tagged w/ Break through
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The decoding of the wheat genome means breeders can take shortcuts when it comes to breeding wheat which can resist diseases.
The article points out a leading British Scientists says this would not entail GM science, but the genome information "will also prove invaluable for scientists if they did want to directly change the DNA of the wheat plant."-Independent. However, comments on the article highlight the concern over GM use.
The article highlights the issue over a fall in crop yield and a increase in demand, it's reported food production will have to increase by 50% over the next 40 years due to population.
"And rather than guard their knowledge, the British scientists responsible for the research will today place a draft version of the genome online, making it available for free to wheat breeders around the world"-Independent
Crop diseases like Ug99 Stem Rust has spread to Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, Yemen and possible even in Iran. With breeders trying to create a resistant strain to stop the disease that can destroy crop yields.The decoding of the wheat genome means breeders can take shortcuts when it comes to... more
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Hope has been offered to thousands of people facing blindness after drugs watchdogs approved a pioneering new treatment. They will be able to get Lucentis , which can halt the loss of eyesight.Lucentis is made from a human antibody fragment. Lucentis works by keeping new blood vessels from forming under the retina (a sensory membrane that lines the inside of the eye). These injections can halt the loss of eyesight.Hope has been offered to thousands of people facing blindness after drugs watchdogs... more
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Babak Parviz wears contact lenses. But he's not yet using the new contact lenses he's made in his Seattle laboratory. Containing electronic circuits, they look like something from a science fiction movie. He's now going to add some extremely small light emitting diodes (LEDs), helping turn his prototype contact lenses into a sophisticated personal display - the tiniest one possible.
As an assistant professor of electrical engineering at the University of Washington, Parviz works on bio-nanotechnology, self-assembly, nanofabrication and micro-electro mechanical systems. He makes tiny but functional electronic devices and, using nanotechnology and microfabrication techniques, integrates them on to polymers or glass using a process known as self-assembly.
So how did he think of making a "bionic" contact lens? "Imagine a person with that kind of research expertise and background," says Parviz. "Imagine also the same person waking up every morning and putting a contact lens in his eye."
Looking ahead
Making the connection wasn't hard, as Parviz had also been thinking about unconventional displays. Contact lenses are made from flexible transparent polymers, just the sort of challenging material that Parviz likes to stick tiny electronic circuits on. "The driver is not to make something small. The driver is to make something that's cool and useful. Having a display in a contact lens is very useful."
Parviz argues that ironically, the current display sizes in mobile computers and phones hinder rather than help miniaturisation. "The display size is one of the main reasons that laptops, cellphones, PDAs, etc are not smaller today. If we move the display to a contact lens, we can significantly remove the physical constraints on mobile devices."
So far, he's shown that high-performance circuitry including microLEDs can be incorporated on to transparent, thin, flexible plastic substrates. The circuits involve making metal layers a few nanometres thick linked to LEDs that are about one third of a millimetre across. A microfabrication technique known as self-assembly relies on capillary effects to bring together pre-shaped pieces of circuit.
The prototype contact lens - which will eventually contain LEDs - has yet to be powered up. That key step, says Parviz, is several months off. "We're looking at two different ways to transmit power. One is radio frequency power transmission. We need antennae on these contact lenses anyway because we need to transmit data to them. The other way we're looking at right now is to incorporate photovoltaic [solar] cells."
Power isn't the hardest problem. A contact lens sits directly on the surface of the eye, much too close for the eye's lens to focus on. "To create the focused image we have to manipulate the light rays," says Parviz. "You can create a focused image if you use laser instead of LEDs."
If shining very low power diode lasers on to the retina seems risky, then microLEDs might be the answer. These provide diffuse light and, to make them work, Parviz might integrate an array of individual micro-lenses into the contact lens. "If the pixel [the microLED] is close enough to the micro-lens, it will generate a virtual image that could be 30cm or more away from the surface. Our eyes can focus on this now."
Babak Parviz wears contact lenses. But he's not yet using the new contact lenses... more
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Hello. My name is Joey DeRuy. I'm from the states but was raised in Kenya Africa as well. I have always felt like I identified with child stars for the amount of attention I could get from people by simply walking down the street and being a different race then the Africans. Sometimes groups would form making it hard to get about the village, up to 20 to 50 adults and children alike. All wanting to touch me to see if the white could rub off on to their skin and if they could make me black with their skin. As sweet as that gesture was in my memory it only makes me think of them and the desire they had there for knowledge, and the opportunity for more culture. So I reflect in these times and the desire in the air for the unknown. As a professional artist I'm happy for the full time work I get in this new era but I still find that there it can be more. If I'm called a talented Illustrator / artist and feel underexposed or disconnected to the entertainment then what. Do I stretch my hand out to see if creativity just rubs off on to each other like my childhood or is creativity simply a part of who we are ? How we are born ? Although you can google my name " Joey DeRuy " I believe it's a shame that the era that Andy Warhol created somehow died with him. He truly bridged the ability to give himself the artist and illustrator the recognition he deserved . If you are a model, musician, actor, or athlete and perform a job well done and receive good work you are expected to go on a media tour and people become familiar with you, your name, and how your latest creation will entertain the world . So why not with artist and illustrators? You can go onto say an evening late night show to talk up your inspiration and show a picture of a painting in the same manor that you would say a movie clip. Hopefully peaking an interest in creativity and the arts the way you would with any other form of entertainment. Some may say that this will devalue the arts. But to give a sneak peak is all anyone ever dose in a television program as you could never get to any true depth in just one hour. And what about a four time academy award winner. They have a craft and are not lesser for their interviews. For us to glamorize knowledge and art for the intelligence it takes to put in to a vision. Do we not live in a world of media? How will the younger generation know? Through the same schools that take art and music out due to budget issues? Is it acceptable to look up to Picasso in an MTV generation? Giving more attention to all of the arts not only generating more work for painters in a slum economy but allowing it to be cool and have kids aspire to be more then a rapper or naked dancer in a video . Or is knowledge as rare to find these days because it too is just not a priority.Hello. My name is Joey DeRuy. I'm from the states but was raised in Kenya Africa... more
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jderuy
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added this
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4 years ago
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