NASA’s new Mars rover looks like a Batman vehicle – Fox News

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NASA showed off a prototype of a new Mars rover, reminiscent of a vehicle from Christopher Nolan's "Dark Knight" trilogy.

Posting the announcement on Facebook, NASA's Kennedy Space Center described it as a "fierce new Mars rover concept vehicle," adding that the rover could be used to help explore Mars.

The rover, which was designed by SeaDek and Parker Brothers Concepts, is similar in size and features to the Tumbler that Batman, played by Christian Bale, uses in the movies.

NASA TAKES AIM AT ASTEROID VALUABLE ENOUGH TO CRASH WORLD ECONOMY

Below is a video of the rover:

In an interview with CBS News, Shanon Parker said parts of the concept were "just for design," adding it was "for it to look cool." Shanon, who designed it with his brother Marc, added, "Other things that I thought, you know, this is kind of important to have.

The concept vehicle is 28 feet long, 14 feet wide and 11 feet tall and is made of aluminum ad carbon-fiber. Weighing in at 5,000 pounds, the vehicle could split itself in two pieces, with one dedicated for a laboratory and the other for scouting purposes.

Though the design is not slated to go into production to traverse the red planet, it will be on display at the Space Center until July 4 in an effort to educate visitors about the planet.

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NASA's new Mars rover looks like a Batman vehicle - Fox News

NASA is right to pay homage to the living for the first time – New Scientist

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NASA is right to pay homage to the living for the first time - New Scientist

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe to Touch the Sun – SkyandTelescope.com

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NASA's Parker Solar Probe, set to launch in 2018, will be humanity's first effort to "touch the Sun," revolutionizing our understanding of the Sun's corona, the solar wind, and the greater heliosphere.

An artist's conception of the Parker Solar Probe taking leave of Earth. JHU / APL

NASA has announced that they are retitling the Solar Probe Plus, humanity's first mission to the outer layers of the Sun, the Parker Solar Probe. The new name honors astrophysicist Eugene Parker, whose years' of work in the field known as "space weather" have helped us understand the interactions between stars and their orbiting bodies.

In the latter half of the 1950s, a young professor teaching astronomy and physics at the University of Chicago's Enrico Fermi Institute, Eugene Parker, published an article in the Astrophysical Journal entitled "Dynamics of the interplanetary gas and magnetic fields." The paper introduced the idea of a wind emanating from the Sun, a concept so controversial that two reviewers rejected the paper. In the end, it was only published because Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, the journal's science editor at the time (and no stranger himself to rejection for revolutionary thinking), overruled the reviewers' decisions.

Much of Parker's work at the time focused on the Sun's radiation and its potential effects on the planets. In his 1958 paper, Parker hypothesized that there was a constant stream of high-energy particles and radiation escaping from the surface of the Sun, an idea that ran contrary to the accepted view of the time that this space contained only a vacuum. But it was controversial only for a little while in 1962 Mariner 2 confirmed the existence of the solar wind.

This illustration shows the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft approaching the Sun. Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

While observations proved the solar wind existed, they weren't able to fully answer how or why the Sun's tenuous outer atmosphere, or corona, should sear at a temperature of millions of degrees. The Sun's visible surface, after all, is only several thousand degrees, so something must be heating the matter farther from the Sun, but scientists have long debated what that process could be. The Parker Solar Probe will address that fundamental question, completing seven flybys of Venus between 2018 and 2024 to slowly spiral into orbits that take it within 3.9 million miles (9 solar radii) of the Sun.

At its closest approach, the spacecraft will hurtle around the Sun at 430,000 mph (200 kilometers per second) at a distance nearly ten times closer to the Sun than Mercury (on average), and seven times closer than any spacecraft has ever come before. The probe will perform its scientific investigations in a region of intense heat and radiation, and its instruments must thereby be protected by a 4.5-inch thick carbon-composite heat shield, able to withstand temperatures of up to 2,500F.

The mission's main goal is to trace heat and energy flow through the corona and explore what causes charged particles to accelerate away from the surface of the Sun. To that end, the instrument aboard the Parker Solar probe will study every aspect of the Sun from its magnetic and electric fields to the solar wind.

Together, these instruments will help unlock the answers to the Sun's most puzzling questions all the while helping to protect a society that is becoming increasingly dependent on satellites and other technology vulnerable to the threats of space weather.

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Benefits and Applications | Nano

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After more than 20 years of basic nanoscience research andmore than fifteen years of focused R&D under the NNI, applications of nanotechnology are delivering in both expected and unexpected ways on nanotechnologys promise to benefit society.

Nanotechnology is helping to considerably improve, even revolutionize, many technology and industry sectors: information technology, homeland security, medicine, transportation, energy, food safety, and environmental science, and among many others. Described below is a sampling of the rapidly growing list of benefits and applications of nanotechnology.

Many benefits of nanotechnology depend on the fact that it is possible to tailor the structures of materials at extremely small scales to achieve specific properties, thus greatly extending the materials science toolkit. Using nanotechnology, materials can effectively be made stronger, lighter, more durable, more reactive, more sieve-like, or better electrical conductors, among many other traits. Many everyday commercial products are currently on the market and in daily use that rely on nanoscale materials and processes:

Nanotechnology has greatly contributed to major advances in computing and electronics, leading to faster, smaller, and more portable systems that can manage and store larger and larger amounts of information. These continuously evolving applications include:

Nanotechnology is already broadening the medical tools, knowledge, and therapies currently available to clinicians. Nanomedicine, the application of nanotechnology in medicine, draws on the natural scale of biological phenomena to produce precise solutions for disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Below are some examples of recent advances in this area:

Nanotechnology is finding application in traditional energy sources and is greatly enhancing alternative energy approaches to help meet the worlds increasing energy demands. Many scientists are looking into ways to develop clean, affordable, and renewable energy sources, along with means to reduce energy consumption and lessen toxicity burdens on the environment:

In addition to the ways that nanotechnology can help improve energy efficiency (see the section above), there are also many ways that it can help detect and clean up environmental contaminants:

Nanotechnology offers the promise of developing multifunctional materials that will contribute to building and maintaining lighter, safer, smarter, and more efficient vehicles, aircraft, spacecraft, and ships. In addition, nanotechnology offers various means to improve the transportation infrastructure:

Please visit the Environmental, Health, and Safety Issues and the Ethical, Legal, and Societal Issues pages on nano.gov to learn more about how the National Nanotechnology Initiative is committed to responsibly addressing these issues.

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Benefits and Applications | Nano

Nanotechnology: A simple and fun introduction – Explain …

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by Chris Woodford. Last updated: May 17, 2017.

Imagine if you climbed out of the shower only to discover you'd shrunk in the wash by about 1500 million times! If you stepped into your living room, what you'd see around you would not be chairs, tables, computers, and your family but atoms, molecules, proteins, and cells. Shrunk down to the "nanoscale," you'd not only see the atoms that everything is made fromyou'd actually be able to move them around! Now suppose you started sticking those atoms together in interesting new ways, like tiny LEGO bricks of nature. You could build all kinds of fantastic materials, everything from brand new medicines to ultra-fast computer chips. Making new things on this incredibly small scale is called nanotechnology and it's one of the most exciting and fast-moving areas of science and technology today.

Photo: Looking into the nanoworld: Sulfur atoms arranged on a layer of copper deposited onto a crystal of ruthenium. By courtesy of Brookhaven National Laboratory.

We live on a scale of meters and kilometers (thousands of meters), so it's quite hard for us to imagine a world that's too small to see. You've probably looked at amazing photos in science books of things like dust mites and flies photographed with electron microscopes. These powerful scientific instruments make images that are microscopic, which means on a scale millionths of a meter wide. Nanoscopic involves shrinking things down to a whole new level. Nano means "billionth", so a nanometer is one billionth of a meter. In other words, the nanoscale is 1000 times smaller than the microscopic scale and a billion (1000 million) times smaller than the world of meters that we live in.

This is all very interesting and quite impressive, but what use is it? Our lives have some meaning on a scale of meters, but it's impossible to think about ordinary, everyday existence on a scale 1000 times smaller than a fly's eye. We can't really think about problems like AIDS, world poverty, or global warming, because they lose all meaning on the nanoscale. Yet the nanoscalethe world where atoms, molecules (atoms joined together), proteins, and cells rule the roostis a place where science and technology gain an entirely new meaning.

By zooming in to the nanoscale, we can figure out how some of the puzzling things in our world actually work by seeing how atoms and molecules make them happen. You've probably seen that trick TV programs do with satellite photos, where they start off with a picture of the green and blue Earth and zoom in really fast, at ever-increasing scale, until you're suddenly staring at someone's back garden. You realize Earth is green because it's made from a patchwork of green grass. Keep zooming in and you'll see the chloroplasts in the grass: the green capsules inside the plant cells that make energy from sunlight. Zoom in some more and you'll eventually see molecules made from carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen being split apart and recombined inside the chloroplasts. So the nanoscale is good because it lets us do nanoscience: it helps us understand why things happen by studying them at the smallest possible scale. Once we understand nanoscience, we can do some nanotechnology: we can put the science into action to help solve our problems. That's what the word "technology" means and it's how technology (applied science) differs from pure science, which is about studying things for their own sake.

It turns out there are some very interesting things about the nanoscale. Lots of substances behave very differently in the world of atoms and molecules. For example, the metal copper is transparent on the nanoscale while gold, which is normally unreactive, becomes chemically very active. Carbon, which is quite soft in its normally occurring form (graphite), becomes incredibly hard when it's tightly packed into a nanoscopic arrangement called a nanotube. In other words, materials can have different physical properties on the nanoscale even though they're still the same materials! On the nanoscale, it's easier for atoms and molecules to move around and between one another, so the chemical properties of materials can also be different. Nanoparticles have much more surface area exposed to other nanoparticles, so they are very good as catalysts (substances that speed up chemical reactions).

Photo: Looking at the nanoscale with electron holography. By courtesy of US Department of Energy/Brookhaven National Laboratory.

One reason for these differences is that different factors become important on the nanoscale. In our everyday world, gravity is the most important force we encounter: it dominates everything around us, from the way our hair hangs down around our head to the way Earth has different seasons at different times of year. But on the nanoscale, gravity is much less important than the electromagnetic forces between atoms and molecules. Factors like thermal vibrations (the way atoms and molecules store heat by jiggling about) also become extremely significant. In short, the game of science has different rules when you play it on the nanoscale.

Your fingers are millions of nanometers long, so it's no good trying to pick up atoms and molecules and move them around with your bare hands. That would be like trying to eat your dinner with a fork 300 km (186 miles) long! Amazingly, scientists have developed electron microscopes that allow us to "see" things on the nanoscale and also manipulate them. They're called atomic force microscopes (AFMs), scanning probe microscopes (SPMs), and scanning tunneling microscopes (STMs).

Photo: The eight tiny probe tips on the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) built into NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander. The tip enlarged in the circle is the same size as a smoke particle at its base (2 microns). Photo by courtesy of NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA-JPL).

The basic idea of an electron microscope is to use a beam of electrons to see things that are too small to see using a beam of light. A nanoscopic microscope uses electronic and quantum effects to see things that are even smaller. It also has a tiny probe on it that can be used to shift atoms and molecules around and rearrange them like tiny building blocks. In 1989, IBM researcher Don Eigler used a microscope like this to spell out the word I-B-M by moving individual atoms into position. Other scientists have used similar techniques to draw pictures of nanoscopic guitars, books, and all kinds of other things. These are mostly frivolous exercises, designed to wow people with nanopower. But they also have important practical applications. There are lots of other ways of working with nanotechnology, including molecular beam epitaxy, which is a way of growing single crystals one layer of atoms at a time.

Most of nanotechnology's benefits will happen decades in the future, but it's already helping to improve our world in many different ways. We tend to think of nanotechnology as something new and alien, perhaps because the word "technology" implies artificial and human-made, but life itself is an example of nanotechnology: proteins, bacteria, viruses, and cells all work on the nanoscopic scale.

It could be you're already using nanotechnology. You might be wearing nanotechnology pants (that's "trousers" to you in the UK), walking on a nanotechnology rug, sleeping on nanotechnology sheets, or hauling nanotechnology luggage to the airport. All these products are made from fabrics coated with "nanowhiskers." These tiny surface fibers are so small that dirt cannot penetrate into them, which means the deeper layers of material stay clean. Some brands of sunscreens use nanotechnology in a similar way: they coat your skin with a layer of nanoscopic titanium dioxide or zinc oxide that blocks out the Sun's harmful ultraviolet rays. Nano-coatings are also appearing on scratch-resistant car bumpers, anti-slip steps on vans and buses, corrosion resistant paints, and wound dressings.

Carbon nanotubes are among the most exciting of nanomaterials. These rod-shaped carbon molecules are roughly one nanometer across. Although they're hollow, their densely packed structure makes them incredibly strong and they can be grown into fibers of virtually any length. NASA scientists have recently proposed carbon nanotubes could be used to make a gigantic elevator stretching all the way from Earth into space. Equipment and people could be shuttled slowly up and down this "carbon ladder to the stars," saving the need for expensive rocket flights.

Photo: Making an electric circuit with carbon nanotubes. A carbon nanotube (shown here in light blue at the top) is connected to an electricity supply using aluminum (shown in dark blue at the bottom). Picture by courtesy of NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA-MSFC).

One form of nanotechnology we all use is microelectronics. The "micro" part of that word suggests computer chips work on the microscopic scaleand they do. But since terms like "microchip" were coined in the 1970s, electronic engineers have found ways of packing even more transistor switches into integrated circuits to make computers that are smaller, faster, and cheaper than ever before. This constant increase in computing power goes by the name of Moore's Law, and nanotechnology will ensure it continues well into the future. Everyday transistors in the early 21st-century are just 100200 nanometers wide, but cutting-edge experiments are already developing much smaller devices. In 1998, scientists made a transistor from a single carbon nanotube.

Photo: Creatures of the nanoworld? This is what a single molecule of the semiconductor material cadmium sulfide looks like. Nanoparticles like this could be used to make improved electronic displays and lasers. Picture by courtesy of NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA-MSFC).

And it's not just the chips inside computers that use nanotechnology. The displays on everything from iPods and cellphones to laptops and flatscreen TVs are shifting to organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), made from plastic films built on the nanoscale.

Photo: The world's smallest chain drive. An example of a nanomachine, this nanotechnology "bike chain" and gear system was developed by scientists at Sandia National Laboratory. By courtesy of US Department of Energy/Sandia National Laboratory.

One of the most exciting areas of nanotechnology is the possibility of building incredibly small machinesthings like gears, switches, pumps, or enginesfrom individual atoms. Nanomachines could be made into nanorobots (sometimes called nanobots) that could be injected into our bodies to carry out repairs or sent into hazardous or dangerous environments, perhaps to clean up disused nuclear power plants. As is so often the case, nature leads humans here. Scientists have already found numerous examples of nanomachines in the natural world. For example, a common bacteria called E.coli can build itself a little nanotechnology tail that it whips around like a kind of propeller to move it closer to food. Making nanomachines is also known as molecular manufacturing and molecular nanotechnology (MNT).

A machine is something with moving wheels, gears, and levers that can do useful jobs for us, but how do you make moving parts from something as tiny as a molecule? Just imagine trying to build a clock from gears that are millions of times smaller than usual!

It turns out there is a way to do it. Some molecules are regularly shaped and symmetrical so they have no overall positive or negative charges. Other molecules are not symmetrical, which means they have slightly more positive charge at one end and slightly more negative charge at the other. These are called polar molecules and water is the best known example. Water sticks to a lot of things and cleans them well because it has a positive "pole" at one end and a negative pole at the other. We can use this idea to make a molecular machine.

Artwork: A simple "nano-escalator." It works by making one molecule (green) move up and down another one (blue and red).

Suppose you take a molecule made from a ring of atoms that has a slightly positive charge in one place. Now thread it over another molecule made from a rod of atoms, which has slightly negative charges at its two ends. The positive ring will pull toward one of the negative charges so the ring will lift upward. Now add some energy and you can make the ring move back down, toward the other negative charge. In this way, you can make the ring shunt back and forth or up and down, a bit like a nanoscopic elevator! By extending this idea, we can gradually make more complex machines with parts that shuffle back and forth, move around one another, or even rotate like tiny electric motors.

Ingenious ideas like this were developed by three brilliant scientists who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2016 (more about that below).

Natural examples like this tell us that nanotechnology is as old as life itself, but the concept of the nanoscale, nanoscience we can study, and nanotechnology we can harness are all relatively new developments. The brilliant American physicist Richard Feynman (19181988) is widely credited with kick-starting modern interest in nanotechnology. In 1959, in a famous after-dinner speech called "There's plenty of room at the bottom," the ever-imaginative Feynman speculated about an incredibly tiny world where people could use tiny tools to rearrange atoms and molecules. By 1974, Japanese engineering professor Norio Taniguchi had named this field "nanotechnology."

Nanotechnology really took off in the 1980s. That was when nanotech-evangelist Dr K. Eric Drexler first published his groundbreaking book Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology. It was also the decade when microscopes appeared that were capable of manipulating atoms and molecules on the nanoscale. In 1991, carbon nanotubes were discovered by another Japanese scientist, Sumio Iijima, opening up huge interest in new engineering applications. The graphite in pencils is a soft form of carbon. In 1998, some American scientists built themselves another kind of pencil from a carbon nanotube and then used it, under a microscope, to write the words "NANOTUBE NANOPENCIL" with letters only 10 nanometers across.

Stunts like this captured the public imagination, but they also led to nanotechnology being recognized and taken seriously at the highest political levels. In 2000, President Bill Clinton sealed the importance of nanotechnology when he launched a major US government program called the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), designed to fund groundbreaking research and inspire public interest. By 2016, the US government was investing over $1 billion a year in nanotechnology through the NNI alone. Nanotechnology reached another important milestone that year with the award of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Sir J. Fraser Stoddart, and Bernard Feringa, three scientists whose groundbreaking work had spawned the idea of turning molecules into machines.

Engineers the world over are raving about nanotechnology. This is what scientists at one of America's premier research institutions, the Los Alamos National Laboratory, have to say: "The new concepts of nanotechnology are so broad and pervasive, that they will influence every area of technology and science, in ways that are surely unpredictable.... The total societal impact of nanotechnology is expected to be greater than the combined influences that the silicon integrated circuit, medical imaging, computer-aided engineering, and man-made polymers have had in this century." That's a pretty amazing claim: 21st-century nanotechnology will be more important than all the greatest technologies of the 20th century put together!

Photo: These nanogears were made by attaching benzene molecules (outer white blobs) to the outsides of carbon nanotubes (inner gray rings). Image by NASA Ames Research Center courtesy of Internet Archive.

Nanotechnology sounds like a world of great promise, but there are controversial issues too that must be considered and resolved. Some people have raised concerns that nanoscale organisms or machines could harm human life or the environment. One problem is that tiny particles can be extremely toxic to the human body. No-one really knows what harmful effect new nanomaterials or substances could have. Chemical pesticides were not considered harmful when they were first used in the early decades of the 20th century; it wasn't until the 1960s and 1970s that their potentially harmful effects were properly understood. Could the same happen with nanotechnology?

The ultimate nano-nightmare, the problem of "gray goo," was first highlighted by Eric Drexler. What happens if well-meaning humans create nanobots that run riot through the biosphere, gobbling up all living things and leaving behind nothing but a chewed-up mass of "gray goo"? Drexler later backed away from that claim. But critics of nanotechnology still argue humans shouldn't meddle with worlds they don't understand, but if we took that argument to its logical conclusion, we'd have no inventions at allno medicines, no transportation, no agriculture, and no educationand we'd still be living in the Stone Age. The real question is whether the promise of nanotechnology is greater than any potential risks that go with it. And that will determine whether our nano-future becomes dreamor nightmare.

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Nanotechnology: A simple and fun introduction - Explain ...

U of A uses nanotechnology to develop new test for aggressive prostate cancer – Edmonton Journal

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U of A uses nanotechnology to develop new test for aggressive prostate cancer
Edmonton Journal
The new test takes advantage of advances in nanotechnology and machine learning to test for tiny fragments of prostate cancer in the bloodstream and recognize aggressive forms of cancer. The blood test was studied on 377 Alberta men who were ...

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U of A uses nanotechnology to develop new test for aggressive prostate cancer - Edmonton Journal

John Keells Research opens research lab at SLINTEC Nanotechnology & Science Park – Daily Mirror

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The official opening of the research laboratory of John Keells Research (JKR), the R&D and innovation arm of John Keells Holdings PLC, was held recently. This facility, which is located at the Technology Incubation Centre Building at the SLINTEC Nanotechnology & Science Park in Mahenwatta, Pitipana, Homagama, will greatly enhance JKRs capabilities in its core areas of nanotechnology and advanced materials, sustainable energy and energy storage, biotechnology and synthetic biology, food and water and physics and Internet of things (IoT). Amongst the invitees at the occasion were John Keells Holdings PLC Chairman Susantha Ratnayake, Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology CEO Harin de S. Wijeyerathne, John Keells Group Deputy Chairman Ajit Gunewardena, John Keells Group Executive Directors Krishan Balendra and Gihan Cooray, John Keells Group President HR, Legal, Sustainability and ERM Dilani Alagaratnam and representatives from partnering research institutions and universities. JKR Head Dr. Muditha Senarath-Yapa in his welcome address said, Innovation is one of the core values of John Keells Group; therefore, the environment and practices at JKH make it easier for our team of scientists to create value through innovation. Speaking at the occasion Rathnayake said, We are pleased to see the progress that John Keells Research has made, since its launch just five years ago filing the first patent within this short time, is indeed a significant achievement. Preceding the opening of research laboratory the invitees were taken on a tour of the Science Park by SLINTEC representatives, to highlight the key facilities available and the tour was followed by a presentation by Harin de S. Wijeyerathne about SLINTEC, which manages the Nanotechnology and Science Park and is a public-private partnership between the Sri Lankan government and the local corporates - MAS Holdings, Brandix, Dialog, Hayleys, Loadstar and Lankem. Cooray, who is also Group President overseeing JKR said that he was proud of the achievements of the JKR team and their commitment towards the work we do. Based on an idea generated by the JKR, John Keells Holdings PLC filed its first patent in December 2016 jointly with the Council for Scientific & Industrial Research India, in the area of energy storage materials. This patent application was a result of a research project carried out in India at the National Metallurgical Lab.

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John Keells Research opens research lab at SLINTEC Nanotechnology & Science Park - Daily Mirror

The Energy Efficiency Paint With Built-in Nanotechnology – Manufacturing America

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Graphene, the super strong, super thin, highly conductive nano-material, has been a groundbreaking substance for semiconductor, electronics, battery, and composites industries. Its unique properties are now being applied to other applications, giving everyday consumers a chance to see how nanotechnology can improve a range of products. Graphene house paint is the latest example of that and its showing how it can greatly improve the energy efficiency of homes and other buildings.

Image Source: Inhabitat

The Most Eco-friendly Paint In The World

Soon to be distributed in the UK by The Graphene Company, Graphenstone is a lime-based interior and exterior wall paint that contains graphene. Its being called the most environmentally friendly paint in the world. Its 98 percent lime content is capable of absorbing carbon dioxide, which contributes to passive air purification indoors. Its also notably thin and requires less paint to achieve good coverage and durability compared to acrylic and other types of house paint.

Image Source: Woodworking Network

Built-In Thermal Insulation

The most notable advantage of Graphenstone is its ability to thermally insulate the area in which its used. As a result of graphenes hexagonal lattice carbon structure coat, it provides superconductivity. A coat of paint means that less heating and air conditioning would be required to maintain comfortable air temperatures, and that can add up to notable reduction in energy bills. The paint has already been used in hospitals, hotels, and schools, and is now hitting store shelves for DIY use in the UK.

A Game-changer For The DIY Market?

As consumers and homeowners have become more sustainably minded in their product choices and home improvements, could graphene-based paint become a game-changer for the paint and home DIY industry? If its a product success for consumers in Europe, will we soon see it available in the U.S.?

Comment and tell us what you think of this interesting nanotechnological development.

Articles Sources

http://inhabitat.com https://www.dezeen.com http://www.woodworkingnetwork.com

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The Energy Efficiency Paint With Built-in Nanotechnology - Manufacturing America

Third building planned for Gateway research park campus – Greensboro News & Record

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GREENSBORO The nanoschool is about to get a new neighbor.

The Gateway University Research Park went public Tuesday night with plans to build a third building on its south campus on East Gate City Boulevard. The new 70,000-square-foot building will go up next door to the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering.

John Merrill, executive director of the Gateway University Research Park, said hell announce the new buildings main tenant within the next couple of weeks. Construction could start as soon as August and the building could be occupied in late 2018.

Our anchor tenant needs to be in the space as soon as we can deliver it, Merrill said in a telephone interview Wednesday. Were going to do everything we can to keep this process moving forward.

Merrill declined to name the anchor tenant but described it as an injection molding company. The company will bring its headquarters and 25 jobs to the new space initially and has promised to add 25 more, Merrill said.

The $11.7 million, two-story building will have research labs and offices as well as manufacturing and distribution spaces. The anchor tenant will occupy between a third and half of the new building. The remaining spaces will be for lease.

Greensboro City Council on Tuesday agreed to spend $1.2 million on the project.

The Gateway research park, a joint venture of N.C. A&T and UNC-Greensboro, has two campuses. The North Campus covers 75 acres along U.S. 29 near Bryan Park. The South Campus, also 75 acres, sits along Gate City Boulevard near Interstate 40/85.

The other building contains high-end laboratories and offices. Tenants include the U.S. Department of Agricultures Natural Resources Conservation Service; VF Corp.s Global Innovation Center for denim research; Triad Growth Partners, a technology and business development company; and several high-tech startups.

Contact John Newsom at (336) 373-7312 and follow @JohnNewsomNR on Twitter.

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Third building planned for Gateway research park campus - Greensboro News & Record

Here Are the Microsurgeons That Will Soon Roam Our Bodies – Singularity Hub

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On a crisp fall evening in 2006, Dr. Sylvain Martel held his breath as a technician slipped an anesthetized pig into a whirling fMRI machine. His eyes stared intently at a computer screen, which showed a magnetic bead hovering inside the pigs delicate blood vessels. The tension in the room was palpable.

Suddenly, the bead jumped to life, hopping effortlessly down the vessel like a microsubmarineheading to its next target destination. The team erupted in cheers.

Martel and his team were testing a new way to remotely steer tiny objects inside a living animal by manipulating the magnetic forces of the machine. And for the first time, it worked.

Scientists and writers have long dreamed of tiny robots that navigate the bodys vast circulatory system, like space explorers surveying the galaxies and their inhabitants. The potentials are many: tiny medical microbots could, for example, shuttle radioactive drugs to cancer clusters, perform surgeries inside the body, or clear out blood clots lodged deep inside the heart or brain.

The dream is the Fantastic Voyage, but with bots instead of people, says roboticist Dr. Bradley Nelson at ETH Zurich, referencing a classic science fiction movie wherein a team of people are shrunken down and travel through a persons bloodstream to perform brain surgery on a moribund intelligence agent.

For now, medical microbots are still mostly fictional, though thats set to change within the decade. Writing in Nature this week, Drs. Mariana Medina-Snchez and Oliver G. Schmidt at the Leibniz IFW in Dresden, Germany turned away from the big screen to nanoengineering labs, setting out priorities and realistic tests to bring these tiny surgeons to life.

Medical microbots are part of the medical fields journey into miniaturization. Back in 2001, an Israeli company introduced the PillCam, a candy-sized plastic capsule that harbored a camera, batteries and wireless transmission machinery. While traveling down the alimentary canal, the PillCam periodically beamed back images wirelessly, offering a more sensitive and less toxic diagnostic measure than traditional endoscopy or X-ray imaging.

Size wise, the PillCam is gigantic for an ideal microbot, making it only suitable for the relatively wide tubing of our digestive system. The pill was also passive, unable to linger at interesting locations for a more detailed survey.

A true medical microbot must propel and steer itself through an intricate network of fluid-filled tubes to tissues deep inside the body, explains Martel.

The body, unfortunately, is rather hostile to outsiders. Microbots have to be able to survive corrosive gastric juices and paddle upstream in the blood flow without the convenience of battery-powered motors.

Labs around the world are figuring out clever alternatives to the power problem. One idea is to create what are essentially chemical rockets: cylindrical microbots loaded with fueloften a metal or other catalystthat reacts with gastric juices or other liquids to expel bubbles from the back of the tube.

These motors are hard to control, say Medina-Snchez and Schmidt. We can roughly control their direction using chemical gradients, but they dont have enough endurance and efficacy. Designing non-toxic fuels based on the bodys supplysugar, urea, or other physiological fluidsis also hard.

An arguably better alternative is metallic physical motors that can be propelled by changes in magnetic fields. Martel, as demonstrated with his bead-in-a-pig experiment, was among the first to explore these propellers.

The MRI machine is perfect for steering and imaging metallic microbot prototypes, explains Martel. The machine has several sets of magnetic coils: the main set magnetizes the microbot after it is injected into the bloodstream through a catheter. Then, by manipulating the gradient coils of the MRI, we can generate weak magnetic fields to nudge the microbot down blood vessels or other biological tubing.

In subsequent experiments, Martel made iron-cobalt nanoparticles coated with a cancer drug and injected the tiny soldiers into rabbits. Using a computer program to automatically change the magnetic field, his team steered the bots to the target location. Although there were no tumors to kill in that particular study, Martel says similar designs could prove useful for liver cancers and other tumors with relatively large vessels.

Why not smaller vessels? The problem is, again, power. Martel was only able to shrink the bot down to a few hundred micrometersanything smaller required magnetic gradients so large that they disrupted neuronal firing in the brain.

A more elegant solution is using biological motors that already exist in nature. Bacteria and sperm are both armed with whip-like tails that propel them naturally through the bodys convoluted tunnels and cavities to perform biological reactions.

By combining mechanical bits with biological bits, the two components could give each other a boost when one is faltering.

An example is the spermbot. Schmidt previously designed tiny metal helices that wrap around lazy sperm, giving them a mobility boost to reach the egg. Sperm could also be loaded with drugs, linked to a magnetic microstructure to treat cancers in the reproductive tract.

Then there are specialized groups of bacteria called MC-1 that align themselves with Earths magnetic field. By generating a very weak fieldjust enough to overcome Earthsscientists can point the bacterias internal compass towards a new goal such as cancer.

Unfortunately, drug-tagged MC-1 bacteria only survive in warm blood for roughly 40 minutes, and most arent strong enough to swim against the bloodstream. Martel envisions a hybrid system made of bacteria and fat-based bubbles. The bubbles, loaded with magnetic particles and bacteria, would be guided down larger blood vessels using strong magnetic fields until they smack into narrower ones. Upon impact, the bubbles would pop and release the swarms of bacteria to finish their journey, guided by weaker magnetic fields.

While scientists have plenty of ideas for propellers, a main hurdle is tracking the microbots once theyre released into the body.

Combining different types of imaging techniques may be the way forward. Ultrasound, MRI and infrared are all too slow to follow microbots operating deep within the body by themselves. However, combining light, sound, and electromagnetic waves could increase resolution and sensitivity.

Ideally, an imaging method should be able to track micromotors 10 centimeters under the skin, in 3D and real-time, moving at minimum speeds of tens of micrometers per second,say Medina-Snchez and Schmidt.

Its a tall order, though theyre hopeful that cutting-edge optoacousticmethodscombining infrared and ultrasound imagingcould be good enough to track microbots within a few years.

Then theres the question of what to do with the bots after theyve finished their mission. Leaving them drifting inside the body could result in clots or other catastrophic side effects, such as metal poisoning. Driving the bots back to their starting point (mouth, eyes, and other natural orifices, for example) may be too tedious. Scientists are now exploring better options: expelling the bots naturallyor making them out of biodegradable materials.

The latter has another plus: if the materials are also sensitive to heat, pH, or other bodily factors, they can make autonomous biobots that operate without batteries. For example, scientists have already made little star-shaped grippers that close around tissues when exposed to heat. When placed around diseased organs or tissues, the grippers could perform on-site biopsies, offering a less invasive way to screen for colon cancers or monitor chronic inflammatory bowel disease.

The goal is a microbot that can sense, diagnose, and act autonomously, while people monitor it and retain control in case of malfunction, say Medina-Snchez and Schmidt.

The medical microbots fantastic voyage is just beginning.

All combinations of materials, microorganisms and microstructures need to be tested together for their behavior in animals first to ensure safety and function. Scientists are also waiting for regulators to catch up, and for clinicians to ponder new ways to deploy these new microbots in diagnostics and treatments.

But optimism is growing in the ever-expanding field.

With a coordinated push, microbots could usher in an era of non-invasive therapies within a decade, declare Medina-Snchez and Schmidt.

Banner image and video ("Self-Folding Thermo-Magnetically Responsive Soft Microgrippers) courtesy of ACS Applied Materials & Interfacesand licensedCC BY-NC.

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Here Are the Microsurgeons That Will Soon Roam Our Bodies - Singularity Hub

NSF announces 2017 winners for Generation Nano: Small Science … – National Science Foundation (press release)

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News Release 17-050

Competition inspires high school students to learn the science behind nanotechnology

June 6, 2017

Today, the National Science Foundation (NSF), in partnership with the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), named the first- and second-place winners, as well as the People's Choice winner, for the second annual Generation Nano competition.

Generation Nano challenges high school students to imagine novel superheroes who use the power of nanotechnology -- technology on the scale of a nanometer, or 1 billionth of a meter -- to solve crimes or tackle a societal challenge. Students then tell their hero's story in a comic and video. Students learn about the science behind nanotechnology before applying nanotechnology-enabled tools and concepts to futuristic characters, said Mihail C. Roco, NSF senior advisor for science and engineering and a key architect of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI).

"This competition is like a real-life exercise in modern society, where creativity and rigor combine to engineer novel products, smart infrastructure, life-saving medical treatments and more," Roco said. "Students use their imaginations to join emerging uses of nanotechnology with other fields, bringing new viewpoints and collective interest to scientific progress. The younger generation needs such skills, as they will live and work in a more advanced society than their teachers, and we wish success to all of them as they help create the future of nanotechnology."

The winners

"I was so impressed by the imaginative ways that students used nanotechnology to ease human suffering, cure disease, fight criminals and clean up the environment in this year's Generation Nano contest," said Lisa Friedersdorf, director of the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office. "The winning comics showcase the importance of creatively applying science to solve problems. I am sure these comics and videos will excite other students and inspire them to think about how they can use nanotechnology to improve the world."

Students' superhero creations had to address one of four missions using their nanotechnology powers:

Generation Nano participants were required to submit a short, written entry about their superheroes, a two- to three-page comic and a 90-second video. A panel of judges with expertise in either nanotechnology or comics evaluated each entry and selected semifinalists and finalists. The public selected the People's Choice winner from the list of finalists.

The judges

The winners will be at the NSF booth at Awesome Con in Washington, D.C. June 16-18, and will also visit Capitol Hill. In addition, each winner is invited to tour the nearest NNI center.

Visit the Generation Nano website for competition details, such as eligibility criteria, entry guidelines, timeline, prizes, and videos and comics from the winners and finalists.

-NSF-

Media Contacts Sarah Bates, NSF, (703) 292-7738, sabates@nsf.gov

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2017, its budget is $7.5 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives more than 48,000 competitive proposals for funding and makes about 12,000 new funding awards.

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Useful NSF Web Sites: NSF Home Page: https://www.nsf.gov NSF News: https://www.nsf.gov/news/ For the News Media: https://www.nsf.gov/news/newsroom.jsp Science and Engineering Statistics: https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/ Awards Searches: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/

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NSF announces 2017 winners for Generation Nano: Small Science ... - National Science Foundation (press release)

Ambarella Inc (AMBA) Stock Is a Lost Cause in Moore’s World – Investorplace.com

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Ambarella Inc(NASDAQ:AMBA) shares are plunging in the wake of a disappointing first-quarter earnings report. In fact, AMBA stock is off by more than 10% so far in Wednesdays trade.

Our Luke Lango, in his preview of the quarter, acknowledged the riskbut called the stock a good long-term play because of the promise its chips which first powered the GoPro Inc (NASDAQ:GPRO) camera could be a key ingredient in the next decades autonomous transportation revolution.

They think the chips will go into self-driving cars.

Everyone in tech is betting on autonomy. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is said to be doing it. Alphabet Inc(NASDAQ:GOOGL) already has. Tesla Inc(NASDAQ:TSLA) has gotten rich on it. Uber stands accused of stealing it.

Ambarella could be the next booms arms merchant. The argument is that you buy the dip on the hype, wait until either the field takes off, and profit!

This veteran tech reporter has a different story to tell about AMBA stock.Come with me, then, into the cave of riches known as Moores Law.

Moores Law the idea that the chip density can double (and prices can halve) every year or two has been the driving force of technology for 50 years.

It may be the only thing the 2017 stock market believes in, given that the five most-valuable companies in the world Apple, Google, Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) and Microsoft Corporation(NASDAQ:MSFT) all use it to power their clouds.

But Moores Law isnt just a story of wealth. Its also a story of wealths destruction.

Because chips get better every year, PCs rot like fruit on a warehouse floor. Their value declines rapidly with time. Companies that make chips, even mighty Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), have to race ever-faster just to keep up. Then there is Moores Second Law: As chips become more complex, their production becomes more capital-intensive. Only three of the hundreds of companies that emerged from the PC revolution are still with us Apple and Microsoft are the other two.

Most of the diamonds in Moores cave are glass. Interesting in that theyre made of the same thing silicon.

Ambarella chips see. They process incoming light or other waves into digital information, then translate that information into inputs a drone can use to avoid obstacles, or a car can use to drive itself.

They are a vital ingredient in self-driving cars, which must process all kinds of incoming data, on all kinds of frequencies, to replicate what you do every day when you decide to make that left turn into incoming traffic.

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Ambarella Inc (AMBA) Stock Is a Lost Cause in Moore's World - Investorplace.com

National Decision Support Company and the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging enter agreement for … – PR Newswire (press release)

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The Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 (H.R. 43032) requires ordering professionals to consult AUC when ordering advanced imaging. Only AUC developed by entities meeting the qualified provider-led entity (PLE) standards can be used under the program. SNMMI became a qualified PLE under the Medicare Appropriate Use Criteria Program for advanced diagnostic imaging in June 2016.

The SNMMI AUC join NDSC's foundational criteria set delivered through CareSelect Imaging. CareSelect Imaging contains AUC sets from multiple qualified PLEs, including the American College of Radiology (ACR Select), the American College of Cardiology, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, and now the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging.

"NDSC's CareSelect system is the leading clinical decision support mechanism, providing access to trusted guidelines that cover a wide array of tests and services, including imaging," said SNMMI Chief Executive Officer Virginia Pappas. "It is widely used by hospital systems, and SNMMI is delighted to partner with NDSC to provide referring physicians with access to the appropriate use criteria for nuclear medicine and molecular imaging studies."

CareSelect Imaging is the only AUC delivery mechanism on the market with complete coverage of all CMS qualified Medical Specialty Society content. The focus on content sourced from medical specialty societies, including SNMMI, assures providers that criteria are developed through proven processes that reflect the collective experience of providers on a national scale, without bias and independent of economic agendas.

The SNMMI AUC will be available in early fall 2017 to all NDSC CareSelect Imaging users.

About the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging The Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) is an international scientific and medical organization dedicated to raising public awareness about nuclear medicine and molecular imaging, a vital element of today's medical practice that adds an additional dimension to diagnosis, changing the way common and devastating diseases are understood and treated and helping provide patients with the best health care possible.

SNMMI's more than 17,000 members set the standard for molecular imaging and nuclear medicine practice by creating guidelines, sharing information through journals and meetings and leading advocacy on key issues that affect molecular imaging and therapy research and practice. For more information, visit http://www.snmmi.org.

About National Decision Support CompanyNational Decision Support Company delivers enterprise-wide Clinical Decision Support solutions that enable more appropriate care, improve population health, and reduce cost. NDSC's CareSelect Imaging converts published guidelines into actionable criteria that is delivered directly into the EMR workflow. Criteria covers adult and pediatric patient populations featuring guidelines sourced directly from the Society for Pediatric Radiology. For more information, visit http://www.nationaldecisionsupport.com.

About CareSelect ImagingCareSelect Imaging expands on NDSC's foundational ACR Select solution to deliver a comprehensive range of Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC) for diagnostic imaging in both adult and pediatric patient populations. AUC is sourced from a growing list of qualified Provider Led Entities (qPLE), including the American College of Radiology, the American College of Cardiology, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging to ensure compliance with the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 (PAMA).

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/national-decision-support-company-and-the-society-of-nuclear-medicine-and-molecular-imaging-enter-agreement-for-delivery-of-appropriate-use-criteria-300469346.html

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National Decision Support Company and the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging enter agreement for ... - PR Newswire (press release)

New Imaging Technique Allows Researchers to See Molecular Machinery at Work – Cornell Chronicle

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New imaging methods that allow researchers to track the individual protein molecules on the surface of cells have been developed by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. The results offer unprecedented insight into how cells sense and respond to their environments.

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are proteins that reside within the cellular membrane and relay signals into the cell to regulate fundamental aspects of human physiology. The signals received through GPCRs include everything from light, which activates the proteins in cells that enable vision, to chemicals such as neurotransmitters that regulate mood, to signals that trigger pain. Nearly half of all clinically used drugs work by targeting distinct GPCRs.

These proteins are critical to every aspect of human physiology, said co-senior study author Dr. Scott Blanchard, a professor of physiology and biophysics at Weill Cornell Medicine. We need to know how GPCRs recognize all of these signals, how they process the signals and how they transmit the information into the cell to invoke a specific action. Only in doing so will we be able to develop new generations of drugs that more accurately target these proteins and thus can help without causing collateral damage.

In a paper published June 7 in Nature, Dr. Blanchard and colleagues at Weill Cornell Medicine, Stanford and Columbia Universities describe an important advance in this direction, achieved with the use of an imaging technique called single-molecule Fluorescence Energy Transfer (smFRET) that allowed the researchers to watch individual GPCR molecules as they responded to molecules of adrenaline, a hormone that controls functions including heartbeat, breathing and dilation of blood vessels.

We knew already that the GPCR molecule physically changes upon binding adrenaline and that this process enables it to bind intracellular proteins, Dr. Blanchard said. What we didnt know much about is how this activation process actually happens. And thats the critical missing information that has limited our understanding of drug efficacy.

To enable them to view this process, Dr. Blanchards team developed new reporter molecules called fluorophores that emit fluorescent light and can be attached to the GPCR to inform on its motions when adrenaline binds. The Blanchard lab also developed a new microscope that can follow these light messages with greater accuracy. The researchers then watched and recorded the movements, using complex computation to learn how the protein responds to its interactions with adrenaline and with another protein in the cell, called heterotrimeric G protein, which senses the response and lets the cell know that the GPCR has been activated by adrenaline.

The result is a high-resolution, high-speed film that reveals the details of the molecular relationships that transmit the adrenaline signal through the GPCR into the cell. This revealed to the research team for the first time a series of reversible steps in the process by which an activated GPCR interacts with its intracellular G protein that have never been seen before. This allowed them to conclude their paper by describing why Quantitative single-molecule imaging investigations will be crucial in delineating distinct ligand-dependent GPCR signaling pathways.

These are important insights that wouldnt be possible without the imaging techniques that increase our understanding of how these molecular machines actually work and how signals are conveyed from the outside to the inside of the cell, said Dr. Blanchard, who is on related patents, including a patent licensed to Lumidyne for one of the fluorophores usedin the study. Dr. Blanchard is a co-founder with equity in Lumidyne, a company that focuses on fluorescence technologies. Being able to see the inner workings of the GPCRs has enormous implications for drug discovery for everything from pain management to heart disease and cancer. The clinical implications of this technology can reach very far.

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New Imaging Technique Allows Researchers to See Molecular Machinery at Work - Cornell Chronicle

The 5 Best Performing ETFs of 2017 – ETF Trends

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The top performing exchange traded products of the year include an exchange traded note that capitalizes on contango in VIX futures and a number of growth-heavy technology exchange traded funds.

The VelocityShares VIX Short Volatility Hedged ETN (NYSEArca: XIVH) is the best performing non-leveraged ETP year-to-date, rising 50.6%, according to XTF data.

The VelocityShares VIX Short Volatility-Hedged strategy utilizes a systematic approach to investing in VIX futures that has a net long or net short volatility position that varies due to daily changes in the volatility market. Specifically, the ETN has a -70% target net volatility allocation.

XIVHs bearish take on VIX futures also benefits from contango in the VIX futures market. Funds will typically roll futures before a contract matures, typically selling low and buying a later-dated futures contract at a higher price, which may cause the funds to lose money over time. However, the short trade has helped XIVH capitalize on the negative roll in a contangoed market.

The ARK Web x.0 ETF (NYSEArca: ARKW) was the second best performer this year, gaining 46.7% year-to-date.

ARKW, the first ETF to add bitcoins to its portfolio, has benefited as the digital currency rallied this year. ARKW is an actively managed ETF that focuses on disruptive companies that help transform the market and was the first ETF to invest in bitcoins after the portfolio manager acquired publicly traded shares of Grayscales Bitcoin Investment Trust (OTCQX: GBTC), which is now the biggest component in the ARKWs underlying portfolio.

Similarly, the ARK Innovation Fund (NYSEArca: ARKK), which also includes GBTC as its largest holding, is up 44.7% year-to-date. The ARK Innovation Fund seeks to invest in the cornerstone companies included in the other three thematic funds (ARKQ, ARKW and ARKG) that further the funds focus on investing in disruptive innovation. Such companies may include ones that benefit frombig data, cloud computing, cryptocurrencies, the sharing economy, genomic sequencing, molecular medicine, agricultural biology, 3D printing, energy storage, and autonomous vehicles, according to a statement issued by ARK Investment Management.

Emerging market internet names have also been outperforming, notably Chinese internet companies. The Emerging Markets Internet & Ecommerce ETF (NYSEArca: EMQQ), which focuses on internet names, notably those that cater toward online shopping or e-commerce, increased 42.9% so far this year, and the KraneShares CSI China Internet Fund (NasdaqGM: KWEB), which is solely comprised of Chinese internet names, added 40.7%.

The emerging market internet segment has also capitalized on the renewed focus on growth-oriented stocks earlier this year, along with the search for greater value in international markets, such as developing company stocks, as the U.S. equity rally pushes into its ninth year with even pricier valuations.

For more information ETFs, visit our ETF performance reports category.

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The 5 Best Performing ETFs of 2017 - ETF Trends

12-hour biological clock coordinates essential bodily functions – Baylor College of Medicine News (press release)

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Some bodily activities, sleeping, for instance, mostly occur once every 24 hours; they follow a circadian rhythm. Other bodily functions, such as body temperature, cognitive performance and blood pressure, present an additional 12-hour cycle, but little is known about the biological basis of their rhythm. A team of scientists from various institutions, including Baylor College of Medicine, has revealed that, in addition to 24-hour clocks, mammals and other organisms have 12-hour clocks that are autonomous, work independently from 24-hour clocks and can be modified by external factors. Studying 12-hour clocks is important because altered 12-hour cycles have been linked to human disease. The study appears in Cell Metabolism.

Our lab has been working on how the 24-hour cycles are regulated, and we and others have shown that disturbing these clocks may lead to diseases of metabolism, said senior author Dr. Bert OMalley, chair and professor of molecular and cellular biology and Thomas C. Thompson Chair in Cell Biology at Baylor College of Medicine. For instance, experimental evidence shows that night-shift workers who periodically change their night and day shifts or people who travel overseas often alter their sleep cycles, and this seems to make them prone to gain weight and develop diabetes and other alterations of metabolism that may lead to disease. Its not a good idea to disturb the circadian rhythm on a regular basis.

In addition to physiological activities that cycle every 24 hours, mammals and other organisms have activities that repeat every 12 hours. For example, it has been reported that blood pressure, body temperature, hormone levels and response to therapy fluctuate in 12-hour cycles. In addition, altered 12-hour cycles have been associated with human diseases. Other researchers had identified about 200 genes that are activated in 12-hour cycles. In this study, OMalley and his colleagues set out to determine whether there was a larger number of 12-hour genes and whether their cycles followed the definition of a biological clock, that is whether they worked autonomously and their oscillation could be adjusted by the environment.

Math meets biology to indentify the bodys internal clocks

Dr. Bokai Zhu, first author of this study and a postdoctoral fellow in the OMalley lab, carried out biological analyses to determine the activity of thousands of mice genes in time. Then, co-author Dr. Clifford Dacso, professor of molecular and cellular biology at Baylor College of Medicine, and co-author and mathematician Dr. Athanasios Antoulas, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Rice University, applied mathematical analyses to these biological data.

We were surprised to identify more than 3,000 genes that were expressed following 12-hour rhythms. A large portion of these genes was superimposed on the already known 24-hour gene activities, Zhu said.

The 12-hour clock is autonomous and can be synchronized by external cues

Further work showed that the 12-hour rhythms of genetic activity work as biological clocks. They occur regularly and autonomously in the cells, and their oscillation can be synchronized by certain external stimuli. OMalley and colleagues discovered that 12-hour clocks are independent from 24-hour clocks. When they experimentally eliminated a 24-hour clock, 12-hour clocks continued ticking. Furthermore, the external cues that can synchronize 24-hour clocks, such as sunlight, do not affect 12-hour clocks.

Of all the genes we analyzed, two sets with 12-hour cycles stood out; those involved with protein quality control and processing, which mainly occur in a cellular structure called endoplasmic reticulum, and those related to the energy supply of the cell, which involves the mitochondria, Zhu said. The activities of the endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria depend on each other, and we have shown here that the 12-hour genes in the endoplasmic reticulum are synchronized with the 12-hour genes in the mitochondria, which provide the energy needed for protein processing.

In addition, we found that certain liver conditions are associated with disturbed 12-hour gene expression in mice. We anticipate that further study of 12-hour cycles might lead to opportunities to improve prevention of or treatments for diseases of the liver and other organs in the future, OMalley said.

Other contributors to this work include Qiang Zhang, Yinghong Pan, Emily M. Mace and Brian York. The authors are affiliated with one or more of the following institutions: Baylor College of Medicine, Rice University, the University of Houston and the Max Planck Institute.

This research was supported by grants from the NationaI Institutes of Health (U24 DK097748 and R01 HD07857), the Brockman Foundation, the Center for Advancement of Science in Space, Peter J. Fluor Family Fund, Philip J. Carroll, Jr. Professorship, Joyce Family Foundation, the National Science Foundation Grant CCF-1320866 and the German Science Foundation Grant AN-693/1-1.

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12-hour biological clock coordinates essential bodily functions - Baylor College of Medicine News (press release)

The PlayPlad Is A New Gear VR Controller With A Brilliant Name – UploadVR

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Never mind that fancy new motion controller thats being bundled with Gear VR; accessory company Nyko thinks it has the definitive new controller for Samsungs mobile headset. Meet the PlayPlad VR.

No, that wasnt a typo.

As goofy as a name that may be, the PlayPlad VR actually has a pretty neat gimmick to it. When youre not using your headset, this slate-like controller slots into the front of your Gear VR, just as your phone does. That way you can carry both around without forgetting about one or the other. This is an officially licensed product for the device that will let you play any of the gamepad compatible games that have come to the platform over the past few years.

Elsewhere, the PlayPlad (nope, still not a typo) features the usual array of face and directional buttons, as well as four buttons on the shoulders and two on the back of the device. Two sliders give you analogue stick-like control. It connects to any Samsung phone as well as previous versions of the Gear VR and uses the Android HID controller protocol so you dont need to map any buttons.

Nyko will be showing the controlled at E3 next week, and itll go on sale later this year for $49.99.

While Gear VR content will likely skew towards the new motion controller in the future, there are still games like Dreadhalls and Herobound that are worth seeking out with a gamepad.

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The PlayPlad Is A New Gear VR Controller With A Brilliant Name - UploadVR

Instagram couple removes nude photo at Bagan after Myanmar netizens report them – Coconuts

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A cached version of bumaroundtheworlds Instagram before they removed the Bagan photo

You know, considering that Bagan is literally strewn with signs warning foreigners of dressing inappropriately, you would think that theyd get the hint. However, it seems as though at least one foreigner went screw it, and decided to do away with clothing altogether.

Yesterday, model Warso Moe Oo drew attention to the Instagram account cheekyexploits which, as the name suggests, displays photos of people baring their butts. While we didnt realize there was an entire part of the internet dedicated to such a bizarre hobby, theres obviously no harm done, right? Well, there wouldnt be, except a recent post shows a white woman baring her butt in what is supposedly Bagan, according to their geotag.

A few hours later, the account removed the location information, but not before the original post, complete with the Nyaung-U geotag, was screenshotted (remember kids, this is the internet).

According to the cheekyexploits caption, the picture was submitted byanother account called bumaroundtheworld (side note: who knew there were so many butt accounts on Instagram?), which is run by a couple who quit our jobs to travel the world together and upload photos of their butts from each of the places they visit. Why? Who knows?

Although theres no geotag on bumaroundtheworlds original post either, it did have the hashtags #seasia and #travelasia, which would make sense if it was taken in Myanmar. They first uploaded the photo on May 12, but it was only reposted on cheekyexploits on Monday.

The couple also seems to have taken a naked picture in front of a waterfall in another part of the country, although its unclear where. One Myanmar Instagram user commented, Before many angry Burmese come and curse at you guys, as a first Burmese I would like to say COOL! And please dont mind when some butt hurts come and cruse [sic] you.

Under Warso Moe Oos post,several users echoed the models sentiments. One wrote, Would they dare to do this in Mecca or at the Vatican? This is extremely insulting. Another commented, Its okay to take photos in Bagan, but taking a photo like this in a sacred Buddhist place is crossing the line.

On the other hand, it seems thatsome found the act too ridiculous to even be insulted. One user who shared the post joked, Maybe this is why lately Ive really been itching to go to Bagan.

However, it seems that both bumaroundtheworld and cheekyexploits have realized that what they did could potentially land them in hot water, as both sites have taken down the picture, with the former completely disabling their comments as well.

In 2015, several tourists were arrested byCambodian authorities after having similar naked photoshoots at the Angkor Archaeological Park. Experts have saidthat the act of taking nude photos in a foreign country referred to as naked tourism and especially in a location where they know such actions are prohibited, is indicative of less-experienced travelers. Speaking to the Phnom Penh Post at the time, Professor of Tourism at Queenslands James Cook University Philip Pearce noted: It is a clever twist on the theme of achievement and I am/have been here statements by also proclaiming I am liberated and can break the rules in an exotic place.

Come on, guys if even Vogue Korea couldnt get away with a Bagan temple fashion shoot, what made you think this was acceptable? To all future visitors we cant believe we have to say this, but please keep your butts (and several other parts of your body) covered at all times, at least while in public.

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Instagram couple removes nude photo at Bagan after Myanmar netizens report them - Coconuts

What are the best dash cams in 2017? Buying guide, reviews and all you need to know – The Sun

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DASH cams are the fastest growing car accessory with new models released every month fitted with more and more features offering you peace of mind in an accident.

The market is now so big, theres a choice of dash cam to suit every budget from entry level models that do basic recording through to wifi-enabled top-of-the-range cameras.

Crash for cash incidents are big business and fraudulent claims cost insurers millions each year. Having a dash cam can help insurers identify what happened and determine who was at fault.

Thats why some policies will offer discounts if you have a dash cam fitted. So you can pay up front for a cam and reap the yearly rewards.

And some police forces are now even using footage from owners dash cams to cut down on reckless drivers.

Dash cams attach to your windscreen and film whats going on ahead.

Whats clever is that instead of needing huge memory cards to store videos, itll automatically delete the oldest footage on a rolling cycle.

If youve had an accident, though, the dash cam sensors will recognise it and automatically lock the clip and save it so it can be viewed later.

Most cameras will have an on-bard memory card that you can plug into your computer to download footage while newer models will offer wireless uploading.

No. While many newer, more expensive models have a decent-sized screen for playback this must be switched off while youre driving many will turn off automatically.

The law states motorists must not be able to view video-playing devices while driving.

Theres an exception for parking cameras but this doesnt apply to dash cams.

Most dash cams run off the 12V socket so youll need to wire it around the headlining to avoid draping wires.

If youve got a sat nav or regularly charge a mobile phone through the 12V socket then pick up a multi-socket adaptor.

Alternatively you can get a hard-wiring kit to run off a cars battery. Some retailers, like Halfords, will also install the dash cam for you.

The camera needs to be forward facing with a good view of the whole road ahead.

It should intrude no more than 40mm into the swept area of your windscreen wipers and cant be mounted above the steering wheel.

Wed recommend slotting it next to the rear-view mirror.

There are several key players in the dash cam market including Nextbase and Garmin and each manufacturer offers something for all budgets.

Pricier models have higher quality video and more advanced functions like wifi and cloud storage.

Sun Motors has rounded up the latest models on sale from leading manufacturers to help you buy the right one for you.

Latest prices

At the top of the range is the Nextbase 512GW which records in 1440p HD across 140-degrees and with built-in wifi you can upload footage straight to your smartphone or tablet.

At the other end of the spectrum is the 112. The viewing angle is just 120-degrees and recording is done in 720p. But for around 100 less, its a great entry-level value product.

Somewhere in the middle is the 312GW combining price and features.

Latest prices

Better known for sat navs, Garmin has entered the dash cam market and to good success.

One option is the35 which offers HD recording and a three-inch display. Its a driver aid, too, offering forward collision warning alerts and red light/speed camera detection. If thats too pricey, consider the 30 with its 1.4-inch display that does away with driver alerts.

At the higher end of the marketare the 55 and 65W the latter with a 180-degree viewing angleand a Go driver alert.

Latest prices

Mios range of MiVue dash cams have been around for several years with latest models featuring an innovative touchscreen.

The range-topping MiVue 658 WIFI has ultra-HD recording, integrated wifi, a 140-degree viewing angle and a parking mode to collect footage when you leave your vehicle.

If you want an eye-witness at the back of your car and have the cash to spend, then the MiVue 698 makes sense, recording in full HD both front and rear.

Theres safety camera warnings, too, and a parking mode but youll have to plug into your PC to review footage.

The cheaper 618 is a very impressive entry level option although its still pricier than some rivals.

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Headlight specialist Philips has two dash cam options available. Both the ADR610 and ADR810 offer full HD recording, automatic collision detection and a fatigue index.

Theres an instant replay function to clarify responsibility on the spot of an accident with proof-stamped evidence to support insurance claims.

The pricier ADR810 adds night view and a wider viewing angle.

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Transcend was one of the first companies to market with dash cams and excels in compact designs.

Its DrivePro series features just one the 520 that comes with a screen and front and rear facing cameras. Its got wifi, 1080p recording and a night mode making it a good if pricey all-rounder.

Its most basic model is the DrivePro 50 that does away with all extras except 1080p recording at a 130-degree angle with app streaming.

The middle of the range the DrivePro 220 is probably the best combination of gadgets plus price.

Latest prices

Another headlight specialist delving into the dash cam market, Ring operates at the cheaper end of the market.

Even its range-topping RBGDC200 which offers a full HD 140-degree angle is sub-100. However it does away with a lot of the clever tech like parking modes and driver alerts found on pricier rival models.

Rings range goes right the way down to the mini 1.5-inch RBGDC15 which is a real budget-buster.

Latest prices

Breakdown provider RAC also dabbles in dash cams with two models in its range the 210 and 205.

The pricier 210 has 1080p recording quality, speed camera alert notification and built in wifi to connect directly to a smartphone app.

The cheaper 205 does without alerts and wifi but still offers full-HD recording and a 140-degree viewing angle.

For in-depth product reviews visit our sister site Driving.co.uk.

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What are the best dash cams in 2017? Buying guide, reviews and all you need to know - The Sun

University of Chicago Medicine’s new emergency department to open in January – Chicago Tribune

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University of Chicago Medicine announced Wednesday that it plans to open its new emergency department in January and begin offering trauma services long absent from Chicago's South Side in May.

The opening and new services follow years of campaigning by activists for urgent, high-level medical care on the South Side which hasn't had such care since Michael Reese Hospital in Bronzeville closed its trauma center in 1991.

The University of Chicago emergency department is slated to open Jan. 8. Trauma services, which start May 1, will include care for patients with life-threatening injuries from car accidents, burns, serious falls and gunshot wounds. Those dates are pending approval from the Illinois Department of Public Health.

The Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board unanimously approved plans for University of Chicago Medicine's project last year, and construction on the $43 million emergency department project began last fall.

The new emergency department, which is being built from a converted parking garage, will be 76 percent larger than the current one. It will include four trauma bays for treating patients, private patient rooms rather than spaces divided by curtains, and separate entrances for emergency medical service workers and patients who arrive on their own.

University of Chicago Medicine also plans to add a dedicated cancer hospital to its University of Chicago Medical Center campus. The overall project, including the expanded emergency department, is expected to cost $269 million and add 188 beds.

Earlier this year, University of Chicago Medicine hired Dr. Selwyn Rogers, from the University of Texas Medical Branch, as founding director of the trauma center. So far, University of Chicago Medicine has also recruited five of six additional trauma surgeons.

lschencker@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @lschencker

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University of Chicago Medicine's new emergency department to open in January - Chicago Tribune