Archive for the 'Tech Talk' Category

People INSIDE the cars aren't the only worry anymore for Volvo!

The clever car makers are launching their new airbag system that actually protects pedestrians if they're struck by the vehicle!

The new system is available in the 2013 V40 model, and if you look at the pic (above), you'll see that it's under the hood. It will inflate in a few hundredths of a second to cover around a third of the windshield.

It's only launched at speeds between 12 to 31 mph.

Unfortunately there are unavoidable situations where this would need to deploy, but we'd much rather people drive cautiously than to ever need to rely on this!

The system's seven sensors are located at the front of the vehicle. They can actually detect legs -- and if they detect them, everything launches automatically!

Science!

And we aren't just talking one use here, we're talking REWRITABLE digital storage in our DNA!

It's true, scientists have developed a biological system that can record digital data... biological binary, in other words!

Stanford researchers figured out how to us natural enzymes to create rewritable data storage built directly into living cells' DNA. Holy shizz!

Mainly they use the enzymes to flip DNA sequences back and forth, like a light switch, which can be seen as a binary-like system. If it's one direction, it's a 0, the other, it's a 1. You get it.

This can store up to one bit of data without using ANY power! Plus we can see how many time a cell has doubled.

This could lead to us being able to turn off affected cells, like in the case of cancer. We just need to bump up the storage to a byte -- and that could take at least 10 years.

Ten years to a byte is CRAZY!

Though, this is super interesting. What we're taking from it is that the cells in our body can be turned into an iPod. Right? Riiiiiight?

Ha!

But really, this is a pretty huge discovery and could mean a lot of things for the medical industry.

It just sucks that it's going to take so much time.

[Image via AP Images.]

We don't care if she's just drinking a Pepsi and eating some Cheetos, we'll watch Britney Spears do almost anything!!

…kinda like back when she did Chaotic! Ha!

But with this lovely jewel, Britney uses her brand new Viddy account to upload her X Factor lovage!!

Watch and be amazed with us, people (above)! Watch and be amazed.

OMG thank goodness for a site that lets you easily upload those cell videos, ’cause now we're gonna get BritBrit ALL the time!! She's already uploaded two more! Sigh… heaven!!

Contraception should be achieved because of effort on both the lady's and dude's parts, not just one or the other -- that just isn't fair!

So when we hear that a new gene discovery in Edinburgh might just lead to a form of birth control for me, this makes a LOT of people excited!

They discovered that a gene that is essential for the development of sperm -- called Katniss1 Katnal1. If you block it, it temporarily stops sperm production!

The team then found out that Katnal1 was used to regulate a structure known as microtubules – parts of sperms that needed for support and the acquisition of nutrients.

Basically, those little swimmers can't move through the balls to finish maturation.

This finding is double awesome, too, when you realize that not only could this lead to a pill... but possible solutions for male infertility!

One researcher says:

“As we move towards personalized medicine, comparing DNA sequences of infertile men against gene data provided from studies such as this will help clinicians identify the causes underlying unexplained male infertility. If a genetic fault can be traced to a problem within the supporting cells of the testes rather than the sperm cells then it could be possible to use a gene-therapy approach to replace the faulty copy of the gene and restore fertility.”

So fab!

This is still a ways away, but we're excited about the possibilities, none the less!

Science! Science! Science!

[Image via AP Images.]

Leave it to Japan to invent a phone that you can hug while talking to people.

"I can technically do that with any phone," you say?

Well does your phone vibrate to match the characteristics of the callers voice?

We didn't think so.

It seems kinda crazy and we totally don't want one for Christmas… hint hint.

Check out the video (above) for a close up look at the awesome piece of huggable technology you never knew you wanted (to get us for Christmas).

Color us shocked!

Even John Malkovich has hopped on the celebrity commercial train for Apple!!

In their newest ad, the eloquent Malkovich ponders the meaning of life with Siri.

Definitely the sweetest thing about the iPhone 4, Siri totally owns the key to the universe. Just check out her answer (above)!!

And THEN… to calm your brain of such intellectual gab, watch him joke with her …AFTER THE JUMP!!!

Magicians Scientists have converted skin cells into beating heart muscle, in an act that we're willing to declare "some crazy Harry Potter shizz."

Ha!

But really, wrap your head around this: Scientists have succeeded in taking skin cells from patients with heart failure and turning them into healthy, beating heart tissue!

This tissue could one day be used to treat the condition, so this is a VERY incredible thing to have happened!

There are still many years of tests ahead (clinical trials could start within the decade), but we're totally on the right track. This could even lead to a way for doctors to convince the tissue to just repair itself!

Here's what one of the scientists said:

"We have shown that it's possible to take skin cells from an elderly patient with advanced heart failure and end up with his own beating cells in a laboratory dish that are healthy and young - the equivalent to the stage of his heart cells when he was just born."

They take skin cells and transform them by adding three genes and then a small molecule called valproic acid to the cell nucleus. The cells were then able to differentiate to become heart muscle cells, and placed in a dish with existing heart tissue. Within 24 to 48 hours the two types of tissue were beating together.

Our. Minds. Are. Blown.

None of this is ready yet, of course, but that doesn't mean it can't be really encouraging!

Science!

[Image via AP Images.]