CO2 as Fuel for vehicles

CO2 causes no more Global Warming... yes this would be the news if the scientists of UCLA ( university of california los angeles) are 100% succesfull in their study of doing the unimaginable.

These scientists have modified a cyanobacterium ( class of bacteria) to produce liquid fuel isobutanol out of CO2. Could be used as vehicular fuel.

Using the cyanobacterium, researchers genetically increased the quantity of CO2 fixing enzyme RuBisCO. Then they spliced genes from other bugs to engineer a strain that takes in CO2 and sunlight (through photosynthesis) to produce isobutyraldehyde gas.

The low boiling point and high vapour pressure of the gas allows it to be easily stripped from the system. The engineered bacteria can produce isobutanol directly, said an UCLA release.

This as said if done in mass quantities, can save earth from fuel crysis and global warming. Just think of such an effective way to recycle the carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere.

If they overcome the obstacles like the rate and yield of production, efficiency of light distribution and reduction of bioreactor cost, CO2 could be boon to man-kind.
(But eventually next problem would arise. The excess conversion of CO2 makes CO2 less in atmosphere and causes the death of plants  :-)... see i fore-saw )


Tags:- Biofuel, CO2, Convert, convertion, fuel, vehicular, vehicle

Virgin Galactic Space Ships - A dream come true

Dont u guys remember the spacecrafts which were told to carry people to and from earth to space??? and it is getting closer to be experienced by all people. The Virgin Galactic flight which is to be the first flight to carry tourists to space is one step closer.

The Virgin Galactic has been unveiled by a British Billionaire Sir Richard Brandson. The Flight would charge a US$200,000 for an out-of-this-world trip into space. Actually thats pretty cheap i guess...

The Flight is named Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo(SS2). The brain behind this is of aerospace engineer Burt Rutan. The Flight can carry Six passengers and 2 pilots. The test flights will begin by 2011 and commercial flights would start by 2012.

Virgin Galactic is owned by Branson's Virgin Group and Abu Dhabi's Aabar Investments. They already have a booking from about 300 adventurers from around the world on the carbon composite wonder machine.

The journey would be 2 and a half hour flight and would be at a distance of 100 Kilometer from the Earth's Surface. The flight is initially carried by a mothership for 15.2 kms into the sky and then detached. The progress in this technology can lead to improved flight times and more time spent in the weightlessness of space.

The Star Treks are realling coming to life in this era...

Tags:- Space, flight, Virgin, Galactic, Space Ship, SS2, tourism, tourists

Write by mind using Computers

 Scientists in Florida has invented one of a kind mind-machine interface. With this new technique it is possible for a software to read a persons mind. Yeah not the whole mind reading stuff literally. Its the recognition of letters which is focussed on the mind of the user. For this the person has to concentrate on a particular symbol on a matrix.

For this 2 electrodes are placed inside the skulls and directly on the brain through a surgical incision called craniotomy. These electrodes then monitored electrical activity produced by firing nerve cells. The researchers software decodes the letter and dispays on the screen.

This technique is called electrocorticography (EcoG). This is a promising technology for future. This could make the paralised and unable convey their thoughts through their mind.

Tags:- Read, Mind, Brain, Computer

Fake Red Blood Cells to improve transfusion

University Of Caifornia has come up with one of the most amazing technologies which could even make an advance in the way medical facilities operate these days. This study was led by an Indian researcher Samir Mitragotri.

They have created artificial red blood cells from polymer called PLGA. The main characteristic of the red blood cells are the shape, the way they can transport themselves and the way they can transport subtances like oxygen.

These polymer particles were immersed in a particular solvent which on reaction gave the biconcave shape of the red blood cells. These particles are then coated with a layer of protein.

The prototype they created did almost the same functions as the red blood cells. These particles were as agile as the real red blood  cells and could move through the smallest gaps as in a cappillary tube. Also the coating of proteins given had haemoglobin which did attract the oxygen as in real blood and distributed it in lower concentration region. This could really be a promising future. By this we can avoid the complications of directly injecting the medicinal substances into our blood stream and could distribute it in our system using these particles which will be effective.


Tags:- Fake, red, blood, cells

Dutch Scientists Grow Meat !!!

 Meat is no more the usual ... amazed ? Dutch scientists have succeeded in growing meat rather than from killing animals for meat. Scientists do this by using the cells from muscles of living animal and then immersing it in nutrient-rich and cultured petri-dish.

The Scientists are now trying to grow pork. For this cells were taken from a pig's muscle and immersed in a nutrient-rich Serum derived from the blood of pig fetuses.

The muscle tissue being developed from this method is completely blood-less and stringy. No one knows how this could taste. Since taste of each meat differ by the blood and content of fat and iron which are not present in meat grown in this method.

But the scientists arre still hopefull to make an edible version of the meat by about 10 years. This could be a breakthrough if successfull and could reduce the risk posed on animals and environment.

Where could this lead us... Next time you may be cooking meat grown in a petri dish in some science laboratory... Eewww gross..


Tags:- Animals, Artificial, grow, tissue, cells