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Technology

<i>Toxoplasmosis gondii</i>

Gold nanoparticles take out brain parasite

Tuesday, 9 March 2010

A novel technique to kill parasites uses a combination of gold nanoparticles and lasers, and has been shown to work on Toxoplasmosis gondii - a common parasite that causes cysts in the brain.


Stopwatch

Relativity now 10,000 times more accurate

Friday, 19 February 2010

Einstein's theory of relativity, which states that gravity affects the flow of time, just got 10,000 times more accurate.


Man talking on phone

You are a creature of habit, according to your mobile phone

Friday, 19 February 2010

Scientists used mobile-phone logs to track thousands of people's travel patterns, and found that we're almost all predictable. The data could be used in urban planning or even mobile phone applications.


Walking

Artificial foot reuses energy lost in walking

Thursday, 18 February 2010

Researchers have created a prosthetic foot that recycles the energy normally lost during walking, a development that could make it easier for amputees to walk.


King Tut

King Tut has DNA test, killed by malaria

Wednesday, 17 February 2010

The celebrated Pharaoh Tutankhamun was subjected to modern genetic testing and computer technology to reveal that his parents were siblings and he was likely killed by malaria.


drinking water

Nanoparticles to clean drinking water

Monday, 15 February 2010

Scientists have developed nanotechnology that purifies water using only visible light, it continues working in the dark and it kills the tougher microbes to boot.


Dylla and Falk

U.S. physics prize won by COSMOS writer

Friday, 12 February 2010

Dan Falk, a Canadian science writer, has won the American Institute of Physics' prestigious Science Writing Award for a cover story in Cosmos.


Robot

Robot stars in South Korean plays

Wednesday, 10 February 2010

A South Korean-developed robot played to acclaim in Robot Princess and the Seven Dwarfs and is set to take more leading theatre roles this year.


Renewable energy

Low-carbon push for new Industrial Revolution

Thursday, 21 January 2010

The world’s transition to a low-carbon economy will not only make cities cleaner and more sustainable, it will spark a new Industrial Revolution, said renowned economist Nicholas Stern.


Masdar city visualisation

Aviation biofuel to grow from saltwater farms

Monday, 18 January 2010

Can tomorrow’s aircraft be powered entirely from biofuels grown from saltwater plants? That’s what a large new multinational research project will seek to prove.


Astronaut

Eight spin-offs from space

Wednesday, 30 December 2009

Sending stuff into space is not cheap. How does NASA justify the expense? One way is to highlight the many technologies developed for the space program, but which now benefit society.


Lotus flower

Eight designs stolen from nature

Wednesday, 23 December 2009

Nature is inspirational, say designers who’ve trawled the living world in the search for clever ideas to rip off.


Orion's family portrait snapped

Friday, 18 December 2009

Researchers have released the first complete atlas of embryonic planetary systems in the Orion Nebula – and discovered 42 new ones in the process.


Fake platelets to stem blood flow

Friday, 18 December 2009

Scientists have developed artificial platelets to enhance the natural process of blood clotting, reducing the risk of fatal blood loss on the battlefield and in the emergency room.


Mammoths more modern than we thought

Friday, 18 December 2009

Extinct woolly mammoths and ancient American horses may have been grazing the North American steppe for several thousand years longer than previously thought.