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Time to wrap up the year with a look back at the changes and events in the area of science and technology. These are my picks for the most interesting.
Stem cells but no embryos. New research from Harvard and Kyoto University scientists suggest that adult stem cells have the potential to revert to a state like that of embryonic stem cells. Which means that they could regenerate new cells of various types. This research was reported in Newsweek in Will Stem Cells Finally Deliver? The article was written by David Scadden of Harvard and Anthony Komaroff of Harvard Medical School. These researchers are studying the possibility (still not certain) that your own skin or hair can be induced to transform into specialized cells. This would remove stem cell science from the ethical debate that surrounds embryos, if it proves to be a workable idea.
Touch phones with apps, oh my. The iPhone spawned a frantic release of touch screen phones, but—to me—the real news is the creation of applications for phones. A recent article at Cruch Gear expressed amazement that MIT students build mobile applications in 13 weeks because a course in creating mobile apps didn't even exist a year ago. Silicon Alley Insider reports in Estimating Apple iPhone App Sales So Far: $50-$100 Million In Revenue that 300 million apps have been downloaded at the Apple store since July 2008. That amazing number doesn't include mobile apps for other phones. Everybody has a favorite iPhone/iPod app, including Grooving with the Grizas, who mention them here and here. At poohwinns' posterous you'll also find a number of posts leading you through the iPhone app landscape. Laura Scott's BlogHer post today talks more about this in Apps that make iPhone and iPod Touch game-changers in tech. There's an app for everything. You hardly need a computer any more. The mobile web is here.
Let the wind blow. Mark Jacobson from Stanford University did a study of major proposed energy-related solutions to global warming, air pollution mortality, and energy security. He looked at nine electric power sources and two liquid fuel options in combination with three vehicle technologies. The study looked at all sorts of related factors such as water supply, land use, wildlife, resource availability, thermal pollution, water chemical pollution, nuclear proliferation, and undernutrition. The report on the study contains a number of charts comparing all the variables and ends with this conclusion: Wind powered Battery Electric Vehicles performed best in seven out of 11 categories. Wind powered hydrogen fuel cell vehicles were next. Wind generated power for the vehicle of the future is the big winner. By extension, I will assume that wind is the top choice for electricity for the residential, industrial, and commercial sectors, too. T. Boone Pickens wasn't so far out in left field after all. (Warning if you click the T. Boone Pickens link; turn your sound down or off.)
The technology President President-elect Obama showed in any number of ways during the election that he "gets" technology. He raised money using his web site, email, and Twitter. He mobilized thousands of people using the Internet and promises to continue using the Internet to open up the process of governing to citizens. He wants to increase broadband access as part of his plan to improve our nation's infrastructure. His change.gov web site invites comment from interested citizens. He broadcasts on YouTube with an RSS enabled weekly chat aimed at the American people. Laura Scott wrote a terrific article (my all time fav) on the technological changes Obama is bringing to politics in As the web changes politics, so politics change the web?
The LHC is super fly. If you want the musical version of what the Large Hadron collider is doing check this YouTube video: Large Hadron rap. The LHC was built to collide two counter rotating beams of protons or heavy ions in an attempt to recreate the first millionths of a second of creation. Catherine Morgan wrote a great summary of the LHC project with several helpful videos at Finding Out The Truth Of The Universe By Recreating The Big Bang.
Snapshots of a planet. The Hubble Telescope managed to capture live photographic proof of a planet circling a distant star. The star, in the southern sky, is Fomalhaut, located 25 light-years away. The planet was dubbed Fomalhaut b. It's about 3 times the size of Jupiter and orbits
