| That Alien MessageImagine a world much like this one, in which, thanks to gene-selection technologies, the average IQ is 140 (on our scale). Potential Einsteins are one-in-a-thousand, not one-in-a-million; and they grow up in a school system suited, if not to them personally, then at least to bright kids. Calculus is routinely taught in sixth grade. Albert Einstein, himself, still lived and still made approximately the same discoveries, but his work no longer seems exceptional. |
| Full Size Neo-Bladders Do Well in Animal ModelsTengion, a company out of East Norriton, PA, has successfully grown full size replacement bladders in large mammal models, helping pave the way for the company to receive FDA clearance to initiate clinical trials on humans in 2009. |
| A New Way to Treat ObesityResearchers believe that they might be able to combat obesity by blocking a nerve that helps regulate digestion. |
| Get Smarter: 12 Hacks That Will Amp Up Your BrainpowerYour IQ is basically hardwired. Still, there are lots of ways to get smarter — to max out your so-called functional intelligence. Think of it as a software upgrade. Our guide to better brainpower shows you how to boost your memory, sharpen your concentration skills, and even pop the right combination of drugs and supplements. Start download now. |
| It's Better To Go Hungry Than Go Running, Mouse Study SuggestsA study investigating aging in mice has found that hormonal changes that occur when mice eat significantly less may help explain an already established phenomenon: a low calorie diet can extend the lifespan of rodents, a benefit that even regular exercise does not achieve. |
| My experiment with smart drugsIt was, they said, Viagra for the brain. It was originally designed for narcoleptics in the seventies, but clinical trials had stumbled across something odd: if you give it to non-narcoleptics, they just become smarter. Their memory and concentration improves considerably, and so does their IQ. |
| Robotic JellyfishTwo kinds have been invented: one type that swims in water and one (shown in the video) that swims in air, via a small helium bladder. The parallels in their motions -- clearly visible in the video -- feel so organic that we immediately assign them life-like adjectives. |
| What's in Your Genes? You Don't Want to Know -- Yet.The primary caution about genetic testing has usually been that you will learn that you are destined to develop some dreadful disease (such as Huntington's disease) for which there is no known therapy. A positive test only allows you to start worrying about your demise earlier. Do you really want to know? |
| Bots that play Pocker online for moneyWell, I'm here to tell you that online poker bots are 100% real, and I know this because I've built one. And if I can build one, well. Anybody can build one. |
| Discovery Of New Cancer GeneThe gene and its protein, both called RBM3, are vital for cell division in normal cells. In cancers, low oxygen levels in the tumors cause the amount of this protein to go up dramatically. This causes cancer cells to divide uncontrollably, leading to increased tumor formation. |
| NASA's new supercomputer aims for 10 PFLOPS by 2012SGI and Intel Corp. are teaming up to build a supercomputer for NASA that they expect will pass the PFLOPS barrier next year and hit 10 PFLOPS by 2012. A petaflop is a quadrillion floating-point operations per second. |
| Protein Folding as a GameA new game, named Foldit, turns protein folding into a competitive sport. Introductory levels teach the rules, which are the same laws of physics by which protein strands curl and twist into 3D shapes -- key for biological mysteries ranging from Alzheimer's to vaccines. |
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