Michael Jackson’s ‘pioneer vision of cloning,’

After fielding numerous inquiries about the possible cloning of Michael Jackson, Dr. Brigitte Boisselier, head of Clonaid, today reaffirmed the company’s policy of strictly respecting the privacy of each of its patients.

“Clonaid prides itself on never releasing the identity of the numerous individuals who have been cloned in the past six years,” Boisselier said. “Even if that policy has been at the cost of my reputation, it’s important for us that the celebrities and other interested parties contacting us know they won’t be betrayed.”

Boisselier expressed admiration for Michael Jackson as an artist and also commended his courage in expressing support for human cloning at a time when it was getting much negative publicity in the press.

“Michael was a visionary who wasn’t afraid to embrace new technologies,” she said. “I’m glad his interest in cloning is being revealed now, since he was a pioneer in his views about it back in 2002 and his fans ought to know about it.”

“Human cloning is still making headlines six years after the birth of the first clone child,” Boisselier added. “But even if the media still present it as being too controversial, the public is much less afraid of it than it was initially. People have gotten used to the idea to the point where many see it as highly desirable. ”

She said that although the Clonaid team has received cloning requests from around the world, a surprisingly large number come from the Los Angeles/Hollywood area.

“Artists welcome our technology and have given us tremendous encouragement,” Boisselier noted. “Thanks to them, the public is getting more accustomed to the idea and hopefully the bans will soon be removed.”

She said Clonaid’s sister company, Stemaid, has launched an anti-aging program using stem cells derived from clone embryos.

“This development is also getting a good reception in the artists’ community,” she said.

Flying car

The flying car is on its way. An American company Terrafugia Transition, based near Boston, is set to unveil the dual-purpose car-cum-plane vehicle called 'The Flying Car' as early as 2011. The two-seater vehicle can let you fly if you wish to avoid the congested city traffic.

If you want to drive on the road, just touch the road. The vehicle will fold up its wings in 30 seconds and transform itself into a car.

"The Flying Car" can travel up to 725 kilometres in the air at a speed of more than 115 kilometres per hour.

Fuelled by gasoline, it has front wheel drive on the road and a propeller for flight.

With its wings folded, it can be parked in your ordinary car garage.

Its initial cost is expected to be around $200,000 (nearly Rs.1 crore), says the company which has already orders for 60 vehicles.

The CEO of the company told Canadian TV (CTV) network here that they have successfully test-flown "The Flying Car" as many as 28 times.

The tests have shown that the vehicle can drive, fly and switch from being a plane to a car in just 30 seconds.

"It (testing) has been very successful," Carl Dietrich, co-founder and CEO of Terrafugia, told the television network.

" We have got a very good handling vehicle and our test pilot said that the flights were just remarkably unremarkable - it just flies like a really nice, little airplane,” he said.

He said this miracle vehicle will ease problems for pilots who currently face problems like weather which sometimes doesn't allow them to take off or land.

"This vehicle allows a pilot any time, if the weather changes, to divert to the nearest airport, fold up their wings and drive safely under the weather."

"The Transition (the name for "The Flying Car" is not designed to replace the automobile. However, it will solve transportation issues for a variety of circumstances,” company vice president Richard Gersh said.

Asked whether the vehicle will be mass produced one day, he said: "That is certainly a possibility, but a number of years away."

He said the vehicle will be able travel on ordinary roads.

"Our depositors represent a wide-cross section in terms of age, interests, and intended use of the vehicle. We have deposits from both experienced pilots and non-pilots who intend to earn their Sport Pilot certificate," said the vice president of Terrafugia.

Curing infection with megnetism

An exciting new development on the horizon uses iron oxide beads coated with antibodies to seek out and trap bacteria or fungi causing infections. The beads are very fine, having the thickness one-hundreth of that of the human hair, and they are injected into the blood stream of patients. A dialysis like machine employs an an electronic to pull out the beads, along with the disease causing bacteria or fungi stuck to the antibodies on the beads, from the blood into the saline solution

About 80% of the disease causing agents are thus removed, making it much easier to tackle the rest with drugs.

The treatment is thought to be particularly useful when wounds become septic, and organ failures can take place before the drugs have a chance to act. A large number of sepsis related deaths occur each year. Animals trial taking place currently under the supervision of "Prof. Don-Ingber" at the Harvard medical school and Children's Hospital will be followed by human trials. The technique also has the potential of removing cancer cells or harvesting stem cells.

Controlling Robots by thought.

Honda has developed a special hat which, when worn, can control the movements of robots just by thought! The hat is in the form of skullcap that has highly sensitives electrodes fitted in it, which detect the electrical signals from the brain as well as the blood flow. The information is transmitted to the robot, which recognizes the intension of the person wearing the hat and act accordingly. This mind reading hat uses remote sensing sensors so that no surgical implants are needed.

'Immortal' human cells

Is it possible for cells that make up your body to continue to live and proliferate long after you have died? Indeed it is!

One striking example is that of Hela cells, so many named because they were taken from the cervix of a 31 year old African-American lady , Henrietta lacks in 1951 without her permission when she died of cervical cancer. These cells are still alive and kicking today. Some 50 millions metric tons (!) of the living cells have been produced in laboratories all over the world, and over 60,000 studies using them published on a wide range of such topics as ageing, cancer, cellular effects of working in sewers, mosquito mating.

What is so special about these cells is that they multiply abnormally rapidly as compare to other cancer cells, which make them very useful in research. The children of Henrietta Lacks first received the shocking news that their mother was 'alive' in form of these cells in 1973. By then the 'Hela' cells had been taken to outer space and spread worldwide, even contaminating many experiments as far as Russia, because of their extraordinary proliferation abilities.

Henrietta lacks live on in form of her living body cells. Her 'Hela' cells continue to benefit virology, biotechnology and medical research.

Wind energy from oceans

You have noticed when you visited the sea side that usually there is a strong wind blowing. The sea can, therefore, be an excellent choice for installing floating wind mils for several reasons. The wind speed are generally generated than on land, floating wind mils do not consume valuable land that can be use of agricultural or construction, and they do not bother resident unhappy with wind farms blocking their views.

The new technology has been applied on the sea about six miles off the cost of Norway. This has resulted in the installation of a 2.3 megawatt turbine, weighing 152 tones, on a floating platform which is tied to ocean floor by cables to avoid excessive turbulence. The project "Hywind" has been implemented by the Norwegian energy giant state oil, and the first floating wind turbine was installed in September last year. It will be tested over a 2 year period and then commercial floating wind farm will be installed on oceans.

The world energy consumption is mainly from oil (37 percent), coal (25 percent), gas (23- percent), nuclear (6 percent) and hydro (3 percent). Wind accounts for only 0.3 percent and solar heat only 0.5 percent of the total energy consumption. With the development of new technologies, renewable energy based on sun and wind are likely to contribute increasingly to the world energy profiles.

Energy from the sun

The sun bathes our plant with a huge amount of energy, about 85,000 terawatts, each year. Our annual consumption of energy, by comparison is only about 16 terawatts. This means that the sun provides about 5,000 times more energy than the world needs today. It seems silly, Therefore, that we are polluting our planet by burning fossil fuels where as so much abundant energy from the sun is largely going waste. This situation is now beginning to change rapidly and new technologies are emerging that the country where is shortage of electricity needs to make use of.

Solar cells are normally made of silicon wafers. These crystal line materials have achieved a commercial efficiency of 22 percent but the solar panels made from them are expensive. and largely suitable for remote areas where the grid system can not provide cheaper electricity. Thin-film solar cells produced from amorphous, nano-crystalline and some other form of silicon by chemical vapor deposition, have efficiencies of about nine percent, but they can be produced at one-fifth the cost and their efficiencies are improving rapidly.

However the most attractive form of solar energy involves the simple use of thousand of mirrors that can focus the energy of the sun on boilers located on towers. The steam generated by this energy from this 'Concentrating solar power' (CST) technology is heated to a temperature of up to 850 Fahrenheit, and used to drive turbines that generate electricity.

Google has funded a five megawatt facility near Los Angeles that involves 24,000 mirrors arranged in arrays on 20 acres of land. They are controlled by computers that focus the sun light on to the boilers. It is expected that the use of CST technology will double energy 16 months worldwide, increasing from 457 megawatts in 2007 to 6,400 megawatts by 2012.

The countries that have abundant sunshine and an acute shortage of electricity must use it.

Determining age of fossils/materials.

Fossils have been discovered which are hundreds of millions years old. How does one determine their age? The technique involves measuring the abundance of some elements. One method is commonly used called "Carbon dating". There are three forms (Isotopes) of carbon: the stable forms are carbon-12 carbon-13, while an unstable radioactive form which decays with times is carbon-14.

These forms of carbon are incorporated into the plant kingdom by the process of photosynthesis (conversion of atmospheric carbondioxide into more complex plant parts), and then through the food chain, carbon is passed onto animals. The radioactive carbon -14 is being constantly formed in the atmosphere as a result of bombarment of nitrogen by cosmic rays. Live plants and animals have the carbon-14 being constantly introduced from the atmospheric carbon dioxide but ones the living material die, the amount of carbon-14 starts to diminish with time, the clocks starts ticking.

Carbon-14 has a 'half life' of 5730 years i.e its amount to reduce its half after this time. After ten half lives (about 60,000 years), the amount of carbon-14 diminishes to almost zero and it is there fore not possible to find the age of plant or animal fossils older than 60,000 years by radiocarbon dating.

For determining age of fossils older than 60,000 years one uses a potassium-argon dating technique. Potassium dating has a half life of 1.3 billion years, thus allowing the age of rocks several billions years old to be determined. A more accurate "argon-argon" dating technique (determining the ration between argon-39 and argon-40) has also been developed.

The vast universe!

Suppose that we could travel with the speed of light i.e at a speed that will take around the earth at the equator about seven times within a second! Even at these dazzling (and inpossible) speeds, it would take years to travel fron one stare to another a stare as the average distance between them are 30 million kilometers. in our own galaxy there are a huge number of stars-estimate range from one hundred billion to four hundred billions stars. and there are about 140 billion glaxies, some bigger than ours.

So we are speck of dust in a tiny solar system within a galaxy which has over a hundred billions stars, our sun being only one of them. And with 140 billion galaxies we shirink to the almost invisible. The mind just can not readily comprehend the huge dimension that we are considering here.

If there was a civilization existing somewhere on the outer fringes of our galaxy, and the aliens could peer at what was happening on earth, since the light from our earth would take thousand of years to reach them, they would only be able to observe what was happening on earth during the time of Abraham, or of Moses, or of Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.W), depending upon how far they are, not what was going on now. For this they will have to wait for another dozen centuries. The universe is believed to be about 90 billions light years in its expanse.

Thus if could travel at a speed of light (i.e at a speed that allow you to travel seven time around the earth at a equator within a second) it would still take you 90 billion years to traverse width of the universe.

Improving car performance with batteries

Hybrid car that run on petrol and battery powers are under intensive development. Nickel-metal-hydride batteries are being used in some hybrid cars, while Mercedes has recently announced the use of lithium-ion batteries on its S400 Blue Hybrid which all be connected to a 20 horse power electric motor to provide additional power to the main 3.5 liter V6 engine, thereby improving its performance to that of V8 engine, and allowing the car to achieve a fuel economy of 30 miles per gallon.

The engine is switched off when the car slows to speeds below 9 mph, and the electric motor restarts the engine at higher speeds. Some other manufacturers such as BMW, Mazda and Porsche are also using this engine Off-On method to improve the fuel economy.

Dissolving heart Stents

Millions of people have a tiny meta mesh tube inserted into their coronary arteries each year to prop it open so that there is uninterrupted blood flow to the cardiac tissues. However, the blood vessel can harden over this metal tube in a few months, and cause problems. The metal blocks X-ray and MRI scan s, and it can also, in rare cases, lead to clot information.

Abbot has now developed a stent made of a biodegradable material (poly-lactic acid) which dissolves away in a couple of years, while the blood vessel retains its shape. Patient will have before long have a choice - have permanent metal stents or biodegradable stents which dissolve with time.

Commercial supersonic flights in space.

Lockheed Martin is developing a quiet supersonic transport that will be able to travel from Chicago to pairs in under four hours. More exciting is the project undertaken by the Germen space agency, DLR. The European commission has funded this project of a "space liner" which will be capable of traveling at a speed of 14000 mph and carry 50 passengers through space from New- York to Sydney in less then 90 minutes.

This may be regarded as a modified version of a space shuttle which may be powered by rockets operating on liquid hydrogen / oxygen thrusters. The space liner would reach a height of 62 miles, which is the lower boundary of space, within seven minutes of take off. as it would be at such a great height, the sonic boom generator by it will not disturb the populations over which it travels. Travelling at such stupendous speed will cause the heating of the space liner to temperature up-to 5400 C. To keep the body cool special porous ceramic tiles are being developed which would 'sweat' water, as the human skin does.

If you are willing to spend $200000, commercial space travel is already available. The US company Virgin Galactic has already make pre-booking of 200 persons with a total price tag of US $30 million. Their space craft will take you alone with five another passengers to a height of 68 miles and give you the ride of your life for 2.5 hours. A member of other US, European and Kazakhstan based companies are also developing similar space tourism initiatives.

Talking Cars

Hundred of people die each day in car accidents, and the cost of these accidents in US alone is over $230 billion. Now technology is beginning to come to the rescue. New devices installed in the vehicles will allow vehicles to electronically communicate with one another and alert you to another invisible approaching vehicle which is around the corner. The system will even put on your brackes if you do not respond in time. Such system will be available in the most cars before long and they will constantly track the speed and the direction of other approaching vehicles. The communication network between cars and with the main traffic control systems will considerably reduce the danger of surprise collisions.

The Chemistry of Love

Can the opposite mate be attracted and sexual desires aroused chemically???, In the animal kingdom it is a very common. In humans too, there is a growing evidence that certain chemicals may serve as attractants to the opposite sex.

Bees have a very complex system of communicating through release of certain chemicals ("pheromones" or insects hormones) which convey special messages to other bees. Butterflies and the moos are so sensitive that if certain sex attractant chemicals are released, the butterflies and moths will sense the sex hormones several times away (10.6 Km recorded). This sensitivity of insects has been exploited by farmers to develop traps which attract all the females to the trap from miles around, thereby eliminating the possibility of breeding.

What about humans? are their chemicals that will sexually arouse men and women? The answer is yes, and much research is devoted to chemicals which can serve as sex attractants in human beings. Yohimbine, an alkaloid found in the bark of plants of genus Yohimbe, has been used for the treatment of impotence of thousand of years. The topic is of special interest to manufactures of Perfumes.

Making a mini sun on earth

Preparations are underway in the south of France for one of the most exciting experiments ever under taken in human history by man. Known as "International thermonuclear Experimental reactor" (ITER), it aims to reproduce the way sun and stars produce heat and light by nuclear fusion, i-e, lighter elements fusion together to give heavier elements with the production of huge amounts of energy. Our planet has been warmed by the sun due to fusion reaction of billions of years, and the stars also produce their heat and light through such fusion reaction. the project is expected to cost about Euros 10 billion and take 50 years to complete.

the fusion of two isotopes of hydrogen (deuterium and tritium) can occur with the formation of the heavier elements, helium and the production of huge amount of heat energy. the heat produce is expected to be 5 or 10 times greater than the heat energy required for the fusion reaction to take place. To achieve fusion, phenomenally high temperature of about 100 millions K must be achieved. This will require special vessels in which the fusion plasma will be magnetically suspended in the centre to prevent the metal of vessel evaporating due to huge temperature.

By the end of the century our cities may well be powered by fusion rectors, with sea water being used as the source of deuterium for the fusion reactions, man made mini suns on earth.

Granular Space?

Space and time can be combined in the single continuum-Space-time. Matter can distort this continuum. Take a peace of fabric, hold it tightly at all four corners and place a heavy ball on it. The fabric bends downward where the ball rests. It is thought that space time itself is bent in similar manner by planet and stars. the curvature representing gravity. what is gravity composed of and how does it relate to the other fundamental forces of nature? is it possible to develop the theory of everything, a theory that will blend all the forces in the nature, including gravity, into a single theory? Is outer space silky smooth, as envisaged by Einstein, or is it rough and granular? How do planets attract each other? These are questions that have perplexed many scientist over the decades, be it Einstein or our own late Abdus Salam.

On June 30, 2005, in Canarie islands, Spain, A power-full telescope as magic (Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray imaging cherenkov telescope), While scanning the sky for high energy light particles (Photons), detecting smoothing truly extraordinary.

Light is believed to travel at a uniform speed in a specific medium, the speed of light being about 300,000 km per sec (actually 299,792,458 meter per second). The magic telescope, however found that the low energy particles of light reaching the telescope from another galaxy some 500 millions light years away arrived four minutes faster than their higher energy brethren. This may be important evidence towards the Granular foamy nature of space result recently obtained from a from a source of 12 billion light year away, Using Nasa's Fermi Gamma-ray space telescope, have found a similar 20 minute difference between the speed of faster low energy light particles and the slower higher energy ones. These observations have raised expectation that we may finally be in the verge of understanding the fundamental nature of space time, and gravity.

Design your own Babies

The front page story in New York Daily News related to a service being offered by an organization, fertility institute, which would allow parent to choose the color of their baby's hair, eyes and skin. Fear of negative public reaction forced the institute to cancel the project but this may be only temporary as the technology is here.

it involves the testing of embryos prior to fertilization in the womb, and is known as preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). it has already allowed thousand of parents to prevent genetic diseases being passed on their children.

A menu of traits can now be offered after examining the genetic structure of embryos and the horrible prospects of breeding the humans with special features, such as height, fighting character-sticks or intelligence may be around the corner. indeed, in certain defense establishment in advance countries, this may even happening today secretly.