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Researchers at the University of Tennessee’s Center for Laser Applications have developed a femtosecond laser that can non-invasively diagnose, map, irradiate and burn cancerous tumors. Utilizing a beam that pulses at one-quadrillionth of a second, the technology is able to seek out growths and obliterate them with an increased burst of intensity. “Using ultra-short light pulses gives us the ability to focus in a well confined region and the ability for intense radiation,” says Associate Professor of Physics Christian Parigger. “This allows us to come in and leave a specific area quickly so we can diagnose and attack tumorous cells fast.” The swift, precise technique can avoiding heating up adjacent, healthy tissues and has potential for use in outpatient procedures, particularly for people afflicted with brain tumors. For now, however, the scientists are working with the non-profit University of Tennessee Research Foundation to bring their tech to market. Roll past the jump for the press release and a glimpse of the laser in action.

Continue reading Researchers develop femtosecond laser that can diagnose, blast cancerous tumors

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You know a brand is doing something right when people go a little crazy for its products even before they’ve been announced. A new survey out from 451 Research/ChangeWave on consumer smartphone sentiment found that Apple’s iPhone 5 — whatever that may turn out to be — is seeing an “unprecedented” wave of advance demand — higher than any other iPhone model has had before, with 14 percent of respondents saying they were “very likely” to buy the iPhone 5. In contrast, the S3 from Samsung, got a 2 percent “very likely” response from users planning to buy a smartphone in the next 90 days. The news comes one day after Samsung noted it has passed 10 million in Galaxy S3 devices in the two months since launch in other markets.

Apple is likely to launch a new smartphone later this year, the 451/ChangeWave researchers note, and that will put it in a perfect position to take advantage of what they believe will be a high-water mark for smartphone purchases. Samsung will also reap some benefits, it notes, although that will be proportionate to weaker demand for its brand. The rest of the competitive lineup may not fare so well.

“Overall smartphone sales should spike to an all-time high this fall, and of course Apple is going to be the number one beneficiary,” notes Dr. Paul Carton, 451 / ChangeWave’s VP of Research. “But besides Apple, and to a lesser degree Samsung, no other manufacturer is likely to benefit from this coming wave of demand.”

Among those other results, overall demand for Nokia is now at 2 percent, up one point from March. Demand for Motorola is now at 4 percent overall, down two percentage points since March. And HTC and RIM were unchanged, respectively at 3 percent and 2 percent — with the latter “all-time low” for RIM.

ChangeWave’s survey canvassed opinion from 4,042 mainly North American buyers in June 2012. In addition to finding that 14 percent of consumers said they were “very likely” to buy an iPhone 5, a further 17 percent said they were “somewhat likely to buy it in the future. As a point of comparison, when the same questions were asked about the iPhone 4s before it launched, 10 percent said they were very likely; and 11.5 percent said they were somewhat likely to buy it. And that’s for a device that is now “considered the most successful smart phone release in history,” Carton notes. The numbers for those “unlikely” to buy the device also went down:

What’s interesting is that ChangeWave doesn’t take into account that before the iPhone 4S launched, many thought it would be the fabled iPhone 5 — when in reality it physically looked exactly the same as the iPhone 4, and had much of the same functionality — with one notable exception being the addition of the Siri voice assistant. So what we may be seeing here is an increased, pent-up demand from people who have actually held off from buying the iPhone 4S in anticipation of a major update and upgrade.

But that’s not to say that Samsung is not doing very well, too. ChangeWave notes that in fact it has been seeing a four-fold surge in demand for Samsung since March — at a time when Android competitors like HTC and Motorola have been more challenged.

ChangeWave puts Samsung’s recent rise down to positive reactions to the S3, which features a bigger screen, more processing power, a better camera and 4G capabilities.

That popularity was spelled out yesterday by Shin Jong-kyun, president of Samsung’s information technology and mobile communication division, who yesterday told reporters that the S3 had passed the 10-million sales mark since launching at the beginning of June. The Yonhap news agency, which quoted Shin, worked this out to sales of 190,000 daily, with sales potentially reaching 40 million by the end of the year.

Still, even with that momentum, it’s not registering at the same level of hype as Apple’s iPhone 5, as evidenced by these two comparative charts that measure “advance” demand for both devices.

A key difference here, which should be noted, is that while Apple has yet to any anything official on its next iPhone, the Samsung Galaxy S3 was launched months ago, and so people who are being canvassed would have already known more about what the device had (or didn’t have) when responding — even if the phone had yet to hit the market. In the case of the iPhone 5, ChangeWave says that it presented respondents with a description of “probable” features for the device.

Those included a larger screen, better camera, new OS and 4G capability.

Both the Galaxy S3 and the iPhone 5 will likely be sold at the same price points — currently the S3 goes for $199 for the 16GB model on a two-year contract.

Amazon is boosting its R&D work into digital media, including “interactive digital services” for consoles, smart TV, tablets and other mobile devices, with a new Digital Media Innovation Hub opening in the UK. The new 47,000 sq. ft. center in Central London will pull together software engineers, UI experts and graphic designers, who will likely be responsible for not only bringing Amazon’s site up to date, but for developing the next-gen Kindle Fire tablet interface and software for the much-rumored Kindle smartphone.

Amazon is calling on its staff resources from streaming rental firm LOVFiLM as well as Pushbutton, its 2011 acquisition developing digital media interfaces for new platforms. Pushbutton is already responsible for the LOVEFiLM interfaces on the iPad, PS3 and Xbox 360.

The design and development teams from both companies will be brought together at the new London hub, working on digital media projects for the global market. Amazon says their goals will be “the creation of interactive digital services for TVs, game consoles, smartphones and PCs; the development of the digital media experience on Amazon websites around the world; and the building of services and APIs that power that digital media experience.”

Digital media is the cornerstone of Amazon’s Kindle range, all the devices of which are primarily intended to encourage user to buy or rent more content. The low price of the Kindle Fire, for instance, is a loss-leader of sorts, with Amazon trading the low upfront margin on the hardware itself for the promise of greater media sales along the line.

That same strategy is tipped to be at the heart of Amazon’s upcoming smartphone. The handset would be Android-based but heavily reskinned, ousting Google’s own content stores in favor of Amazon’s own media and app distribution.

Amazon Digital Media Innovation Hub will push next-gen content delivery is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Scientists may have found a new way to slow the progression of global warming, but at first, this method sounds a bit out there. It involves dumping iron sulphate into the oceans, which will then spur the growth of carbon-trapping algae. The algae will then remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis, and once the algae dies, it will fall to the ocean floor, taking the trapped carbon with it.

That’s according to a new report issued this week by the European Iron Fertilization Experiment (EIFEX). In 2004, a team of EIFEX researchers fertilized 167 square kilometers of the Southern Ocean with the iron sulphate, and watched for the next 37 days as phytoplankton flourished and died. What they found is somewhat exciting: the team says that at least half of the bloom sank to depths below 1,000 meters, taking the carbon it had captured with it. The carbon will likely stay trapped down there for centuries to come, whereas if the bloom had died and settled near the surface, all of that captured carbon would have had a chance at returning to the atmosphere.

So, fertilizing the ocean with iron sulphate may help slow global warming, but this discovery does not come without controversy. Some scientists are concerned about the long-term effects of continuously adding iron in the sea, saying that doing so could have adverse effects on marine ecosystems. Causing such a spike in algae growth could deplete the oxygen level in the water column, they say, or lead to toxic algae growth.

It sounds like this is just one of those things that needs to be researched more before scientists can make the call. The results of the study are promising, but scientists say that they’re “nowhere near” offering iron fertilization as a solution to global warming. Stay tuned, as further research could show that climate scientists have something big on their hands.

[via Nature]

Dumping iron into the ocean may slow global warming is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Astronomers announced that they have viewed for the first time a spiral galaxy from the early universe. The scientists believe that this particular spiral galaxy formed billions of years before other spiral galaxies. The astronomers discovered the ancient spiral galaxy using the Hubble Space Telescope to take pictures of roughly 300 very distant galaxies in order to study the galaxy properties.

The old spiral galaxy is being observed, as it would’ve been roughly 3 billion years after the formation of the universe. Astronomers also note that the light from this part of the universe has been traveling to Earth for 10.7 billion years. Our own Milky Way galaxy is a spiral galaxy.

The astronomers say that the fact that this galaxy exists is astounding. The scientists note that current wisdom believed that such spiral galaxies didn’t exist at such an early time in the history of the universe. This particular spiral galaxy is termed a “grand design” galaxy because it has prominent and well-formed spiral arms. The galaxy may look grand, but its name is rather boring. Scientists have dubbed the galaxy BX442.

[via SpaceDaily]

Astronomers discover earliest spiral galaxy ever viewed is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.