GLIMPSES OF THE FUTURE
A monthly digest of technologies, developments and trends that will shape our lives. (If you would prefer not to receive these digests, flip back 'NO THANKS' and you will be removed from the list).

High-Yield Biofuel 'Could Replace All Fossil Fuels'

Joule Biotechnologies, a startup company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts has revealed details of a process that it says can make 20,000 gallons of biofuel per acre of crops per year.

If this claim is proven, it could make it practical to replace all fossil fuels used for transportation with biofuels. The company also claims that the fuel can be sold for prices competitive with fossil fuels.

Joule Biotechnologies grows genetically engineered microorganisms in specially designed photobioreactors. The microorganisms use energy from the sun to convert carbon dioxide and water into ethanol or hydrocarbon fuels (such as diesel or components of gasoline). The organisms excrete the fuel, which can then be collected using conventional chemical-separation technologies.

Cyborg Eyes Will Talk To You

Researchers at the University of Washington in the USA are embedding LEDs into contact lenses to allow information to be displayed to the wearer.

Whilst still in the development phase, the work on non-invasive, semi-transparent biomonitoring is likely to lead to contact lenses that sit at the centre of a human network of sensors providing visual feedback directly to the optical nerves.

Scientists Worry That Machines May Outsmart Man

Impressed and alarmed by advances in artificial intelligence, a group of computer scientists has been debating whether there should be limits on research that might lead to loss of human control over computer-based systems that carry a growing share of society’s workload, from waging war to chatting with customers on the phone.

The scientists' concern is that further advances could create profound social disruptions and even have dangerous consequences.

As examples, the scientists pointed to a number of technologies as diverse as experimental medical systems that interact with patients to simulate empathy, and computer worms and viruses that defy extermination and could thus be said to have reached a 'cockroach' stage of machine intelligence.

The researchers — leading computer scientists, artificial intelligence researchers and roboticists who met at the Asilomar Conference Grounds on Monterey Bay in California — generally discounted the possibility of highly centralized superintelligences and the idea that intelligence might spring spontaneously from the Internet. But they agreed that robots that can kill autonomously are either already here or will be soon.

Dramatically Increased Oil Production From Algae

U.S. bioscience firm Targeted Growth has announced that it has developed a way to increase the lipid content of cyanobacteria by approximately 400 percent.

This discovery will dramatically increase the oil yield per acre, decreasing the cost of algae production and helping algae-based biofuels become price-competitive with petroleum.

Molecular biologists at Targeted Growth have identified and tested every active gene and made major breakthroughs in both adding new genes and manipulating their functions to create a high oil-yielding algae strain. The company has filed multiple patent applications on these innovations.

A device called BrainPort is being developed by neuroscientists at Wicab, Inc., Wisconsin that helps blind and visually impaired users ‘see’ by using their tongues.

Using the BrainPort device, visual data is collected through a small digital video camera, about 1.5cm (5/8 inch) in diameter, housed in the centre of a pair of sunglasses worn by the user. From there, the data is transmitted to a handheld base unit about the size of a cell phone. The unit converts the digital signal into electrical pulses that are fed to the tongue — replacing the retina’s function. Human brains are able to interpret these oral sensations into pictures.

The base unit also incorporates features like zoom, light settings and shock intensity levels as well as a central processing unit (CPU).

World's largest solar power plant to be built in China

The Chinese government has announced its intention to construct a 2-gigawatt solar power plant in Ordos City, Inner Mongolia.

The project will be developed in four phases over a nine-year period, with Phase 1 beginning in June 2010 and Phase 4 to be completed by 2019. Phase 1 will initiate a 30-megawatt demonstration project, while Phases 2, 3 and 4 will consolidate a further 100 megawatts, 870 megawatts and 1000 megawatts respectively.

The magnitude of the development is many times greater than any solar plant in operation or even contemplated, including projects such as the 290-megawatt Starwood Solar I and the 500-megawatt solar thermal project in the Mojave Desert.

New Gel Stops HIV/Aids As Effectively As A Condom

Scientists at the University of Utah in the United States have created a gel that could prevent the transmission of HIV by physically stopping the virus in its tracks.

The new 'molecular condom' will act in a similar way to a physical condom. Women insert it before intercourse and the acidic conditions of the vagina would ensure it remained liquid, allowing it to coat the vaginal walls and therefore the cells vulnerable to HIV infection.

The presence of semen makes the vagina less acidic, and it is expected that this change in pH will cause the molecules within the gel to interact and turn semisolid. The resulting mesh would be so small, virus particles would be unable to penetrate.

Unlike existing microbicides, the molecular condom appears not to be affected by high temperatures, making it potentially suitable for use in hot developing countries.

If it passes forthcoming clinical trials, the gel will enable women to protect themselves against HIV without approval from their partners.

'Snorkel' Genes Could Save Rice From Drowning

A team of Japanese researchers at Nagoya University, Japan say they have identified two genes that allow deep-water varieties of rice to elongate their stems as water rises, helping the plant keep its leaves above water.

Importing the genes 'SNORKEL1' and 'SNORKEL2' into varieties of rice that do not usually survive in deep water stopped the plants drowning. Once under water, their adopted genes switched on the process by which the stems became elongated.

Snorting Stem-Cells To Heal The Brain?

Stem cells are an oft-touted miracle cure. These cells show promise for treating a range of neurological conditions but it is tricky getting them into the brain. Perhaps inhaling stem cells might be the answer - if mice are anything to go by.

Other options all have their drawbacks. Drilling through the skull and injecting the stem cells is painful and carries some risks. You can also inject stem cells into the bloodstream but only a fraction of the dose reach their target due to the blood-brain barrier.

The nose, however, might be a viable alternative. To test their idea researchers at the University Hospital of Tübingen in German, dripped a suspension of fluorescently labelled stem cells into the noses of mice.

The mice snorted them high into their noses, and the cells migrated through the cribriform plate at the top of the nose. Then they travelled either into the olfactory bulb - the part of the brain that detects and deciphers odours - or into the cerebrospinal fluid lining the skull, migrating across the brain. The stem cells then moved deeper into the brain.

Pee On Your Tomatoes For A Bumper Crop

Using human urine as a fertiliser produces bumper crops of tomatoes that are safe to eat, scientists have found.

Researchers at the University of Kuopio, Finland gave potted tomato plants one of three treatments: mineral fertiliser, urine and wood ash, urine only, and no fertiliser. Urine is rich in nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.

Yields for plants fertilised with urine quadrupled and matched those of mineral-fertilised plants. The urine-fertilised tomatoes also contained more protein and were safe for human consumption.

www.rayhammond.com

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