GLIMPSES OF THE FUTURE
A monthly digest of technologies, developments and trends that will shape our lives. (If you would prefer not to receive these digests, flip back 'NO THANKS' and you will be removed from the list).

Stem Cells May Produce A 'Medicine' To Beat Breast Cancer

Human embryonic stem cells produce a protein which shows some anti-cancer properties in the lab, according to a new study.

The potential for stem-cell therapies to cause cancer is a major concern, but now researchers at Northwestern University in Chicago, US, say a protein produced by human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) can inhibit the growth and spread of breast cancer and malignant melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

They suspect that the protein, called Lefty, has similar effects on other tumour types, including those of the prostate.

The similarities between stem cells – primitive cells which can differentiate into the body’s different tissue types – and tumour cells have intrigued researchers. Both are self-renewing and have the capacity to give rise to different cells types.

The team at Northwestern previously showed that hESCs – the most versatile type of stem cell – produce chemicals that caused melanoma cells to revert to normal skin cells.

They also demonstrated that melanoma and breast cancers produce a protein called Nodal that helps tumour cells spread, and that this protein also facilitates embryonic stem cell's ability to turn into different cell types.

Renault Shows 'Dragonfly' Car Door And Other Futuristic Auto Goodies

Renault displayed its Mégane Coupé Concept showcar at the recent Geneva Motorshow. The vehicle has twin, two-part 'dragonfly wing' doors. The design will form the basis of an upcoming model.

The car sports a wide array of advanced technological features, including mobile-phone operated ignition and door locks, plus four-zone climate control, touch-screen multi-media players and a ‘stop and start’ engine system.

The dragonfly wing doors open to reveal futuristic, sleek and stylish interior with four independent seats, Fire Red lacquer seat structures and black leather/nubuck upholstery.

Sea Cucumber Inspires Versatile Plastic

Scientists at Case Western University have made a biopolymer that switches rapidly between rigid and flexible states, using material inspired by sea cucumbers.

The new material softens in the presence of a water-based solvent, and it stiffens back up as the solvent evaporates. Christoph Weder, lead researcher and professor of macromolecular science and engineering, says that such a material may be useful in the design of implantable electrodes able to record brain activity over long stretches of time, with minimal scarring compared with conventional electrodes.

One of the challenges facing researchers developing neural implants to help paralyzed patients is that the electrodes are typically made of metal. Such brittle and stiff material can cause tissue damage over time.

Weder's team isolated stiff cellulose fibres from the mantles of tunicates, sea creatures with skin similar to that of sea cucumbers. The researchers then combined the fibres with a rubbery polymer mixture. The fibers formed a uniform matrix throughout, reinforcing the softer polymer material. These intersecting points hold the network together, creating an inflexible material.

The US government has begun a project to develop ways to spot terrorists who are using virtual worlds.

Code named Reynard, it aims to recognise 'normal' behaviour in online worlds and home in on anomalous activity.

It is likely to develop tools and techniques for intelligence officers who are hunting terrorists and terror groups on the net or in virtual worlds.

New 'Floating' Joy-Stick Will Enhance Gaming

A computer controller levitated by magnets provides a new way to physically experience virtual objects.

The 'maglev' joystick has benefits over more mechanical haptic controllers – computer interfaces that stimulate the user's sense of touch – and its inventors are now working to commercialise the technology.

Haptic technology has uses ranging from remote medical breast checks and exploring distant lands, to recreating the feel of fabrics.

But most haptic interfaces to date rely upon gloves or robotic arms to provide feedback to a user. The complex mechanics involved increases weight and friction that can make it difficult to provide a natural feel. To solve that, Ralph Hollis and colleagues at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, US, developed a haptic device with just one moving part. A bowl with electromagnets concealed below its base contains a levitating bar that is grasped by a user and can be moved in any direction. The magnets exert forces on the bar to simulate the resistance of a weight, or a surface's resistance or friction. LEDs on the bar's underside feed back its position to light sensors in the bowl.

Computers That Can Read Your Mind

Scientists have developed a computerised mind-reading technique which lets them accurately predict the images that people are looking at by using scanners to study brain activity.

The breakthrough by American scientists took MRI scanning equipment normally used in hospital diagnosis to observe patterns of brain activity when a subject examined a range of black and white photographs. Then a computer was able to correctly predict in nine out of ten cases which image people were focused on. Guesswork would have been accurate only eight times in every 1,000 attempts.

The study raises the possibility in the future of the technology being harnessed to visualise scenes from a person's dreams or memory.

New Scar-Healing Cream Hailed As 'Miracle'

The man who will lead the world's first full-face transplant team has developed a 'miracle' skin-healing cream.

Peter Butler, a reconstructive surgeon, has spent three years developing the treatment with four other London plastic surgeons.

The gel, called Heal, is being hailed as a breakthrough in minimising operation scars and reducing the impact of facial bruising.

It has already been successfully tested on patients who have had reconstructive operations or cosmetic surgery such as Botox treatment and breast reductions. It could also help treat sunburn.

Although Heal is not a conventional 'beauty' cream, it is expected to create huge demand among women searching for ways to improve their complexion and could be sold in high street stores.

The cream's formulation is based on scientific research. Mr Butler, who leads the face transplant team at the Royal Free Hospital and is preparing to carry out the first full face transplant, said his team stumbled across the formula while looking for ways to shorten patients' recovery times.

Heal will be launched in April 2008 and will be available through London Plastic Surgery Associates.

'Mobile 'Phone' Is Now A Fitness Coach And Heart Monitor

Samsung and Adidas have announced the miCoach mobile phone which monitors personal exercise effort and heart performance..

The miCoach comes with a stride sensor (pedometer) and heart rate monitor, enabling the phone’s software to monitor your workouts and advise/push you with a voice-simulating personal coach. Despite concepts from Nokia and Microsoft, and add ons from Kiwok and Alivetech, the miCoach is the first phone with heart rate functionality.

The idea was probably catalyzed by the iPod/Nike collaboration, which will invariably become an iPhone/Nike relationship very soon. The Apple/Nike partnership announced new extensions recently including the ability to plug an iPod into gym equipment to track specific training. When the iPhone and its Software Developers Kit becomes a little more readily available, expect the same functionality plus lots more.

AMD 'Triples Graphics Chip Power' For High Definition Video And Gaming

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has introduced a set of chips that it claims will triple the graphics power of desktop computers, enabling economy PCs to play high-definition videos and fast-moving computer games without costly add-ons.

AMD unveiled its new 780G Series chipset at a trade show in Germany, but it will be about a month before name-brand PCs with these glitzy graphic capabilities hit the stores.

Stem Cells Can Produce Female Sperm

Scientists at the University of Newcastle in the UK have coaxed female embryonic stem cells to develop into primitive sperm cells. Next, the researchers, led by Iranian stem-cell biologist Karim Nayernia, plan to create sperm cells from female bone marrow, making the procedure more practical. They haven't yet made the primitive sperm undergo the final cell division that generates the correct amount of genetic material for fertilization, a process known as meiosis.

Scientists have been skeptical that sperm can be produced from female cells, which lack a Y chromosome and thus whichever Y-linked genes are crucial to sperm production.

Nayernia's team has had success generating sperm from male stem cells. In 2006, the researchers made primitive sperm from stem cells collected from adult men. And in a 2006 proof of principle experiment, Nayernia used sperm derived from male embryonic stem cells to fertilize mice to produce seven pups, six of which lived to adulthood, though the survivors did suffer problems.

www.rayhammond.com

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