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POPSTop 10 New World-Changing Innovations of the Year 2008 Breakthrough Awards /// The Innovators The early 20th century produced a breathtaking succession of innovations—the Wright Flyer, the Model T, the Panama Canal. It was a golden age of engineering. A century hence, observers may well look back at our era in much the same way: Cars are being reimagined from the wheels up. Advances in solar energy show the way past fossil fuels. And space probes explore planets that could become our future homes. These pages salute the innovators who are inventing the future. Welcome to the new golden age.
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POPSComputing with RNA
That opens up the possibility of computing devices that can respond to specific conditions within the cell, he says. For example, it may be possible to develop drug delivery systems that target cancer cells from within by sensing genes used to regulate cell growth and death. "You can program it to release the drug when the conditions are just right, at the right time and in the right place," these biocomputers are built from three main components--sensors, actuators, and transmitters--all of which are made up of RNA. The input sensors are made from aptamers, RNA molecules that behave a bit like antibodies, binding tightly to specific targets. Similarly, the output components, or actuators, are made of ribozymes, complex RNA molecules that have catalytic properties similar to those of enzymes. These two components are joined by yet another RNA molecule that serves as a transmitter, which is activated when a sensor molecule recognizes input chemical and triggers an actuator molecule
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POPSBiologically inspired unique design Wow, that would be the day... the idea of taking 2 concepts (e.g. biology, technology) and paralleling them is nice. The kissing borders may yield anew synthesis
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POPSMusical training enhances integration of the senses This study shows that sensorimotor and auditory training induces cortical reorganization to a greater extent than does auditory training alone. It also shows that sensorimotor and auditory training cause more changes in the auditory cortex than auditory training alone. This phenomemon, called cross-modal plasticity, has been investigated only rarely. In 2003, the same group showed that professional trumput players have enhanced interactions between the auditory cortex and the regions of the somatosensory cortex devoted to the lip. The new study therefore provides another demonstration that the sensorimotor and auditory cortices are connected to each other.
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POPSCAT Technologies Ltd - Offshore Development - DBMS CAT offers design, development and consultancy services for database management software. We provide comprehensive solutions that help clients realize the benefits of using a well developed DBMS. Apart from design and planning, our firm also offers extensive backup and disaster recovery services.The services offered by us can support a wide range of application languages and interfaces. We provide support for systems ranging from single server departmental databases to large scale data warehouses running on complex and clustered networks.
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POPSEmbedded System Training We provide Embedded System Training and prepare certified ethical hackers (white hat hackers) through its popular courses. Embedded systems are involved in almost every facet of modern life.
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POPSLuxury Apartments in Pune Paranjape Schemes, Blue Ridge township at Hinjewadi, Pune, a luxurious residential complex fully equipped with modern and top of the line amenities and security systems such as open spaces, a boat club with a marina, spa and club houses.
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POPSCentral Banks At Risk Just Like Wall Street's Finest This really is a bucket of cold water. The author is Kenneth Rogoff, professor of economics and public policy at Harvard, writing in the U.K.'s Guardian newspaper. His core point is that central banks, in shoring up national banking industries by taking on financial firms' bad debt, are only putting themselves at risk.
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POPSThe Evolving AI Ecosystem He takes his theory further, all the way in to the tubes of the internet. In collaboration with Professor Tim Berners-Lee – the co-inventor of the World Wide Web – the pair have been investigating the next generation Web. “What is emerging now is a digital ecosystem,’ says Professor Shadbolt, ‘involving lots of simple systems which connect millions of complex ones – humans!” And there begins to be a certain amount of logic and a lessening of the fear I feel for the day when I am some robots whipping boy. We see such developments already in websites such as Facebook and Flickr, and programs such as Google Earth and World of Warcraft. We are being linked together, ever so slowly by a collective consciousness.
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POPSAbstinence or a condom in every pot Over the past two decades, as more and more school systems have implemented abstinence programs, the rate of teen pregnancy has declined. The number of high-school students who say they are virgins has increased, and the abortion rate has dropped. Is all of this good news due to abstinence-only programs? It’s a complex subject, and the evidence remains inconclusive. And clearly any school abstinence message is practically drowned out by the vulgar and licentious culture all around us. Still, we may be slowly climbing out of the hole we’ve dug for ourselves. The last thing we should be doing is declaring abstinence education a failure.
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POPSDestruction of Kenya Forest is National Emergency The problem of Kenya typifies a global problem of destroying the eco systems of the world and its far reaching effects. The Sons of David Foundation in Panama with its paulownia reforestation project is trying to reduce that problem there. You can read more about it at www.paulownianow.org or on their blog www. paulownianow.blogspot.com
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POPSSeeing in four dimensions The videos are all available free at www.dimensions-math.org. The videos go on to show how we can visualize imaginary numbers geometrically, how fractal patterns emerge in the Mandelbrot set and Julia sets, and how beautiful and complex shapes can be built up from circles.
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POPSTaliban kills 70 Pakistanis in suicide attack The Kamra Air Weapon Complex and Heavy Industries Taxila are also contained within the Wah Cantt. Taxila "is devoted to land combat systems," Global Security notes, while Kamra is believed to be connected with Pakistan's nuclear weapons program. The Pakistani Ordnance Factories are believed to store nuclear weapons at a "screwdriver level" - meaning the components are stored disassembled and can be assembled within hours of use.
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POPSSnowy Mountains Hydro Electric Scheme 
If a man has the faith the size of a mustard seed, he can say to a mountain 'move', and it will move. Started in 1949, the scheme provided employment for returned soldiers, 'New Australians', who came to Australia after WW2 to start a new life, to provide electricity for the states of N.S.W. and Victoria, and to turn the 'Snowy' River from it's flow into the ocean, back inland to the irrigation area in central N.S.W. The Government tried to sell the scheme in 2005, but widespread protests, arguing it was not theirs to sell, from people including 100 Mayors from N.S.W., prominent politicians, and conservationists, prevented the sale. As a result of the drought-in Australia, droughts go hand in with bush fires, Lake Jindabyne reached an all time low of around 10%.in 2005. Today the level is around 60%. 'Old' Jindabyne is beneath Lake Jindabyne. They decided to move the town. when the dam was built. Parts of it can be seen when the dam is low or when fishing. Particularly the steeple.
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POPS10 things all economists believe "If economics is finally a science, what, exactly, does it teach? With the help of Columbia University economist Pierre-André Chiappori, I have synthesized its findings into ten propositions. Almost all top economists—those who are recognized as such by their peers and who publish in the leading scientific journals—would endorse them (the exceptions are those like Joseph Stiglitz and Jeffrey Sachs, whose public pronouncements are more political than scientific). The more the public understands and embraces these propositions, the more prosperous the world will become."
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POPSOnline Shop for Enterprises Prostores Enterprise plan is for large and enterprise sized businesses who would want to incorporate online sales with existing back-end systems. Offers a complete and comprehensive e-business solution to sky rocket your sales and create a dominant presence
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POPSConverting genetic activity into music may be a way to monitor health. Together, the notes would form a harmonic chord in normal, healthy states and become increasingly out of tune as key physiological signs go awry, signaling disease. Alterovitz employed mathematical modeling to determine relationships between physiological signals. Much like the various systems in an automobile, many physiological signs work in synchrony to keep a body healthy.
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POPSBiocultural Evolution in the 21st Century: The Evolutionary Role of Religion My outline introduces the concept of biocultural evolution, particularly with reference to the Twentieth Century and the prospects for the Twenty-First Century. I then explore the concept of complex distributed systems to characterize all highly creative processes in both culture and nature. Subsequently, I turn to the problem of complexity horizons and the challenge that these present for traditional moral reflections. Humans are then characterized as a Lamarckian wild card in epic of evolution. I close by discussing the evolutionary role of religion. See source for the full paper: http://metanexus.net/magazine/ArticleDetail/tabid/68/id/8779/Default.aspx
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