Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Spider-silk-producing silkworms to be commercially developed

Spider-silk-producing silkworms to be commercially developed: "Although cobwebs may seem very fragile when we see people like Indiana Jones crashing through them, the fact is that spider silk is an incredibly strong and flexible material. It has a tensile strength similar to that of high-grade steel while only being one-fifth as dense, it can stretch up to 1.4 times its relaxed length without breaking, and it can maintain those properties down to a temperature of -40C (-40F). Given that spiders don't secrete huge quantities of the stuff on a daily basis, however, what's a biotech firm to do if it wishes to harvest the fibers for use in human technology?"

Radical-looking RoundTail bike claims radically smoother ride

Radical-looking RoundTail bike claims radically smoother ride: "If you banged a pole and a hoop against the road, which one would transmit more vibrations to your hand? Given that the flexing action of the hoop would absorb some of the energy, it's probably safe to assume that the pole would give you a numb hand quicker."

Supercharged Maserati GranCabrio tops 300 km/h

Supercharged Maserati GranCabrio tops 300 km/h: "Looking to soup-up your supercar? The Maserati-dedicated arm of tuning specialists NOVITEC, a company best known for its Ferrari performance enhancements has turned its attention to the open-top Maserati GranCabrio."

New technique brings computer model of the brain a step closer

New technique brings computer model of the brain a step closer: "'Connectomics' is an area of neuroscience that aims to map the brain's connections, known as synapses, to gain an understanding of how information flows through the circuits of the brain."

Eye-Fi Mobile X2 Card uploads directly to mobile devices using Direct Mode

Eye-Fi Mobile X2 Card uploads directly to mobile devices using Direct Mode: "Eye-Fi's range of wireless memory cards have been giving photographers the ability to send photos from a digital camera to a computer over an existing Wi-Fi network for a few years now."