An eyeless sensor has been invented. Inspiration is taken from the ability of the human skin to ’see’ colors and objects. This would make optical technologies available in the market obsolete. This futuristic device created by Lenoid Yaroslavsky. He is the scientist at Tel Aviv University. This would help in understanding how this primal inherent aptitude might have developed over millions of years. This behavior can be seen also in plants and animals. In fact the biological scientists contest the possibility that there may be a scientific thought for ’skin vision’. Yaroslavsky conceives that skin vision would guide to new advances in therapies. This could help the blind in regaining vision.

Skin sight is ordinary in nature. Plants familiarize themselves with surroundings and circumstances with it. Some reptiles use infrared vision - pit vipers is an example for that. Many reptiles are having skin sensors, which help them in seeing without eyes. Skin vision in human beings is actually a natural atavistic quality. It involves light-sensitive cells in the body skin. These are having connection with neuro-machinery working in the body and the brain. This was told by Yaroslavsky.

He is presently working on imaging simulation theories. He is working on the theories which rely on computer software. His work would lead to future inventions with practical applications.
These devices would have special sensors in them. This would help in coping with terrorist acts at airports and radiation at sea. This would also lead to make new night-vision technological items or near-weightless objects for space activities. These devices would guide spaceships to stars outside our galaxy.

Traditional imaging lenses are currently being used. They just work within a limited range of electromagnetic radiation. They are still very costly. They also have some limitations regarding bulk, weight and field of view. The new lens-less devices could be adapted to any kind of situation. They can be used for different radiations and wavelengths. They could basically function with a ‘bionic’ 360-degree field of view.

Their imaging potentiality would be decided by computer. In other devices it is determined by the laws of light diffraction. This was told by Yaroslavsky. These applications would soon be developed. He hopes to convince biologists to have faith into the mechanisms of optics-less vision.

Eggan’s team worked on the patients skin cells. They put them under four genetic factors found in the developing embryo. This process made cells to look and behave like embryonic stem cells.

Such types of reprogramming techniques were also used earlier to create stem cells from skin cells. But in this new experiment the cells were generated from a patient body. These cells were given a name of IPS cells - Induced Pluripotent Stem cells.

This new ability means that scientists would now be able to create models for examining and doing research work on complex type of genetic diseases like Alzheimer’s. It is also feasible to use this reprogramming technique on the aged patients or patients having serious type of diseases.

These new findings will enable scientists to produce uncountable number of motor neurons same in nature to those provided by the cell donor. By this they will research on the causes and reasons which activate the disease in the cells.

Chris Henderson, who is the co-director of the Motor Neuron Center at Columbia University, in New York said that if these cells die or degenerate in the culture dish then they will came to know much about degeneration process through researching on them. One other useful thing about these cells is that scientists will use these cells to screen the new drugs to protect against neurodegeneration in ALS.

Scientist has successfully achieved to derive stem cells from the skin of an eighty two year old patient suffering from ALS - amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Through this the scientists have found a new method to study the degenerative motor disease. It will also help them to test new treatment drugs. Finally this new technique will bring a new revolution in cell-replacement therapies.

All this was achieved when scientists were using new techniques on the patient to reprogram adult cells to make them pluripotent. When cell is made pluripotent it means that it could be made any type of the cell in the body.

The researchers have been working to make stem cells from patients since a long time. They were trying so because they believe that this will help them in better understanding the disease. Actually the cells hold the genes of the disease from which the patient is being suffered. If those cells could be taken out they can be examined in the laboratory to understand the disease in different ways. This was stated by Kevin Eggan, who is working as a stem-cell scientist at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and contributed much of his useful work in this research.

The latest technique developed by scientists in Japan was used by the researchers in their work to create the stem cells. That technique was developed in such a way that it doesn’t require human eggs or creation or destruction of embryos. This resolved many problems that have plagued the research work in the field of embryonic stem-cell.

The second major component is its internal combustion generator. The function of this generator is to convert the gas into electric power. This electric power could be used for any domestic need.

This station is being publically demonstrated heating, cooking and operating a fridge in Sheffield.

The critical element of this is how much it would cost to put such a refueling station in your home. The technology is very plausible but there are some issues about public acceptance.

The technology is very impressive but the thing to think about is that it would cost much to install it in home and could it be affordable to people.

The fact that the refueling station uses electricity meant it would not be a much-sought after zero emissions system unless the electricity itself is produced in a more green way, he added.

The fact that the refueling station uses electricity meant it would not be a much-sought after zero emissions system

As we discussed earlier that water and electricity are the source items to produce hydrogen gas. It would not lead to desired results as claimed for zero emissions unless electricity is produced without polluting the environment.

A new hydrogen refueling station has been introduced by the ITM - British company. The company is leading innovator within the alternative energy source industries. This station could be installed in the home and would be a best alternative to visiting a petrol station.

To comply with this new technology hydrogen-powered cars are also going to set in production. The interesting thing about this is that this could also be used for heating and cooking purposes.

It is always said and proved by scientists that Hydrogen could be used as an alternative energy source to other fossil fuels originated from carbon.

The question is that why not fuel-cell vehicles became so popular and highly used so far. The answer is due to the lack of hydrogen fuelling stations. Now with the release of this station it would get much better in the future.

Hydrogen could not be used directly as a fuel in this system. It needs some processes and other energy sources to get it in useable form.

While some scientists are hopeful of the fuel uses of hydrogen, many others are skeptical because it is inefficient to produce, expensive to transport and to convert into electricity.

When we ask the scientists about this new hydrogen-station they give two views over it. one group says we are hopeful and expecting good results by the fuel uses of hydrogen. Whereas other group shows some doubts about the feasibility of the project. They say that it would be inefficient to produce and cost much on transportation and its conversion into electric power.

The most important functioning part of the station is an electrolyser. This electrolyser works to produce hydrogen gas from water and electricity.

The working schedules are extremely heavy in space as they remain in touch with the earth centers with the video connections and astronauts have a little time to enjoy their private time. The situation is very tense in space strong mental health is needed there.

In a near future, doctors would be able to look into an astronaut space life through portable brain scanner. This could be highly helpful in examining the mental health of the astronauts. This device would provide information and help in monitoring the astronauts for signs of any kind of brain injury or depression or mental tiredness.

In these conditions the astronauts would loose their ability to make critical repair work of space equipment.This scanner is not finally released. The research work is going on at Massachusetts General Hospital in US state of Boston. This will be finally evaluated for its performance and safety perspectives. After then it will be handed over to NASA which will think to send it into orbit.

The temperature was lowered down to 25 C. At that temperature hydrogel started absorbing water and swelling and then it was again raised up to 37 C.

By doing in this way, researchers saw that around 80% of the attached cells dropped by. The fellow researchers of Giant repeated the temperature change procedure every 60 minute, and continued to do it for four hours. After the experiment the researchers said that a sensor coated fully with the gel keeps it free from fibrous growth around it and it demonstrated well.

In a second test membrane was made porous. It was observed that analytes like glucose move through to the sensor without making its ability ineffective to monitor the conditions such as diabetes and providing read-out.

To prevent the sensors from immune defence and to attain the desired changes and results the sensors are coated with membrane and placed under the surface of the skin. These sensors are then regulated through an external mean; which is a device integrated with a heating and cooling element to change the temperature.

Megan Frost is a researcher working at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, US. She is fascinated by these findings. She says,

“The idea of shrinking and swelling is novel to the best of my knowledge”

Earlier the researchers made much research work on creating such substances which could prevent the fibroblasts from getting attention. These substances don’t behave to cause the immune response.

Frosts says that by using a membrane which possesses both chemical properties and physical properties - shrinking and swelling - could successfully keep the implanted sensors clean than any other material. She says that

We would be waiting to see how it results in the real body, because there is a very little correlation in the lab experiments and actual happening. Despite of seeing the astonishing and positive results by experimenting on cell cultures in test tubes, she is suspicious about its behavior in real body. She thinks that it is more likely that we see the shrinking and growing membrane creating new problems when used in the body.

She says.

“Physical movement sometimes increases the inflammatory response to implanted devices”

Danny O’Hare is working at Imperial College London, UK since many years. He feels that the movements caused by the physical properties could create complications. He thinks that it would probably affect the performance of the sensor.

He says,

“It’s hard to see how the optical or spectroscopic properties of the tissue-sensor interface won’t be adversely affected by the swelling/shrinking membrane,”

The surface which could clean it by itself and combat with the immune response of the body could increase the life of biosensors inside the human body.

The sensors implanted beneath the skin give continuous information therefore this technique is considered as the easiest and simplest way to get reports on chronic diseases like diabetes.

The implanted sensors continue working in the right manner as long as its surface remains clean. But as it is not the part of the body and the body treats it as it is and produces antibodies against this outsider. This is actually called as the immune response; which is actually defence reaction against an invading substance.

This immune system usually fails to destroy the sensors, if it happened body reacts in other way. In this way, specialist cells fibroblasts move in and start developing a tissue layer to form a capsule shaped body around the sensor; this layer effects the sensor greatly and makes its sensitivity less effective.

Rebecca Gant working at Texas A&M University in College Station made a research with his colleagues and succeeded in developing a new thing called self-cleaning membrane. She positively thinks that she can cope with the problem and this invention would help in combating the growth of fibrous tissue. This will be achieved by coating the implanted sensor with this newly invented self-cleaning membrane.

This membrane is actually a hydrogel. Its properties depend on the temperature. When the temperature is below 34 °C it switches to hydrophilic state having the characteristics of absorbing water and swelling whereas in the temperature above 34 °C it behaves and shifts to hydrophobic state with totally opposite behavior in which it releases water and shrinks.

The researchers say that this behavior of the membrane with the temperature in its properties of swelling and shrinking is would move away and get rid of the cells that have become attached to the surface.

This was a just claim it needed practical demonstration for that they placed it in a mouse fibroblast cell culture. This experiment was given a time of full night keeping it at 37 C; which is the normal body temperature. In the morning the researchers saw that it started working; the fibroblast was forming a layer around the hydrogel and was going to encapsulate it.

The imaging results of the semiconductor-based detectors are much better than the conventional detectors. The reason is that these semiconductor-based detectors are smaller and thinner in size and could be easily adjusted and arranged than others. This advancement in technology renders higher spatial resolution and images with less noise and without irrelevant information. This device also carries depth of interaction (DOI) which is a detecting system. The advantage of this system is that it reduces possible errors at the periphery of the examining body area.

Scientists made a research on the physical functioning capacity of the scanner. This scanner has been used in the treatment of the patients suffering from epilepsy and nasopharyngeal cancer. The clinical significance of this device has also been examined in the bodies of these patients. The research findings show that PET scanner can be used for clinical use; it is feasible for clinical use. The device is result oriented and provides higher spatial resolution and quantitative imaging which is essentially required in nuclear medicine. This device is currently being installed in Hokkaido University Hospital. The staff from the Department of Nuclear Medicine a Hokkaido University in Sapporo, Japan is present there helping to operate this device.

The study on PET brain scanner showed that this technology could be advanced more in quality and spatial resolution of PET imaging. This is said by the team of medical researchers. PET stands for positron emission tomography. This is a prototype scanner in which semiconductor detectors are used.

This prototype has already been used for characterizing the brain disorder disease – epilepsy – and nasopharyngeal cancer. It proved successful. This technology could help better in the early diagnoses of other cancers, nervous disorder diseases and heart diseases especially cardiovascular disease. This also helps in assessing patient’s responses to therapies. Third benefit which is achieved through this scanner is it determines how efficiently the new drug is working in the patient’s body.

Yuichi Morimoto is the leading person in the team researching on this technology. This research work has been given the name of Performance of a Prototype Brain PET Scanner Based on Semiconductor Detectors. He is the senior researcher for Central Research Laboratory of Hitachi Ltd., Tokyo, Japan. He considered it the exciting development in the field of nuclear medicine. These semiconductor scanners possess great potential. They are having high energy resolution and flexibility to good extent in size and fine arrangement of detectors. These characteristics of scanners provide better PET images.

PET scan procedure is the molecular imaging procedure. All treatment procedures in this category are noninvasive and painless tests. Physicians feel much comfortable in diagnosing medical conditions and conducting research. Radioactive materials like radiopharmaceuticals or radiotracers are used in PET scanning procedure. These radioactive materials gather on the area of the body surface which is being examined. In the next process it emits gamma rays which enter into the body.

PET scanner detects this emitted form of energy. These devices are integrated with the computer. The absorbed amount of radiotracer is measured on the computer on the basis of information sent by the device. The computer produces images providing the information on the functioning of organs and other internal body parts to the cellular and molecular levels.

American scientists say that it could be very useful to use animal faeces as a fuel source. Through this fuel-source energy could be produced especially in the form of electric power. It is also being claimed that if it be done this would generate three percent of the energy needs of the whole North America.

A research work is going on in the Institute of Physics journal Environmental Research Letters. It is reported that this process would also have many additional benefits especially relating environmental concerns. The animal excreta would also reduce the greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs).

This study is first of its own type. In this research study is being made to check it out that how much electric power could be produced by taking animal excreta as a fuel source.
If this animal waste is left to decompose in a natural way, nitrous oxide and methane are the two gases which are omitted from this substance.The scientists carried out their research in two ways and then compared both of them for their energy savings and GHG reducing benefits.In the first way they burn the coal to generate energy. In these way animal excreta is left to decompose naturally. This is the process commonly adopted and happening around the world.

The second way is to pass the animal manure through anaerobic digestion process. Through this biogas is produced. And this gas is burnt to make up coal.This anaerobic digestion process is same to the process adopted to create compost which is used as a fertilizer. By these process animal excreta is converted into biogas. This biogas is full with energy. And then micro turbines are used to generate electric power.

The researchers also fully calculated the amount of energy that could be generated in America through this process. They said that there is a big number of livestock inhabiting the United States of America. This is enough to generated approximately 100 billion KWH of electric power. This is sufficient to fulfill the electric requirements of homes and offices.

Dr. Michael Webber and Amanda Cuellar are the two senior researchers in the University of Texas at Austin. They said that the research going on biofuels received much criticism due to many reasons especially regarding environmental concerns. Contrary to biofuels, biogas provides less controversial benefits. The reason is that an existing waste substance is used in it rendering the positive effect on environment and helping in improving it.

The young students and professors who are doing research work in Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology made a discovery on natural vegetable oils. They said that these oils are having the capacity to be a substitute for motor oil mixtures generally used as lubricants for two-stroke engines.

They succeeded on developing and examining the various methods to make cost-effective bio-fuels derived from different origins. They remained busy on conducting research projects previous year in their campus.

The research in bio-fuels and bio-lubricants will limit the consumption of foreign oil in the near future. The research work is being conducted by undergraduate students. They are making use of high-level developed chemical instrumentation and engine testing on a power measuring tool - dynamometer.

Matt Colchin and Doug Hale is a senior mechanical engineer from Decatur, Ind. and Indianapolis accompanied with Liz Malolawho (second year graduate) chemical engineer from Rochester, Ind. and Collins from Claremont (California) are working on this project. These are the young people but the significance of project demands the expert persons from mechanical, chemical and chemistry field.

This research team is already well-known for developing different types of two-cycle engine oils derived from bio-origins. These oils were proved to having highly good lubricating properties as compared to the synthetic oils available in the market and being commercially used. Now this team is moving towards the development of bio-fuels; which are having origin of canola oil, animal fat and waste frying oils. They are also looking into the results and effects of these bio-fuels sources in power production in an automobile engine. This analysis is being made by extensive engine tests.

The team of Rose-Hulman is working on the use of butanol in addition to ethanol use. Butanol can derived from corn grains. Butanol is having more energy than ethanol. Butanol has same properties as gasoline has which is widely being used and available at the gas station.

In the second phase of this project they are working on the manufacturing of biodiesel from different origins and examining their properties. They are trying to produce bio-diesel without generating waste by-products. Glycerin is the by-product released by the current method. This waste is discarded in a landfill. Collins said that this is an era which would revolutionize the automotive industry.

Scientists succeeded to develop a technology which would be very useful in the research work being made on penguin lives. According to the news this new technology will monitor the movement of the endangered penguins without disturbing their private lives.

The researchers working in the University of Bristol have done that job. By adopting this new technology scientists would be able to get all the information they needed from far away. They will receive the information about population sizes and species. This data will be collected without chasing the animals.

The scientists were researching on the African penguins of South Africa’s Robben Island for previous some period. The new system was the result of that research work.

The system basically works through cameras. These technological cameras automatically locate the penguins, trace them out and follow them. The black spots on the chests of the penguins have a key role in this whole system. Cameras actually follow these spots and differentiate between different penguins through these black spots.

The new and latest biometrical identifying system works behind to locate and recognize penguins through the different shapes and arrangements of the black spots on the chests of the African penguins. This biometrical identifying system is the same as used on passports having biometric bands.

Researchers working on this system also told that they tested this system on other species and found it successful. They tested it on zebras and sharks as we all know that zebras have lines on his body and each zebra differ in his pattern with other zebra. This system can be used and extended to monitor all other animal creatures.

Dr. Tilo Burghardt who is the scientist working in Bristol University said that their team strongly believe and expect that this newly invented technology will help much the biologists to locate, identify and monitor big number of species through amazingly cheap, easy and automatic mean which was not possible before.

Professor Peter Bartham, who is the founder and main player in the research work made on this technology, said that once this system is taken into practice you will see that the ecologists and conservationists would get amazing results. This would be the revolution in getting population data in good precision, quantity and quality.

The animals will also get benefit from this new system. Because in this system neither the animals are disturbed nor chased; they are also neither captured nor marked by which they often get side effects.

Good news for the eye-patients who have gone blind due to retina damage or disease. German scientists have successfully created wireless bionic eyeball recently, which will restore vision of that kind of eye-patients.

It took 12 years of deep research work by the scientists to create this new prosthetic device for the eye-patients. This is named as “bionic eyeball” and it would be fully implanted in the body.

This will bypass the damaged retina; this statement was given by the German scientists from Franuhofer Institute for Microelectronic Circuits and Systems in Duisburg, Germany.

This new system is consisted of implant and external transmitter; both are integrated on the eyeglass-frame.

This integrated implant system plays a key role in this eyeglass-frame and works amazingly. A telemetric link is used to transfer data and energy to this implant system. This received data or image patterns are converted into stimulation signals by this system. These signals are interpretable. The nerve cells of the eye start simulating according to these capture images.

The intact cells are stimulated by 3-D electrodes. This innervating system is present against the retina.

The whole arrangement works perfectly like healthy eyes as long as the optic nerve remains safe without any damage. The vision signals received by the implant system are sent to the brain in a perfect manner like a natural eye system.

Hoc Khiem Trieu, who is working in the Franuhofer Institute, said,

“For normally sighted people that may not seem much, but for the blind, it is a major step”

By the invention of this system the blind people will be able to see like normal sighted people. It would be miracle in medical history. The whole system depends on how the nerve cells are simulated.

Trieu remained involved from the beginning of this project and is one of the major scientists of this discovery. This project was fully financed and supported by the education and research ministry of Germany.

Hoc Khiem Trieu translated the information into an implant and chip design, which was given by the medical experts and material scientists working with him in this project. The whole process was carried out by Hoc Khiem Trieu, who was accompanying with two other scientists, Ingo Krisch and DMichael Goertz.

Dr Krisch talked about this experiment in his statement in the following words,

“A milestone was reached when the prosthetic system finally operated wirelessly and remotely controlled”

As this system was desired to be created any external link; therefore it strongly demanded a thorough research work by these scientists.

This system had to be fitted in the eye; therefore the scientists made the design smaller and used more flexible materials having high performance. This last and final creation was more comfortable to fit in the body.

Goertz describes it as;

“The designs became smaller and smaller, the materials more flexible, more robust and higher in performance, so that the implant now fits comfortably in the eye”

For this great milestone discovery, these scientists are nominated for Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize for 2008 and will be given soon.