Technology's smallest microscope, medicine's biggest ally

Engineer invents world's smallest, lightest telemedicine microscope

-Aydogan Ozcan, whose invention of a novel lensless imaging technology for use in telemedicine could radically transform global health care, has now taken his work a step further -- or tinier: The UCLA engineer has created a miniature microscope, the world's smallest and lightest for telemedicine applications.

-Telemedicine involves performing medical tests in the field and requires portable tools in a resource-limited environment and integration into a medical network e.g. hospital or central lab.

-This lensless microscope solves both these problems: (a) it is small & lightweight, and (b) simple to operate - anyone (not necessarily a doctor) can use it, and then upload the digital image via smart phone/computer to be analyzed by a medical professional.

-Potential to monitor diseases and water quality in 3rd world countries with limited health care facilities, and at a realistic cost.
http://www.physorg.com/news191170981.html

Quantum mechanics drives photosynthesis - you lost me at quantum

-Everyone has heard of photosynthesis - a process used by green plants to convert sunlight into electrochemical energy at an efficiency of nearly 100%.
-Although the overall pathway and major players are known for this process, the nitty-gritty details have eluded scientists, until now.
-Physical chemists at UC Berkeley observed 'entanglement' (a distinctive property of quantum mechanical systems) in the light harvesting complex in plants.
-Importance: huge step towards developing (a) artificial photosynthesis systems as renewable, non-polluting electrical energy sources and (b) quantum-based technologies e.g. quantum computers which are potentially thousands of times faster than conventional computers.

http://newscenter.lbl.gov/feature-stories/2010/05/10/untangling-quantum-entanglement/

It's about time windmills grew sea-legs

Regulators Approve First Offshore Wind Farm in U.S.

After nine years of review, the approval of the 130-turbine farm off the coast of Cape Cod gives a significant boost to the nascent offshore wind industry n the U.S.