Inspirational and good news.
MIT researchers have found a way to incorporate virus into batteries. Using methods that elude me, they have essentially trained viruses to produce an electric current when accompanied by some nanotechnology.
“They modified the M13 virus’ genes so its outside layer, or coat, would bind with certain metal ions. They incubated the virus in a cobalt chloride solution so that cobalt oxide crystals mineralised uniformly along its length.
They added a bit of gold for the desired electrical effects.”
Free Press has a web-page dedicated to exposing fake news because it has gotten out of hand. Free Press focuses on American media, but they still provide information for people so anyone can learn how to spot fake news.
What is fake new? Well in this case it refers to “news” that has been supplied by a corporate mouthpiece. The journalist may work for the product being discussed, or the parent company of the news channel influences the report. Fake news is growing and it is up to people to stop it.
A new vaccine has been developed which is proven to destroy the main virus which causes cervical cancer. The vaccine will likely be given to boys and girls at puberty, and is shown to be 100% effective in killing the four papillomavirus types responsible for the vast majority of cervical cancers! The disease kills roughly around 500,000 women a year worldwide. Within the next two generations it is likely to be as rare as smallpox.
A Carolina woman has become one of the first of a group of blind people to have had their sight restored through cybernetics.
Electrodes implanted in Cheri Robertson’s brain receive a video signal from a small camera worn on her eyeglasses and processed through a wearable computer, a la Geordi LaForge.
Patients with the implants see flashes of light and outlines of objects, but there’s a good chance that the technology will improve with time.
Below is copied from a Wired article on a website that encourages women to get into electronics and do it yourself projects:
A new web-based show encourages young women to tune in and associate DIY less with bread making and more with breadboard wiring.
Created by Alison Lewis, a web designer and instructor at Parsons School of Design, Switch is a free online show connects young women with technology by guiding them through fashion and design projects.
Lewis said she hopes “to inspire people with design and to get young girls thinking about how electronics are approachable and not so scary.”
Diana Eng of Project Runway fame co-hosted the first episode, which is now available at the Switch site. She instructs viewers on how to make a recordable talking picture frame. Future episodes — Lewis hopes to post two a month — will feature design-slash-tech projects such as electronic pillows.