Biomimetics is the application of biological methods and systems found in nature that could be used to design engineering systems and modern technology. Proponents of bionic technology believe that the transfer of technology between life forms and synthetic constructs is attractive because evolutionary pressure typically forces living organisms to become highly optimized and efficient. Therefore, they contend, designing engineering methods or tools that mimic such biological functions could be extremely efficient.

Examples of biomimetics in engineering include the hulls of boats imitating the thick skin of dolphins, as well as sonar, radar and medical imaging imitating the echolocation of bats. (Echolation involes emitting sound waves and listening to the echo in order to locate objects or to navigate).

Eric Lauga, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the Jacobs School of Engineering, recently published a paper in the journal Physics of Fluid called "Crawling Beneath the Free Surface: Water Snail Locomotion," that explains how and why water snails can drag themselves across a fluid surface that they can't even grip.

Scientists have used a technique originally developed for economic study, Granger causality, to become the first to overcome a significant challenge in brain research: determining the flow of information from one part of the brain to another.

For years, scientists have used scanners to identify the brain regions involved in particular mental tasks. But they cannot get that data fast enough to trace the flow of information from one area of the brain to another.

TOKYO, October 9 /PRNewswire/ --

NTT Communications Corporation (NTT Com) announced on October 9 the development of a system that can securely integrate the reward cards of more than 100 retailers into a single mobile phone. Users can easily register, access or overwrite membership and loyalty data just by waving their mobile phone, equipped with a contactless IC chip, over a terminal in a retail shop.

The system, named "Gyazapo"(pronounced "gah-zah-poh"), frees users from carrying and searching through multiple rewards cards while shopping. By simply waving their phone over the terminal, they can enjoy the convenience and benefits of shopping with membership services, including customer rewards and discounts.

TORONTO, October 9 /PRNewswire/ --

- Redline's RedMAX(TM) Products Provide Nex-Tech With Superior Coverage, Capacity and Lower Costs for its WiMAX Deployment

TORONTO, October 9 /PRNewswire/ --

Redline Communications Group Inc. ("Redline") (TSX and AIM: RDL), a leading provider of WiMAX and broadband wireless infrastructure products, today announced that Nex-Tech, a subsidiary of Rural Telephone Service Company and one of Kansas' largest and most diversified integrators of communication technologies, has chosen Redline's 3.65 GHz RedMAX solution for its multi-city WiMAX roll-out in Kansas USA.

STOCKHOLM, October 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Diamyd Medical reports that the world's most influential medical journal, the New England Journal of Medicine, has published an article with results from the company's study of the Diamyd(R) diabetes vaccine for type 1 diabetes.

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ozens of cars in the Boston area are testing the latest generation of an MIT mobile-sensor network for traffic analysis that could help drivers cut their commuting time, alert them to potential engine problems and more.

In the CarTel project, Professor Hari Balakrishnan and Associate Professor Samuel Madden of MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science use automobiles to monitor their environment by sending data from an onboard computer — which is about the size of a cell phone — to a web server where the data can be visualized and browsed. They do so via pre-existing WiFi networks passed during a trip.

You may have seen it last week. There were charges of fraud levelled at the Obama campaign because donations from names like 'Doodad Pro' were not reported by his campaign. In the last election, there were claims that Republicans invoked anti-fraud measures to suppress legitimate voting by groups that tend to vote Democratic.

In both cases, there was more hyperbole than substance. There is fraud, but the immediacy of the internet has magnified it into being much more substantial than it is and University at Buffalo Law School Professor James A. Gardner cautions against giving too much importance to charges of voter fraud in American elections and supposed incompetence in administering elections. The process in the overwhelming majority of elections, he says, is working well.

Babies make sense of the world long before they can talk, says Brigham Young University psychology professor and study author Ross Flom. Their new study shows that even babies as young as five months can distinguish an upbeat tune, like Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” from the Ninth Symphony, from gloomier compositions like that minor key stuff by Chopin(1).

By age nine months, babies can also do the opposite and pick out the sorrowful sound of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony from a pack of happy pieces.

SAN DIEGO, October 8 /PRNewswire/ --

- Company Announces Corporate Restructuring to Focus on Strategic Alliances and M&A

Nventa Biopharmaceuticals Corporation (TSX: NVN), a company developing innovative therapeutics for the treatment of viral infections and cancer, today provided an update on its ongoing development programs. The company also announced that it will initiate a corporate restructuring that will extend the company's financial resources to pursue near-term corporate development opportunities, sale of specific programs, M&A and alternative financial arrangements to maximize the value of its assets.

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