Monday, August 15, 2011

Genetically-engineered spider silk could be used in gene therapy

Genetically-engineered spider silk could be used in gene therapy: "Spider silk is pretty amazing stuff. Pound for pound, it has a tensile strength close to that of steel while being one-fifth as dense, it's tougher than Kevlar, and it can stretch to almost one-and-a-half times its length without breaking. As if that wasn't enough, it now appears that a genetically engineered version of the substance could be used for delivering genes into human cells."

Braincar records and replays its travels

Braincar records and replays its travels: "Have you ever questioned what it would be like if a car 'could experience with a kind of consciousness its own passage through spacetime'? Well, Rotterdam artist Olaf Mooij has. It drove him to create 'braincar,' which is ... well, it's a car with a brain on the back. By day, the car captures stills and videos of its travels down the roads"

China's other aircraft carrier is a hotel

China's other aircraft carrier is a hotel: "After the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 90's three of its most powerful aircraft carriers sat rotting in a Kiev dock. With disputes over ownership and no money or crew to maintain them, the ships were eventually stripped of their weapons systems and engines by the Ukraine and one was sold to a Hong Kong based company"

Night Rod Special - cream of the 2012 Harley-Davidsons

Night Rod Special - cream of the 2012 Harley-Davidsons: "Harley-Davidson is an American success story. The company has been manufacturing its iconic machines since 1903 but its values were forged by association with the post-war 'rebel' motorcycle clubs and paradoxically with the highway patrol police they were so often in conflict with."

Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle-2 crashes on second test flight

Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle-2 crashes on second test flight: "On Thursday, DARPA's unmanned Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle-2 (HTV-2) was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California aboard an Air Force Minotaur IV rocket, which inserted the aircraft into the desired trajectory."