I'LL JUST PRINT THAT KIDNEY OFF: Anthony Atala, a surgeon, showed TED conference attendees how he may soon print new kidneys for patients. Scanners first make a 3-D image of a kidney that needs replacing. A tiny tissue sample seeds the process, then over 7 hours the organ printer layers replicates tissue to build up a new kidney. Finally it is transplanted into the patient. New kidney while you wait? More at Wired and video on YouTube.
WATER, SUN OR BOTH?: Solar farms are generally set up on hectares of dry land. In France though, they're testing laying solar panels on industrial water basins - areas of quiet water used for agricultural irrigation or nuclear power plant cooling. Floating panels use the water below for cooling, but still allow oxygen through, supporting fish and animals. Multitasking at its finest. More at DiscoveryNews.
GAME SCENTS: Are your video games lacking something? Could it be that when you blast an alien you don't smell their burning flesh?
ScentScape may be able to sort that out for you. Plug it in to a
compatible PC or gaming console then enabled games may make it puff
out a whiff of pine forest, flowers or smoke. Will we need a ratings
system for scents too? G for pine forest and ocean, R18 for booze
breath? More at ScentSciences.
SILK SCREENS: In a word association game you'd probably say 'shirt' if I said 'silk'. Researchers at National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan, may be about to change that association. They've found a way change liquid silk membranes into insulators for flexible thin-film transistors. Silk may soon turn up in e-readers, LEDs and other electronic devices. Smooth. More at PCWorld.
DRY SPACE: Astronauts don't get to sit around sipping carbonated beverages. Up in space their tongues swell and their taste buds change so food and drink don't taste as good. Australians to the rescue though: they've created a space-safe beer called "Vostok", full of flavour, based on a smoky Irish style stout and with reduced carbonation. The ISS: a hub with no beer. More at PerthNow.
- Miraz Jordan knowit.co.nz
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