May 2008 in science
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Events in science and technology
May 31, 2008 (Saturday)
May 30, 2008 (Friday)
May 29, 2008 (Thursday)
May 28, 2008 (Wednesday)
- A UC Riverside-led study elevates concern that current warming could lead to significant methane releases from permafrost, changing the climate further. This was a result of investigating a dramatic shift in climate 635 million years ago which brought an end to the last hypothesized snowball ice age. (Physorg)
- Bacteroides fragilis commonly found in the human gut not only crowds out dangerous organisms but a molecule it produces "PSA" may help in the development of immune cells, assisting them in protecting against diseases such as colitis. (NewScientist)
- A Vancouver couple may be charged by police for listing their seven-day-old baby for $10,000 CDN on Craigslist. (SMH)
May 25, 2008 (Sunday)
- The Phoenix spacecraft landed successfully on Mars. (Wired)
- There are now over 3.3 billion mobile phone users worldwide with developing markets such as Africa, India and China leading the growth which is eclipsing land lines. (SMH)
May 23, 2008 (Friday)
May 22, 2008 (Thursday)
- An advanced Dutch robot named Flame mimics human walking. With this understanding of walking it could lead to improved diagnoses, training and rehabilitation equipment. (Physorg)
May 21, 2008 (Wednesday)
- BioArts is auctioning five chances to clone a dog, starting at $100,000 USD. Dogs are even more difficult to clone than humans; however BioArts has created three successful clones. (NYTimes)
- Using network coding, which sends descriptions of data across an entire network rather than raw data to the intended address, DARPA found it was five times more bandwidth efficient on a wireless network than standard protocols. (TechReview)
- University of Pennsylvania may have found a way to test blood for lung cancer. They found genetic changes in the white blood cells that was 87 percent accurate in diagnosing early-state lung cancer. If developed into a diagnostic test it would help avoid unnecessary expensive and inaccurate CT and PET screening. (EurekAlert)
May 20, 2008 (Tuesday)
May 19, 2008 (Monday)
- Harvard University engineers demonstrate the first room-temperature source of terahertz radiation, which can be used for security and medical screening with no side effects. (Physorg)
- Facebook is preparing a major change to its layout in response to complaints of applications cluttering profile pages. The new design will likely use tabs to separate the profile from applications. (BBC)
May 15, 2008 (Thursday)
- Using cooling techniques from high performance computer chips IBM develops efficient concentrator photovoltaics (CPV) which extract 70 watts of power per square centimeter, or five times the power density of current CPV solar farms. (Physorg)
- A Swiss pilot flew above the Alps using his homemade jet-powered wing. (Physorg)
- A 48 year-old woman is indicted for cyber-bullying 13 year-old Megan Meier in 2006 on MySpace. Megan eventually committed suicide. (NYTimes)
May 14, 2008 (Wednesday)
- Harvard researchers have developed a disposable lab-on-a-chip made of paper. Using natural capillary action removes the need for expensive tiny pumps and valves. There are plans to use cell phone cameras in developing countries to enable off-site diagnosis. (TechReview)
May 13, 2008 (Tuesday)
- The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has demonstrated a gallium nitride transistor that promises to improve the efficiency of power electronics such as motor drives, house appliances and hybrid vehicles; and it can enable simpler designs and operate in harsher environments than silicon. (Physorg)
- MySpace wins a record judgment of $230 million against spammers using CAN-SPAM. (AP)
May 12, 2008 (Monday)
- Microsoft launches its WorldWide Telescope a free virtual telescope with access to 2 terabytes of data. It also shows the position of celestial objects from any point on Earth in the past or the future. (BBC)
- A biodegradable nanostructured material that turns into gel when it encounters blood is about to head to human trials. If it receives Food and Drug Administration approval it would be used in surgery, reducing the potential for infection and recovery times. (TechnologyReview)
May 9, 2008 (Friday)
May 8, 2008 (Thursday)
May 7, 2008 (Wednesday)
May 6, 2008 (Tuesday)
- Scientists are redefining diseases (nosology) by classifying them by genetic traits; resulting in a precise understanding of related diseases. This may also assist in finding new drugs by cross referencing the genes they effect. (NYTimes)
- Stephen Colbert won the top award during the Webby Awards. (Reuters)
May 5, 2008 (Monday)
- Berkeley researchers find that delaying data by milliseconds can dramatically reduce the power consumption of network devices by evening out the load of data transfers, reducing the carbon footprint of the internet. Further "load skewing" research shows that during low traffic conditions concentrating traffic on busy servers permitted other servers to shut down. (NewScientist)
May 4, 2008 (Sunday)
- A high-resolution image was made of a key protein influenza uses to hijack a host cell into making copies of itself. This may lead to new drugs to combat future influenza pandemics. (EurekAlert)
- Researchers at Princeton University have developed a way to self correct nanostructures after fabrication. Self-perfection by liquefaction (SPEL) takes advantage of liquid behavior to achieve roughness improvement from 8.4 nm to less than 1.5 nm, which better than the 3 nm "red-zone limit" outlined by the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors. (Nanowerk)
- Microsoft has given up its attempt to buy Yahoo with ongoing differences on price and several other requirements. Yahoo stocks are expected to fall significantly while Microsoft should go higher. (AP)
May 3, 2008 (Saturday)
May 1, 2008 (Thursday)
- Researchers create a new generation of nanomotors that are far more powerful than existing motors; opening new possibilities for nanomachines as transport and delivery systems. (Physorg)
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