November 27, 2007

• Kovio reveals new printing technology to create inorganic transistors which could lead to ultracheap smart card
  Smart card
  A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card , is any pocket-sized card with embedded integrated circuits. A smart card or microprocessor cards contain volatile memory and microprocessor components. The card is made of plastic, generally polyvinyl chloride, but sometimes acrylonitrile...
  
  s and RFID tags. (TechnologyReview.com)

November 21, 2007

• A new class of white dwarf
  White dwarf
  A white dwarf, also called a degenerate dwarf, is a small star composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. They are very dense; a white dwarf's mass is comparable to that of the Sun and its volume is comparable to that of the Earth. Its faint luminosity comes from the emission of stored...
  
   star
  Star
  A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...
  
  s is discovered in the data of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
  Sloan Digital Sky Survey
  The Sloan Digital Sky Survey or SDSS is a major multi-filter imaging and spectroscopic redshift survey using a dedicated 2.5-m wide-angle optical telescope at Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico, United States. The project was named after the Alfred P...
  
  . These stars are heavy enough to burn or expel all helium
  Helium
  Helium is the chemical element with atomic number 2 and an atomic weight of 4.002602, which is represented by the symbol He. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas that heads the noble gas group in the periodic table...
  
   in their final life cycle and thus have a pure carbon
  Carbon
  Carbon is the chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalent—making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds...
  
   surface and atmosphere. (SpaceRef.com)

November 20, 2007

• Two independent groups of researchers announce the creation of cell
  Cell (biology)
  The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all known living organisms. It is the smallest unit of life that is classified as a living thing, and is often called the building block of life. The Alberts text discusses how the "cellular building blocks" move to shape developing embryos....
  
  s behaving like embryonic stem cell
  Embryonic stem cell
  Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of the blastocyst, an early-stage embryo. Human embryos reach the blastocyst stage 4–5 days post fertilization, at which time they consist of 50–150 cells...
  
  s from human
  Human
  Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
  
   skin
  Skin
  -Dermis:The dermis is the layer of skin beneath the epidermis that consists of connective tissue and cushions the body from stress and strain. The dermis is tightly connected to the epidermis by a basement membrane. It also harbors many Mechanoreceptors that provide the sense of touch and heat...
  
   cells. The technique uses a retrovirus
  Retrovirus
  A retrovirus is an RNA virus that is duplicated in a host cell using the reverse transcriptase enzyme to produce DNA from its RNA genome. The DNA is then incorporated into the host's genome by an integrase enzyme. The virus thereafter replicates as part of the host cell's DNA...
  
   to inject gene
  Gene
  A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...
  
  s into the developed cell. (Reuters)

November 15, 2007

• The Centers for Disease Control publish an appeal to monitor a new strain of adenovirus
  Adenoviridae
  Adenoviruses are medium-sized , nonenveloped icosahedral viruses composed of a nucleocapsid and a double-stranded linear DNA genome...
  
   in the United States
  United States
  The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
  
  , concerned by the possible "emergence of a new and virulent Ad14 (adenovirus 14) variant." (Reuters)

November 14, 2007

• US
  United States
  The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
  
   researchers report in Nature
  Nature (journal)
  Nature, first published on 4 November 1869, is ranked the world's most cited interdisciplinary scientific journal by the Science Edition of the 2010 Journal Citation Reports...
  
  the successful creation of a cloned
  Cloning
  Cloning in biology is the process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as bacteria, insects or plants reproduce asexually. Cloning in biotechnology refers to processes used to create copies of DNA fragments , cells , or...
  
   embryo
  Embryo
  An embryo is a multicellular diploid eukaryote in its earliest stage of development, from the time of first cell division until birth, hatching, or germination...
  
   from a skin cell of a monkey
  Monkey
  A monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...
  
  , and extraction of embryonic stem cell
  Embryonic stem cell
  Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of the blastocyst, an early-stage embryo. Human embryos reach the blastocyst stage 4–5 days post fertilization, at which time they consist of 50–150 cells...
  
  s. (Reuters)

November 13, 2007

• The fossil
  Fossil
  Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
  
   of a new prehistoric great ape species, named Nakalipithecus nakayamai
  Nakalipithecus nakayamai
  Nakalipithecus nakayamai is a prehistoric great ape species that lived in today's Kenya region early in the Late Miocene, 10 million years ago . It is the type species of the new genus Nakalipithecus...
  
  , is discovered in Kenya
  Kenya
  Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
  
  . (BBCNews)

November 10, 2007

• The Minor Planet Center
  Minor Planet Center
  The Minor Planet Center operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory , which is part of the Center for Astrophysics along with the Harvard College Observatory ....
  
   discovers a threatening
  Torino Scale
  The Torino Scale is a method for categorizing the impact hazard associated with near-Earth objects such as asteroids and comets.It is intended as a communication tool for astronomers and the public to assess the seriousness of collision predictions, by combining probability statistics and known...
  
   asteroid
  Asteroid
  Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
  
  , designated 2007 VN84, but later retracts its announcement when the object is recognized as the Rosetta
  Rosetta (spacecraft)
  Rosetta is a robotic spacecraft of the European Space Agency on a mission to study the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Rosetta consists of two main elements: the Rosetta space probe and the Philae lander. The spacecraft was launched on 2 March 2004 on an Ariane 5 rocket and will reach the comet by...
  
  spacecraft
  Spacecraft
  A spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....
  
   on it is way for a November 13 flyby with Earth
  Earth
  Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
  
  . (Skymania News)

November 7, 2007

• The mission STS-120
  STS-120
  -Crew notes:As commander of STS-120, Pamela Melroy became the second woman to command a space shuttle mission. Additionally, the Expedition 16 crew that received STS-120 was commanded by Peggy Whitson, the first female ISS commander...
  
   ends when Space Shuttle Discovery
  Space Shuttle Discovery
  Space Shuttle Discovery is one of the retired orbiters of the Space Shuttle program of NASA, the space agency of the United States, and was operational from its maiden flight, STS-41-D on August 30, 1984, until its final landing during STS-133 on March 9, 2011...
  
   lands successfully at the Kennedy Space Center
  Kennedy Space Center
  The John F. Kennedy Space Center is the NASA installation that has been the launch site for every United States human space flight since 1968. Although such flights are currently on hiatus, KSC continues to manage and operate unmanned rocket launch facilities for America's civilian space program...
  
   in Cape Canaveral
  Cape Canaveral
  Cape Canaveral, from the Spanish Cabo Cañaveral, is a headland in Brevard County, Florida, United States, near the center of the state's Atlantic coast. Known as Cape Kennedy from 1963 to 1973, it lies east of Merritt Island, separated from it by the Banana River.It is part of a region known as the...
  
  , Florida
  Florida
  Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
  
  . (Reuters)

November 5, 2007

• Google
  Google
  Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
  
   announces a software
  Computer software
  Computer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and related data that provide the instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it....
  
   alliance with the goal to create a standardized and open
  Open-source software
  Open-source software is computer software that is available in source code form: the source code and certain other rights normally reserved for copyright holders are provided under a software license that permits users to study, change, improve and at times also to distribute the software.Open...
  
   platform for mobile phone
  Mobile phone
  A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
  
  s. In contrast to earlier speculations, it does not announce a Google branded device (gPhone). (BBCNews)

November 3, 2007

• Astronaut
  Astronaut
  An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
  
   Scott Parazynski
  Scott E. Parazynski
  Scott Edward Parazynski, M.D. is an American physician and a former NASA astronaut. A veteran of five Space Shuttle flights and seven spacewalks, Parazynski's latest mission was STS-120 in October, 2007 --- highlighted by a dramatic, unplanned EVA to repair a live solar array...
  
  , with the help of other member of STS-120
  STS-120
  -Crew notes:As commander of STS-120, Pamela Melroy became the second woman to command a space shuttle mission. Additionally, the Expedition 16 crew that received STS-120 was commanded by Peggy Whitson, the first female ISS commander...
  
   and NASA
  NASA
  The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
  
   ground controllers, succeeds in fixing a torn solar panel on the International Space Station
  International Space Station
  The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
  
  . The procedure was needed to assure enough power
  Electric power
  Electric power is the rate at which electric energy is transferred by an electric circuit. The SI unit of power is the watt.-Circuits:Electric power, like mechanical power, is represented by the letter P in electrical equations...
  
  capacity for future expansions of the station. (BBCNews)