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Austrian scientists develop new infrared laser
2010-11-05 09:58:37

VIENNA, Nov. 4, (Xinhua) -- Austrian scientists of the University of Linz has newly developed a small and energy-efficient semiconductor laser, which can be widely used in fields such as environmental analysis, climate research, medical and automotive exhaust gas monitoring.

According to Austrian Press Agency (APA) on Thursday, using lead-salt semiconductor, scientists of the Institute of Semiconductor and Solid State Physics, the University of Linz, have produced a laser with its wavelength up to 4.3 microns.

However, this kind of equipment should be used in cooling environment with the operating temperature of up to 2 degrees Celsius.

The researchers said that the new infrared semiconductor laser can be used to develop a "more compact, more durable, cheaper, and with higher energy efficiency" laser system.

Although it still needs a cooling condition to be used currently, it has the possibility to work at room temperature in the near future, said the scientists.
 
Out-Sniffing Bomb-Sniffing Dogs
A Tel Aviv University scientist leads a research team that has developed a powerful electronic sensor to detect multiple kinds of explosives -- including those used in the recent Yemeni bomb threat. Based on nanotechnology advances, the new sensor is small, portable, and is more sensitive and reliable at detecting explosives than any sniffer dog, says its lead researcher Prof. Fernando Patolsky of Tel Aviv University's Raymond and Beverly Sackler School of Chemistry.

With scientific findings on it published recently in the journal Angewandte Chemie, the new device is attracting considerable attention from security companies and fellow scientists.
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Out-sniffing bomb-sniffing dogs
 
American scientists create life in a lab​
3 Indian-Origin Members In Team Which Made Cells That Can Multiply​
Chidanand Rajghatta | TNN

Washington: A team of scientists in the US, including three researchers of Indian origin, has created life in the laboratory. In a profound—and some would say provocative—work, the 24-member team at the privately-held J Craig Venter Institute has created bacterial cells that are completely controlled by genes manufactured in the lab. The cells can multiply.

The successful construction of the first self-replicating bacterial cells opens the way for making and manipulating life on a previously unattainable scale, calling into question the basic assumptions of creation.

Previously, scientists have altered and manipulated DNA piecemeal to produce a variety of genetically-engineered plants and animals. But the ability to artificially design an entire genome—the ‘book of life’ that controls an organism’s functions—puts a different spin on the meaning of terms such as creation, evolution and life.

The J Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), which is a not-for-profit genomic research organization based in Rockville and in San Diego did not say when exactly its team synthesized the 1.08 million base pair chromosomes of a modified Mycoplasma mycoides, a parasite bacteria that lives in cattle and goats. But it said the synthetic cell, called Mycoplasma mycoides JCVI-syn1.0, “is the proof of principle that genomes can be designed in the computer, chemically made in the laboratory and transplanted into a recipient cell to produce a new selfreplicating cell controlled only by the synthetic genome’’.

The most remarkable thing about the synthetic cell, a JCVI scientist explained, is that its “genome was brought to life through chemical synthesis, without using any pieces of natural DNA’’.

The implications of the breakthrough was not lost on the founder of the institute, J Craig Venter, the maverick American biologist and entrepreneur who is most famous for his role in sequencing one of the first human genomes. “We have been consumed by this research, but we have also been equally focused on addressing the societal implications of what we believe will be one of the most powerful technologies and industrial drivers for societal good. We look forward to continued review and dialogue about the important applications of this work to ensure that it is used for the benefit of all,’’ he said in a statement.

The 24-member team includes three scientists of Indian origin—Sanjay Vashee, Radha Krishnakumar and Prashanth P Parmar. The first synthetic cell did not come cheap or easy. The process of constructing and booting up the cell took nearly 15 years and cost upwards of $30 million, the institute said.

GOD PLAYERS

US geneticist Craig Venter and team create life form powered by manmade genes—a bacteria whose entire genome was made in the lab from 4 bottles of chemicals. It’s being dubbed one of the most important scientific achievements in history

What It Promises

‘Designed’ algae that can eat up CO2 , bacteria to make bio-fuels and clean up toxic waste, new vaccines & foods

The Fears

Could create bio-weapons, escaped artificial bugs could wreak havoc, man could ‘play God’

Venter is not merely copying life artificially... he is going towards the role of a god: creating artificial life that could never have existed naturally Julian Savulescu | PROF OF PRACTICAL ETHICS, OXFORD UNIVERSITY Three Indians in the team: Sanjay Vashee, Radha Krishnakumar & Prashanth P Parmar

Welcome - Times Of India ePaper

The genome is not the "life-source" material. Sorry to break the ice, but they have not created any artificial life, merely replicated the code of reproduction, that is all.

Not undermining though, that in itself is a grand feat.
 
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