Here First - Science and Technology Blog

After nearly a decade of setbacks and false starts, stem-cell science finally seems to be hitting its stride. Just a year after Japanese scientists first reported that they had generated stem cells by reprogramming adult skin cells — without using embryos — American researchers have managed to use that groundbreaking technique to achieve another scientific milestone. They created the first nerve cells from reprogrammed stem cells — an important demonstration of the potential power of stem-cell-based treatments to cure disease. Led by Kevin Eggan at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and Christopher Henderson at Columbia University, the 13-person team reported online today in Science Express that they had generated motor neurons from the skin cells of two elderly patients with a rare form of ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, a progressive neurodegenerative condition. The new study marks an important first step on the road toward real stem-cell-based therapies, and also answers several pl...

Vostro 2510 is aimed at the business user Every year when back-to-school time rolls around, hoards of laptops are released and prices drop to try to lure shoppers to purchase. A new business-focused notebook from Dell called the Vostro 2510 has surfaced in an ad inside a Dell Business Flyer for August 2008 reports Engadget. According to the ad that surfaced , the Dell Vostro 2510 will be available starting at $899. Details from the ad show for your money you get an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, Vista Business, 2GB DDR2 RAM, 160GB HDD, 256MB NVIDIA 8400M GS graphics and a webcam built-in. In the ad pictured on Engadget, a URL is given, and at the time of writing the URL gives a page not found error. Engadget reports that the page was available before. The Canadian Dell site does have specs available for the notebook with prices starting at $1,159 CAD. The Vostro 2510 base notebook uses an Intel Core 2 Duo T5670 CPU running at 1.8GHz. Optional CPUs for the notebook include the Core 2 Duo T5870 a...

How do you feel about looking like a sweat band-wearer straight out of the 80s? You’re okay with that? How about if we add in an awkward wire extending out of the forehead area? Don’t worry about looking cool. You’ll be asleep for most of the time. These are the Sleep Headphones, straight from the pages of Etsy. The Sleep Headphones are made to fit comfortably around your head and ears while you sleep. Wearing a big set of muff headphones just doesn’t do the trick when your trying to pass out. But then again, listening to your significant other’s persistent snoring isn’t doing much for your sleeping habits either. The Sleep Headphones look like they could be worn all night without a hitch. Totally custom honed for your sleeping pleasure, the Sleeping Headphones come shipped with a soothing audio CD and a pleasantly girly lavender-colored sachet. Used in correlation with some aroma therapy and maybe a nice glass of wine, nothing will be able to wake you up from your deep slumber. It’s...

The first Air Bus A380 aircraft was delivered to Singapore Airlines months ago and their maiden flight was from Singapore to Sydney, Australia and the ticket was $10,000. All 455 tickets were sold in no time and all proceeds from it went to charity.

These are some amazing ads that make you almost instantly believe that the product is worth a shot. I’ve gathered some of the most creative ads that recently hit the internets.

The Impulse NPX-9000 laptop is available for US$130 and features a 7-inch screen and Linux OS. It comes with a 400MHz processor, 128MB of RAM, 1GB of flash storage and an optional wireless networking dongle. It also includes office productivity software, a web browser and multimedia software. The Impulse NPX-9000 laptop is cheap but there's a catch - it has to be bought in bulk, in units of 100. The laptop is available on Alibaba.com through the online store of Taiwanese company Carapelli Ltd.

I have seen and described a lot in my journeys, but now I am left with no newer words to describe the upcoming structures in Dubai. It’s always the ‘largest’ or the ‘tallest’ or the ‘most expensive’ kinds of terms only that can epitomize the construction coming up in this crazy place. The latest on the list is the World's largest Arch Bridge. The mile-long bridge will be 670 feet tall at its highest point! And it’s gonna encompass 12 lanes of traffic with a metro line running down the center. Estimated to be able to carry over 2,000 vehicles per hour in each direction, this bridge will be built at a whopping cost of 817 million dollars!