Cry me a river of possibility: Scientists design new adaptive material inspired by tears

Apr. 8, 2013 ? Imagine a tent that blocks light on a dry and sunny day, and becomes transparent and water-repellent on a dim, rainy day. Or highly precise, self-adjusting contact lenses that also clean themselves. Or pipelines that can optimize the rate of flow depending on the volume of fluid coming through them and the environmental conditions outside.

A team of researchers at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University and Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) just moved these enticing notions much closer to reality by designing a new kind of adaptive material with tunable transparency and wettability features, as reported yesterday in the online version of Nature Materials.

"The beauty of this system is that it's adaptive and multifunctional," said senior author Joanna Aizenberg, Ph.D., a Core Faculty member at the Wyss Institute and the Amy Smith Berylson Professor of Materials Science at SEAS.

The new material was inspired by dynamic, self-restoring systems in Nature, such as the liquid film that coats your eyes. Individual tears join up to form a dynamic liquid film with an obviously significant optical function that maintains clarity, while keeping the eye moist, protecting it against dust and bacteria, and helping to transport away any wastes -- doing all of this and more in literally the blink of an eye.

The bioinspired material is a continuous liquid film that coats, and is infused in, an elastic porous substrate -- which is what makes it so versatile. It is based on a core concept: any deformation of the substrate -- such as stretching, poking, or swelling -- changes the size of the pores, which causes the liquid surface to change its shape.

With this design architecture in place, the team has thus far demonstrated the ability to dynamically control -- with great precision -- two key functions: transparency and wettability, said Xi Yao, Ph.D, Wyss Institute and SEAS postdoctoral fellow, and lead author of the study.

Sitting at rest, the material is smooth, clear and flat; droplets of water or oil on its surface flow freely off of the material. Stretching the material makes the fluid surface rougher, Yao explained. The rough surface makes it opaque for one thing, and enables one to do something never possible before: It offers the ability to make every droplet of oil or water that is placed on it reversibly start and stop in their tracks. This capability is far superior to the "switchable wettability" of other adaptive materials that exist today, Yao said, which simply switch between two states -- from hydrophobic (water-hating) to hydrophilic (water-loving).

"In addition to transparency and wettability, we can fine-tune basically anything that would respond to a change in surface topography, such as adhesive or anti-fouling behavior," Yao said. They can also design the porous elastic solid such that it responds dynamically to temperature, light, magnetic or electric fields, chemical signals, pressure, or other environmental conditions, he said.

The material is a next generation of a materials platform that Aizenberg pioneered a few years ago called SLIPS. SLIPS stands for Slippery Liquid-Infused Porous Surfaces, and is a coating that repels just about anything with which it comes into contact -- from oil to water and blood.

But whereas SLIPS is a liquid-infused rigid porous surface, "the new material is a liquid-infused elastic porous surface, which is what allows for the fine control over so many adaptive responses above and beyond its ability to repel a wide range of substances. A whole range of surface properties can now be tuned, or switched on and off on demand, through stimulus-induced deformation of the elastic material," Aizenberg said.

"This sophisticated new class of adaptive materials being designed by the Institute's Adaptive Materials Technologies platform led by Joanna Aizenberg have the potential to be game-changers in everything from oil and gas pipelines, to microfluidic and optical systems, building design and construction, textiles, and more," said Wyss Founding Director Donald Ingber, M.D., Ph.D.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. Xi Yao, Yuhang Hu, Alison Grinthal, Tak-Sing Wong, L. Mahadevan, Joanna Aizenberg. Adaptive fluid-infused porous films with tunable transparency and wettability. Nature Materials, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nmat3598

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_technology/~3/A0jhz_88ZzI/130408085127.htm

Reeva Steenkamp rubio Affenpinscher Dorner Banana Joe state of the union fat tuesday

Microsoft's Next Xbox Said To Shift To x86 Architecture Courtesy Of AMD System-On-A-Chip

Microsoft's next Xbox, which could get an initial unveiling as early as next month, will use an AMD system-on-a-chip according to a new Bloomberg report. The new AMD SoC will mean that Microsoft is moving to an x86-based system architecture, which Sony's upcoming PlayStation 4 is also adopting. The change is great news for AMD, and for gamers, and bad news for AMD's chief rival Intel.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/cRrCNge78MA/

fbi most wanted list stuttering james van der beek dyngus day indonesia quake stephen strasburg shabazz

World powers see enough substance in Iran talks to continue

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - World powers believe talks with Iran over its contentious nuclear program have been substantial enough for diplomacy to continue, a senior Western diplomat said on Monday, days after a meeting in Kazakhstan failed to yield a breakthrough.

"There is enough substance for these negotiations to continue," the diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters. "I would not expect a breakdown."

The six powers - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - want Iran to scale back its nuclear program because of concerns it aims to give the Islamic Republic the capability of making an atom bomb.

Iran denies having any military intentions and says it needs nuclear power to generate electricity and for medical purposes.

Last week, the six nations sought in the Kazakh city of Almaty to persuade Tehran to give up its most sensitive uranium enrichment in return for modest relief from crippling economic sanctions.

But no agreement was reached and Western officials said there was a wide gap between the two sides.

(Reporting by Justyna Pawlak; Editing by Adrian Croft)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/world-powers-see-enough-substance-iran-talks-continue-163009487.html

Spain Vs Italy Euro 2012 Pepco erin andrews erin andrews tour de france Magic Mike Anderson Cooper Gay

Bumpier Flights Ahead on Warming Planet, Study Suggests

Transatlantic airline passengers might expect to stay seated with their seatbelts securely fastened more often in the future, according to new research that finds climate change could lead to more airplane turbulence.

By the middle of the century, turbulence strength over the North Atlantic flight corridor could increase between 10 percent and 40 percent, and turbulence frequency could jump between 40 percent and 170 percent, according to the new study published online today (April 8) in the journal Nature Climate Change.

The increase could have major implications for the airline industry, as approximately 600 flights a day make the North Atlantic transit from Europe to North America and back.

The study researchers focused on clear-air turbulence, the sort of bumps that occur even in the absence of clouds or mountains (which can also give airplane passengers a rocky ride). Clear-air turbulence occurs when masses of air moving at different speeds collide in the atmosphere, making it invisible to the naked eye and nearly impossible to detect using radar or satellite. Airplanes spend an estimated 3 percent of their flight time at cruising altitude dealing with clear-air turbulence, and 1 percent of cruising time in clear-air turbulence of moderate intensity or more.

Clear-air turbulence is associated with major air currents called jet streams, which are expected to get stronger as the globe warms. Researchers Paul Williams of the University of Reading in the United Kingdom and Manoj Joshi of the University of East Anglia wanted to know how climate change might influence turbulence. [Infographic: Earth's Atmosphere Top to Bottom]

The scientists used computer models to simulate a world where carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reaches twice pre-industrial levels. Ice core studies peg these pre-industrial levels at about 278 parts per million. Currently, there are about 396 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, according to measurements taken at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii.

Focusing on the turbulence-heavy months of December, January and February on the North Atlantic Flight corridor, the researchers found a shift toward more and stronger turbulence, particularly above 50 degrees North latitude, which passes through Canada and southern England, where 61 percent of winter flights fly.

"We conclude that climate change will lead to bumpier transatlantic flights by the middle of this century, assuming the same flight tracks are used," the researchers wrote.

As a result, they wrote, flights may have to take more circuitous routes, resulting in longer flight times, more fuel use and thus more emissions that could further fuel climate change.

Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter?and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook?& Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bumpier-flights-ahead-warming-planet-study-suggests-155021743.html

kim kardashian flour bomb hunger games box office xavier joan crawford joan crawford john goodman kendall marshall

AACR honors Hagop Kantarjian for outstanding clinical research

Public release date: 8-Apr-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Scott Merville
smerville@mdanderson.org
713-792-0661
University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center

MD Anderson Leukemia chair excels as clinical investigator, mentor and leader

WASHINGTON, D.C. Hagop Kantarjian, M.D., chair and professor in The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center's Department of Leukemia, will be honored for clinical research excellence at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013, April 6-10.

Kantarjian will receive the 18th Annual AACR Joseph H. Burchenal Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Cancer Research from the American Association for Cancer Research Tuesday. His award is one of six given to MD Anderson faculty at the annual meeting.

"As a highly accomplished individual investigator and the leader of a renowned department, Dr. Kantarjian's impact on the survival and well-being of leukemia patients is felt around the world," said Waun Ki Hong, M.D., head of MD Anderson's Division of Cancer Medicine and vice provost for clinical research. "He has earned this honor through years of dedicated effort."

Kantarjian's lecture, "Leukemia Research and Progress A Look Back at the Future," will be at 4 p.m. ET Tuesday, April 9, in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

"I am truly honored and humbled to be in the company of great men and women who, by their dedication to clinical research, have made seminal discoveries that have led to seismic changes in our understanding of cancer biology and therapeutics," Kantarjian said.

As a clinician and clinical researcher, Kantarjian has contributed to multiple improvements in the treatment of leukemia patients, including the development and testing of:

• First- and second-generation BCR-ABL inhibitors, revolutionary new drugs for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Since the approval of Gleevec in 2001, these new treatments have raised the five-year survival rate of CML patients from 50 percent to 90 percent.
• Combination therapies for acute lymphocytic leukemia that became standard of care and the single agent clofarabine, approved for ALL in 2005.
• The epigenetic drug decitabine for myelodysplastic syndromes, potentially lethal blood malignancies that also can advance to acute myeloid leukemia (AML), approved for MDS in 2006.
• FDA approval of ruxolitinib for myelofibrosis, an incurable and eventually lethal scarring of the bone marrow, the first approved treatment for the disease and the first to target the JAK2 protein. All clinical trials for the drug were led at MD Anderson.

"As with many individual awards, this honor reflects the efforts and accomplishments of MD Anderson's Department of Leukemia, which includes outstanding investigators across the full spectrum of leukemia," Kantarjian said.

Kantarjian has mentored many internationally recognized experts in the field, Hong said, many of whom are in the Department of Leukemia.

Overall during the past 12 years the department has been instrumental in discovering new, more effective combination treatments and in U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of new drugs for CML (5), MDS and AML, ALL, chronic lymphocytic leukemia and myelofibrosis.

Two of the eight programs chosen for MD Anderson's Moon Shots Program are from the department. One addresses chronic lymphocytic leukemia and the other myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid leukemia. The program is an unprecedented effort to accelerate the pace of converting scientific discoveries into clinical advances to reduce cancer deaths.

Kantarjian is also the Kelcie Margaret Kana Research Chair and associate vice president for global academic programs at MD Anderson. He received his medical degree from The American University of Beirut in Lebanon and then completed a fellowship at MD Anderson and joined the faculty in 1983. He has received numerous accolades, including the Outstanding Service to Mankind Award from the Leukemia Society of America.

Kantarjian, a member of the AACR since 1985, was on the editorial board of Clinical Cancer Research and serves on the boards of several other scientific journals, including the Journal of Clinical Oncology. He is also a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society of Hematology and the American Society for Clinical Oncology, where he serves on the board of directors. Kantarjian has authored or co-authored more than 1,000 peer-reviewed medical publications.

###

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 8-Apr-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Scott Merville
smerville@mdanderson.org
713-792-0661
University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center

MD Anderson Leukemia chair excels as clinical investigator, mentor and leader

WASHINGTON, D.C. Hagop Kantarjian, M.D., chair and professor in The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center's Department of Leukemia, will be honored for clinical research excellence at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013, April 6-10.

Kantarjian will receive the 18th Annual AACR Joseph H. Burchenal Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Cancer Research from the American Association for Cancer Research Tuesday. His award is one of six given to MD Anderson faculty at the annual meeting.

"As a highly accomplished individual investigator and the leader of a renowned department, Dr. Kantarjian's impact on the survival and well-being of leukemia patients is felt around the world," said Waun Ki Hong, M.D., head of MD Anderson's Division of Cancer Medicine and vice provost for clinical research. "He has earned this honor through years of dedicated effort."

Kantarjian's lecture, "Leukemia Research and Progress A Look Back at the Future," will be at 4 p.m. ET Tuesday, April 9, in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

"I am truly honored and humbled to be in the company of great men and women who, by their dedication to clinical research, have made seminal discoveries that have led to seismic changes in our understanding of cancer biology and therapeutics," Kantarjian said.

As a clinician and clinical researcher, Kantarjian has contributed to multiple improvements in the treatment of leukemia patients, including the development and testing of:

• First- and second-generation BCR-ABL inhibitors, revolutionary new drugs for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Since the approval of Gleevec in 2001, these new treatments have raised the five-year survival rate of CML patients from 50 percent to 90 percent.
• Combination therapies for acute lymphocytic leukemia that became standard of care and the single agent clofarabine, approved for ALL in 2005.
• The epigenetic drug decitabine for myelodysplastic syndromes, potentially lethal blood malignancies that also can advance to acute myeloid leukemia (AML), approved for MDS in 2006.
• FDA approval of ruxolitinib for myelofibrosis, an incurable and eventually lethal scarring of the bone marrow, the first approved treatment for the disease and the first to target the JAK2 protein. All clinical trials for the drug were led at MD Anderson.

"As with many individual awards, this honor reflects the efforts and accomplishments of MD Anderson's Department of Leukemia, which includes outstanding investigators across the full spectrum of leukemia," Kantarjian said.

Kantarjian has mentored many internationally recognized experts in the field, Hong said, many of whom are in the Department of Leukemia.

Overall during the past 12 years the department has been instrumental in discovering new, more effective combination treatments and in U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of new drugs for CML (5), MDS and AML, ALL, chronic lymphocytic leukemia and myelofibrosis.

Two of the eight programs chosen for MD Anderson's Moon Shots Program are from the department. One addresses chronic lymphocytic leukemia and the other myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid leukemia. The program is an unprecedented effort to accelerate the pace of converting scientific discoveries into clinical advances to reduce cancer deaths.

Kantarjian is also the Kelcie Margaret Kana Research Chair and associate vice president for global academic programs at MD Anderson. He received his medical degree from The American University of Beirut in Lebanon and then completed a fellowship at MD Anderson and joined the faculty in 1983. He has received numerous accolades, including the Outstanding Service to Mankind Award from the Leukemia Society of America.

Kantarjian, a member of the AACR since 1985, was on the editorial board of Clinical Cancer Research and serves on the boards of several other scientific journals, including the Journal of Clinical Oncology. He is also a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society of Hematology and the American Society for Clinical Oncology, where he serves on the board of directors. Kantarjian has authored or co-authored more than 1,000 peer-reviewed medical publications.

###

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-04/uotm-ahh040813.php

Closing Ceremony London 2012 Tom Daley Leryn Franco The Campaign Kinesio tape randy travis Allyson Felix

Red unveils the Motion mount with jello-killing global shutter for Epic, Scarlet

Red has just announced the Red Motion lens mounting system for Epic and Scarlet motion camera systems that'll eliminate one of their chief snags: the dreaded CMOS rolling shutter. Though details are scant, it seems it'll do that in a similar manner to the Tessive system (see More Coverage), where a second liquid crystal shutter is placed in front of the main sensor and timed to engage only when the camera's CMOS is fully "open." That'll help eliminate artifacts like skew / judder in pans, repeating motion artifacts (think distorted propellers) and flicker from lights or displays, among others. The mount also brings a built an 8x electronic ND filter adjustable to 1/100th of an f-stop, partially negating the need for a matte-box in bright lighting situations. The Red Motion's drawback is that it'll cost you a stop of speed even when the ND is off, meaning you may have to change to a classic mount in low-light situations. Red's showing it now at its NAB booth-cum-factory and it'll ship out this fall in PL-mount form (with a Canon mount arriving later) for $4,500. Check the source for more discussion.

Filed under: Cameras

Comments

Source: Red

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/08/red-unveils-the-motion-mount/

case mccoy UFC 155 Jack Klugman merry Christmas a christmas story twas the night before christmas santa

China warns against 'troublemaking' on Korean peninsula

By Ben Blanchard and Jane Chung

BEIJING/SEOUL (Reuters) - China warned against "troublemaking" on its doorstep, in an apparent rebuke to North Korea, and the United States said it was postponing a missile test to help calm high tension on the divided Korean peninsula.

But in the midst of what some described as an unprecedented ratcheting up of rhetoric from Beijing, China began running into criticism from influential political voices in Washington who blamed North Korea's closest ally for not doing enough to avert the danger of conflagration.

The North, led by 30-year-old Kim Jong-un, has been issuing vitriolic threats of war against the United States and U.S.-backed South Korea since the United Nations imposed sanctions in response to its third nuclear weapon test in February.

Pyongyang's anger appears heightened by U.S.-South Korean joint military exercises. But most analysts say it has no intention of starting a conflict that would bring its own destruction and instead is out to wring concessions from a nervous international community.

The North told diplomats late last week to consider leaving Pyongyang because of the tension, but embassies appeared to view the appeal as more rhetoric and staff have stayed put.

South Korea said it was ready for any kind of action that the North's unpredictable leaders might make - including a possible missile launch - by Wednesday, after which the North said it could not guarantee diplomats' safety.

China, North Korea's sole financial and diplomatic backer, has shown growing irritation with Pyongyang's warnings of nuclear war.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, addressing a forum on the southern island of Hainan, did not name North Korea but said no country "should be allowed to throw a region and even the whole world into chaos for selfish gain".

Stability in Asia, he said, "faces new challenges, as hot spot issues keep emerging and both traditional and non-traditional security threats exist".

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed similar frustration in a statement late on Saturday, relating a telephone conversation with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

"We oppose provocative words and actions from any party in the region and do not allow trouble making on China's doorstep," Wang said, according to a ministry statement on its website.

On Sunday, the ministry expressed "grave concern" at rising tension and said China had asked North Korea to "ensure the safety of Chinese diplomats in North Korea, in accordance with the Vienna Convention and international laws and norms".

China's embassy, it said, was "understood" to be operating normally in Pyongyang.

The White House had no immediate comment on China's statements.

Former U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman said Xi's comments were unprecedented for the North Korea crises that have flared periodically in recent history.

AN ACCIDENTAL WAR

"It suggests to me, as I've watched the ratcheting up of frustration among Chinese leaders over the last many years, that they've probably hit the 212-degree boiling point as it relates to North Korea," he told CNN on Sunday.

U.S. senators expressed disappointment in China's response.

Republican Senator John McCain, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, criticized China's "failure to rein in what could be a catastrophic situation" and said Beijing could step up pressure by using its influence over North Korea's economy.

"Chinese behavior has been very disappointing," McCain said on CBS's "Face the Nation" program.

"More than once, wars have started by accident and this is a very serious situation," he added. "South Korea would win. We would win if there was an all-out conflict. But the fact is that North Korea could set Seoul on fire. And that obviously would be a catastrophe of enormous proportions."

Senator Chuck Schumer, an influential Democrat, agreed with McCain on the same program. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham blamed China for the current crisis, telling NBC's "Meet the Press" that Beijing is propping up a "crazy regime" for fear that reunification would leave a "democratic Korea" next door.

Leaders from Australia and Britain stressed the need for a clear international response that would avoid an armed conflict. Switzerland's Foreign Ministry offered to mediate.

Kim, the third member of his dynasty to rule North Korea, is thought to have spent several years in Switzerland being educated under a pseudonym. He took over in December 2011 after the death of his father, Kim Jong-il, who confronted South Korea and the United States throughout his 17-year rule.

In Washington, a defense official said a long-scheduled test of the Minuteman III intercontinental missile, due to take place at the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, would be postponed.

"This test ... has been delayed to avoid any misperception or miscalculation in light of recent tensions on the Korean peninsula," the official said on Saturday. "This is the logical, prudent and responsible course of action to take."

The South Korean president's office said the country had a "firm military readiness" for any eventuality. It described as "planned behavior" the North's call for South Korean workers to leave the Kaesong joint industrial park, just inside North Korea, and for diplomats to evacuate Pyongyang by Wednesday.

South Korean media said on Friday the North had moved two medium-range missiles to the country's east coast, but there has been no confirmation of such a move.

The North has always condemned joint exercises off the South Korean coast, but its rhetoric has been especially furious this year as the United States sent nuclear-capable stealth bombers from their home bases.

North Korean state television showed a military training session, with soldiers putting dogs through their paces, including one seen tearing to pieces an effigy of South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin. Soldiers were shown firing at pictures of the minister and a depiction of a U.S. serviceman.

"As you all know, on the Korean peninsula, it is not a matter of whether we will have a war or not, but whether it will take place today or tomorrow," an unidentified soldier said.

There was no evidence of any tension in the South Korean capital, Seoul, with residents strolling in the city center on a chilly spring day.

(Writing by Ron Popeski and Andrew Roche; Additional reporting by Koh Gui Qing in Hainan and Phil Stewart, David Morgan, Aruna Viswanatha and Mark Felsenthal in Washington; Editing by David Stamp and Sandra Maler)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/embassies-staying-put-north-korea-despite-tension-001315898--business.html

slainte the quiet man yellow cab dropkick murphys guernsey colcannon dystonia