Science and research

Spray-on battery makes power paintable

Brainiacs at Rice University today debuted a spray-on lithium ion battery that they say could be applied to nearly any surface. You read that right -- a paintable battery.

The paint contains layers, each representing a necessary component of a conventional battery -- current collectors made in part from purified single-wall carbon nanotubes, a cathode, an anode, and a polymer separator -- as described in a report published today in Nature authored by Rice graduate student Neelam Singh and her team. Spraying the painted battery is a multilayer process, but when you're done, you have a covered surface that stores energy and discharges it when needed -- that is, a battery. … Read more

Brrzzzt! U.S. Army checks out laser-based lightning tech

Earlier this spring, the U.S. Army revealed the existence of a project underway to build a device that could shoot lightning bolts down laser beams to take out a target. Now the military's boffins report success in their first tests.

The technology -- known as laser-induced plasma channel -- is designed to seek out targets that conduct electricity better than the air or ground that surrounds them.

Although scientists and engineers working on the weapon's development expressed confidence in the physics behind their work, George Fischer, who is the lead scientist on the project, nonetheless cautioned about the technical challenges still ahead. … Read more

Brain scans may detect autism in babies and toddlers

Two separate studies published this month indicate that it may be possible to use brain imaging techniques to reliably detect autism in children as young as 6 months of age.

In the first study, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, researchers from across North America working on the larger and ongoing Infant Brain Imaging Study used a type of MRI called diffusion tensor imaging to study 92 6-month-olds deemed high risk because their older siblings had been diagnosed with autism.

What they found is that the organization of white matter in the brain plays a key role. Specifically, they … Read more

Intel showcases futuristic technology

Who doesn't love hypothesizing about our future flying cars or robotic housemaids? Or better yet, seeing an actual demo.

Tuesday's Research@Intel event trotted out the technology we might be using in the next 15 years. Like headlights that adapt to weather conditions. Ever notice that when it's raining, you can't see for toffee? Smart headlights use a high-speed camera and processor to predict the raindrop's location and then turn off the light in that precise spot so instead of seeing a reflection, you can see through the rain. As a San Franciscan, I was … Read more

Scientists release first 'cinematic MRI' of live birth

Let's get one thing straight up front: the term "cinematic" does not in this instance mean it's time to order up some popcorn. There's no color, no dramatic score, no super slow-mo to announce the climax. This is gritty black-and-white footage of a woman giving birth.

But don't let the grit fool you into thinking it's low tech. The world's first birth in an MRI machine was announced by scientists at Charite University Hospital in Berlin back in December 2010, and they're only now releasing the 25-second video, which was made … Read more

Google scientists find evidence of machine learning

Google scientists working in the company's secretive X Labs have made great strides in using computers to simulate the human brain.

Best known for inventing self-driving cars and augmented-reality eyewear, the lab created a neural network for machine learning by connecting 16,000 computer processors and then unleashed it on the Internet. Along the way, the network taught itself to recognize cats.

While the act of finding cats on the Internet doesn't sound all that challenging, the network's performance exceeded researchers' expectations, doubling its accuracy rate in identifying objects from a list of 20,000 items, according … Read more

Professor to 'hack' into Stephen Hawking's brain

There are several things I find hard to understand. Tennis' Williams sisters, for example. Or why diesel prices can be $1 a gallon different a mere five miles apart.

The things that go around Stephen Hawking's highly sophisticated brain, I wouldn't even try to fathom.

However, scientists at Stanford, led by Dr. Phillip Low (who is also CEO of Neurovigil), are working with him in order to access his brainwaves directly.

The tool they are using they call iBrain. It is designed to take brainwaves and have them be communicated on a computer. It consists of a black … Read more

3D computer model helps screen millions of chemo drugs

Researchers have long used still images of proteins known to be related to recurring cancers in an attempt to understand exactly why these proteins make some chemotherapies fail.

Now, biochemists at Southern Methodist University are using a 3D computer model of the human protein P-glycoprotein -- believed to play a pivotal role in the failure of chemotherapy in many recurring cancers -- to screen more than 8 million potential drug compounds in the hunt for one that will help stop this failure.

"This has been a good proof-of-principle," biochemist John G. Wise said in a school news release. &… Read more

Nick Bilton gave me a case of the (e-book) blues

The fog has lifted making for a gorgeous day in San Francisco. Thank you Nick Bilton for screwing it all up for me.

Actually, Bilton wrote a terrific piece today in The New York Times today, recounting his state of mind after frequenting a clutch of bookstores during a trip to Manhattan. It also left me feeling low as I nodded in agreement as he recounted the bittersweet price Kindle (and other digital) converts are paying perhaps without realizing the cost.

So I went inside, pushing open the large wooden door, which creaked like a prop borrowed from a horror-movie … Read more