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Spatial mininavette launched by the giant Stratolaunch aircraft

2014-10-14T00:04:00Z

Spatial mininavette launched by the giant Stratolaunch aircraft

Past the disappointment of his non-selection by NASA for the provision of manned space transportation system, the company does not give Sierra Nevada and announces the development of a spatial derivative of mininavette Dream Chaser. http://enjoycoloring.com/ Launch into space, airborne, Stratolaunch will be entrusted to the firm of Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, which is developing the largest aircraft in the world.

A reduced version of Dream Chaser, Sierra Nevada company, could be launched into space by the giant aircraft studied by Stratolaunch. Designed by Burt Rutan, the designer of the White Knight Two Virgin Galactic, it would be between the two fuselages a rocket ship capable of a load into orbit as the spaceship. © Sierra Nevada

Sierra Nevada (CNS) and Stratolaunch took advantage of 65 th International Congress of Astronautics , which was held from September 29 to October 3 in Toronto, Canada, to announce a partnership on the implementation of a system launch Airborne. http://enjoycoloring.com/transportation/ It would consist of a smaller version of the Dream Chaser SNC and space project Stratolaunch , Paul Allen, Microsoft co-founder.

The idea of the two firms is to use the Stratolaunch aircraft in development, to launch a smaller version of the Dream Chaser. This little device could carry a crew of three or fly autonomously. As for the plane, it's huge! Designed with Scaled Composite by Burt Rutan, as Whiteknight Two Virgin Galactic, it uses the principle of dual fuselage with a tail that central door payload. But the dimensions are a cut above.

Tips to improve the fluorescence microscope

2014-10-14T00:02:00Z

Principle of STED microscopy. A small area of the sample is illuminated by the first laser (left). In the center a second beam annular & nbsp; off fluorescent molecules. Finally, the collected light, left, is a point of low dimension. © Marcel Lauterbach, CC-BY-SA 3.0

In 2000, Stefan W. Hell , institute Max Planck , Germany, succeeded in developing a technique called fluorescence microscopy STED for Stimulated Emission Depletion , what can be translated as microscopy loss by emission stimulated. In this device, the fluorescence is raised locally (by stimulation light, which passes the carbon in an excited state ), on the point to be observed by a first ray laser. http://enjoycoloring.com/ The emitted light (of a different frequency than the stimulation) form a large spot, thus reducing the resolution. But a second laser beam off literally light emitted around this point. This suppression is achieved by adjusting the frequency of the laser light so that the excited atoms are reset to the resting state by emitting a photon of the same stimulation frequency, and therefore the color of the fluorescence collected by the microscope.

Eric Betzig and William Moerner , they have worked on the "monomolecular microscopy", both in the United States but their separate ways, the first in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the second at Stanford University. http://enjoycoloring.com/superhero/ The technique involves the fluorescence of some trigger molecules by short bursts of stimulation. A sequence of images is then obtained which allows to reconstruct the position of the individual molecules. The first image was obtained in 2006 by Eric Betzig. The resolution thus reached down "to the nanometer level," says Nobel jury, who speaks thus of "nanoscopy".

As the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2014 , awarded to inventors of LED blue, this award is a bit of a surprise. Besides Stefan Hell has told the press that, immersed in reading an article when dropped the news, he was initially thought to be a hoax. But since the first loupes Galileo and others, the models Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, the XVII th century who so pleased to biologists, and all their successors, electronic, in tunneling and atomic force microscopes have always advanced the science of physics to medicine. Fall under the known limits resolution is obviously of great importance.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2014 for the "nanoscopy"

2014-10-14T00:00:00Z

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2014 for the "nanoscopy"

Move the optical microscope beyond the theoretical limit of resolution: this is what Eric Betzig and succeeded William Moerner (United States) with the monomolecular microscopy, and Stefan Hell with STED fluorescence microscopy. Here they all three awarded the Nobel jury.

Images of the same colloidal particles (200 nm in diameter) obtained, left with a confocal microscope, right with the STED device. http://enjoycoloring.com/ Two magnifications are shown, the scale bar indicates 1 micron in large images and 250 nm in small. © Benjamin Harke, Jan Keller, Chaitanya K. Ullal, Volker Westphal, Andreas Schönle, Stefan W. Hell, Opt. Express 16, 4154-4162 (2008)

Until the early 1990s, it was explained that the resolution is limited by an optical instrument frequency , that of the microscope classic should not be allowed to fall below 0.2 nm . Replace light by a flow of electrons was the only way to do better. http://enjoycoloring.com/holiday/ The Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2014 three researchers rewards for pushing further the possibilities of the optical microscope , also known as "photonic" cleverly playing with the technique of fluorescence microscopy , known since the beginning of the XX th century.

By adding molecules to a fluorescent preparation, the manner in which dyes are used as do biologists, it is possible to more readily highlight certain families of certain molecules or structures. The genetics has advanced this process by including in the genes themselves adding a fluorescent molecule such as GFP ( Green Fluorescent Protein ) or DsRed, a protein that you want track. This technique had won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2008 with three men, Roger Tsien, Osamu Shimomura and Martin Chalfie.

Interview: biodiversity, an account of life

2014-10-13T23:58:00Z

Interview: biodiversity, an account of life

Xavier Le Roux, director of the Foundation for Biodiversity Research, lends itself to our questions in this series on biodiversity. It is a statement of the rich fabric of the flora and fauna that the French basin concentrated. A diverse but threatened heritage.

Today, provide an assessment of biodiversity is complex. http://enjoycoloring.com/ Birds and large mammals are better known, though still new is discovered regularly species . The real challenge is more difficult to observe as organizations insects , or the extremophile bacteria (on the ocean floor, high altitude ...).

The French biodiversity is high, due to the position of France at the crossroads of several climates . France is also ranked the fourth in the world for its heritage. http://enjoycoloring.com/for-girls/ There are an average of 6,000 plant species and a thousand species of vertebrates different.

Despite this wealth, biodiversity remains very threatened by the industrialization of the French space. The deforestation , development of land farming and climate change are major issues. Transportation has also encouraged the spread of invasive species , from other areas of the globe, and can pose a threat to resident species.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is responsible for bronchiolitis in infants agent.

2014-10-13T23:55:00Z

View the progress of the infection in mice

The first step of their work consisted of inserting a gene expressing a fluorescent protein (luciferase) in the genome of the virus. After infection, mice were nasally luciferin. This substance reacts with luciferase by producing bioluminescence detectable with ultra-sensitive camera. http://enjoycoloring.com/ The researchers were able to observe the development of infection in the nose and lungs, the intensity of the bioluminescent signal indicating the degree of virus multiplication.

In a second step, the scientists gave the mice a molecule antiviral. Removal of virus resulted in a decrease and then an absence of signal light after a few days.

The evaluation of candidate vaccines or antiviral drugs based on animal models, the most widely used model is the mouse. However, RSV does not make them "sick" mice and measurement of viral replication requires the euthanasia of many animals and the use of laborious and expensive techniques. This new method is an important step to study in vivo the effect of antiviral compounds on respiratory syncytial virus. It is relatively easy to set up, which will help to accelerate the search for solutions to combat this virus.

One can study the virus bronchiolitis bioluminescence

2014-10-13T23:54:00Z

One can study the virus bronchiolitis bioluminescence

French researchers have developed a new method to study a virus causing bronchiolitis in young children and veal. Visualizing virus replication in real time in mice, scientists can test the effectiveness of vaccines and antiviral treatments.

Scientists follow the development of the infection by bioluminescence. Left: Mice infected with respiratory syncytial virus, 3, 4, 5 and 7 days after infection. Right: control mice. © Rameix-Welti MA et al., Nature Communications 2014

The virus respiratory syncytial (RSV) is the major causative agent of bronchiolitis in infants (human RSV) and pneumonia in calves (bovine RSV). http://enjoycoloring.com/ Currently, there is no vaccine for humans and those for cattle are not very effective on the ground. Now it is a highly contagious disease that affects almost all children under 2 years and is the leading cause of hospitalization of children under 6 months. On cattle farms, the virus is responsible for more than 60% of respiratory disease observed in dairy herds and up to 70% in suckler herds (meat production). These viruses and represent a major problem for human and animal health.

Researchers at INRA, with a team of AP-HP and the University of Versailles-Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, have developed a new method for studying over several days multiplication of the virus in live mice. This breakthrough was published in October 2014 in Nature Communications.

The cheetah needs to take a long walk for food

2014-10-13T23:51:00Z

The cheetah needs to take a long walk for food

Indeed, the evolution of these animals made cars capable of doing top speeds . Their lightweight constitution does not allow them to store energy for long walks . Michael Scantlebury, lead author of this work, "cheetahs are like Ferrari but mostly run slowly".

Cheetahs spend a lot of time traveling in search of food.

The fact that men have built barriers or hunt prey cheetahs (gazelles ...), http://enjoycoloring.com/ forcing them to travel over longer distances. Thus, when traveling, animals may need to go up and down the dunes of sand at high temperatures, no water to drink ... Particularly difficult conditions for the most vulnerable among them.

John Wilson, who also participated in the work, "too often we blame lions and hyenas to decimate populations of cheetahs when in fact it is rather we humans who were driving their decline. Imagine how difficult it must be for a small follow her mother deeper into the desert to look for food when she herself is struggling to survive".

This work may help to develop strategies for conservation of the species is classified as vulnerable by the IUCN.

The cheetah is doomed

2014-10-13T23:50:00Z

The cheetah is doomed

The animal built to run fast spends a lot of time walking in search of food. enjoy coloring The habitat of the cheetah was indeed limited because of human activities, so their population has grown from 100,000 to 10,000 individuals in the space of a century.

The cheetah is the world champion of the race with peaks at 120 km / h. © Malene Thyssen, Wikimedia Commons, cc by sa 2.5

The cheetah is an animal that runs the fastest. With record near 120 km / h, it should rely solely on its speed to catch prey. But because of human constructions and development of agriculture , habitat is restricted more and more in the African savannah, which impacts the species. http://enjoycoloring.com/for-adults/ These cats actually suffer greater pressure to find food because of the presence of predators stronger than they, like lions, hyenas or leopards .

To understand the lives of these animals, international researchers followed 19 cheetahs for two weeks at two sites' of South Africa . They measured their energy expenditure over time. The results of these investigations are published in the journal Science . They show that cheetahs spend much of their time and energy to look slow food in Savannah, an activity that does not really match their biological constitution.

adsorption chemical

2014-10-13T23:46:00Z

Observed under the microscope, crystals soaked oxygen (black, left) and after the release of this gas (right). Color changed, betraying a structural change. © University of Southern Denmark

"Some grains are enough"

The authors suggest a phenomenon of "chemisorption", or adsorption chemical, that is to say, a shape retention wherein the bond between the substrate and is fixed thereto of a chemical nature. enjoy coloring This reaction is reversible , oxygen and fixed, may be released. It is sufficient to warm up or exposing the crystal to an environment with very little oxygen, e.g. vacuum. O molecules 2 then escape freely.

"A few grains of crystal sufficient to provide enough oxygen for inspiration" summarizes the researcher, publishing giving no precise figures on the quantities and stored. "A ten liter bucket is sufficient to contain the oxygen of a Exhibit " she adds. http://enjoycoloring.com/disney/ According to her, such a material could extract enough oxygen ambient for a small volume replaces the bottle a person's lungs deficient or that of a diver (which, remember, breathe the or a mixture air but not of pure oxygen).

With what performances, at what price and what opportunities this crystal out there the laboratory? We do not know yet. The researchers, who are measuring the deformation of the crystal when it captures or releases of O 2 , have yet to specify the capacity of the material. They wonder, for example, if the oxygen molecules trapped could not be freed by the light . Go to the next publication.

Soon tiny oxygen tanks?

2014-10-13T23:45:00Z

Soon tiny oxygen tanks?

Replace a scuba tank with a small box filled with crystals? Apply to the nose of a patient an oxygen mask without connected to anything? It's possible, says a Danish team who described a crystal capable of absorbing and restore oxygen at high concentrations as an artificial hemoglobin.

Laurent Ballesta, pioneer of deep diving, can extend more than 100 m with its system of rebreathing. He was able, for the first time to film coelacanths in their communities. Enjoy Coloring An oxygen gas tank focusing it in a small crystal volume can be reduce and simplify equipment possible. © Barbara Brou

It is still a working laboratory but the results look promising: Christine Joy McKenzie and colleagues at the University of Southern Denmark have developed a crystal capable of absorbing the oxygen gas , to keep well and releasing almost on demand. This crystal organic in nature contains cobalt, a metal that does change shape when a molecule of oxygen just settle there. http://enjoycoloring.com/animals/ The phenomenon is similar to the hemoglobin which picks up oxygen through its atom of iron or hemocyanin of arthropods and molluscs , which rely on the copper. The study was published in the journal Chemical Science , available online on the university website .

The team managed to get a solid, stable compound that simply expose to air for that throat of oxygen , like a sponge absorbs water. It changes color and pink, turns black. According to the variants of the composition of the crystal, the absorption is faster or slower. This rate also depends on the pressure of air, oxygen concentration and temperature. Saturation can take "seconds, minutes, hours or days," says Christine McKenzie in a statement from the university.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is also using benchmark boosting software to inflate scores

2013-10-02T00:50:00Z

We never put much emphasis on benchmarks. While sometimes a fun way to measure general device performance, they don’t really give us an accurate measure of real world speed from an Android device. More than often benchmarks are simply a tool for fanboys to tout their device superiority over another — and we think that’s super lame, bros.

It wasn’t too long ago it was discovered that Samsung was inflating benchmarks scores for the Samsung Galaxy S4. Using a special benchmark boosting app found inside their custom software, Samsung was able to make the S4 fire on all cylinders. This caused the GPU to hit a frequency outside of what was available to the end user when using the device for normal things (like playing a video game). While not completely deceptive, it was a little misleading and we had little reason to believe this would change in the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. Looks like we were right.

When comparing scores on the LG G2 and Samsung Galaxy Note 3 — 2 devices using the same Snapdragon 800 SoC — ArsTechnica discovered the Note scoring abnormally high for a phone with the same processor. Lo and behold, Samsung was up to their same old tricks. After diving a little deeper, some line of code was discovered as the culprit and causing the Note 3 to operate in “high-power CPU mode” only when a benchmarking app is opened.

To get around this and measure performance that is actually offered to the average Note 3 users, Ars renamed Geekbench so that it would fly under the radar of Samsung’s benchmark boosting software. It’s ironic that even without the benchmark boosting, the Note 3 still outperformed the LG G2, (again, both devices equipped with the same SoC), so it appears there was little reason for Samsung to do this unless they’re prepping for the unforeseen Android competition in the future.

Where as Samsung’s official stance on the S4′s benchmark boosting app is that it was also available on a variety of Samsung-made system apps, it appears the Note 3′s is reserved exclusively for benchmarks. No gallery, no video player, no browser. Whether or not Samsung is being shady in providing users with the highest possible performance of their hardware — despite not being available in normal use – is up to you.

Chrome for Android updated with awesome gestures

2013-10-02T00:46:00Z

Chrome for Android is still not the perfect browser we want it to be, but Google is taking it there with every update. Google has started rolling out a new update for its browser, making it much funner and convenient to surf the web while on-the-go. This update brings improved gestures, which are a huge part of a touchscreen, mobile experience.

The update brings 3 simple, but very useful features. You will be able to use these features anytime, while using Chrome, so the experience should be rather smooth.

What new gestures does Chrome for Android feature?

Swipe horizontally across toolbar (top) to switch tabs.
Swipe down from the toolbar to access tab switcher.
Tap menu and drag finger down. Menu will appear and you can lift your finger in your selection.
chrome-gestures-android

The update should be rolling out within the “next few days,” along with a desktop Chrome browser update. That one will feature the all-new “search by image”, which you might want to check out as well. It allows you to right click any image and find search results related to it. Pretty awesome, right?

Verizon HTC One Receives Update to Build 1.10.605.10 – Fixes Device Lock-ups, Updates Isis

2013-10-01T00:30:00Z

An update for Verizon’s HTC One was approved this morning as build 1.10.605.10. The update is minor and only improves device lock-ups while introducing an update to Isis Mobile Wallet. With approval and support docs happening today, we’d imagine that the update will rollout to Ones within the next couple of days.

The update is 33.8MB in size.

More info.

Agent Makes Your Phone Contextually Smarter With Ease

2013-10-01T00:27:00Z

One of the most underrated features of the Moto X, and the new DROID line on Verizon in general, is the Motorola Assist app that it comes bundled with. Essentially a slimmed-down version of Motorola’s Smart Actions, it allows your phone to react to you when you are driving, sleeping or in a meeting. The only downside is that Smart Actions is exclusive to Moto devices. Agent is an app that can do that and more, plus it is available for all Android devices.

Setting actions to happen based on contextual events is nothing new. Ask any of the Tasker app faithful how they have their phones set up to do perform set tasks without touching a single button, and they will tell you its the greatest app ever. The problem is, Tasker isn’t very user friendly, requiring users to navigate and operate through complicated settings menus. Agent is the opposite. Just turn an agent on, click a few operations that you want the app to fulfill, and Agent does the rest. Shutting Bluetooth off when the battery is low, silencing your phone for meetings or sleeping hours, and auto-responding when you are driving are just a few things Agent can do.

Agent is $1.99 in Google Play, but after using it the price is well worth it. The app offers a lot of functionality and makes it seamless to use at the same time. Hit the link below and get that phone working for you.

Play Link ($1.99)

Google takes Glass on its first US tour

2013-09-29T23:45:00Z

There’s no question that Google Glass has reached celebrity, pop culture status. Making appearances on everything from talk shows, to magazines, up until now, the only way to try out Glass for yourself was to be selected, and cough up $1,500.

was no way for the general public to see for themselves what it was like to look at the world through Glass.

Well, Google is about to change that. They’ve announced on their Google+ page today that they’re ready to take Glass on its official US tour, where the general public can see for themselves what it’s like to look at the world through Glass. Things kick off first in Durham, North Carolina on October 5th.

The Glass team will be posted at Bay 7, American Tobacco Campus between 10am to 6pm, where they’ll have snacks and drinks. Just make sure you RSVP first before showing up. More US cities are soon to follow, with scheduling to be announced at a later date. Pretty exciting stuff, right?

Google Search now displays hashtags from Google+

2013-09-29T23:40:00Z

Yesterday, Google announced a new way to search for trending topics through Google Search by using the power of the almighty #hashtag. Yes, those tags your friends are using in excess on their social network posts have now been indexed, and are quickly and easily searchable through Google.

Now, whenever you search for a hashtag on Google, a little sidebar widget will appear on the right side of search results showing hashtags posted on Google+ (only those shared publicly, of course). Clicking on the widget will take you to a full list of posts on Google+ using that specific hashtag. While only Google+ gets sidebar love, links to perform hashtag searches from other social networks will still appear in the normal Google Search results.

Initially, it looks like this Google Search’s latest feature will only be available in the US and Canada, with no timing on global availability just yet. While we’re still trying to figure out if searchable hashtags on Google’s homepage will actually be useful, Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake show us how to enrich our lives by using hashtags in normal day-to-day conversation. (Expect to see your kids talking like this in the near future). #android4lyfe

Samsung announces new ISOCELL camera sensor for mobile devices

2013-09-25T00:42:00Z

We’re barely 5 months into the release of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the Korean manufacturer is already giving us a sneak peek at some of the new hardware that will no doubt make a debut in their next flagship device. Announced via the Samsung Tomorrow blog is an all new 8MP CMOS image sensor for “premium” mobile devices dubbed ISOCEL (patent pending).

According to the Samsung, it was the ever increasing “market pressure” that lead them to develop ISOCELL, and is the reason why the came up with a new way to shrink down pixel size, while still improving camera performance. Thanks to a tiny physical barrier between pixels, ISOCELL is able to isolate each individual pixel on the camera sensor, enhancing image quality with less cross-pixel interference. The result is a solid low-light performer that produces 30% better dynamic range than current backside illuminated (BSI) sensors. Comparison image below.

Samsung even managed to shrink down the size of the entire camera unit, ensuring ISOCELL will be the perfect fit for a likely slimmer Galaxy phone. Samsung says the ISOCELL will go into mass production later this year, giving them ample time to equip them inside next year’s Samsung Galaxy S5. Click here to read more.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 with flexible display rumored to launch next month

2013-09-25T00:37:00Z

Seems like every year rumors begin to swirl of a new Samsung device releasing with one of the manufacturers fancy new flexible LCD displays. We saw it back with the Galaxy Note 2, a few months later with the Galaxy S4, and of course, the recently announced Note 3. In the end, it always ends up the same: another Galaxy iteration with the same ‘ol design and flat display panels we’re all accustomed to. But there’s still hope yet for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3.

It wasn’t too long ago — just before the official announcement — there were rumors of the Galaxy Note 3 launching in 4 different hardware versions. This kind of lines up with the official release of the Note 3, in which we saw 2 versions of the device announced at IFA 2013: the Snapdragon 800 model, and the Exynos Octa version. Although it hasn’t been announced yet, a lower-end model is also said to launch later this year with a traditional LCD display and 8MP camera.

Today there’s new whisperings coming out of Korea suggesting Samsung could be planning to launch an even higher-end version of the Note 3 as early as next month in limited quantities. This premium model will feature Samsung’s long rumored flexible OLED display, and come with a more industrial metal chassis. We imagine Samsung might have something planned along the lines of the prototype that was shown off back during CES 2013. Shown in the picture above, the prototype featured a display that wraps around the edges of a device.

Why the limited edition? Well, given flexible OLED is still a relatively new technology, it seems Samsung might not be ready to begin mass producing the panels on a large scale just yet, hence the limited quantities. Given rumors that Samsung would bring their first flexible display device to market in November, it seems we wont have to wait much longer to find out.

Ex-CyanogenMod Focal (beta) is now on the Google Play Store

2013-09-24T00:34:00Z

There’s been a bit of drama the past few days throughout the Android community, ever since the announcement of Cyanogen Inc. We haven’t been reporting on the drama, because no one needs that soap opera crap clogging up their favorite Android news site. If you aren’t aware, CyanogenMod’s Focal camera app has been pulled from the open source ROM. The developer behind the app, Guillaume Lesniak, has decided to put his Focal camera app on the Google Play Store for all to download and use. No longer will you need to be on CyanogenMod to use this full featured camera.

The app is currently in beta, but does come with a lot of features you’d expect in a camera app. You can take burst shots, set timers, change scene modes, add camera effects, change lighting settings, there’s an Auto Awesome tool, and it even includes a PhotoSphere replacement called PicSphere.

Focal is fully open source (GPL) and developers can download Focal’s source over on GitHub.

If you’re not fully satisfied with the camera app on your current phone, it’s worth taking a look at Focal. Just please remember, it is beta. Plenty of bugs do exist and will get squashed as time goes on.

Download: Google Play Store.

Turns out Apple’s A7 processor featured inside the iPhone 5s was built by Samsung

2013-09-24T00:33:00Z

As so often is the case during Apple’s new device announcements, Tim Cook n’ friends was curiously mum on details about their all new A7 chip found inside the iPhone 5s. To be fair, they told us it was powerful, and according to recent benchmarks performed on the device, they’re right. What they didn’t tell anyone is where the new chip came from. Ironically, the A7 is manufactured by none other than smartphone rival Samsung.

Chipworks in collaboration with iFixit made the startling revelation after ripping the device apart and examining each component piece by piece. What they found was a 64-bit A7 built using Samsung’s new 28nm process. Apple did get away with contracting NXP for the M7 sensor chip, so they’re off the hook there. We just find it ironic that some of the iPhone 5s “magic” is comes from their biggest rival.

In the end this serves as a reminder that no matter how much Apple and Samsung are out for each others blood, in the end… it’s all business.

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