Three U.S. geneticists claim a 2009 Nobel Prize for discovering the genetic code of cell aging

The announcement comes as researchers race to develop anti-aging medicine or technology that can make humans immortal. PopSci recently covered the Singularity Summit 2009 where none other than visionary Ray Kurzweil spoke of a future when a computer could simulate the human brain.

Merging humans with artificial intelligence remains some ways off, but there's also plenty of focus on extending the natural human lifespan. The latest Nobel Prize winners helped illuminate the aging process by discovering the repetitive genetic sequences on the ends of chromosomes known as telomeres. The telomeres serve as protective caps that gradually shorten as genetic material is copied many times over during cell division -- a process that parallels human aging, even if other factors also come into play.

The researchers who will receive this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and share $1.4 million are: Elizabeth Blackburn, a biologist at the University of California in San Francisco; Carol Greider, a molecular biologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore; and Jack Szostak, a geneticist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. This is the first time that the Nobel Prize in medicine has gone to more than one woman in a single year.

Scientific American notes that the prize-winning work has proven invaluable in studies of aging, cancer and stem cells. The researchers also showed the existence of telomerase, the "immortality enzyme" behind the formation of telomeres.

Scientists have since begun investigating possible anti-aging factors, such as a compound known as resveratrol that's found in red wine. That chemical activates proteins called sirtuins that boost the body's defenses against common diseases of aging, as part of a process that typically helps humans survive famines. The New York Times recently reported that Sirtris Pharmaceuticals has begun developing a drug that can activate sirtuins and hopefully mimic the life extension seen in lab rats, who lived up to 40 percent longer on a famine-style diet.

A different study in the journal Science found how to mimic the famine-style benefits of longer life and better health in mice, when researchers disabled a certain gene in a biochemical signaling pathway. Technology Review explains that the pathway typically helps guide the body's response to food, and may now serve as a target for future drugs.

People may also continue to live longer even without radical new technologies. A study in the medical journal The Lancet suggests that more than half of babies born in wealthy nations will live to 100 years, according to an Agence France-Presse report. That assumes the current rise in life expectancy continues, but still falls short of one controversial theorist's prediction that the average human lifespan could reach 5,000 years within the next century.

Researchers manipulate a certain brain wave to slow down voluntary movement in humans

A group of 14 volunteers received brain stimulation as they tried to manipulate the position of a spot on a computer screen with a joystick. That stimulation led to a 10 percent drop in execution of the computer task.

The electrical current used in this study specifically boosted normal beta activity that has links to sustained muscle activities, such as holding a book. Such beta activity typically drops off before people make a move.

"At last we have some direct experimental proof that brain waves influence behavior in humans, in this case how fast a movement is performed," said Peter Brown, a neuroscientist at the University College London in the UK. "The implication is that it is not just how active brain cells are that is important, but also how they couple their activity into patterns like beta activity."

The latest study differs from previous work by using an oscillating current that more closely mimics normal brain waves, as opposed to constant brain stimulation found in other studies. Still, Brown and his colleagues had not expected such a relatively small electric current to have such noticeable effect on participant behavior -- the first interventional proof of a cause-and-effect for beta brain waves and voluntary movement.

Scientists have recently deployed a vast array of technologies to probe, poke and manipulate brains. Magnetic fields that stimulate the brain have undergone testing for treating ADHD and depression, and a laser device piped into a mouse's brain stopped Parkinson-like tremors almost instantly.

Brown's research could also help scientists better understand conditions where uncontrolled or slowed movements affect sufferers, such as in Parkinson's. But people looking to replicate Hollywood slo-mo action scenes for YouTube still may want to hold off on this approach.

A new touchless fingerprinting system is faster and more accurate than rolling your fingertips on an ink pad

The method works by beaming a series of striped lines so that they wrap around a finger. A 1.4 megapixel camera captures the lines at almost 1,000 pixels per inch, and creates a highly detailed 3-D map of the fingerprint ridges and valleys.

Technology Review reports that the new device has proved both more efficient and accurate than traditional 2-D fingerprinting. Ink fingerprinting has always been a painstaking and none-too-accurate process. Even modern scanners with glass plates often require several tries, and can take several minutes to capture prints from all 10 fingers.

This effort by University of Kentucky researchers represents one of several government-funded efforts to develop 3-D fingerprinting technology. The team hopes to eventually reducing processing time to less than 0.1 seconds, and scan all 10 fingers at all once -- a likely boon for both customs agents and the FBI in the near future.

Such fingerprinting won't necessarily help forensics teams in the field, even if law enforcement databases improve based on the new technology. But there's always more CSI-style methods waiting to lift fingerprints left behind by perps.

[via Technology Review]

A DOD-backed project would give ships a regenerating slime layer to help shed unwanted marine life

Such a novel idea tackles the problem of removing marine plants, barnacles and tube worms from ship hulls every year, lest the buildup cut into both speed and fuel efficiency. The fuel savings in particular may look especially tempting for the U.S. Department of Defense, which has backed the project and previously invested in hull-cleaning bots.

The concept takes inspiration from the long-finned pilot whale's self-cleaning skin. Rahul Ganguli of Teledyne Scientific envisions a ship's outer layer covered in metal mesh, and a regular pattern of holes beneath that exude a biosafe chemical which becomes viscous when mixed with seawater. That would create a slimy skin on top of the mesh that continually gets replaced.

Ganguli and colleagues tested the idea with a chemical mix that has seen use on oil rigs, and witnessed a 100-fold reduction in the bacterial species that form the foundation for greater fouling marine organisms. They also showed that they could control how quickly such skin sloughs off.

The technology could mean huge savings for commercial fleets and navies alike. The U.S. Office of Naval Research estimates that such biofilm buildup on Navy ships translates into $500 million annually in extra maintenance and fuel costs.

Who knows, maybe ships could even convert the slimy stuff into an anti-boarding defense against pirates.

[via New Scientist]

An unusual combat robot controlled by neural signals made its debut at Japan's Robo-One competition

The first combat robot controlled by neural signals arrived as the brainchild of Taku Ichikawa, a fourth-year student at the University of Electro-Communications in Tokyo. Its techniques for beating opponents comprise walking forward, rotating right, and using its single arm for stabbing.

Mainichi Daily News reports that Ichikawa controls the nearly 20-inch tall bipedal robot by using electrodes on his head that gauge his brain activity. The researcher originally developed the wireless control scheme for use with wheelchairs, so that users could command chairs using clear mental images. Such mental commands presumably establish a set pattern of neural signals that the electrodes detect and translate into the proper movement for chair or robot.

Novelty aside, the mind-controlled robo-gladiator can only carry out three commands such as walking forward, rotating right and using its arm to make stabbing attacks. Ichikawa tried to compensate for the control scheme's limitations by installing onboard sensors that allow the robot to automatically get up from a fall, or open its clamp-like fingertips to menace approaching enemies.

It's still a long ways from the responsive mobile suits or combat exoskeletons of science fiction, which may explain why a more conventionally controlled robot bested the competition. The combat tournament featured 32 robots fighting in 3-minute rounds, where robots that were knocked over three times were eliminated.

The ultimate robot champion featured walking and rolling capabilities along with double-fisted clamps and deployable blade-like flaps. Turning itself into a mobile walking chair for a nearby person just became the icing on the cake.

[Mainichi Daily News via DVICE]

Harvard researchers showcase new dynamic motions for the LittleDog robot

Who says you can't teach robots new tricks? In this new video, Boston Dynamics' LittleDog delicately navigates a mini-forest of cylinders like a Chinese wuxia martial artist, but also shows plenty of clumsy pratfalls in the course of its training.

LittleDog is the little sibling of the much scarier and noisier BigDog. The latter has gone on to become a robot Sherpa and mule for U.S. Army troops in the mountainous regions of Afghanistan.

The latest footage comes courtesy of Katie Byl, a robotics researcher at Harvard University whose previous exploits include beating casinos with the MIT Blackjack Team. Keep an eye out for the adorable real-life dog that gives the camera a wide-eyed passing stare.

[BotJunkie via DVICE]

Chip-on-a-shoulder sends nagging text messages to patients who fail to follow doctors' orders

Patients taking a drug for lowering blood pressure also received two additional gifts: tiny microchips within each pill and a shoulder-attached sensor patch. Mobihealthnews explained how stomach acid surrounding the ingested pills generates an electric charge, and that signals the shoulder patch.

The patch dutifully records the time and date when a patient takes each pill, so that it can give its wearer a cell phone buzz when it's time to take the next pill. Other information, such as heart rate, activity and breathing patterns, are also transmitted to the cell phone and onto the Internet -- a form of extreme patient transparency for watchful caregivers.

The Financial Times reports that the 20 guinea pig patients improved their compliance from 30 percent to 80 percent after half a year. Novartis might expand its approach by striking an exclusive deal with chip supplier Proteus Biomedical.

Medical technology has long moved toward greater monitoring capabilities, whether patients are in an operating room or out jogging on the trail. Growing numbers of smart cell phones have also permitted doctors and patients alike to gauge personal health in unprecedented ways.

Still, future patients may find it somewhat unnerving to get nagging reminders from that chip on their shoulder -- especially when they know the guys in white coats aren't far behind.

Magnet-based wind turbine tech moves forward with GE investment

Gearboxes act as the middleman to convert the slow rotations of wind turbine blades into the faster rotations needed for generators to create electricity. The downside of such gears comes from their high-maintenance requirements due to constant stress from wind turbulence.

By contrast, the turbine design of Norway's ScanWind connects the rotor shaft directly to the generator. The slower rotational speed gets offset by the presence of magnets that spin around at a larger diameter -- and hence higher speed -- to produce more current in the generator coil.

Such direct-drive generators currently cost more than gearbox turbines at installation, and represent a 15 to 20 percent heavier load. But the future payoff may come from eliminating the repair costs and downtime associated with gearboxes -- a very important consideration for offshore turbines beyond easy reach.

GE's acquisition of ScanWind last week signals another step to move gearless turbines beyond the prototype stage. The wind power giant already sells 50 percent of new turbines in the United States, and has also installed more than 12,000 turbines worldwide as the second-largest maker of wind turbines.

Offshore wind farms in Europe represent the likeliest target for GE's latest tech investment, and especially given Europe's need for more wind power to reach its renewable-energy goals. GE plans to roll out a market-ready product by 2012.

Excitement aside, energy giants need not hog all the action. Handy homemakers can build their own wind turbines as well.

[via Technology Review]

A robotic researcher creates predicting robots that position themselves underfoot for your next step

The robot tiles emerged as the brainchild of Hiroo Iwata, a virtual reality researcher at the University of Tsukuba in Japan. A touch-sensitive conductive fabric covers each robot and gauges the pressure applied by a walking person's foot, which goes toward predicting the next step.

Ultrasonic sensors also help relay position and orientation of each tile back to a central computer that acts as the conductor. It's an oddly serene robotic ballet, even when two tiles have queued up to move down the line.

There's not much obvious practical use, although Iwata has suggested that the tiles could work well for a virtual reality simulator and provide the sense of going nowhere fast. Now, if those robotic tiles could fly ...

[via Technabob]

The FCC chairman argues that an open Internet is a must for innovation

That stance emerged today in Genachowski's address at the Brookings Institute in Washington. He laid out problems such as the limited competition among ISPs, the economic incentives for ISPs to sell bundled phone and TV service with Internet, and the burden of growing Internet traffic that puts pressure back on ISPs.

But the FCC chairman also sought to address ongoing problems where ISPs degrade or clamp down on certain popular services that use heavy bandwidth to stream or share videos, music and other files. The standout example of this comes from Comcast trying to throttle the peer-to-peer file-sharing protocol BitTorrent in 2008.

Such practices have also prompted worries that ISPs will favor certain Internet content or applications over others, and thereby could choke off business competition and innovation. The FCC's latest response comes in the form of two proposed principles: nondiscrimination and transparency. Those would joint the agency's prior "four freedoms" of the Internet that embody consumer protection rules.

Nondiscrimination would ensure that ISPs can't block or even degrade "lawful traffic" to particular Internet content or applications. Lawful traffic would presumably exclude illegal or pirated content, yet many netizens use peer-to-peer services or websites to share both legal and illegal content. But that gray area did not prevent the FCC from ruling against Comcast in favor of BitTorrent.

Second, transparency would require ISPs to inform paying subscribers about how they manage their network traffic, in the interest of fully informing customers about the services they buy.

The new FCC proposals may come with added teeth, if Genachowski gets his way, according to Ars Technica. Comcast previously questioned the FCC's authority to enforce its "four freedoms" of the Internet, and so the FCC Chairman wants to make those and his new proposals into official agency rules.

The Wall Street Journal looked at the range of fairly predictable reactions to the FCC's announcement. Consumer groups and Internet companies such as Amazon and Google hailed the decision, even as the large ISPs such as Comcast and AT&T made unhappy noises about government regulation.

Regardless of battle lines appearing in the sand, the FCC chairman stressed that open Internet rules would prove a boon for both consumers and businesses alike.

"Some will seek to invoke innovation and investment as reasons not to adopt open Internet rules," Genachowski said. "But history’s lesson is clear: Ensuring a robust and open Internet is the best thing we can do to promote investment and innovation."

[via Ars Technica]