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Solar-Powered TV
Unveiled
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New TV uses about one-fourth the power and has about one-third the annual energy consumption of a conventional CRT TV with the same screen size.
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For the 1.6 billion people living in areas without utility-supplied electricity, Sharp has designed a TV that can get 100 percent of its power from the sun.
The company plans to exhibit the 26-inch LCD prototype at the Hokkaido Toyako Summit, or G8 Summit, in Hokkaido, Japan, on July 7-9, Physorg reported.
The TV uses about one-fourth the power and has about one-third the annual energy consumption of a conventional CRT TV with the same screen size. Compared to today’s LCD TVs, the low-power prototype uses about one-third the power, and about one-half the annual energy consumption.
This extremely low power consumption allows the TV to be powered from one of Sharp’s triple-junction thin-film solar cell modules, with a surface area of about the same size as the LCD screen. The company plans to market the TV and solar energy system as a combination pair.
The technology could bring TV to 1.6 billion people worldwide who live off the grid, improving their lives not just with entertainment, but also access to news and information. The company predicts that environmentally-conscious consumers would also be interested in such a product.
Besides the low-power TV prototype, Sharp will also exhibit other energy-saving technologies at the G8 Summit, including a 57-inch AQUOS TV, a solar-LED lighting module, and a super-thin (20-mm) 65-inch LCD TV that uses about half the annual energy consumption of conventional LCD TVs.
In addition, the company will display a semi-transparent “see-through“ solar cell module. Developed with a laser-trimming process to create large numbers of optically transparent slits over the surface of the cell, the modules could be used as architectural elements, such as in skylights and curtain walls.
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Iranian Produces Smart Helmet
Mir Vahid Vahabi invented has a smart helmet, which obliges motorcyclists to wear helmets while riding their bikes.
Vahabi told ISNA: “There are two sensors in the helmet which are sensitive to heartbeat. With every heartbeat a pulse is transmitted to the panel mounted on the motorcycle. Upon receiving the signal, the panel keeps the electrical circuit activated.“
The motorcycle cannot move without the rider wearing the helmet.
Vahabi said the price of the helmet after mass production would be about 200,000 rials.
Using helmets prevents the death of motorcyclists and it is not necessary that traffic police fine motorcyclists or resort to other penalties to force them wear helmets.
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Looking for Molecules
In Milky Way
Scientists are using the giant Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) to go prospecting in a rich molecular cloud in our Milky Way Galaxy. They seek to discover new, complex molecules in interstellar space that may be precursors to life.
“Clouds like this one are the raw material for new stars and planets. We know that complex chemistry builds prebiotic molecules in such clouds long before the stars and planets are formed. There is a good chance that some of these interstellar molecules may find their way to the surface of young planets such as the early Earth, and provide a head start for the chemistry of life. For the first time, we now have the capability to make a very thorough and methodical search to find all the chemicals in the clouds,“ said Anthony Remijan, of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), Physorg said.
Over past three years, Remijan and his colleagues have used the GBT to discover ten new interstellar molecules, a feat unequalled in such a short time by any other team or telescope.
The scientists discovered those molecules by looking specifically for them. However, they now are changing their strategy and casting a wide net designed to find whatever molecules are present, without knowing in advance what they’ll find. In addition, they are making their data available freely to other scientists, in hopes of speeding the discovery process. The research team presented its plan to the American Astronomical Society’s meeting in St. Louis, MO.
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Breakthroughs Offer
Hope to MS Patients
There’s no one single way to suffer from multiple sclerosis.
According to HealthDay, every patient exhibits different symptoms as the disease gnaws away at the nerve endings in the brain, the spinal cord and even the eyes.
Doctors aren’t even sure what causes MS, or what makes one person more likely to get it than another.
“I have a patient who is 6 years old,“ said Dr. Daniel Kantor, director of the Comprehensive Multiple Sclerosis Center at the University of Florida. “I have a patient who is 71 years old. I have patients from all walks of life, all ages.“
But, the recent discovery of a second gene linked to multiple sclerosis--hailed as a major breakthrough--is giving researchers hope that they are zeroing in on useful treatments--and ultimately, a cure.
In what is considered the most significant genetic breakthrough in MS research in three decades, scientists last year announced they had found a gene that increases the risk of developing the disease by 30 percent.
“This discovery is very significant, because it is hopefully the first of many, and after more than 30 years of finding nothing,“ said Dr. Jennie Q. Lou, professor of public health and internal medicine at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
“We will expect to find many more of these genes over the next few years. Either these genes, or genes related to them may be an excellent target that researchers can use to develop treatments and cures for MS,“ she added.
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Calorie Restriction
Want to slow the signs of aging and live longer? New research suggests cutting back on calories could be a promising strategy. A new study found that calorie restriction--cutting approximately 300 to 500 calories per day may slow the aging process.
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Sweaty People Attract More Mosquitoes
Believe it or not, mosquitoes choose their victims with care, on the basis of an individual’s body chemistry. So, the secret of how many mosquito bites you get every day lies within your body.
According to Joe Conlon, an American medical entomologist, the mosquito can detect their targets from nearly 100 feet away by seeking the scent of carbon dioxide and lactic acid, two compounds that indicate to the blood-sucking--pests that their next landing pad is nearby, according to a report in the Newsweek magazine.
Carbon dioxide and lactic acid are released whenever we breathe or sweat, but the emission rates vary by person. Larger people and pregnant woman, for example, have higher levels and are more likely targets.
According to Susan Peskewitz, a mosquito researcher and entomology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the scents of these compounds coupled with body heat are the biggest attractors.
So if you’ve recently exercised, watch out: the combination of lactic acid (which builds up when muscles are exerted), sweat filled with carbon dioxide, and an increased temperature make you an ideal host, the magazine said in a report.
With more than 300 bodily compounds that influence insect attraction, scientists haven’t figured out every body chemistry combination that the bugs like. They’re also not sure whether perfumes or floral smells affect attraction.
Body’s Marijuana Good for Skin
Scientists from Hungary, Germany and the UK have discovered that our own body not only makes chemical compounds similar to the active ingredient in marijuana (THC), but these play an important part in maintaining healthy skin.
This finding on ’endocannabinoids’ just published online, and scheduled for the October 2008 print issue of, The FASEB Journal could lead to new drugs that treat skin conditions ranging from acne to dry skin, and even skin-related tumors, ScienceDaily wrote.
“Our preclinical data encourage one to explore whether endocannabinoid system-acting agents can be exploited in the management of common skin disorders,“ said Dr. Tamas Biro, a senior scientist involved in the research.
“It is also suggested that these agents can be efficiently applied locally to the skin in the form of a cream.“ Biro and colleagues came to this conclusion by treating cell cultures from human sebaceous glands (the glands that make the oil on our skin) with various concentrations of endocannabinoids (substances produced by the body that are similar to the active ingredient in marijuana).
Then they measured the production of lipids (fat cells, such as those in skin oil), cell survival and death, and changes in gene expression and compared these outcomes to those in an untreated control group.
“This research shows that we may have something in common with the marijuana plant,“ said Dr Gerald Weissmann. “Just as THC is believed to protect the marijuana plants from pathogens, our own cannabinoids may be necessary for us to maintain healthy skin and to protect us from pathogens.“
Zinc Fingers to Help Fight HIV/AIDS
American scientists believe that proteins known as zinc fingers can help produce modified T cells effective in fighting against HIV.
According to a study published in Nature Biotechnology, scientists can reduce the viral load and improve CD4 counts in immune-deficient mice transplanted with engineered T cells, using zinc finger DNA-binding protein nucleases (ZFN(TM)).
Previous studies had reported that certain individuals are born with mutated CCR5 gene and are therefore immune to HIV infection.
University of Pennsylvania researchers claim that zinc finger proteins mimic this natural immunity and can cause CCR5 gene mutations, leading to reduced CCR5 surface proteins expression on T cells and prevent the AIDS virus from entering immune system cells.
Balanced Nutrition Helps TBI Patients
Clinician-scientists from New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center are suggesting an immediate and important change to guidelines used in the care of patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI).
The researchers say that following TBI, patients should be given nutritional supplementation through a gastric feeding tube as soon as possible, which they say can improve their chances of survival by as much as fourfold, ScienceDaily reported.
The evidence shows that the body heals better when it is given proper nutrition, not just the bare minimum that keeps someone alive,“ says lead author Dr. Roger Hartl, a noted neurological surgeon at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell, and the Leonard and Fleur Harlan Clinical Scholar and assistant professor of neurological surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College.
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