April 2008 in science

Events in science and technology

April 30, 2008 (Wednesday)

• HP Labs announces the creation of the memristor, at times described as the fourth basic electronic element. The memristor was first predicted in 1971 by Leon Chua. The discovery may have a tremendous impact on computing and electronics, joining the other basic electronic elements the resistor, capacitor, and inductor. (Nature)

April 29, 2008 (Tuesday)

• Rockstar North releases Grand Theft Auto IV which is anticipated to be the fastest selling and most acclaimed video game of all time. (Metacritic)
• Yale School of Medicine researchers may have found how metastasis occurs. Apparently it happens when a cancer cell fuses with a white blood cell. (Physorg)
• Nine countries launch the International Cancer Genome Consortium to collaborate on producing genomic data on 50 types of cancer, then make the data publicly available to help scientists develop new treatments. (CBC)

April 25, 2008 (Friday)

• Some synthetic food dyes blamed for hyperactivity in children have been found to reduce the risk of cancer. (NewScientist)

April 24, 2008 (Thursday)

• University of Michigan researchers have created an easily manufactured superlens that focuses light 10 times more sharply than a conventional lens; surpassing the diffraction limit. This could lead to smaller features on computer chips and higher capacity optical media, and may impact wireless power transfer. (NewScientist)

April 21, 2008 (Monday)

• Windows XP SP3: Service Pack 3 is available to manufactures and will be released for consumers on April 29. (CNet)
• Using the right nutrients bacteria can be temporarily awoken from stasis and more effectively killed with antibiotics, providing potentially more effective treatment of persistent diseases such as tuberculosis and urinary tract infections. (ScienceMag)

April 18, 2008 (Friday)

• For the first time holographic storage technology will be commercially available shortly. The 300GB discs are slightly thicker than DVD's and will last for 50 years. (ZDNet)

April 17, 2008 (Thursday)

• Eastern and southeast Asia is identified as the source of the annual flu epidemic by Cambridge University by analyzing 13,000 viral samples from 2002 to 2007. It appears in one of eight countries 6 to 9 months before anywhere else. (NewScientist)

April 16, 2008 (Wednesday)

• Recreating undulating skin, similar to dolphins, could reduce aircraft and submarine drag by 50%. (NewScientist)
• Scientists at Copenhagen University found that vitamins and antioxidant supplements did not make people live longer, and in some cases reduced their lifespan. (BBC)

April 15, 2008 (Tuesday)

• Drug-treated blood stem cells which were made to resemble immature heart cells were used in mice, to improve their damaged hearts. (Physorg)
• Using photoacoustic tomography (PAT) scientists can pinpoint the part of the brain involved in epileptic seizures. (NewScientist)
• A Florida Atlantic University anthropologist has synthesized the voice of Neanderthals using new reconstructions of vocal tracts. (NewScientist)
• Seagate Technology sues small solid-state drive competitor STEC, Inc. alleging infringement of patents. If it wins the case it would set a precedent forcing other manufactures to pay Seagate royalties. (CBC)

April 14, 2008 (Monday)

• IBM demonstrates high-k/metal gate technology for the 32-nanometer process which increases chip speed by up to 30 percent and reduces power consumption by up to 50 percent compared to 45-nanometer chips. (PCWorld)

April 13, 2008 (Sunday)

• Kanzius RF therapy is coming closer to human trials for cancer treatment. It uses gold or carbon nanoparticles which will attach to cancer cells, then nontoxic radio waves are used to heat up and kill cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unaffected. (Wired)

April 12, 2008 (Saturday)

• An easy method of making transparent graphene has been developed by Rutgers University. As graphene can move electrons tens of times faster than silicon it can be faster and use less power. (TechReview)

April 11, 2008 (Friday)

• Cyberwalk: A virtual-reality-based omnidirectional treadmill has been developed that will allow unrestrained walking in all directions. (Physorg)
• Carbon nanotubes have been made semitransparent, flexible and in multiple colors, which could impact flat panel displays and solar cells. (Physorg)

April 10, 2008 (Thursday)

• IBM has demonstrated racetrack memory for the first time. As a 3D component using spin-coherent electric current it has the promise to be fast, low energy, high density memory that could remove the need for RAM and replace harddrives. (NewScientist)

April 9, 2008 (Wednesday)

• Michael Chertoff calls for IT security professionals to undertake a massive project to protect the United States from a catastrophic cyber attack, which could damage the country as badly as the September 11, 2001, attacks. (TechNewsWorld)

April 8, 2008 (Tuesday)

• The first frog with no lungs is discovered in Kalimantan, Indonesia. It acquires all its oxygen through the skin and is the third example of lung loss. Researchers believe this occurred because of the fast moving cold water favored negative buoyancy and a flat body. (ScienceDaily)
• U.S. researchers found proteins from alligator white blood cells killed antibiotic resistant MRSA and six out of eight different strains of the fungus Candida albicans. (Physorg)
• The Scripps Research Institute create a chip that permits a classroom demonstration of evolution; where a ligase becomes 90 times more efficient after just 70 hours of evolution. (NewScientist)
• Researchers in Canada report they have developed a special filter to remove prions from blood donations, which would remove the concern of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (human version of mad cow disease). (EurekAlert)
• Soyuz TMA-12: Yi So-yeon has become the first South Korean astronaut. (Times)

April 7, 2008 (Monday)

• Protein synthesis is directly observed for the first time. (Physorg)

April 6, 2008 (Sunday)

• Columbia University scientists hypothesize that a meteorite impact along with water and hot temperatures could create and explain the dominance of left-handed amino acids, the prerequisites for life on Earth. (Physorg)
• Astronomers find a planetary solar system which may be similar to our own. Indicating systems similar to ours may be more common than previously thought. (BBC)

April 4, 2008 (Friday)

• British researchers have found a way to turn embryonic stem cells into insulin-producing pancreatic tissue. (EurekAlert)
• Louisiana State University researchers find a gene from adenovirus-36 can trigger obesity by making fat precursor cells differentiate into fat cells. (NewScientist)

April 3, 2008 (Thursday)

• Stem cell treatments: North American scientists have found a way to produce 140 cell types from human embryonic progenitor (hEP) cells, overcoming issues of poor yields of desired cell type and short telomeres from current fetal or adult cell methods. (MedicalNewsToday)
• Two mutations in mitochondria have been found to increase the chance a tumor will metastasize. (ScienceMag)
• Jules Verne ATV: The European Automated Transfer Vehicle successfully docked with the ISS delivering three times the cargo capacity compared to the progress spacecraft. (Reuters)
• Helicos BioSciences has created a single molecule DNA sequencer, avoiding the time consuming and error prone polymerase chain reaction process. It is estimated a sequencing would cost $72,000 and take eight weeks to complete. (Nature)
• Bats have a greater role in controlling tropical insects than birds have, studies on rain forest and coffee plantations show. (Reuters)

April 1, 2008 (Tuesday)

• C-KAD a chemical solution that breaks up cataracts is entering final stages of clinical testing. (PopSci)
• United Kingdom mechanical engineers have created an engine that can switch between two-stroke and four-stroke modes, perhaps providing 27% fuel savings. (TechReview)
• MIT researchers have created an artificial cell that can use genes to create proteins quickly and cheaply. This could help assess how individual patients will react to specific drugs. (NewScientist)

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