from a single molecule around a nanometre across. The invention could have applications in both nanotechnology and medicine.

(09/02) Researchers report two major breakthroughs in quantum computing — a quantum system built on the familiar von Neumann processor-memory architecture, and a working digital quantum simulator built on a quantum-computer platform.

(09/02) Researchers suggest that dry desert planets, like the world depicted in the science fiction novel Dune, might be the most common type of habitable planet in the galaxy, rather than watery planets such as Earth.

(09/02) Scientists map the taste cortex in mice, pinpointing the brain regions that detect certain flavors.

(09/02) Yale University researchers have discovered the source of signals that trigger hair growth, an insight that may lead to new treatments for baldness.

(09/03) Scientists release the most accurate simulation of the structure of the universe to date.

(09/08) Cuban medical authorities release CimaVax-EGF, the first therapeutic vaccine for lung cancer. The vaccine was the result of a 25-year research project at Havana’s Center of Molecular Immunology.

(09/08) University of Glasgow scientists have taken their first tentative steps towards creating “life” from inorganic chemical cells (iCHELLS), potentially defining the new area of “inorganic biology.”

(09/12) Arctic sea ice has melted to a historic low, researchers from the University of Bremen in Germany report.

(09/12) Astronomers using the European Southern Observatory’s HARPS instrument announce the discovery of more than 50 new exoplanets – including 16 super-Earths – with one planet reportedly orbiting at the edge of the habitable zone of its star. By studying the properties of all the HARPS planets found so far, the team has found that about 40% of stars similar to our Sun have at least one planet lighter than Saturn.

(09/13) Researchers have developed a sophisticated camera system able to detect lies by watching facial movements during speech.

(09/13) The relative risks to the supply of some of Earth's rarest elements have been detailed in a new list published by the British Geological Survey (BGS).

(09/14) A British chemist creates cell-like bubbles out of metal-containing molecules, giving them life-like properties in the process. The metallic cells could then be induced to evolve into inorganic self-replicating entities.

(09/14) NASA unveils the design for a new heavy-lift rocket to take humans to Mars and the asteroids.

(09/14) Researchers may have discovered how to safely open and close the blood-brain barrier so that therapies to treat Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis and cancers of the central nervous system might effectively be delivered to the brain.

(09/15) A piece of amber discovered in Alberta, Canada, contains an 80-million year old feather that could provide clues to the relationship between dinosaurs and modern avian species.

(09/16) Artificial blood vessels made on a 3D printer may soon be used for transplants of lab-created organs.

(09/16) Scientists’ predictions about the formation and characteristics of dark matter have been shaken by research into dwarf galaxies surrounding the Milky Way.

(09/19) People with schizophrenia are six times more likely to develop epilepsy, reports a Taiwanese study, which found a strong relationship between the two diseases.

(09/20) US researchers say they have demonstrated how fuel cells powered by bacteria can be "self-powered" and produce a limitless supply of hydrogen for hydrogen cars.

(09/22) A non-disease-causing virus kills human breast cancer cells in the laboratory, creating opportunities for potential new cancer therapies, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers who tested the virus on three different breast cancer types.

(09/22) An international team of scientists at CERN has recorded neutrino particles apparently traveling faster than the speed of light. If confirmed, the discovery would overturn Albert Einstein's 1905 theory of special relativity, which says that nothing can travel faster than light.

(09/24) NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) deorbits and impacts the Pacific Ocean, having been decomissioned in 2005. UARS, which was launched in 1991, was designed for the study of Earth's atmosphere, particularly the ozone layer.

(09/26) Researchers have demonstrated that electrons can move freely in layers of linked semiconductor nanoparticles under the influence of light. This discovery may assist the development of cheap and efficient quantum dot solar cells.

(09/27) Scientists have created a nanostructure which can multiply stem cells used in therapies – a first step towards developing large-scale stem cell culture factories.

(09/27) Scientists have successfully replaced an injured part of a rat’s brain with a synthetic substitute.

(09/29) A rocket carrying China's first space laboratory module, Tiangong-1, is successfully launched, marking the start of the Tiangong space station program.

(09/29) Geothermal power plants could help produce lithium for electric cars, by way of a new process which extracts lithium from the brines used to generate electricity in a geothermal power plant.

(09/29) The development of self-healing materials advances as scientists take inspiration from biological systems.

(10/03) The 2011 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is shared by Bruce Beutler of the United States, Jules A. Hoffmann of France and Ralph M. Steinman of Canada (posthumously), for their research into the human immune system.

(10/03) The Atacama Large Millimeter Array in Chile – the largest and most complex radio telescope ever built – begins operations.

(10/04) The 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics is shared by Drs Adam Riess, Saul Perlmutter and Brian Schmidt for their discoveries relating to dark energy.

(10/05) A form of cloning has been used to create personalised embryonic stem cells in humans, according to American researchers.

(10/05) The 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded to Professor Dan Shechtman of Iowa State University for the discovery of quasicrystals.

(10/06) A "smart pill" has been developed that is able to record accurate information about internal conditions in the gut, such as acidity, pressure and temperature.

(10/07) Data from the ESA's Venus Express probe reveals that the planet Venus has an ozone layer in its upper atmosphere.

(10/10) Exercise is equally effective at preventing migraines as drugs, a Swedish study suggests.

(10/10) UK doctors report that the antibiotic normally used to treat gonorrhoea is no longer effective, because the sexually-transmitted disease is now largely resistant to it.

(10/12) Ginger supplements may boost digestive and colon health, according to a new study.

(10/12) The genetic code of the germ that caused the 14th-century Black Death has been reconstructed by scientists for the first time. The British researchers extracted DNA fragments of the ancient bacterium from the teeth of medieval corpses found in London.

(10/13) Silencing a protein known as BCL11A can reactivate fetal hemoglobin production in adult mice and effectively reverse sickle cell disease, according to a new study.

(10/14) Seven vehicle manufacturers in Europe and the US have agreed to adopt a standardised, universal charging system for electric vehicles.

(10/14) Using carbon nanotubes, researchers have created artificial muscles that can twist 1,000 times more than any similar material made in the past — a development that could prove useful in robotics and prosthetic limbs.

(10/16) For the first time, researchers have found a way to inject a precise dose of a gene therapy agent directly into a single living cell without using a needle. The technique uses electricity to fire therapeutic biomolecules through a tiny channel and into a cell in a fraction of a second.

(10/17) The world's first commercial spaceport, Spaceport America, is opened by Virgin Group chairman Richard Branson in the U.S. state of New Mexico. The SpaceShipTwo spaceplane is expected to begin commercial flights from the spaceport by 2013.

(10/18) A malaria vaccine has shown promising results in a clinical trial in Africa.

(10/18) Europe's highest court, the European Court of Justice, has ruled that stem cells from human embryos cannot be patented, in a case that could have major implications for stem cell research and regenerative medicine.

(10/18) Joseph Fourier University have developed a biofuel cell that can generate electricity from glucose and oxygen. This could allow patients to power their own medical implants.

(10/18) Spanish engineers have developed a machine that uses artificial vision and UV rays to scan through citrus fruits and detect rotten ones.

(10/18) The World Health Organisation reports that global malaria deaths have fallen by 20% since 2001, claiming that over 30 countries are on course to eradicate the mosquito-borne disease by 2020. The fall in deaths is believed to be the result of improved diagnostic technologies and wider use of malaria vaccines.

(10/19) British computer chip designer ARM unveils the Cortex A7 processor, which should allow manufacturers to make cheaper and more efficient smartphones.

(10/19) Imperial College London researchers have shown logic gates can be built out of E. coli bacteria and DNA. This could be used to make sophisticated diagnostic cells that assess and treat illness in the body.

(10/21) Further research has been published suggesting there is no link between mobile phones and brain cancer. The latest study looked at more than 350,000 mobile phone users over an 18-year period.

(10/21) The Earth's surface is undeniably warming, according to a detailed new analysis by an American scientific group.

(10/21) The first two satellites of the Galileo satellite navigation system are launched from Guiana Space Center by the European Space Agency. The Galileo system is intended to reduce Europe's reliance on America's dominant Global Positioning System (GPS).

(10/24) India's Minister of Health, Ghulam Nabi Azad, reports that the country has almost entirely eradicated polio through a vaccination program which immunises over 170 million children every year. No new polio cases have been reported in India for over nine months.

(10/25) Human DNA may carry a ‘memory’ of living conditions in childhood, according to a new study.

(10/25) Space telescope observations indicate that the supernova RCW 86, first seen by Chinese astronomers in 185 AD, expanded at an unprecedented rate due to the formation of a vacuum-like "cavity" around it in the early stages of the death of its star. The expansion of the supernova, which was visible even in daylight when first discovered, has remained a mystery for nearly 2,000 years.

(10/25) The last of the United States' B53 nuclear warheads is disassembled near Amarillo, Texas. The nine-megaton bomb, which first entered service in 1962, was formerly the most powerful nuclear weapon in the country's nuclear arsenal, possessing nearly 600 times the yield of the Little Boy atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945.

(10/26) American scientists confirm that an infectious fungus, Geomyces destructans, is responsible for the incurable white-nose syndrome that has devastated bat populations across North America since 2006.

(10/26) Scientists at the University of Hong Kong have found that the cosmic dust permeating the universe contains complex organic matter, described as "amorphous organic solids with a mixed aromatic-aliphatic structure". Such organic matter could be created naturally, and rapidly, by stars.

(10/26) The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, a composite-based airliner with up to 20% greater fuel efficiency than previous models, completes its first commercial flight for All Nippon Airways, after a three-year production delay.

(10/27) New measurements reveal that the dwarf planet Eris is almost identical in size to Pluto, which was deemed to be a dwarf planet in 2006.

(10/27) Researchers in Oxford, England, begin human trials of a pioneering gene therapy technique, with the goal of providing a cure for crippling ocular defects such as retinal choroideremia.

(10/28) British scientists report that a daily dose of aspirin can reduce the incidence of bowel cancer in people at high risk of the disease.

(10/28) Human-caused climate change is already a major factor in more frequent Mediterranean droughts, according to a new study, which shows that the magnitude and frequency of drying is too great to be explained by natural variability alone.

(10/28) NASA launches the NPOESS Preparatory Project – the first of its next generation of polar-orbiting satellites dedicated to gathering weather and climate data.

(10/29) CERN researchers attempt to repeat a recent experiment that apparently yielded faster-than-light neutrinos, using a more efficient system of measurement to validate their results.

(10/31) Date selected by the UN as the symbolic date when global population reaches seven billion.

(10/31) One element of the European Extreme Light Infrastructure, a network of experimental lasers designed to produce greater energy intensities than any previous lasers, is proposed to be built in Britain.

(10/31) The world population reaches seven billion, according to the United Nations.

(11/01) India announces plans for a prototype nuclear power plant that uses thorium – an innovative, potentially safer nuclear fuel.

(11/01) Scientists have transformed age-worn cells in people over 90 – including a centenarian – into rejuvenated stem cells that are "indistinguishable" from those found in embryos.

(11/02) American researchers delay, and in some cases even eliminate, the onset of age-related symptoms such as wrinkles, muscle wasting and cataracts in mice. The development may have significant implications for the study and treatment of such symptoms in humans.

(11/02) China's unmanned Shenzhou 8 spacecraft robotically docks with the orbiting Tiangong-1 space station module, marking China's first orbital docking, and a major milestone in its efforts to construct a full-scale space station by 2020.

(11/02) Morocco is chosen as the first location for Desertec – a German-led, €400bn project to build a vast network of solar and windfarms across North Africa and the Middle East, with the aim of providing 15% of Europe's electricity supply by 2050.

(11/04) A 20-year-old alternative solar cell design using dye-sensitized nanocrystal cells (DSC) could lead to cheap, printable cells, revolutionising solar power use worldwide, according to a new study.

(11/04) Six men emerge from the 520-day MARS-500 isolation experiment, which aimed to simulate a manned mission to Mars. The experiment, undertaken at a Moscow scientific institute, was intended to find out how the human mind and body would cope with the isolation of a long-duration spaceflight.

(11/05) An American doctor claims that brown eyes can safely and permanently be turned blue by using short laser pulses to destroy pigment in the iris.

(11/05) An official White House report states that "The U.S. government has no evidence that any life exists outside our planet, or that an extraterrestrial presence has contacted or engaged any member of the human race." It furthermore asserts that there is "no credible information to suggest that any evidence is being hidden from the public's eye." Although odds are "pretty high" that there may be life on other planets, "the odds of us making contact with any of them—especially any intelligent ones—are extremely small, given the distances involved."

(11/06) Dopamine-producing brain cells that are killed off by Parkinson's disease have been grown from stem cells and grafted into monkeys' brains by American researchers, in a major step towards new treatments for the condition.

(11/08) A Scottish-designed bionic leg exoskeleton, designed to allow handicapped people to walk, is approved for sale in the United Kingdom.

(

[Peter]

Ba'al Chatzaf wrote:

What has philosophy done for you in 2011.

end quote

It hasn’t cured baldness or fixed *stupid,* not that I am Forrest Gump but I have shortcomings and sometimes I sit here and wish I could have did something differently in my earlier life. You can’t alter the past. But you can insure that you never repeat your mistakes or if you have the means, with whatever currency is needed, pay back the person you harmed. Am I starting to sound like Confucius?

Philosophy speeds my moral reaction time to split second, right answers. Even in the new millennium of 2012. Hey, Arthur C Clark, “2001 a Space Odyssey” never happened! Now that you think about it (if you were still living) shouldn’t you have called in 2501?

Peter

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

And now the question:

What has philosophy done for you in 2011.

Occupy Wall Street.

Arab Spring.

I could go on. Those folks know what philosophy does for you. They even employ scientists.

Michael

[Guyau]

I think we should credit also Wikipedia, for providing a wide platform for dissemination of this list of accomplishments.

[Peter]

Stephen Boydstun wrote:

I think we should credit also Wikipedia, for providing a wide platform for dissemination of this list of accomplishments

end quote

Thank you Wikipedia. If you want some of my dough, SEAL an article at a objectively verified point, using a volunteer panel of experts like at Encyclopedia Britannica, then reopen agendum to the article from the wide, wide world, verify, seal, reopen, amend using context. Stephen, as it is, YOU CANNOT TRUST WHAT YOU READ. I do quote them, during my day to day activities, but NOT if my life depended on it.

There is a group out of Germany that wants to put a satellite into orbit or rent and utilize one already up there so that the truth flowing from the internet cannot be stifled by dictatorial governments. That too, is a worthy cause.

Semper cogitans fidele,

Peter Taylor

[BaalChatzaf]

Thank you Wikipedia. If you want some of my dough, SEAL an article at a objectively verified point, using a volunteer panel of experts like at Encyclopedia Britannica, then reopen agendum to the article from the wide, wide world, verify, seal, reopen, amend using context. Stephen, as it is, YOU CANNOT TRUST WHAT YOU READ. I do quote them, during my day to day activities, but NOT if my life depended on it.

The Wiki articles on subjects of math and the physical sciences are generally kosher. What is more important is that they contain pointers into the current literature of the fields. The articles themselves are short and therefore somewhat incomplete and superficial. However Wiki articles are a quick routine into the literature of the field.

I suspect the articles with political and social content are quite less reliable. Since I do not pay to much attention to this sort of material I feel no great loss. Matters of politics, economics and ethics are doxa, not logos. It is largely a matter of judgement and opinion.

Ba'al Chatzaf

[william.scherk]

On 1/2/2012 at 11:44 AM, BaalChatzaf said:

(03/04) Researchers transform a human embryonic stem cell into a critical type of neuron that dies early in Alzheimer's disease and is a major cause of memory loss; the discovery may have major implications in the treatment of the disease.

Embryonic stem cell research in the news. Non-paywalled link in the tweet. Link to Nature article here.

 

[Peter]

Sounds like something Putin would do.

From Business Insider: A 75 million-year-old tyrannosaur's well-preserved stomach shows it feasted on baby dinosaurs for its last meal: . . . The young Gorgosaurus libratus, a type of tyrannosaur, was found with the hind legs of small bird-like dinosaurs in its stomach, according to researchers at the University of Calgary.

Tyrannosaurs, which include Gorgosaurus and the more famous Tyrannosaurus, were some of the most formidable predators of their time. Evidence suggests that older tyrannosaurs typically ate large herbivores, researchers said . . . .

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Peter,

I am trying to come up with a quip based on your post, but I am having difficulty making one work.

But the temptation is there. For example, what would happen if they put dinosaur DNA into transgenders?

The idea is funny, but it still lacks punch.

 

Michael