Seagen world's first commercial tidal-power system

A large-scale tidal-power unit has started up in Northern Ireland
The world's first commercial tidal-power system has been connected to the National Grid in Northern Ireland. Built by the British tidal-energy company Marine Current Technologies, the 1.2-megawatt system consists of two submerged turbines that are harvesting energy from Strangford Lough's tidal currents. The technology works like a wind turbine, but instead of wind, the turbines are driven by the flow of tidal currents. It offers a significant advantage over wind because currents are predictable... [more] & [more]
Source : Technology Review & Seagen

DNA Computation, Human Visual System Could Make Powerful Computer

Harnessing the computing power of our visual system
Since the idea of using DNA to create faster, smaller, and more powerful computers originated in 1994, scientists have been scrambling to develop successful ways to use genetic code for computation. Ideally, we would be able to glance at a complex visual stimulus (the software program), and our visual system (the hardware) would automatically and effortlessly generate a perception, which would inform us of the output of the computation... [more]

Source : Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Unique fossil discovery shows Antarctic was once much warmer

Rare find of fossil with soft tissues on Antarctic
A new fossil discovery- the first of its kind from the whole of the Antarctic continent- provides scientists with new evidence to support the theory that the polar region was once much warmer. Notwithstanding the significance of the fossil preservation, the presence of lake ostracods at this latitude, 77 degrees south, is also of great note. Present conditions in this Antarctic region show mean annual temperatures of minus 25 degrees C. These are impossible conditions to sustain a lake fauna with ostracods... [more]
Source : University of Leicester

The Telomerase The Mechanism Behind Mind-body Connection Discovered

Testing therapeutic ways of enhancing telomerase levels to help the immune system
Every cell contains a tiny clock called a telomere, which shortens each time the cell divides. Short telomeres are linked to a range of human diseases, including HIV, osteoporosis, heart disease and aging. Previous studies show that an enzyme within the cell, called telomerase, keeps immune cells young by preserving their telomere length and ability to continue dividing. Scientists found that the stress hormone cortisol suppresses immune cells' ability to activate their telomerase. This may explain why the cells of persons under chronic stress have shorter telomeres. "When the body is under stress, it boosts production of cortisol to support a "fight or flight" response... [more]
Source : Science Daily

To improve robots researchers studies sense of touch in jellyfish

Research on tactile sensory perception in jellyfish and lobsters
In the dark, underwater robots must rely on tactile and hydrodynamic senses and tentacles and antennae are the sensors of choice. Biology professor Joseph Ayers is expanding his research on animals’ nervous systems that produced the RoboLobster and RoboLamprey to include a study on tactile sensory perception in jellyfish and lobsters. “There are hardly any autonomous robots out there that can operate in unpredictable environments,” Ayers said. “What we bring is a really good understanding of how the nervous system controls behavior in animal models. If we can build a truly biomimetic robot, it will embody the results of four million years of evolution... [more]
Source : Northeastern University

Water On Moon Discovered Originating From Moon

Moon water discovered: Dampens Moon-formation theory
Using new techniques, scientists have discovered for the first time that tiny beads of volcanic glasses collected from two Apollo missions to the Moon contain water. The researchers found that, contrary to previous thought, water was not entirely vaporized in the violent events that formed the Moon. The new study suggests that the water came from the Moon’s interior and was delivered to the surface via volcanic eruptions over 3 billion years ago. The finding calls into question some critical aspects of the “giant impact” theory of the Moon’s formation and may have implications for the origin of possible water reservoirs at the Moon’s poles... [more]
Source : Carnegie Institution

Green Tea Help the Heart

Green-tea consumption may have beneficial effects on the arteries
A new study shows that the beverage, which is more popular in Eastern cultures, can protect heart arteries by keeping them flexible and relaxed, and therefore better able to withstand the ups and downs of constant. That's because, the scientists speculate, green tea works on the lining of blood vessels, helping cells there to secrete the substances needed to relax the vessels and allow blood to flow more freely... [more]

Source : Time

Humans Wore Shoes 40,000 Years Ago

Humans were wearing shoes at least 10,000 years earlier than previously thought
The evidence comes from a 40,000-year-old human fossil with delicate toe bones indicative of habitual shoe-wearing, experts say. A previous study of anatomical changes in toe bone structure had dated the use of shoes to about 30,000 years ago... [more]

Source : National Geographic