http://www.physorg.com/news175692544.html
This article is about gene therapy, and how it has been used to help children and adults who were classified as legally blind to see. Half of the patients improved enough to no longer be considered legally blind, some with exceptional results. A child who could only see light and shadows since he was born was able to see the color of his fathers eyes, and was able to play soccer with his father. This is a great advancement in the medical field, and is important for gene therapy as well. If diseases related to the retina and eyes can be fixed with gene therapy, other diseases could be improved or cured as well, with slightly different methods. Senses are something that most people take for granted, but not everyone is able to enjoy being able to see the world around them. Being able to improve the sight of children who were born legally blind is definitely something to be celebrated. It doesn't only help children, though, adults and teenagers participated in the research as well and showed good results. The best results were in the children, but some as old as 44 participated and still showed some results. This particular disease is age-dependent, though, and if action is to be taken it is best to do so before the damage to the retina progresses beyond the point of repair. If eyes can be fixed with gene therapy, then other things can, as well, and I think this is a great use of medicine and will benefit a lot of people.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Journal 8 October 18
http://www.physorg.com/news175092210.html
Chemists have recently discovered a way to make cheaper, more efficient fuel cells. They have found a way to create energy at higher temperatures, allowing different (and cheaper) metals to be used to do this. Platinum is currently used, which is very expensive, and different metals could reduce the overall cost of the fuel cells. Reactions occurring at higher temperatures will also happen significantly faster, increasing the rate at which the fuel cell creates energy, making it more efficient. So overall, we get a better, faster, and cheaper fuel cell. This is quite obviously a good thing, since energy is an incredibly valuable resource, and anything that will make it cheaper and more efficient should be embraced. The technology may not be ready to implement as soon as some people would like, but eventually this newer technology could be used to power vehicles, heat buildings, or be used in backup power supplies in case of emergencies. Creating alternate energy sources for vehicles is a great idea, as it would reduce pollution from combustion of fossil fuels. It also may add extra cost on to the vehicle to use fuel cells for power, but the driver wouldn't have to constantly buy gas for their car, so it would reduce the upkeep cost. Having more efficient means of power to use in emergency situations is great, as well, for obvious reasons. This article describes other advances in fuel cell research, overcoming problems with humidity, as water is necessary to make the fuel cells work. With this research going on as well, fuel cells are being improved greatly so that they work more efficiently, in more climates, and for cheaper costs. The Department of Energy gave the chemical engineers $1.5 million to advance the research, so it is definitely something that is being looked into as a major alternate energy source.
Chemists have recently discovered a way to make cheaper, more efficient fuel cells. They have found a way to create energy at higher temperatures, allowing different (and cheaper) metals to be used to do this. Platinum is currently used, which is very expensive, and different metals could reduce the overall cost of the fuel cells. Reactions occurring at higher temperatures will also happen significantly faster, increasing the rate at which the fuel cell creates energy, making it more efficient. So overall, we get a better, faster, and cheaper fuel cell. This is quite obviously a good thing, since energy is an incredibly valuable resource, and anything that will make it cheaper and more efficient should be embraced. The technology may not be ready to implement as soon as some people would like, but eventually this newer technology could be used to power vehicles, heat buildings, or be used in backup power supplies in case of emergencies. Creating alternate energy sources for vehicles is a great idea, as it would reduce pollution from combustion of fossil fuels. It also may add extra cost on to the vehicle to use fuel cells for power, but the driver wouldn't have to constantly buy gas for their car, so it would reduce the upkeep cost. Having more efficient means of power to use in emergency situations is great, as well, for obvious reasons. This article describes other advances in fuel cell research, overcoming problems with humidity, as water is necessary to make the fuel cells work. With this research going on as well, fuel cells are being improved greatly so that they work more efficiently, in more climates, and for cheaper costs. The Department of Energy gave the chemical engineers $1.5 million to advance the research, so it is definitely something that is being looked into as a major alternate energy source.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Journal 7 October 8
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33182077/ns/technology_and_science-innovation/
New technology is being developed for use in cars to detect and sound alerts when the driver is distracted or impaired. The technology can observe the driver's behavior and sound an alert and tug on the driver's seatbelt to notify them of obstacles. They can see obstacles in the road such as stopped traffic, and if the system thinks the driver hasn't noticed, it can alert them so they can stop instead of rear ending somebody. There is also technology in development that will read a driver's facial features for signs of fatigue or impairment, such as frequently closing their eyes. Some of these systems will flat out tell the driver to pull over and will continue to jerk the seatbelt until the driver pulls over and stops. A lot of these systems do similar things like look ahead with cameras and detect when the driver is drifting out of the lane they are in. Nissan is actually developing a system that will detect alcohol on the driver's breath and give a dashboard warning if the driver fails the test. If the driver then attempts to shift out of park, their skin will be tested and if they fail, the car will be locked in park. This technology is a great implementation to cars. It could greatly crack down on people driving while impaired, fatigued, or distracted. It won't stop people from doing it immediately, but it will help correct the behavior as it happens and teach people to pay more attention to the road. Of course, people don't have to pay the extra money to get these features installed, but the more cars with them, the better. In this article, the ignition interlock form of anti drunk driving is described. Basically, before the car will even start, the driver has to blow into a tube to have their blood alcohol level tested. If they fail, the car won't start. This is a great idea and should be implemented into more cars, as it would greatly reduce the drunk driving problem.
New technology is being developed for use in cars to detect and sound alerts when the driver is distracted or impaired. The technology can observe the driver's behavior and sound an alert and tug on the driver's seatbelt to notify them of obstacles. They can see obstacles in the road such as stopped traffic, and if the system thinks the driver hasn't noticed, it can alert them so they can stop instead of rear ending somebody. There is also technology in development that will read a driver's facial features for signs of fatigue or impairment, such as frequently closing their eyes. Some of these systems will flat out tell the driver to pull over and will continue to jerk the seatbelt until the driver pulls over and stops. A lot of these systems do similar things like look ahead with cameras and detect when the driver is drifting out of the lane they are in. Nissan is actually developing a system that will detect alcohol on the driver's breath and give a dashboard warning if the driver fails the test. If the driver then attempts to shift out of park, their skin will be tested and if they fail, the car will be locked in park. This technology is a great implementation to cars. It could greatly crack down on people driving while impaired, fatigued, or distracted. It won't stop people from doing it immediately, but it will help correct the behavior as it happens and teach people to pay more attention to the road. Of course, people don't have to pay the extra money to get these features installed, but the more cars with them, the better. In this article, the ignition interlock form of anti drunk driving is described. Basically, before the car will even start, the driver has to blow into a tube to have their blood alcohol level tested. If they fail, the car won't start. This is a great idea and should be implemented into more cars, as it would greatly reduce the drunk driving problem.
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