Here First - Science and Technology Blog

Dr. Charles Czeisler is a known professor of sleep medicine and chief of sleep medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital. He said in an interview recently that sleep has major effects on the brain and the health of the body. (Pat Greenhouse/ Globe Staff) People who sleep averaged less than seven hours per night were about three times more likely to develop cold symptoms than study volunteers who got eight or more hours of sleep, Pittsburgh researchers reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine. "These results really fit in very well with what has been becoming increasingly clear, which is that sleep has major effects not only on the brain in terms of alertness and performance, but also on the health of the body." Wound healing has been shown to be affected by sleep.  A study conducted by Gumustekin et al.in 2004 shows sleep deprivation hindering the healing of burns on rats. It has also been shown that sleep deprivation affects the immune system and metabolism. In a st...

This new audio player uses Kinetic energy to charge the battery. I hope this concept will be available soon to all mp3 players. One just needs to shake his/her body for recharging the battery. How cool is that! If you turn “Hold” button and start shaking and battery will be charged. You can turn off the “Hold” button to play and pause the MP3 player.

NASA has detected a deep space sound that defies belief or any explanation. They don't have a single clue about its origin, according to Alan Kogut from the Goddard Space Center. According to NASA, "the source of this cosmic radio background remains a mystery". It's not primordial stars, it's not any known radio source, and in fact, the problem here is that there is "not enough radio galaxies to account for the signal". In other words, nothing in the known cosmos is capable of producing this deafening sound. University of Maryland at College Park's Dale Fixsen—part of NASA's ARCADE team— says, that to get this kind of signal, "you'd have to pack [radio galaxies] into the universe like sardines. There wouldn't be any space left between one galaxy and the next". So in more scientific terms: They don't have a flying frak about what the hell this may be. NASA

Mercedes has revealed recently the final version of its SLR McLaren sports car. The new super-car will be named after Sir Stirling Moss, who drove for the team in the 1950s. I just love the way it looks. Only 75 examples of the Mercedes SLR McLaren Stirling Moss will be built, but I am sure the waiting list is already full. For this powerful version of the SLR, Mercedes teamed with McLaren. The car has 650bhp and a projected 0-100kph (62mph) time of 3.5 seconds. This car will add the crowning glory to the model family of their highly successful SLR super sports car with a new, uncompromisingly spectacular car. The SLR Stirling Moss has a top speed of 350kph (217mph). If one wants to buy this car must draw out of pocket €750,000 (£709,000). It goes into production in June next year. Press release: Exciting design reminiscent of the SLR racing cars The entire bodywork of the SLR Stirling Moss is made of fine lightweight carbon fibre and represents a stand-alone design concept. Whilst the...

We can produce a lot of electric power from alternative sources of energy. On of these sources can be found in the waves! Portugal realized that and built Agucadoura, the world's first wave farm off its coast. There are  three Wave Energy Converters generating a total of 2.25MW. The elongated metal contraptions bob up and down with the waves, while internal pistons, attached to the sea floor, remain stationary and pump hydraulic fluid. All this mechanic arsenal drives electric generators. The electric power is brought ashore by underwater electrical cables. The wave farm is now tapping into enough constant, renewable energy to power 1500 homes. Who knew there was so much power in the ocean waves? Imagine what we can do with many of these farms all over the oceans. But it seems there is no interest in this at this time.  I hope in the near future generators such these will be one of the clean alternative for an energy-starved planet.

A laboratory in Russia says it has built a proton accelerator for treating cancer victims that is 10 times cheaper then any similar device. It may provide salvation for millions of oncology patients around the world. This is great news for all of us! Proton therapy has the best success rate: 90 percent compared to about 40 to 60 percent for other forms of radiotherapy. It provides more effective treatment than x-rays or electron beams because they have greater energy and can be focused on the affected area (tumor). This occurs due to a process known as the Bragg Peak, which causes the protons to land directly on their target, avoiding damage to healthy tissue. The beam slices the DNA in cancerous cells and kills them. So,treating cancer with proton beams is one of the most promising methods to date. The particles are accelerated in a device similar to the famous Large Hadron Collider scaled down to ‘just’ a dozen meters and then fired at a tumour. The beam slices cancerous cells’ DNA a...

Researchers from RegenTec - UK based research and Pharma company has discovered something you might call magic powder. This powder acts like sealing agent between fractured and broken bone pieces. This powder which needs to be injected into the patients bone fills the void created by fracture or broken bone. This will speed the recovery process. It is just like a quick fix.  “You won’t be able to just walk out of a hospital with a broken leg,” said Robin Quirk, a professor at the University of Nottingham who, along with Kevin Shakesheff in the United States, originally developed the technology. “What we are trying to do in the short term is have something that fills the void left by a break that acts like normal spongy bone and encourages natural regeneration.” The powder is not replacement for the bone itself, rather it gives stability and aids bone growth.  Read full article here

Robbie Maddison achieves the impossible, jumping his motorcycle over 120 feet to the top of the Arc de Triomphe at the Paris Las Vegas and then jumped back down.

2009 is here. I am back. I salute all my friends that read my blog. I hope you will stick with me this year too.