They Can Grow New Body Parts from Cells ... Easily

Scientists recently published results that describe how they use TNT (not the explosive) to reprogram skin cells to make other types of cells they used in the body to fix problems.

The main things they did: make vascular cells to make blood flow again to test subjects (animals) with skin flaps and removed femoral arteries. They also made nerve cells to to help subjects recover from stroke.

The process has 2 parts: a chip (developed 6 years ago) that injects the "cargo," and the cargo itself -- plasmid, DNA, or even RNA. The cargo induces plasticity (it fires novel cell reprogramming factor genes into the skin cells) through tiny channels in the cell membranes (much smaller than the older process for doing this).

The researchers were "surprised how it worked so well" and don't completely understand it yet, but they've also achieved or see themselves achieving similar results in making insulin-producing cells that can sense glucose levels, changing white fat cells to brown, and working with eyes and ears.

They also explained that they see the technology going much further, relaying transfection to deeper than skin levels, since they can do this with almost any cell type. It requires no lab equipment, so they see it being done at point-of-care.

Japan's Soccer Robots Wear Cleats This Year

This was the main improvement demonstrated by the kid-sized humanoid robots playing at this year's RoboCup in Nagoya.

According to the first place U of Bordeaux team, Rhoban Football Club,

"The main innovation of the robot is located in its feet. The feet are no longer flat but are put on the ground on top of 4 cleats at each foot corner. Only these cleats are in contact with the ground and 'sink' into the artificial grass. This greatly improve the stability of the robot walking on the ”soft” turf."

New Cameras That Don't Use Lenses

They can be super tiny, light, and very thin. They're the new cameras being developed by Caltech that use OPAs (optical phased array).

They made a new version of the same project they did last year; this time an 8x8 (64 receptor) lensless camera, as a small proof-of-concept that works.

"We've created a single thin layer of integrated silicon photonics that emulates the lens and sensor of a digital camera, reducing the thickness and cost of digital cameras. It can mimic a regular lens, but can switch from a fish-eye to a telephoto lens instantaneously -- with just a simple adjustment in the way the array receives light," according to the lead investigator.

The OPA is a grid of receptors. They each can be controlled to take in light from a particular direction. So, when they focus all their 64 receptors on a target that has 2 lights on in front, the 2 lights are perceived in the recorded image. The concept can be scaled up from there to higher resolution.

A Google System on a Chip?

This week Google hired Manu Gulati, who designed Apple's custom mobile phone processor (SOC).

Why? People suspect it has to do with Google's new phone, Pixel. The phone, which competes with a couple of others at the top of the commercial cell phone market, has been reviewed positively, and has sold well over a million items, but analysts think Google thinks they need to do more: namely, they need to develop their own SOC, just like Apple's popular phones have, and just like Samsung, Huawei, and LG later did.

Finally, an Energy Efficient Clothes Dryer ... It Uses Sound Waves

The new machine uses high-frequency sound waves to vibrate water molecules out of fabric, which becomes mist inside the machine which is siphoned out (the same way a regular dryer removes the water).

Did you know that if you combine your fridge, dishwasher, and clothes washer, you still have less energy use than just your dryer alone in some houses?

These new sound wave dryers can dry in 20 minutes what would take a normal machine 50, and they use about 70% less energy. At least this is what the current prototype is reported to be doing.

The company behind it is called Oak Ridge, and they're working with GE to eventually put out a commercially available model.

Note for scientists: the machine's drum is lined with piezoelectric ultrasound transducers.

Canada Bans Cellphone Unlocking Fees, Orders All New Devices Be Unlocked

The new rules start December 1.

From then on, all new phones must be unlocked. And for phones people already own, they can ask their provider to unlock it, and unlocking it has to be free, according to the CRTC.

Currently, telecoms stock stores with phones that they make sure are locked (so users can only use their service). To unlock it, they charge around $50.

New Trains Don't Use Rails

It runs along regular asphalt roads, using rubber tires instead of steel wheels, following painted lines, and it's electric.

Cost is a big factor that limits cities' ability to serve commuters and freight with trains. A company in China called CRRC Zhuzhou Institute made something they're calling "the first railless train."

This little 3-car train is 30 feet long and tops out at 70 kmh. It can travel 20 km on a charge using its battery with 300 passengers.

Although the train follows lines painted on the road, it also has a system in it where the train can sense its surroundings and plan its own route, according to CRRC. 

Although it's autonomous, it has a drivers' seat. The train doesn't have a collision-avoidance system yet.

They're building a route for these trains in Zhuzhou city, China, starting next year.

Tech Stocks Continue Downward

The drop started last Friday, and continued over the weekend and on Monday. The big tech stocks, like Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft, which have been on a long upward trend, have dropped significantly.

The drop is considered possibly overdue given the high out-performance and positioning of the stocks. 

A Straw Detects Date-Rape Drugs, Turns Color

It was invented by some teenagers for a high school business plan competition in Miami.

GHB and Ketamine are common date rape drugs (as well as being used voluntarily for recreation). They don't have a smell or taste, so victims can't know when they've been slipped into their drinks.

The straw invented has a strip that turns blue when it comes in contact with GHB and Ketamine. The three girls behind the idea are seeking a patent for their design.

VHS Era Ends

I mean really ends.

Archivists and preservationists are feeling pressed for time as the VHS magnetic tape deadline approaches. Some are calling it the "magnetic media crisis."

15-20 years is all VHS tapes are really expected to be good for. Like all magnets, the strength fades over time, and once enough of the magnetic field fades from a tape, you can't recover the video. Another thing with tapes which isn't usually an issue in the modern digital era is that there is often only one copy of each video.

So a lot of people who want to preserve their video memories made during the 80s and 90s are bringing business to companies that transfer their VHS tapes onto digital formats, which have a much longer shelf-life, and can be saved easily in multiple places and shared.

Dronefence Gets Funding

Drones in commercial, industrial, government, public, and private spaces -- everywhere -- pose various threats. And they can be just a plain nuisance as well.

One company working on this problem is Dronefence. They have a patent-pending tech that basically uses 2 cameras in stereo and a sensor, as well as some software, to identify drones in the air, check if their registration passes muster, and sound an alarm if it doesn't. The system also records video footage of the drone.

Currently, Dronefence is just working on the identification. How to deal with intruding drones is another thing. But they've now acquired seed funding for their project from VP Capital, Larnabel Ventures, Boundary Holding, and the Technology and Business Consulting Group.

Jumbo-Diamond Detecting System Attracts Attention From Mining Company

Developed by the Russian company Diamant, the tech uses the tagged neutron method to find large diamonds inside kimberlite ores.

The unique advantage of the TNM method is to provide an image of the hidden object in three-dimensions, without having to crack open a bunch of rock.

Alrosa has come out as one of Diamant's first customers. Currently, Alrosa crushes kimberlite to find diamonds, but this can end up damaging the precious stones, as well as being more expensive than Diamant's dry method.

Chinese Tech No Longer Just Copycat, Industry Expert Says

“If you study Chinese products, you can get inspiration,” according to a woman who works for technology investment firm Andreessen Horowitz.

She also works helping U.S. startups learn from Chinese tech.

Connie Chan says Chinese tech is ahead of U.S. tech in everything from livestreaming (worth $5b) to messaging. For example, while Americans almost all use messaging apps daily to communicate, in China they use similar apps (such as WeChat) to pay utilities and traffic tickets, order medications to their door, and get marriage licences.

“I spend so much time teaching people what they can’t see,” she told Wired recently. "It won’t stay invisible for long."

The idea that Chinese tech is just a copycat of other countries' is now obsolete, she said.