Bendable Magnetic Interface

Image: Bladder control: Manipulating a magnetic fluid on top of the researchers' "sensor tile" (top) offers a novel way to control a computer. The interface can be used to sculpt virtual shapes (bottom). Credit: Microsoft

From Technology Review:

A sensing surface developed by Microsoft researchers offers new ways to use computers.

Computer users have been typing on keyboards and clicking on mice for more than 20 years. An experimental new interface under development at Microsoft could give them a completely new way to use their system.

Multi-touch and motion-sensing devices have recently emerged from research labs, offering new ways to operate computers. Microsoft's experimental tactile interface takes things further still, letting users interact by squashing, stretching, rolling, or rubbing.

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Drinking Red Wine May Prevent Cavities

Even nonalcoholic red wine can offer the oral health benefits to consumers. iStockPhoto

From Discovery:

A toothbrush may not be handy at the holiday dinner table, but new research suggests moderate consumption of red wine helps to rinse teeth clean of bacteria during and after meals.

The findings, accepted for publication in the journal Food Chemistry, add to the growing list of health benefits associated with drinking wine. Prior research has linked moderate red wine intake with everything from improved longevity to diminished risk of cardiovascular and neurological diseases.

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Hydrogen-Economy On The Way? New Hydrogen-Storage Method Discovered

This schematic shows the structure of the new material, Xe(H2)7. Freely rotating hydrogen molecules (red dumbbells) surround xenon atoms (yellow). (Credit: Image courtesy of Nature Chemistry)

From Science Daily:

Science Daily (Nov. 25, 2009) — Scientists at the Carnegie Institution have found for the first time that high pressure can be used to make a unique hydrogen-storage material. The discovery paves the way for an entirely new way to approach the hydrogen-storage problem.

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Paper-Thin Batteries Made From Algae

Batteries made of paper may power electronics in the future, researchers say. Shown are images from an experimental paper-based battery. Credit: The American Chemical Society.

From Live Science:

Imagine wrapping paper that could be a gift in and of itself because it lights up with words like "Happy Birthday." That is one potential application of a new biodegradable battery made of cellulose, the stuff of paper.

Scientists worldwide are striving to develop thin, flexible, lightweight, inexpensive, environmentally friendly batteries made entirely from nonmetal parts. Among the most promising materials for these batteries are conducting polymers.

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The Future Of Dating...Robots

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Industrial Thanksgiving: Science Takes Mom’s Recipes to the Assembly-Line

From Wired Science:

Thanksgiving is about eating, and though local, organic food might be what the cool kids are eating, most people are still eating products of the industrial food system.

Whether you’re talking turkey, cranberries or potatoes, industrial-scale processes have been developed to drive down food costs, drive up corporate profits and feed America’s incredible hunger for novel food items.

But most consumers of these manufactured meals have little or no knowledge of the machines and methods used to freeze turkeys, turn potatoes into fake potatoes, and cranberries into TV-dinner cranberry sauce. It’s not always pretty, but food scientists’ epic battle to scale up your mom’s recipes without making them taste nasty is worth examining, if not giving thanks for.

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Thanksgiving Day Facts: Pilgrims, Dinner, Parades, More

From National Geographic:

It may be called Turkey Day, but the U.S. Thanksgiving Day is about more than just the bird. Learn about a holiday myth—the first "real" Thanksgiving wasn't until the 1800s—and how we celebrate Thanksgiving dinner today.

Key to any Thanksgiving Day menu is a fat turkey and cranberry sauce.

Some 250 million turkeys were raised in the U.S. in 2009 for slaughter, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service. Those birds were worth about U.S. $4.5 billion.

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Chandra Hosts A Carnival Of Space

From the Chandra Blog:

This week, the United States marks the Thanksgiving holiday. For most of us, this means lots of time with family (sometimes too much), friends, and vast amounts of food. It also causes all productivity to cease anywhere close to Thursday and the days that follow. That said, however, science and space never sleep – not even from an overdose of tryptophan. (For those of you who are unfamiliar with this word, it has to do with pseudo-urban legends surrounding the American overconsumption of turkey on this holiday.) Now, off to our spin around the blogs.

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Intelligence and Technology Achievement and Productivity

From The Next Big Future:

There are some rare individuals with IQs in the 200's and their brains are not larger than regular people.

Highest IQs Ever

The dominate, rigorously researched, and documented answer (who had the highest IQ) is German polymath Johann von Goethe (IQ = 210), second to Shakespeare in literature, with a vocabulary of over 90,000 words, inspiration to Darwin, with his theories on maxilla bone evolution, mental compatriot to Newton, with his theory of colors, and founder of the science of human chemistry, with his 1809 treatise Elective Affinities, wherein a human chemical reaction view of life is presented, some two-hundred years ahead of its time.

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Arming The Immune System Against H1N1

Image: Defense mechanism: Researchers creating a new vaccine against H1N1 hope to harness the power of the immune system's dendritic cells (one such cell is shown above in blue), which are responsible for directing the body's immune response. Credit: Oliver Schwartz, Institute Pasteur / Science Photo Library

From Technology Review:

Researchers are working to treat pandemic flu by recruiting a patient's own immune cells.

Viruses multiply incredibly quickly once they've infected their victim--so fast that antiviral medications such as Tamiflu are only effective if given during the first few days of an infection. After that, the viral load is just too high for a single drug to fight off. But researchers are working on a treatment for the H1N1 virus (or swine flu) that uses a different approach. Rather than disabling the virus with a drug, they're creating a vaccine that can activate and steer a patient's own immune cells to attack the invader.

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Shuttle Atlantis Departs From Space Station

From Space.com:

The space shuttle Atlantis cast off from the International Space Station early Wednesday after almost a week linked to deliver vital spare parts.

The shuttle detached from the orbiting laboratory at 4:53 a.m. EST (0953 GMT), and flew in a circle around the station so that astronauts on the orbiter could snap detailed photographs to check on the state of the outpost.

"It's a pretty exciting thing to do, be able to see the station you were living in again now on the farewell," STS-129 commander Charlie Hobaugh said in a preflight interview. "Just having it gives us a new snapshot in time of the condition of the vehicle at that point."

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Utility Energy Storage No Longer Just Giant Batteries

(Credit: PG&E)

From CNET News:

If you need more evidence that energy storage is much more than lithium ion batteries, take a look at the latest smart-grid utility storage projects.

The Department of Energy on Tuesday announced that $620 million in stimulus funding is going to 32 smart-grid programs, which will be coupled with another $1 billion in private money. A total of $770 million from government and industry sources in the next few years will go to energy storage, giving a number of storage technologies a dose of real-world experience. (See this PDF for details.)

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Cookbook Reveals Secrets of Space Cuisine

In this photo taken aboard the International Space Station in 2001, cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin (left) and astronaut Frank L. Culbertson smile before their Thanksgiving meal. Their food is taped down to prevent it from floating away. NASA

From Discovery:

Retired NASA space foodie Charles Bourland dishes about astronaut cuisine in a new book.

Pining for some thermostabilized chicken fajitas this Thanksgiving? That's what some of the shuttle Atlantis astronauts will feast on this holiday, which falls one day before their scheduled homecoming on Friday.

Colleagues left behind on the International Space Station, who hosted the shuttle crew for a week, plan a bit more of a traditional meal, with turkey, trimmings and a wide variety of side dishes.

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Violent World Of Raptors Explored

Ospreys have talons that are large, highly curved and nearly uniform, especially suited for catching fish. This osprey snatched a fish from the Firehole River in Yellowstone National Park. (Credit: MSU photo by Kelly Gorham)

From Science Daily:

ScienceDaily (Nov. 25, 2009) — A journey that started with a box of bird feet carried three Montana State University graduate students into the gruesome world of raptors and led to their findings being published in a prominent journal.

Normally focused on dinosaurs, the students compared the claws and killing methods of four types of raptors and published a paper about their research in the Nov. 25th issue of PLoS ONE, a scientific journal published online by the Public Library of Science. The birds of prey that were studied live in North America and Europe and include eagles and hawks, owls, osprey and falcons.

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5 Myth-Busting Facts For A Safe Turkey

From Live Science:

Whether you're a seasoned cook or it's your first time stuffing a turkey, you likely want the end result to be tasty and easy on the belly. Yet even experts admit Thanksgiving dinner can be challenging.

"It's a complicated meal," said Ben Chapman, food safety specialist and assistant professor of food science at North Carolina State University. "You're cooking with something you might only cook once or twice a year. And you're cooking for a large group. As a meal, it's one of the ones that's harder to manage."

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Bloodhound Supercar On The Trail Of 1,000mph Record For Britain

Wing Commander Andy Green poses today in front of a three-quarter scale model of the front section of the Bloodhound SSC. Wg Cdr Green will be the one at the helm of the 1,000mph vehicle

From The Daily Mail:

British engineers have started building what they hope will be the world's fastest car - capable of reaching 1,000mph.

The Bloodhound SSC (Supersonic car) will be powered by a jet engine from Eurofighter Typhoon being positioned above a hybrid rocket. This combination should produce 135,000 horsepower — equivalent to the power of 180 Formula One cars.

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Organic Wine-Makers Look to Greener Packaging

There are no bottles in these boxes of wine -- just wine and the plastic pouch that holds it. Boxing instead of bottling wine saves half the shipping weight (and associated carbon emissions) and keeps the product fresher longer. Bota Box

From Scientific American:

More and more wineries offer organic varieties to lower their eco-footprints. It's no surprise that they're looking at their product packaging's environmental impacts, as well.

With more and more wineries offering organic varieties to lower their eco-footprint, it’s no surprise that they’re looking at the environmental impacts of their packaging as well. The making of conventional glass bottles (and the corks that cap them) uses significant quantities of natural resources and generates considerable pollution. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the process of manufacturing glass not only contributes its share of greenhouse gas emissions but also generates nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and tiny particulates that can damage lung tissue when breathed in.

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DOE Announces $620 Million in Smart Grid Project Grants

From Popular Science:

While the Smart Grid we needed years ago is still years away, the Obama administration took a step forward today as Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced $620 million in stimulus awards for 32 Smart Grid demonstration projects benefiting 21 states. A decidedly feel-good video that is nonetheless educational was released along with the announcement and explains (in broad terms at least) what the DOE aims to achieve with its Smart Grid investment. View it after the jump.

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Birthplace Of Cosmic Guitar Pinpointed

Space rock (Image: S. Chatterjee/J.M.Cordes/Palomar Observatory)

From New Scientist:

IT'S the biggest guitar in the galaxy. The Guitar pulsar is a stellar corpse that is tearing through interstellar gas and creating a guitar-shaped wake of hot hydrogen (pictured). Its birthplace may now have been found.

Little is known about the origins of such wayward stellar remnants. To hunt for the pulsar's birthplace, Nina Tetzlaff at the University of Jena in Germany and colleagues projected the paths of 140 nearby groups of stars backwards in time over 5 million years.

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Video: Saturn’s Spectacular Aurora in Action

From Wired Science:

How can you not love Cassini? The latest treat NASA’s spacecraft has provided us is the first ever movie of Saturn’s incredible aruroras.

The high-resolution video was assembled from 472 still images, spaced over 81 hours in October, that show the phenomenon in three dimensions. The lights can be seen as a rippling, vertical sheet up to 750 miles high above Saturn’s northern hemisphere.

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