Fat that makes you Thin

Researchers have discovered that "brown" fat helps to keep you thin, by turning the energy obtained from food into heat and burning up calories without physical exertion. 50g of brown fat burns 500 calories per day.

The more brown fat a person has, the thinner they are. Unfortunately, brown fat seems to dwindle with age, making us prone to gaining weight the older we get.

Experiments are being done in which white fat is extracted via liposuction, converted to brown fat by being treated with BMP-7 and then reimplanted into the original donor.

Other methods of increasing brown fat involve turning on the command gene that switches cells into brown fat as they develop.

One Size Fits All Battery from AA-D

The AtoD rechargeable battery is an innovative battery that solves a problem is a very simple way. With this battery, you only need one size, and it will fit in most gadgets that require batteries of any size from AA to D.
How does it accomplish this feat? Simple: It’s made from memory form, so it squishes to the required size.

Software Increases Security For Computer Screens

A Baltimore company, Oculis, has developed a program that tracks an authorized reader's eyes to show only them the correct text. Anyone else looking at the screen will see only scrambled letters.
Chameleon is a combination of gaze-tracking software and camera equipment that, apparently, takes just 15 seconds to learn a subject’s screen-viewing patterns. After that, only the sweet spot on which your eyes are resting will be legible. Everyone else will see dummy text that constantly and randomly changes.

Drug rescues memory lost to Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer’s disease is a brain disorder named for German physician Alois Alzheimer, who first described it in 1906.

Just like the rest of our bodies, our brains change as we age. Most of us notice some slowed thinking and occasional problems remembering certain things. However, serious memory loss, confusion and other major changes in the way our minds work are not a normal part of aging. They may be a sign that brain cells are failing and this is called Alzheimer's Disease.
UC Irvine scientists have discovered a drug that offers hope that a new treatment may be on the horizon for people in the early stages of Alzheimer's. The drug, called PMX205, prevented inflamed immune cells from gathering in brain regions with Alzheimer's lesions. Cell inflammation in these areas accelerates neuron damage, exacerbating the disease.
Scientists gave treated mice learning and memory tests and then examined their brains for evidence of the disease. Alzheimer's mice that were not given the drug performed significantly worse on the test than normal mice. But - in all but one case - the treated Alzheimer's mice performed almost as well as the normal mice. Those with the rescued cognitive ability had more than 50 percent fewer Alzheimer's lesions and inflammatory immune cells than the untreated diseased mice.

Drugs That Block Blood Vessel Growth May Help Obesity

Zafgen, a biopharmaceutical startup based in Cambridge, MA, is attacking obesity the way that cancer researchers have been attacking tumors for decades: using drugs that interfere with its blood supply.
The fat cells that make up adipose tissue can't grow without blood vessels to nourish them. Zafgen, a startup based in Cambridge, MA, is developing obesity drugs that starve fat tissue by blocking blood-vessel proliferation. These drugs, which were originally designed to halt tumor growth, cause dramatic weight loss in obese mice.

Solar-Powered Jaguar

The “Jaguar Mark XXI” was designed by designer Christopher Pollard usesolar panels to generate power. When parked, the black solar panels activate. These panels are photovoltaic, lift from the car automatically, and face and followthe sun.
The “living” panels signify “the synergy between the car’s energy replenishing function and the natural science from which it takes its inspiration.” The photovoltaic panels use solar power to power the car.

Sending Smells Over the Net

The i-Aroma is loaded with 6 base oils and attached to a PC via USB cable. The user connects the PC to the Internet and special courses designed by astrologist Ryuji Kagami or aroma therapist Kaoru Sasak will determine what scents are mixed by the device and released into the air. A remote control on the i-Aroma can be used to dispense stored, favorite smells when not connected to a PC.

Forest Fire Defence Helicopter

One of the ways to contain wildfires is starting controlled burn operations that minimize the risk of major wildfire events. The Thirst.D Helicopter is proposed to be a part of the first privatized wildfire fighting force.
The Thirst.D carries out controlled burn operations that minimize the risk of major wildfire events. These burns also help to maintain a balanced ecology. When wildfires do threaten these points Thirst.Ds are called in to create back burns and put down control lines with fire blocking gel.

Needle-Free Injector

The FDA issued approval for Antares Pharma's (Ewing, New Jersey) needle-free injection device for use with human growth hormone. The device will be marketed under the name Tev-Tropin Tjet Injector system.
This reusable needle-free injector can deliver precise medication doses through high-speed, pressurized liquid penetration of the skin without a needle. These reusable, variable-dose devices are engineered to last for a minimum of two years and are designed for easy use, facilitating self-injection with a disposable plastic needle-free syringe to assure safety and efficacy.

Open Smoking Booth

This “bubble” of self contained smoke air is filtered and fresh air is released. It’s modern and sleek with a circular arm stand on the base embedded into the floor. A cylindrical glass ash bin with a metal top stands in the middle.
When this system starts, the smoke is filtered by the arm top where low-pressure air is generated. The “air wall” (a transition between low air pressure and high air pressure) keeps the smoke within it. Then the purified fresh air is sent out to the center of the booth from the lower part of the arm.
Travelers can walk conveniently in and out of the smoking space which is created by this invisible spherical “air wall”.

Solar Hybrid Yacht

Code X's solar hybrid yachtcruises at 9 knots using a fully solar electric drive. It will also use fossil fuel for the twin Ilmor Marine V-10 Formula One engines and unleash 1420 horsepower.
Two electric engines draw power from the bank of lithium-ion batteries that are charged through the large solar panels that extend along the front of the boat - and this is good enough for a nine knot cruise.

iPhone 3G S Upgrade Eligibility Update

After much thought and many complaints from AT&T customers, AT&T has gone ahead and changed the eligibility for their best upgrade pricing to the iPhone 3G S. When the iPhone 3G S eligibility rules were released, current iPhone 3G customers were taken back and began complaining against the upgrade prices of $399 and $499. Customers who previously would not have become upgrade eligible until July, August, or September of this year, will now qualify for AT&T’s lowest upgrade pricing starting tomorrow, making them eligible to purchase the iPhone 3G S at $199 (16GB) and $299 (32GB).

We’re now pleased to offer our iPhone 3G customers who are upgrade eligible in July, August or September 2009 our best upgrade pricing, beginning Thursday, June 18.

The updated eligibilty tools will reflect this change on June 18th. If you’ve already pre-ordered an iPhone 3G S, the price of the device will be adjusted when picked up, or credit will be given for the difference in price. If you still aren’t eligible for our best upgrade pricing and you still want iPhone 3G S now, you do have options:

* You may qualify for the iPhone 3G S early upgrade price of $399 (16GB) or $499 (32GB).
* You can pay full retail—and not have to sign a 2-year contract—at $599 (16GB) or $699 (32GB).

Users can check their upgrade eligibility status by visiting AT&T’s iPhone page, calling *NEW# on their AT&T handset, or visiting any AT&T store. Remember, the new pricing will not appear in the eligibility tools listed until Thursday, June 18th.

So will these changes encourage you to go buy an iPhone 3G S. Do you plan on waiting in the lines this Friday or will you wait for the crowds to die down?

Hybrid Scooter That Runs on Anything That Burns

The multimillionaire inventor behind the Segway personal transporter is developing of a new bike that combines electric power and a radical generator which will allow it to burn almost any fuel.
Built around a fairly conventional battery and electric motor combination to provide the drive to the wheel, something experience with the Segway makes relatively easy, the radical part of the design is the inclusion of a Stirling engine to recharge the bike's battery pack.
Based on technology that pre-dates the internal combustion engine by nearly a century, the Stirling engine is closer in concept to a steam engine, using external combustion, and without the need for a fuel that can be injected and burned incredibly fast inside a normal engine's combustion chamber, it can run on virtually anything that burns – opening the door to easily renewable fuels rather than relying on dwindling fossil fuel supplies.

Portable, Inkless Printer

Dell has released a photo printer that uses a technology called Zero-ink. Dell’s Wasabi PZ310 Ultramobile Photo Printer holds up to 12 sheets of adhesive-backed ZINK Paper, and can connect to a digital camera via PictBridge or wirelessly to a camera phone or computer via Bluetooth.

ZINK Zero-ink technology replaces the hassles and expense of ink or toner with paper that is embedded with cyan, yellow and magenta dye crystals. These crystals respond to targeted heat pulses of specific duration to form all the colors of the rainbow and produce prints that are long-lasting, smudge-proof, water-resistant, tear-proof and fade-resistant.

'Waterless' Washing Machine

A washing machine that cuts water usage by 90% is due to hit American shores next year. The Xeros washing machine, which takes its name from the Greek word for “dry”, cleans clothes using reusable nylon polymer beads with an inherent polarity that attracts stains.

The beads are added to the wash along with as little as a cup of water and a drop of detergent. After the water dissolves the stains, the beads, which become absorbent under humid conditions, soak up the water along with the dirt. The dirt is not just attracted to the surface, but is absorbed into the center of the beads.

The Intelligent Hose

The Measuring Consumption water sprayer displays how much water is consumed during your watering/washing activities. This knowledge can help you save water consumption because you will know when and where you are using the most water.

Metromorph - The Car That Hangs Out of Your Window

The Metromorph hangs outside of a high-rise window. At the push of a button, it gently glides down to the ground level. When it touches ground it transforms into a car.
The Peugeot Metromorph is powered by two in wheel motors placed in the back. There are two battery cases on the back as well. The seats are held by rotating arms which keep the seat level when the vehicle goes vertical or horizontal. When the vehicle is a balcony the seats are placed on a rolling base which enables them to become lounge chairs thus freeing up the interior of the car to make it a balcony. The interior is also left fairly hollow to accommodate the balcony mode.

Atrificial Heart Inspired by Cockroaches

Cockroaches have multi-chambered hearts shaped like tubes that are much more resistant to failure than human hearts. The chambers are organized sequentially, each one pushing blood into the next, until the ideal output pressure is reached in the last chamber. Due to this setup, a single chamber failure in a cockroach heart is not cataclysmic to the organ; It can continue beating, but with less efficiency.
A team of biomedical engineers out of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (IITK), have developed a new artificial heart, modeled after this muti-chamber idea. But instead of shaping the heart as a tube, they've created the chambers in a series of concentric spheres like an onion.

Airless Tire

A new airless tire using a flexible, honeycomb-like internal structure could again prove to be a disruptive technology in one of the world’s largest industries. With development funded by the U.S. DoD, the initial aim of the project was to replace the Achilles heel of the military vehicle, but now the technology looks like going commercial for the rest of us.
The patent-pending Resilient design relies on a precise pattern of six-sided cells that are arranged, like a honeycomb, in a way that best mimics the "ride feel" of pneumatic tires. The honeycomb geometry also does a great job of reducing noise levels and reducing heat generated during usage - two common problems with past applications.

Citrus-Powered Car

The Stauro Concept is an innovative idea that looks at alternative source of fuel in a much more creative way than most.
The Stauro has a 700 horsepower engine that runs on a citrus based fuel and burns almost completely clean. The Stauro will also have as many recycled materials as feasibly possible. The shell will be 100% recycled aluminum, while the body panels will be constructed using a new kind of resin that is mixed using up to 40% recycled materials.
The Stauro is still in the design phase, but could enter production without too much trouble.

Energy Bracelet Recharges Phones

Dyson Energy Bracelet is a gadget that uses the Seebeck effect to harness energy and power mobile phones. The thermoelectric effect is the direct conversion of temperature differences to electric voltage.
Thanks to the Seebeck effect, the temperature difference between the surface which touch the skin and the other which is in the ambient air allows to produce electricity that is stocked in a battery. When the user needs to recharge a mobile device, he plugs it into the Dyson Energy through a micro-USB port and can have some additional minutes in use.

The World's Fastest Cars

Gas prices are up. The economy is down. For some, neither matters--all they want is to be able to drive faster than anyone else on the road, whatever the cost.

And the cars that can deliver that promise are built solely for speed. They're not the kinds of cars that are particularly good for anything else, such as dropping off the kids at school (unless they're running exceptionally late that day) or picking up a carton of milk on the way home from work.

These cars reach obscene speeds in mere seconds, the same amount of time that normal cars need just to warm up. Just ask Tom duPont, publisher of duPont Registry, a gallery of fine automobiles.

"A Bugatti test driver took a $100 bill and plastered it on the dashboard," recalls duPont, who was invited to strap into the passenger seat for a demonstration drive. "He told me I could have it if I could grab it once we took off."

The French-made Bugatti Veyron races from 0 to 60 mph in 2.5 seconds and effortlessly cruises to a top speed of 253 mph. Most probably can't imagine what that feels like, but duPont learned firsthand.

"The car accelerates so fast that you can't touch [the $100 bill]," he said. "You can't move your hands.”

Rescue Reel Escape Device

The Rescue Reel is a compact, self-contained device designed to allow people to escape from high-rise buildings in an emergency. The design features a simple sling harness and enough cord to descend from a 100 story building, yet the device is small enough to be stored in a standard filing cabinet drawer.
The user first attaches the Kevlar cord to a secure object (such as a door frame) and then steps into the one-size-fits-all harness before rappelling through an open window to the ground.
The device is also equipped with a dynamic braking system which automatically applies a centrifugal brake to slow the person’s descent.

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Inflatable Tower Could Reach the Edge of Space

Researchers say that a giant inflatable tower could carry people to the edge of space without the need for a rocket, and could be completed much sooner than a cable-based space elevator.
Inflatable pneumatic modules already used in some spacecraft could be assembled into a 15-kilometre-high tower, say Brendan Quine, Raj Seth and George Zhu at York University in Toronto, Canada.
If built from a suitable mountain top it could reach an altitude of around 20 KM, where it could be used for atmospheric research, tourism, telecoms or launching spacecraft.
The tower does a similar job as the proposed space elevator. But while the elevator envisages using ribbons woven from superstrong nanotubes - a material that is as yet non-existent - the tower would use materials that are already available.

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Controlling Heat in Large Data Centers

At the Georgia Institute of Technology, researchers are using a 1,100-square-foot simulated data center to optimize cooling strategies and develop new heat transfer models that can be used by the designers of future facilities and equipment.
The researchers believe that there exists the potential to reduce data center energy consumption by as much as 15 percent by adopting more efficient cooling techniques being developed by their lab.

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The Convertible Motorcycle-Aircraft

Samson Motorworks has developed an aircraft/motorcycle multi mode vehicle. Two dual-use Multi Mode Vehicles models are in development - the Skybike, which uses a patent pending telescoping wing design, and the Switchblade, which uses a scissor wing design to retract the wings when you swap the airway for the freeway.
The MMVs feature a canard layout, with the main wing at the back and the tailplane at the front. This design keeps the center of weight low and to the rear, reducing the potential for overturning while traveling on the ground and placing most of the lift where the majority of the weight is located, resulting in greater stability while airborne. Additionally, the canard design is also stall resistant, providing an extra level of safety. The company aims to have its designs classified as motorbikes for ground based travel.

Ferrari Testa Rossa

The Testarossa name, which, in Italian means "red head", comes from the red-painted cylinder heads on the flat-12 engine. The engine was technically a 180° V engine, since it shared flat-plane crankshaft pins with opposing cylinders. Output was 390 hp (291 kW), and the car won many comparison tests and admirers - it was featured on the cover of Road & Track magazine nine times in just five years. Almost 10,000 Testarossas, 512TRs, and 512Ms were produced, making it one of the most common Ferrari models, despite its high price and exotic design. In 1985, the Testarossa retailed for about $94,000 ($176,032 in 2006 dollars) in the United States. This included a $2,700 (i.e., $5,100) "gas-guzzler" tax.
Although successful on the road, the Testarossa did not appear on race tracks, unlike the 512BBi, which had done so with minor success.The original Testarossa was thoroughly re-engineered for 1991 and released as the 512TR, effectively a completely new car. It increased the output of the 4.9 L engine to 428 hp (319 kW).

The 512TR's engine was modified in many ways. Nikasil liners were added, along with a new air intake system, Bosch engine management system, 10.1:1 compression ratio with new pistons, larger intake valves, and a revised exhaust system. In addition to the extra power, the modifications delivered a flatter torque curve for better acceleration.

Google Wave Aims to Reinvent Email

This week Google introduced Google Wave, which one of its developers claims is "what email would look like if it were invented today."
Google Wave draws together email, instant messaging, web chatting and project management software. Users can swap a range of files from videos to documents among friends in real time. There's also the option to instant message those within a conversation window or "wave" in real time - that's to say, you see what your friends are typing as they type, rather than waiting for them to finish a sentence and post it to online.

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Electric-Powered Superbike

TTX Grand Prix founder Azhar Hussein has built a demonstrator electric superbike based around a Suzuki GSX 750 and dubbed it the TTX01. It's the first prototype of what he hopes will become a production motorcycle within a year or three.

The first green-powered Grand Prix bike has been built by the people behind the TTXGP, the world's first clean emission motorcycle race due to be held on June 12 on the Isle of Man as part of the annual TT races.

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Stem-Cell Contact Lenses Restore Sight in One Month

Researchers have restored sight in patients suffering corneal damage using a groundbreaking technique where contact lenses are cultured with stem cells.
Stem cells from the cornea stick to contact lenses - employing three patients who were blind in one eye, the researchers obtained stem cells from their healthy eyes and cultured them in extended wear contact lenses for ten days. The surfaces of the patients’ corneas were cleaned and the contact lenses inserted. Within 10 to 14 days the stem cells began to recolonize and repair the cornea.
Of the three patients, two were legally blind but can now read the big letters on an eye chart, while the third, who could previously read the top few rows of the chart, is now able to pass the vision test for a driver’s license.
The research team has applied for funds to continue the project.

BMW X Coupe Concept Car

In a surprise debut at the 2001 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, BMW unveiled its latest concept vehicle - the BMW X coupe. Dramatically different from anything that BMW has created before, the X coupe concept car challenges traditional design theory and shows a possible new direction for future BMW designs.

BMW has deliberately questioned existing preconceptions and created a vehicle that combines the sporty styling and driving characteristics of a coupe with the sense of adventure and capability that defines a Sports Activity Vehicle (SAV).Based on the four wheel drive chassis of the X5, with a body made completely from aluminium, the X coupe stands 58.3 inches high, (which is slightly taller than the 3 Series Coupé at 53.9 inches), 180.3 inches long and 73.6 inches wide. The wheelbase is identical to the X5's at 111 inches.

Under the coupe's long, one-piece bonnet is the advanced 3.0 litre BMW turbo-diesel engine, six cylinder unit used in the 530d, with state-of-the-art common rail direct injection and developing 184 bhp. The X coupe's power plant has been modified to produce 332 lb-ft. of torque. Stability at speed is enhanced by a rear spoiler beneath the bodywork. Normally flush with the vehicle's bottom rear edge, the spoiler extends downward automatically at 68 mph to generate aerodynamic downforce. Top speed is expected to be in the region of 125 mph.

A five-speed Steptronic automatic transmission takes its power to all four wheels. The driver can control the gearshift via 'paddles' on the steering wheel with the gearbox in Steptronic mode. Massive 20 inch wheels carry 225/50 tyres at the front and 285/45 at the rear adding emphasis to the coupe's assertive presence. Run flat tyres make a spare wheel and tyre unnecessary.

As a member of the BMW X family, the coupe naturally has all the traction and stability enhancing systems on board from All Season Traction (AST) for all-wheel drive, through to Dynamic Stability Control (DSC-X) and Hill Descent Control (HDC). Like the X5 the X coupe is well equipped to go off-road when required.Not content with creating body panels that look like contorted baked bean cans, BMW designers have invented a new terminology to describe the distinctive body contours – 'Flame Surfacing'. Flame Surfacing gives body surfaces the freedom to turn in on themselves and create a series of concave and convex design lines. These can be seen on the doors, the dash and on the top of the front wings where the bodywork has an unusual concave shape.

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Bike with Integrated Lock

This bike is meant to answer all those times when you have forgotten to bring a lock. In fact the bike IS a lock and is called the "Freelock".
This bike has a lock integrated into the seat post. It is made of sturdy metal and is still relatively light.

Electric Concept Car

Industrial designer Alan Kravchenko has created a concept for a compact urban commuter dubbed the Peugeot Clear.
The Clear has enough room for two at a squeeze and is laid bare by large windows that, without heavy tinting, leave just about everything going on inside open to plain view.
The design is green-friendly by way of an electric drivetrain. It incorporates hydrogen and oxygen fuel tanks positioned so as to provide most efficiency to the wheel-mounted motors.

Completely Self-Contained, Portable Ultrasound

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just approved a handheld self-contained portable ultrasound imager with a probe.
The Signos weighs half of a pound and is the size of most smartphones. It will be available with both a 3.5MHz or a 7.5MHz transducer that can be swapped. The company promotes this device for fast paced and active medical environments such as emergency departments and rural medical clinics.
The system might come in handy as a quick initial diagnostic modality for intraabdominal processes, such as ectopics, AAAs, for carotid scans in ER in patients with ongoing TIA, as well as an assistive device for central line placements.

Nanodiamonds for Cancer Treatment

A team led by Prof. Horacio Espinosa and Assist. Prof. Dean Ho at the McCormick School of Engineering have shown that nanomaterials can shuttle chemotherapy drugs to cells without producing the negative effects of today's delivery agents.
Clusters of the nanodiamonds surround the drugs to ensure that they remain separated from healthy cells until they reach the cancer cells, where they are released.
The work was supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the V Foundation for Cancer Research and the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation and the results were recently published online in the scientific journal Small.

HIV Vaccine Turns Muscle into Antibody Factories

Nine macaques have been protected against the monkey version of HIV with a novel vaccine that sidesteps the monkey immune system. Instead, the vaccine turns monkey muscles into factories for churning out antibodies.
Researchers injected the monkeys' muscles with a harmless virus carrying genes for making immunoadhesins, antibody-like molecules pre-selected to attack SIV.
The viruses put the genes into the nuclei of muscle cells, which produce antibodies that combat HIV, potentially indefinitely.

Unbreakable Sunglasses

The Fisk sunglasses have a number of innovative elements. First, they have a completely adjustable nose bridge. Second, the hinge is made of surgical stainless steel and built with a Metal Injection Molding process which makes it essentially unbreakable.
The Global Fit nose bridge is structural nylon covered with soft, low porosity silicone. Two stainless steel pins with eccentric heads are inserted into the frame. As these pins are turned, the angle of the bridge turns in or out for a custom to-your-face fit.

New Horizons Sees Changes in Jupiter System

New Horizons' voyage through the Jupiter system in 2007 provided a bird's-eye view of a dynamic planet that has changed since the last close-up looks by NASA spacecraft. A combination of trajectory, timing and technology allowed it to explore details no probe had seen before, such as lightning near Jupiter’s poles, the life cycle of fresh ammonia clouds, boulder-size clumps speeding through the planet’s faint rings, the structure inside volcanic eruptions on its moon Io, and the path of charged particles traversing the previously unexplored length of the planet’s long magnetic tail.
New Horizons passed our solar system's largest planet on its way to Pluto, which it should reach in 2015.

Pico Mobile Projector

The KDDI pico projector is designed to work with the new KDDI iida G9 mobile phone. It can project a 480x320 image of between six and 63 inches onto a flat surface or wall up to 8.2 feet (2.5m) away.

The battery provides for up to 130 minutes of continuous viewing and can be fully charged in less than two hours.
The pico projector is made for showing off holiday video and snaps stored on the phone and measures just 50×112×18.3mm and weighs 128g.

An Anti-Smoke Alarm

This device is meant to help you avoid getting on a ladder and taking the batteries out of your smoke alarm when you accidentally set it off.
The "Smokey" hosts an XBee chip that communicates wirelessly with the smoke alarm. So when the alarm goes off, you just need to press his hand to temporarily silence it until the smoke clears.
It also works as a conventional kitchen timer.

Violin That Teaches You How To Play

The violin has a very steep learning curve, and this is an innovative instrument that has the ability to help.
Designer Carlos R. Mendez has created a violin called the Squidolin. It's an electric violin that works just like a normal violin, except that you can also connect it to a television set and it will tutor you through a series of lessons via it's built-in software.

Air-powered Battery

Researchers at Scotland's University of St. Andrews are reporting great progress in their work on the air-powered battery, which is being designed to replace the lithium cobalt oxide electrode in the fuel cell.
The "STAIR" (St. Andrews Air) battery will run on all renewable sources, including solar, wind, and oxygen.
Within the next five years we could see electric cars that can run far longer on one charge than on a tank or two of gas. Your computer and cell phone batteries could last for several days without charging... while they are in use.