New batteries fix themselves

WASHINGTON — A newly created lithium-ion battery that can heal itself may improve the life span and safety of today’s energy-storage technologies, researchers report. Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries power cell phones, laptops and other portable electronics. But, like any batteries, they tend to break down over time. "There are many different types of degradation that happen, and fixing this degradation could help us make longer-lasting batteries," said Scott White, a materials engineer at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who reported the details of the battery February 20 at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. One site of damage is the anode, a battery’s negatively charged terminal. As a...

Read more »

Need Forgiveness? - There is an app for that!

The Catholic Church has approved an iPhone app that helps guide worshippers through confession. The Confession program has gone on sale through iTunes for £1.19 ($1.99). Described as "the perfect aid for every penitent", it offers users tips and guidelines to help them with the sacrament. Now senior church officials in both the UK and US have given it their seal of approval, in what is thought to be a first. The app takes users through the sacrament - in which Catholics admit their wrongdoings - and allows them to keep track of their sins. It also allows them to examine their conscience based on personalised factors such as age, sex and marital status - but it is not intended to replace traditional confession...

Read more »

Are aliens here? Shining white 'UFO' spotted over Jerusalem shrine

A shining ball of light has been filmed hovering above a Jerusalem shrine, in footage which UFO enthusiasts say could finally prove aliens exist. The clips show the pulsating orb descend and hover above the Dome of the Rock, an ancient Islamic shrine, before shooting up into the night sky. It then descends again and disappears. Unusually, the sighting has been filmed from different viewpoints, meaning it has been more difficult to dismiss than most.  Object: The 'UFO' (ringed) has been filmed from several perspectives, making the sighting more difficult to dismiss than most UFO?: The white light hovers over the Dome of the RockG-Force: The 'UFO' shoots up into the sky at a rate 'no living thing could survive' according to UFO expert...

Read more »

New Invisibility Cloak Closer to Working "Magic"

Rachel Kaufmanfor National Geographic NewsPublished January 28, 2011 Harry Potter and Bilbo Baggins, take note: Scientists are a step closer to conquering the "magic" of invisibility. Many earlier cloaking systems turned objects "invisible" only under wavelengths of light that the human eye can't see. Others could conceal only microscopic objects. (See "Two New Cloaking Devices Close In on True Invisibility.") But the new system, developed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) Centre, works in visible light and can hide objects big enough to see with the naked eye. The "cloak" is made from two pieces of calcite crystal—a cheap, easily obtained mineral—stuck...

Read more »

Sex enters robotics age

"Good morning, I'd like the 3-KPO-3XC, please!" "Is that the full 144-hour 3CX model sir or just the normal dateline 2-hour plug-in?" This conversation may not belong to the too distant future. Research work by Terrence Aym* "Scientists predict sex robot partners in coming decades" points towards a not-so-distant world in which mankind cohabits with sexbots. The idea is not that recent either. Ovid's Metamorphoses bring us the story of Pygmalion, a sculptor who fell in love with his creation. Indeed the idea permeates literature through the ages, culminating in Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam's work, L'Eve Futur, in which a scientist creates a female machine with whom (which?) a British Lord falls in love. We are reminded that...

Read more »

Three-dimensional moving holograms breakthrough

A team led by University of Arizona (UA) optical sciences professor Nasser Peyghambarian has developed a new type of “holographic telepresence” that allows remote projection of a three-dimensional, moving image without the need for special eyewear such as 3D glasses or other auxiliary devices. The technology is likely to take applications ranging from telemedicine, advertising, updatable 3D maps and entertainment to a new level. The journal Nature chose the technology to feature on the cover of its Nov. 4 issue. “Holographic telepresence means we can record a three-dimensional image in one location and show it in another location, in real-time, anywhere in the world,” said Peyghambarian, who led the research effort. “Holographic...

Read more »

Pope's astronomer says he would baptise an alien if it asked him

An alien – 'no matter how many tentacles it has' – could have a soul, says pope's astronomer Aliens might have souls and could choose to be baptised if humans ever met them, a Vatican scientist said today. The official also dismissed intelligent design as "bad theology" that had been "hijacked" by American creationist fundamentalists. Guy Consolmagno, who is one of the pope's astronomers, said he would be "delighted" if intelligent life was found among the stars. "But the odds of us finding it, of it being intelligent and us being able to communicate with it – when you add them up it's probably not a practical question." Speaking ahead of a talk at the British Science Festival in Birmingham tomorrow, he said that the traditional definition...

Read more »