Adam (shown in background) may not look like its two colleagues in the white coats, but it's starting to act like them.
(Credit: Aberystwyth University)Earlier this week, we told you about a robot that could be controlled by human thought alone. Now comes news of a bot that doesn't need to bother with any human thought at all, thank you very much. It's a "robot scientist" that researchers believe to be the first machine to independently come up with new scientific findings. Aptly, the bot is named Adam.
While we've become accustomed to robots built to repeat a given task many times over, scientists at Aberystwyth University in Wales and the U.K's University of Cambridge designed Adam to take a more human approach to scientific inquiry. And while it may not win the Nobel Prize for physics just yet, Adam appears to be doing impressively well for a young scientist, carrying out scientific research automatically, without the need for further human intervention.
As reported in the latest issue of the journal Science, Adam autonomously hypothesized that certain genes in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae code for enzymes that catalyze some of the microorganism's biochemical reactions. The yeast is noteworthy, as scientists use it to model more complex life systems.
Adam then devised experiments to test its prediction, ran the experiments using laboratory robotics, interpreted the results, and used those findings to revise its original hypothesis and test it out further. The researchers used their own separate experiments to confirm that Adam's hypotheses were both novel and correct--all the while probably wondering how soon they'd become obsolete.
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Add a black light and the cat glows red.
(Credit: Gyeongsang National University)This may be the fluffiest, freakiest thing since Alba, the green fluorescent bunny from artist Eduardo Kac.
South Korean scientists tinkering with fluorescence protein genes say they have bred white Turkish Angora cats to glow red under ultraviolet light.
The pair of cats cloned from a mother's altered skin cell are nearly a year old. The researchers told the AFP that their work could help unravel mysteries of some 250 genetic diseases suffered by both humans and cats. The findings also could be used to clone endangered tigers, leopards, and other animals, the report said.
However, it's unlikely that such psychedelic-looking cats would come to pet stores anytime soon. Debates about the ethics and safety of concocting cloned and transgenic animals continue to rage.
Genetic Savings & Clone, which charged between $32,000 to $50,000 for cloning cats, shut shop last year. But Spot's or Mittens' genes can be banked in a cryogenic chamber for $1,500, and hypoallergenic kittens cost between $6,000 and $28,000.
GloFish glow, too.
(Credit: GloFish)California officials in 2004 banned the sale of GloFish, the world's first transgenic pet.
British scientists injected jellyfish genes into chickens and pigs to make them glow several years ago. Last year, Taiwanese scientists said they also spawned glow-in-the-dark pigs.
The cat experiment took place at Gyeongsang National University with funding from the Korean government.
Perhaps the biggest cloning story to hail from South Korea was the revelation in 2005 that a prominent doctor had faked a breakthrough in cloning humans.
(Via miguel23)
(Credit:
DNA 11)
Earlier this morning, fellow Craver Erica Ogg talked about how DNA-related gifts are all the rage this holiday season. Well, here's another option for genetics aficionados. A company called DNA 11 has several options for turning your biological fingerprint (or your physical fingerprint) into visually-pleasing artwork. Here's their gift-giving M.O.: you pay for the artwork before the fact, and then give a DNA collection kit to your favorite Watson & Crick fan for his or her winter holiday of choice. The recipient completes the instructions for a DNA sample, sends it back to the company, and in due time receives some pretty genetic art.
(Credit:
DNA 11)
I saw an example of DNA 11's work at the Wired Store in NYC a few weeks back. It's pretty darn cool. In fact, CNET Reviews named DNA 11's "Glowframe" (see green thing at right) to be one of the ultimate luxury gifts of the '06 holidays.
Some of you might still find the DNA Participation Kit that Erica wrote about to be more appealing than cool pictures of stylized gene sequences. But a selection from DNA 11 might be a good pick for those of you for whom aesthetics are more important than cold hard facts, or if you don't want to assume the risk of learning that you might be related to Hitler, Caligula, or Ron Jeremy.
You say you want an all-in-one device? Be careful what you ask for. Samsung has created something that looks like it would have been created by Dr. Frankenstein if he were a computing engineer instead of a nut job with a lab.
Where to begin: The SPH-P9000 is part PC (Windows XP, 1GHz Transmeta processor, 30GB hard drive), part multimedia player (5-inch screen, MP3, video on demand), part PDA (QWERTY keyboard, WiMax) and part smart phone, without the phone part (1.3-megapixel camera, CDMA, Bluetooth). And it all folds up into a 5.6- by 3.7-inch case that's just over an inch thick.
No pricing has been released on this mutant, which is heading for the Korean market. But even if it reaches the states, we won't be getting one--too scared that it might unfold itself and come to life.
(Photo: Samsung Electronics)
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