Wine super-sniffer modeled on insect 'noses'

The nose of a worm may one day determine the nose of a fine wine.

A group of Australian scientists are collaborating to build a so-called cybernose, or an electronic sensing device that they hope will be used by winemakers to pick the best grapes.

Scientists from Australia's National and Monash Universities, among other institutions, announced the $4 million research partnership on Friday.

The researchers are modeling their work on the olfactory senses of microscopic insects like the worm and the fruit fly. For example, they're studying the tiny nematode worm because of its highly sensitive molecular recognition … Read more

A digital camera that makes you look pretty

Imagine a digital camera that could make people in your photos more attractive.

Tommer Leyvand, a researcher at Tel Aviv University in Israel, has done just that. Leyvand has developed a new algorithm that can improve the looks of human faces in photos so they appear as better versions of themselves, according to a report from New Scientist.

The technology, called a "digital beautification" algorithm, apparently makes tiny adjustments to the distances between hundreds of different facial features, according to the report. That way, it can alter the person's appearance only subtly in a matter of minutes.… Read more

Robot rolls, 'looks' you in the eye

Who needs a robot on two legs when you can have one that rolls?

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, a well-known hub for breakthroughs in robotics, said Wednesday that they've built a new type of mobile robot that can balance and move in any direction on a ball, instead of with mechanical legs or wheels.

The robot is named "Ballbot," and is designed to have some human characteristics. It weighs 95 pounds and is roughly the size of an average person, except that it balances on a single, urethane-coated metal sphere. Unlike typical mobile robots, like humanoids … Read more

Mice may face extinction in the future

The mouse, like many of its technical counterparts, may become obsolete one day.

Thanks to Swedish based Tobii Technology, that day may be appearing on the horizon sooner than we think.

The maker of eye-tracking hardware and software has created a mouse that's not really a mouse, but just a cursor that's controlled by eye movements.

The cursor responds to "dwell time," or the length of time someone looks at an object on the screen. In other words, the cursor will highlight whatever object the user rests their gaze on.

Selections are made by pressing keys … Read more

Don't trash that old heap in the garage, 'resto-mod' it

It looks like Xzibit is on to something.

The rapper's gig as host of MTV's "Pimp My Ride" has him promising redemption for vehicles that are past--sometimes way past--their prime. The show's premise is simple: Each half-hour episode of the show follows the transformation of a fan's car from eyesore to eye candy.

Xzibit's crew completely guts the inside of a car, replacing old, stock stereos with brand-name CD/DVD-player combos and top-of-the-line speaker systems. In one case, he even placed turntables in the back of a van.

As noted in a story … Read more

Negroponte in talks with governments for $100 laptop

A large number of children in Argentina, Brazil, Nigeria and Thailand may be getting a $100 laptop soon.

One Laptop per Child (OLPC), the nonprofit group founded by Nicholas Negroponte to make a durable low-cost PC for children in developing nations, has confirmed that it is in communications with those governments.

Contrary to reports, no orders for Linux-run laptops from any of those four countries have yet been placed, a representative said.

OLPC has received support from Advanced Micro Devices, eBay, Google, Nortel and Red Hat, who Negroponte has asked to build the machine's Linux-based operating system. If the … Read more

Freeze dried blood coming to battle

The Israel Defense Forces say they are working with a company to develop a form of freeze dried blood that soldiers could carry into battle with them in case they get injured.

"The idea is to take a soldier's blood, freeze it in laboratory conditions, take out the ice crystals leaving only the blood components. It will look like freeze-dried coffee in a little bag," Lieutenant colonel Amir Blumenfeld, head of the IDF medical corps' trauma unit told the newspaper Haaretz.

In case of injuries, a medic could mix the crystals with purified water and make blood. … Read more

The sea, scientists find, is a lot more diverse than thought

When most people look out upon the unbounded oceans, they think, "Ah, the majesty of sea! Well, enough admiration. It goes on like this for a couple of thousand miles. I'm going to go get a corn dog."

Scientists, however, are discovering that the oceans in terms of microbes are quite diverse. Craig Venter, who mapped the human genome, discovered on a voyage around the world hunting for microbes that the species of small cellular animals changes fairly rapidly.

"The sea is very heterogeneous. When Venter sampled seawater microbes on 200 mile intervals, up to 85% … Read more

Life sciences company moves into biofuels

San Diego's Diversa is sort of the Indiana Jones of the biotech field. The company earns money from discovering microbes with unusual commercial properties. Some produce enzymes that get sold to the food industry or pharmaceutical designers.

They go all over the world to find them. One of the company's microbes was discovered in a frozen cow pie from Siberia.

With the growing popularity of alternative energy, the company will move into biofuels, said William Baum, executive vice president of Diversa. In about a year, the company hopes to have a partner to produce corn ethanol. In these … Read more