[TECH-Science] NEWS

Flomes · March 24, 2014, 2:51pm

➤ Cosmic Inflation Evidence: http://is.gd/Hg7Dng
➤ Chicken From Hell Dinosaur: http://is.gd/YipmVY
➤ Night Vision Lenses: http://is.gd/TC0Ioc
➤ Titan’s Liquid Waves: http://is.gd/Etivyc
➤ DNA Mugshots: http://is.gd/9mL78d
➤ Stem Cells From Blood: http://is.gd/PXx5dv
➤ New Mineral: http://is.gd/iMdqTh
➤ 3D-printed Splint: http://is.gd/xnpf3E

Malanic · March 27, 2014, 9:08am

Forme di vita basate su elementi metallici inorganici.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20906-lifelike-cells-are-made-of-metal.html#.UzMKBFea__k

Could living things that evolved from metals be clunking about somewhere in the universe? Perhaps. In a lab in Glasgow, UK, one man is intent on proving that metal-based life is possible.

He has managed to build cell-like bubbles from giant metal-containing molecules and has given them some life-like properties. He now hopes to induce them to evolve into fully inorganic self-replicating entities.

"I am 100 per cent positive that we can get evolution to work outside organic biology," says Lee Cronin (see photo, right) at the University of Glasgow. His building blocks are large "polyoxometalates" made of a range of metal atoms – most recently tungsten – linked to oxygen and phosphorus. By simply mixing them in solution, he can get them to self-assemble into cell-like spheres.

Cronin and his team begin by creating salts from negatively charged ions of the large metal oxides bound to a small positively charged ion such as hydrogen or sodium. A solution of this salt is squirted into another salt solution made of large, positively charged organic ions bound to small negative ones.
When the two salts meet, they swap parts and the large metal oxides end up partnered with the large organic ions. The new salt is insoluble in water: it precipitates as a shell around the injected solution.

Cronin calls the resulting bubbles inorganic chemical cells, or iCHELLs, and says they are far more than mere curiosities. By modifying their metal oxide backbone he can give the bubbles some of the characteristics of the membranes of natural cells. For example, an oxide with a hole as part of its structure becomes a porous membrane, selectively allowing chemicals in and out of the cell according to size, just like the walls of biological cells. This property gives the membrane control over the range of chemical reactions that can happen within – a key feature of specialised cells (Angewandte Chemie, DOI: 10.1002/anie.201105068).

The team has also made bubbles within bubbles (see images), creating compartments that mimic the internal structure of biological cells. Better yet, they have started imbuing the iCHELLs with the equipment for photosynthesis by linking some oxide molecules to light-sensitive dyes. Cronin says early results suggest he can create a membrane that splits water into hydrogen ions, electrons and oxygen when illuminated – the initial step of photosynthesis.

"We've [also] got an indication that we can pump protons across the membrane" to set up a proton gradient, says Cronin – another key stage in harnessing energy from light. If he can assemble all these steps, Cronin could create a self-powered cell with elements of plant-like metabolism.

It's early days; other synthetic biologists are reserving judgement for now. Cronin's bubbles are never going to be truly life-like until they carry something like DNA to drive self-replication and evolution, says Manuel Porcar of the University of Valencia in Spain. That is theoretically possible, he says, "but I cannot imagine what kind of system they would implement". Cronin isn't sure yet either, but last year he showed that he could get polyoxometalates to use each other as templates to self-replicate (Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.1181735).

In an ambitious seven-month experiment, Cronin is now mass-producing bubbles and injecting them into an array of tubes and flasks filled with different chemicals at different pH levels. He hopes that the mix of environments will allow only the fittest bubbles to survive. "If the pH is too low and [some bubbles] dissolve then those droplets will have died." Others may persist and accumulate. In the long run, the real test will be whether the cells can modify their own chemistry to adapt to different environments. Cronin hints that his latest work may show this, but is unwilling to give details as yet. "I think we have just shown the first droplets that can evolve" is all he will say.

If Cronin is right, then the possible range of extraterrestrial life is blown wide open. "There is every possibility that there are life forms out there which aren't based on carbon," he says. Tadashi Sugawara of the University of Tokyo, Japan, doesn't see why not. "On Mercury, the materials are all different. There might be a creature made of inorganic elements." Cronin may be some way from proving this, says Sugawara, but "he has pointed out a new direction".

terminazzo · April 10, 2014, 7:59am

Sintesi di idrocarburi partendo dalla CO2 disciolta in mare
(usando l'energia dei reattori nucleari della nave)
http://www.nrl.navy.mil/media/news-releases/2012/fueling-the-fleet-navy-looks-to-the-seas

terminazzo · April 29, 2014, 2:12pm

Micorscopio a forza atomica costruito a scuola.
costo circa 1000$ dove la cosa piu costosa è la microleva

facilità del progetto: level ASIAN

http://www.instructables.com/id/A-Low-Cost-Atomic-Force-Microscope-%E4%BD%8E%E6%88%90%E6%9C%AC%E5%8E%9F%E5%AD%90%E5%8A%9B%E9%A1%AF%E5%BE%AE%E9%8F%A1/?ALLSTEPS

terminazzo · May 12, 2014, 5:26am

Sony presenta una tecnologia che permetterà di avere nastri LTO da 178 Terabyte:http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press/201404/14-044E/index.html?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

[Montex intensify]

7b04a7165e84518ba0d4ced69e457db7 · May 12, 2014, 5:37am

avevo giusto bisogno di un altro archivio per il pr0n

Pjem · May 30, 2014, 10:21am

Spinoff di LHC: cavi superconduttori per il trasporto di energia nei centri urbani. Prima citta': Essen.

http://giovanniorgantini.wordpress.com/2014/05/27/uno-spin-off-da-lhc/

Pjem · May 30, 2014, 1:37pm

Anche: primo teleport di informazione quantistica con efficienza al 100% su distanza macroscopica (circa 3 metri)

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/30/science/scientists-report-finding-reliable-way-to-teleport-data.html?_r=0

7b04a7165e84518ba0d4ced69e457db7 · May 30, 2014, 1:39pm

dinofly · May 30, 2014, 9:09pm

Ma non era impossibile?

Pjem · May 30, 2014, 11:57pm

No perche'?

dinofly · May 31, 2014, 12:02am

Ero rimasto ad Einstein che sosteneva che nessuna informazione può viaggiare più velocemente della luce e che quindi l'entanglement era qualcosa di più teorico che pratico.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-communication_theorem

Pjem · May 31, 2014, 12:08am

Nessuna informazione viaggia a velocita' superiore della luce. Nel momento in cui sposti l'informazione X di tre metri, devi fare quei 3 metri per vedere l'informazione spostata, e non puoi farli a velocita' superiore a quella della luce.

dinofly · May 31, 2014, 9:49am

Quindi niente comunicazione istantanea. E cosa succede se io cambio lo stato di una particella e uno dall'altra parte dell universo guarda quella entanglementata?

Pjem · May 31, 2014, 10:36am

(3 metri sono gia' dall'altra parte dell'universo per una particella

)

Immagina che io osservo che la mia particella ha carica +1. Cosi' facendo la tua dall'altra parte dell'universo diventa -1, e tu puoi osservare solo -1.
Come confrontiamo i risultati? O vieni tu da me o io da te, o ci troviamo in mezzo, ma in ogni caso non possiamo farlo a velocita' superiore a quella della luce. L'informazione si sposta a velocita' subluminale.

Drest · May 31, 2014, 10:39am

non possiamo usarne un'altra mettendoci d'accordo prima sul cosa significan x cambi di stato?

Pjem · May 31, 2014, 10:42am

Ma tu non decidi cosa misurare, e' totalmente random. Anche per questo non c'e' passaggio di informazione.
Puoi anche decidere che una certa combinazione di +1 e -1 vuol dire qualcosa, ma non potrai mai decidere cosa osservi da una singola misura.

Drest · May 31, 2014, 10:45am

e allora che cazz ci facciamo co sta roba? io volevo lo 0 ping sui server di marte ;_;

Pjem · May 31, 2014, 10:49am

Il vantaggio e' che non c'e' passaggio di energia o materia quando "trasmetti" lo stato della tua particella. Quello e' istantaneo.

Drest · May 31, 2014, 10:58am

ok, ma se questo stato è random tra +1 e -1 ed ogni volta che lo leggo vado a cambiare anche lo stato dell'altra particella, come posso sfruttare questa cosa?
la misura di questo stato non mi serve a nulla, tanto più che appena la eseguo cambia dall'altra parte.

vabbeh che non è che me ne debba preoccupare io, ma faccio fatica a pensare come si potrebbe sfruttare questa proprietà

poi vabbeh, grande passo cazzi e mazzi eh, che magari di qui a 10 anni questa scoperta ha portato ad un'altra che ha provocato una singolarità tecnologica e gg.