Investing in higher education...the entrepreneurial way

Fixes: Instead of Student Loans, Investing in Futures

By DAVID BORNSTEIN

Published: May 30, 2011

Is it possible to finance higher education the way we finance start-up companies?

Science is 'religion'

Smart phones evolved from laptops which are evolving from smart phones

"certain aspects of desktop and laptop operating systems start imitating the little upstarts that had initially imitated them... Apple's Mac OS X Lion (which I includes the Mac App Store, full-screen apps, and multitouch gestures."(HP has webOS, Microsoft with Windows 8  is far behind in the field)

COMPUTING

The Desktop Is Turning Mobile

Credit: Technology Review

"It's very likely that PC operating systems will be affected by mobile devices' operating systems—and more broadly, that the lines between the two will increasingly blur," Michael Dahlin - computer science professor at Univ. of Texas

Time-lapse photography is sweet

Awesome video of time-lapse photography by Terje Sorgjerd.

The Evolution of Global Learning

The curator of the world famous TED conference gives a terrific talk (using Prezi for his presentation) about the evolution of a global 'Learning Cycle' and how online video is shaping the way people form crowds, in a global sense, to spur education and innovation with no borders.

Water into wine...Stem cells into neurons

Stable, self-renewing neural stem cells created

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco and colleagues have reported the creation of long-term, self-renewing, primitive neural precursor cells from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) that can be directed to become many types of neurons without increased risk of tumor formation.

To produce the neural stem cells, the researchers added small molecules in a chemically defined culture condition that induces hESCs to become primitive neural precursor cells, but then halts the further differentiation process.

Because the process doesn’t use any gene transfer technologies or exogenous cell products, there’s minimal risk of introducing mutations or outside contamination, the researchers said.

Stained mature neurons, derived from precursor cells, expressing the neurotransmitter dopamine (credit: UC San Diego School of Medicine)

The scientists were able to direct the precursor cells to differentiate into different types of mature neurons.  ”You can generate neurons for specific conditions like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease), Parkinson’s disease or, in the case of my particular research area, eye-specific neurons that are lost in macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa or glaucoma,” said Kang Zhang, M.D., Ph.D.

The same method can be used to push induced pluripotent stem cells (stem cells artificially derived from adult, differentiated mature cells) to become neural stem cells, Zhang said.

Harvesting water from fog

Fog harvesting for water

MIT researcher Shreerang Chhatre and associates have developed new ways to use “fog harvesting” to provide water to the world’s poor.

A fog-harvesting device consists of a fence-like mesh p anel, which attracts droplets, connected to receptacles into which water drips. To build larger fog harvesters, researchers generally use mesh, rather than a solid surface, because a completely impermeable object creates wind currents that will drag water droplets away from it.

In some field tests, fog harvesters have captured one liter of water (roughly a quart) per one square meter of mesh, per day. Chhatre is conducting laboratory tests to improve the water collection ability of existing meshes.

Mesh being tested for use on fog-harvesting devices (credit: Patrick Gillooly)

The NFL Lockout is finally over

A federal judge gave professional football players a significant victory Monday, granting an injunction to stop the N.F.L.'s six-week lockout Monday. Judge Susan Richard Nelson of United States District Court did not stay her decision, sending the N.F.L scrambling to seek a stay from the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit to prevent the league from having to open for business immediately.

If the stay is not granted, the N.F.L. will have to put rules in place allowing players to return to work and free agency to open within days, creating a flurry of activity similar to the normal operations of an off-season. Teams will be allowed to hold workouts with players, players will be permitted to meet with trainers to rehabilitate injuries and coaches to study game film.

NY Times article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/26/sports/football/26nfl.html?emc=na
Judge Grants Injunction to End N.F.L. Lockout, Pending Appeal
By JUDY BATTISTA
April 25, 2011

Feel the drugs working

Opening Up the Brain with Ultrasound

A startup is developing a simple ultrasound method to get cancer drugs into the brain.

 

Technology Review

Friday, April 22, 2011 By Courtney Humphries

First Watson conquered the world of Jeopardy, now he's taking on the jobs of doctors and nurses

Watson Goes to Work in the Hospital

Technology like that inside the Jeopardy!champ is being used to identify when babies are acquiring an infection.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2011 BY TOM SIMONITE

Crustaceans to the rescue

Material removes radioactive materials from drinking water

Researchers from North Carolina State University have found that a combination of forest byproducts and crustacean shells may be the key to removing radioactive materials from drinking water.

“As we’re currently seeing in Japan, one of the major health risks posed by nuclear accidents is radioactive iodide that dissolves into drinking water. Because it is chemically identical to non-radioactive iodide, the human body cannot distinguish it — which is what allows it to accumulate in the thyroid and eventually lead to cancer,” said Dr. Joel Pawlak.

The material is a combination of hemicellulose, a byproduct of forest materials, and chitosan, crustacean shells that have been crushed into a powder. It absorbs water and can extract contaminates, such as radioactive iodide, from the water. The material binds the iodide in water and traps it so that it can then be disposed of without risk to humans or the environment.

Bravo UBC...bravo

'He's just a poor boy from a poor family...'

Definitely an idea worth spreading...thanks TED

Prescription weed, awesome. Not so fast says Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic Clinical Practice Committee (MCCPC) establishes policy on medical marijuanaARZ

April 8, 2011 | This Week at Mayo Clinic | Volume 2, Number 18

The recent legalization of medical marijuana in Arizona required Mayo Clinic to assess how it will respond to medical marijuana use at Mayo Clinic Hospital and whether Mayo Clinic physicians will certify and attest for medical marijuana use by their patients.

Due to the specificity of the Arizona state law and requirements for ongoing care, few Mayo Clinic practices could meet the rigid statutory and regulatory requirements, thus exposing Mayo physicians to possible penalty from the local medical board. The law states that physicians may elect not to participate in certifying or attesting for medical marijuana; the Mayo Clinic Clinical Practice Committee (MCCPC) is exercising this option. Mayo Clinic physicians will not be permitted to certify or attest unless permission is granted by the Arizona Clinical Practice Committee (ACPC).

The stem cell revolution of medicine continues...

Stem cells used to create retinal tissue

Embryonic stem cells are capable of innately forming tissue structures without genetic alterations.

Ref.: Mototsugu Eiraku et al., Self-organizing optic-cup morphogenesis in three-dimensional culture, Nature, April 6, 2011

Lexmark 2011 - Colorjet printer with the ability to construct a building

Buildings Made with a Printer

A novel approach to design and construction could save materials and energy, and create unusually beautiful structures.

Thursday, April 7, 2011 By Kevin Bullis

Mining the moon

For some entrepreneurs, Moon is money

April 6, 2011

Source: For Some Entrepreneurs, Moon Is Money — Apr 4, 2011

Dr. Barney Pell, founder of Powerset, with his two co-founders, Naveen Jain (Infospace) and Dr. Robert (Bob) Richards have started a new company called Moon Express to develop a space vehicle that will in turn allow the company to tap into mineral resources on the lunar surface.

Moon Express describes itself as a “lunar transportation and data services company created to establish new avenues for commercial space activities beyond Earth orbit” and “will be sending a series of robotic spacecraft to the Moon for ongoing exploration and commercial development. Our big play is to develop a robotic lander to transport things to (and from) the moon,” Pell said.

“There is eventually going to be a moon rush, because there are a lot of resources on the moon that we will need,” said Pell. Resources like platinum and other metals that are needed for fuel cells and the post-fossil fuel economy. “In the future we want to be able to land the payloads and machines and bring things back,” said Pell. ”We want to be the last mile to the moon.”

Screw the guy dressed like a banana, this guy is definitely worthy of 'Fan of the Game'

A power-generator at (& in) your fingertips

First practical nanogenerator produces electricity with pinch of the fingers


After six years of intensive effort, scientists are reporting development of the first commercially viable nanogenerator, a flexible chip that can use body movements — a finger pinch now en route to a pulse beat in the future — to generate electricity. Speaking here today at the 241st National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, they described boosting the device's power output by thousands times and its voltage by 150 times to finally move it out of the lab and toward everyday life.