EctoLife: World's First Artificial Womb Facility Can Grow 30,000 Babies a Year Based on Groundbreaking Research.

EctoLife: World's First Artificial Womb Facility Can Grow 30,000 Babies a Year Based on Groundbreaking Research.

  3:46:00 PM    Science Lover

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In a groundbreaking move, scientists have announced the opening of the world's first artificial womb facility - EctoLife. This facility has the potential to grow up to 30,000 babies every year and is based on over 50 years of cutting-edge scientific research from across the globe.

Artificial wombs have been a subject of fascination and research for decades, and this development marks a significant milestone in reproductive science. These womb-like devices provide a nurturing environment for developing embryos, giving them the support and resources they need to grow and thrive.

EctoLife is a highly advanced facility that has been designed to simulate the natural environment of a womb. It is equipped with state-of-the-art technology that can monitor and adjust the conditions inside the womb to ensure optimal growth and development of the fetus.

One of the biggest benefits of artificial wombs is that they can potentially provide a safer and more controlled environment for gestating embryos. In traditional pregnancies, a range of factors can impact the health and wellbeing of the fetus, including infections, lifestyle choices, and other environmental factors. In an artificial womb, many of these risks can be mitigated or eliminated entirely, resulting in a safer and healthier pregnancy.

Moreover, this technology has the potential to revolutionize fertility treatment and help couples struggling with infertility. Currently, many couples have to undergo invasive and expensive treatments like IVF to conceive a child. With the advent of artificial wombs, it may become possible to grow embryos outside the body, eliminating the need for these invasive procedures.

Of course, the use of artificial wombs is not without controversy. Critics argue that this technology could lead to a devaluation of traditional pregnancies and further separate humans from the natural world. There are also concerns about the ethical implications of creating and disposing of large numbers of embryos in a lab setting.

Despite these concerns, it's clear that artificial womb technology has the potential to bring about significant advancements in reproductive science. EctoLife represents a huge step forward in this field, and it will be fascinating to see how this technology evolves in the years to come.

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High-speed encryption to secure future internet

High-speed encryption to secure future internet

  5:01:00 PM    Science Lover

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In a bid to fight against the future cyber threats, scientists have developed a new system with high-speed encryption properties that drives quantum computers to create theoretically hack-proof forms of data encryption. The novel system is capable of creating and distributing encryption codes at megabit-per-second rates, which is five to 10 times faster than existing methods and on par with current internet speeds when running several systems in parallel. The technique is secure from common attacks, even in the face of equipment flaws that could open up leaks.

"We are now likely to have a functioning quantum computer that might be able to start breaking the existing cryptographic codes in the near future," said Daniel Gauthier, Professor at The Ohio State University. "We really need to be thinking hard now of different techniques that we could use for trying to secure the internet," Gauthier added, in the paper appearing in the journal Science Advances. For the new system to work, both the hacker as well as the sender must have access to the same key, and it must be kept secret. The novel system uses a weakened laser to encode information or transmit keys on individual photons of light, but also packs more information onto each photon, making the technique faster. By adjusting the time at which the photon is released, and a property of the photon called the phase, the new system can encode two bits of information per photon instead of one.

This trick, paired with high-speed detectors powers the system to transmit keys five to 10 times faster than other methods. "It was changing these additional properties of the photon that allowed us to almost double the secure key rate that we were able to obtain if we hadn't done that," Gauthier said.

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Apple patents 'anti-sexting' technology

Apple patents 'anti-sexting' technology

  9:06:00 PM    Science Lover

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Apple has patented technology that could be used by parents to prevent their kids from sending sexually explicit text messages -- or "sexting."

An Apple patent shows how an anti-sexting
application might block messages on the iPhone.

The technology, which has not been commercialized, would let a phone's administrator block an iPhone from sending or receiving texts with certain words.

Messages containing blocked material either would not be received or would have the objectionable content redacted. Unlike other text blockers, Apple's version would also be able to filter content based on a child's grade level and claims to filter abbreviated words that maybe missed by other programs.

The patent, awarded Tuesday, does not address the sending or receiving of explicit images.

The U.S. patent, which Apple filed for in January 2008, could also turn these filters into educational tools, according to the patent document.

Parents of kids who are studying Spanish, for example, could be required to send a certain number of messages per month in that language, according to the document. If kids did not meet the foreign language quota, their texting privileges could be automatically revoked until they send more Spanish-language text messages.

Grammarians may cheer this innovation. The texting interface also could prod kids toward better grammar, requiring them to identify and fix spelling, punctuation and grammar mistakes before sending a message.

So maybe the Apple texting tool will be the end of LOL-speak.

Apple says old methods of monitoring and controlling text communications on phones have largely failed. Allowing kids to communicate only with a pre-set list of phone numbers or e-mail addresses is limiting, the patent document says, and does not address the content of the mobile phone communications, which Apple says is more important.

Other methods of filtering only block certain expletives, Apple says, instead of trying to recognize the overall offensiveness of a message and comparing that to a kid's age and learning level.

The blog TechCrunch asks if the patent will be the end of sexting:

"Yes and no," Alexia Tsotsis writes on that blog, "as those interesting in 'sexting' will probably find some clever workaround to express how much they want to bang, screw, hit it or a myriad of other words that don't immediately set off the censorship sensors."

The Daily Mail in the UK writes that this anti-sexting news "will be music to the ears of Tiger Woods. Or Ashley Cole, or Vernon Kay for that matter," referring to sexting scandals involving those celebrities.

It's unclear exactly how this technology would be incorporated into Apple's iPhone products, but it would appear to work through the phone's built-in text-messaging application. Other texting apps aim to prevent texting while driving and let iPhone users send text messages without incurring charges from AT&T, the mobile carrier that has exclusive rights to the iPhone in the U.S.

Do you think this kind of technology will bring about the end of sexting and SMS slang? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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Credit Card with a Computer Inside A smarter credit card could mean new security features and other functionality.

Credit Card with a Computer Inside A smarter credit card could mean new security features and other functionality.

  10:09:00 AM    Science Lover

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A programmable credit card can display useful information, offer added security features, and even act as several different cards by rewriting its own magnetic strip.

Smarter card: A user has to enter a PIN to display this
card’s full number and unlock its magnetic stripe for use
either online or in-store. After a short time the display
and magnetic stripe become blank again.
Credit: Dynamics

Two types of programmable credit cards were unveiled this week at the DEMO conference in Santa Clara, California, by Dynamics, a startup based in Pittsburgh that's been developing the technology in stealth mode for three years. The company raised $5.7 million of funding last year.

The new cards are no bigger than the one in your wallet, and is actually slightly more flexible. It can display information at the press of a button, and can become several different cards by rewriting its own magnetic strip.

The "MultiAccount" card has two buttons on its face, each with an indicator light that can be pressed to record data to its magnetic strip. "One might switch the card to be your debit card, and the other your credit card," says Dynamics CEO Jeff Mullen. "These cards are exactly the same size and thickness of a conventional card, and the lithium-polymer battery inside can last four years under high usage. They're also fully waterproof, so you can put them through the washing machine."

The "Hidden" card features a keypad and black-and-white display for six of the digits in the card's unique number. Once the correct PIN is entered on the card's four buttons, the missing digits are filled in and the card's magnetic strip is populated with data. Both the digits and the strip become blank again after a short time. "If this card is lost, it's just dead plastic to anyone who finds it," says Mullen, who thinks it could help banks attract security-conscious consumers.

That may be true, says Avivah Litan, a Gartner analyst who researches security and technology in the financial sector, but "most card data is stolen electronically, in large volumes," she notes. As a result, banks "may prevent a few percentage points [of fraud], but it seems unlikely to be worth the investment for them."

The MultiAccount card may be more attractive to the financial sector than the "Hidden" card. "It could help the very large card issuers, such as Chase, that have a lot of overlap between their credit and debit accounts," says Litan. However, convincing banks to invest in an unproven technology will require the potential for a very strong effect on their bottom lines, she says.

Mullen says Dynamics's cards are significantly more expensive to produce than standard credit cards, but argues that the additional cost is offset by the benefits to a bank. "These cards are significant revenue generators for them, not cost centers," he says.

Banks already target different types of cards to particular demographics, and use reward schemes to attract new business and encourage heavy use of their products. Cards with computational smarts inside could enable more of that, Mullen argues. For example, a credit card that can suddenly act as a loyalty card might encourage customers to use a scheme that they otherwise wouldn't.

"Cards with this technology have been used in large numbers in stealth trials in the U.S. since earlier this year," says Mullen, who adds that banking partners will begin talking about their plans for the technology in coming months. A particular attraction for banks, he says, is that the cards are compatible with existing infrastructure, unlike contactless payments based on RFID chips.

"There are 16 million magnetic stripe readers in the world," he says. "It's hard to change that, but easy to upgrade your own cards without building new infrastructure."

Dynamics is also working on cards that include E Ink-style displays that remain switched on for longer periods, and the company is also investigating a card that can transfer more data. Typically only a third of the magnetic strip on a card carries the card's details, says Mullen. "You can send messages between card and reader using the rest of that area."

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The End of Cell Phone Chargers Is Near

The End of Cell Phone Chargers Is Near

  8:24:00 AM    Science Lover

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When your cell phone is running out of juice, you usually have two options: pray your charger is handy, or pray that someone with your exact phone model has his or her charger on hand.

Fortunately, a wave of common sense and innovation promises to eliminate the aggravating paradigm of one-size-fits-one cell phone charging.

With universal chargers, wireless charging pads and, eventually, the reaping of energy straight from the air via ambient radio waves, chargers could go the way of the rotary phone.

The end of chargers as we know them will be "one of those things that make you say, 'What took so long for the industry to do this?'" said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at the Altimeter Group.

Charge! (Wastefully)

Beyond being a nuisance to consumers, the proliferation of phone-specific chargers is bad for the environment. According to the London-based GSM Association (GSMA), a mobile phone industry group, over 56,000 tons (51,000 tonnes) of duplicate chargers are sold to customers every year, generating pointless e-waste for landfills.

Cutting in half the number of chargers being made could reduce greenhouse gases related to manufacturing and transportation by 15 million to 24 million tons (13.6 million to 21.8 million tonnes) a year, GSMA said.

An available, though clunky, stab at this goal is the so-called universal cell phone charging kit.

The kit, which can sell for as little as a few dollars, includes a multitude of adapters that, like drill bits, fit over the coupling at the phone end of a power cord. The chargers from most cell phones can then function as that crucial umbilical that keeps a phone alive even without its native charger.

But as with your regular charger, if you forget the kit while traveling, your phone battery's life is likely doomed.

One charger to rule them all

Fortunately, a one-size-fits-all approach to chargers is afoot. GSMA is pushing a worldwide effort to adopt a universal charging solution by 2012. Last year, the organization announced that 17 major mobile operators and manufacturers were on board.

Europe is already ahead of the game. Starting next year, most cell phones sold there will use the same, interchangeable charger called a micro-USB connector, as advocated by the GSMA.

Some smartphones sold in the United States, including the Nexus One, Incredible, EVO and some BlackBerrys, also have opted for micro-USB, so some degree of harmonization has already taken root.

Though Apple signed the agreement in Europe calling for a universal charger, there is some speculation that the company will be a bit of a holdout. Apple has historically relied on a proprietary 30-pin charging device for its line of "i" products, something that Apple acolytes appreciate, Gartenberg noted.

Without wires

Just as the cordless phone did away with the wire from handset to base station, a wireless charging solution might eliminate a wired charging connector.

"Inductive charging" technology allows a gadget to passively absorb energy from an electromagnetic field over short distances. Electric toothbrushes have gotten their energy from inductive charging for decades.

Using this technology, powering up a properly outfitted phone could be as simple as placing it on a charging mat or dock.

Although Palm did roll out an inductive charging dock called the Touchstone a year ago, phone manufacturers in general have not taken a shine to the idea.

For other phones, inductive chargers made by third-party vendors such as Powermat require the placement of a sleeve around the handset.

Gartenberg sees this as a key reason why wireless charging is unlikely to catch on. "Unless the charger is directly integrated into the device" – as with Palm – "it's hard to see how third-party stuff is going to be successful," he said.

He also pointed out that charging this way is not really any easier than manually connecting a charger as we do now.

And in the end, one still must remember a charging mat or dock when going on a trip, and the wireless charging rig still needs an outlet or a USB port to plug into to draw power.

Ambient energy

Even that hurdle may be overcome in the future with technology that charges batteries with energy in the air. This ambient energy comes in the form of the radio waves our wired world zaps all over in order to transmit cell phone, Internet, television and radio station signals.

It is already possible to harness this energy to fuel tiny sensors. But a cell phone demands more power – some 20 milliwatts just for standby mode, and 50 milliwatts to slowly recharge its battery, according to statements from Nokia.

For now, power on the order of only several tens of microwatts has been credibly harvested from the ether, said Joshua Smith, a University of Washington professor who works with ambient charging as a principal engineer at Intel Labs Seattle.

Since the invention of cell phones, however, their power requirements have fallen exponentially, Smith said, and someday "might drop enough to have a phone in standby forever."

Perhaps even more useful would be an always-on-and-available emergency beaconing feature, Smith said.

RCA plans to launch a product late this year called AirPower (previously dubbed Airnergy) that will glean wi-fi signals to charge cell phones, though the company would not release concrete details.

Smith is skeptical that AirPower or other full-fledged charging solutions from ambient energy for cell phones will work anytime soon.

Altimeter Group's Gartenberg agreed. "For the foreseeable future," he said, "most of us are still going to be plugging that cable into the wall."

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