SMU and DARPA develop fiber optics for the human nervous system

By Joseph L. Flatley posted Sep 18th 2010 at 10:05PM

The Department of Defense and Southern Methodist University have teamed up to develop prosthetics that use two-way fiber optic communication between artificial limbs and peripheral nerves to essentially give these devices the ability to feel pressure or temperature. The technology is called neurophotonics, and it will someday allow hi-speed communication between the brain and artificial limbs. But that's just the beginning -- the work being done at SMU's Neurophotonics Research Center might someday lead to brain implants that control tremors, neuro-modulators for chronic pain management, implants for treating spinal cord injuries, and more. And since we can't have a post about DARPA-funded research without the following trope, Dean Orsak of the SMU Lyle School of Engineering points out that "[s]cience fiction writers have long imagined the day when the understanding and intuition of the human brain could be enhanced by the lightning speed of computing technologies. With this remarkable research initiative, we are truly beginning a journey into the future that will provide immeasurable benefits to humanity." Truly.

Dallas Observer

http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/18/smu-and-darpa-develop-fiber-optics-for-the-human-nervous-system/

NASA going to the sun

NASA seemed to be hot headed right now, as it’s planning a visit to the hottest star around us. Yea, NASA is sending a Solar Probe Plus into the Sun’s atmosphere, which will be the first time any craft visits that place. Previously all data were collected from distances at least millions of miles away. Maybe now is a cooler season to visit the sun.

NASA has expressed two clear reasons why they planned this holiday trip: to determine why the sun’s corona is millions time hotter than its red hot surface, and to investigate into why the solar wind that we’ve been hearing a lot lately is getting accelerated. All this and more, will be answered before 2018, if, and only if, the Solar Probe Plus didn’t get melted by the sexy sun ladies. And please, someone tell NASA to build that if they wish to go to the sun.

SOURCE via CNET

http://www.2dayblog.com/2010/09/04/nasa-going-to-the-sun-nobody-wants-to-enroll/#more-18613

MIT gurus use polyethylene to suck heat away from your next CPU

By Darren Murph posted Mar 10th 2010 at 3:26AM

Man, MIT is making all of these other places of higher learning look silly. For what seems like the fortieth time this month, scientists at the university have revealed yet another breakthrough that might just change the way we compute in the future. Polyethylene, which is about as common a polymer as they come, could very well become a vital part of the way your next processor is cooled, as MIT boffins have figured out how to cause said polymer to "conduct heat very efficiently in just one direction, unlike metals, which conduct equally well in all directions." If you're still struggling to figure out why this matters, have a listen at this: "this may make the new material especially useful for applications where it is important to draw heat away from an object, such as a computer processor chip." In fact, even Intel is taking notice of the development, though no one's saying outright when exactly this stuff will leave the lab and hit Dell's supply chain. There's no time like the present, guys.

[Thanks, Kevin]

Eurekalert

MIT

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Hebatnya MIT. Mampukah kita setanding dengan mereka?

Houston Dome Project

Can a geodesic dome save Houston? The Discovery Channel thinks so. Featuring gigantic doors that can be closed to insulate the city from inclement weather (hurricanes, etc.), apex vents for ventilation, and built using a "strong and lightweight plastic called ethylene tetrafluoroethylene, or ETFE."

Some environmentalists seem to feel that the Houston dome project is the only way to save the city. I'm all for preserving nature.

[via AC]

http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/houston-dome-project

Teknologi membawa banyak manfaat kepada manusia.
Kerugian akibat dari bencana alam dapat dikurangkan sekiranya teknologi ini diaplikasi.

NASA's Hubble Captures Spaceship?

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope recently captured a strange, spaceship-like object traveling at 11,000mph. Unlike comets, this object has an "X-shaped debris pattern [and] its 460-foot-wide nucleus is outside the dust halo and separated from the trail." Continue reading for a close-up.

This behavior is something which has never been seen before in a comet or any other solar-system-swooshing object.

[via Gizmodo]

Hydrology

Hydrology is the study of the movement, distribution, and quality of water throughout Earth, and thus addresses both the hydrologic cycle and water resources. A practitioner of hydrology is a hydrologist, working within the fields of either earth or environmental science, physical geography, geology or civil and environmental engineering.

Domains of hydrology include hydrometeorology, surface hydrology, hydrogeology, drainage basin management and water chemistry, where water plays the central role. Oceanography and meteorology are not included because water is only one of many important aspects.
Hydrological research is useful as it allows us to better understand the world in which we live, and also provides insight for environmental engineering, policy and planning.

rujukan : wikipedia