Glass that's Stronger than Steel

In the world of materials, strength (the amount of force a substance can withstand) and toughness (its capacity to resist fracturing) are not merely different attributes; they're very difficult to achieve together. Now a collaboration of researchers from Caltech and the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has created a form of glass that has both qualities. It's stronger and tougher than steel or, indeed, any other known material. The material features palladium, a metal whose possible use in glasses was recognized 45 years ago.

"SMS of Death" Could Crash Many Mobile Phones

The phones in many people's pockets today are miniature personal computers, and they are just as vulnerable as PCs to viruses, malware, and other security problems. But research presented at a conference in Germany last week shows that phones don't even have to be smart to be vulnerable to hackers.

Scientists Use Light to Make Worms 'Dance'

Forget the flea circus. Two teams of scientists have independently developed the beginnings of a technologically sophisticated worm circus. They combined genetic engineering with a novel tracking approach in order to illuminate specific cells in the microscopic worm C. elegans and control the organisms' movement, making the animals slither forward or backward. With a flash of light, they could even stimulate the worms to lay eggs.

Treating Genetic Disorders Before Birth

Physicians may one day be able to treat genetic blood diseases before a child is even born. In a study of mice that was published this week in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, have found that transplanting a mother's own stem cells into her fetus populates its bone marrow with healthy cells while avoiding immune rejection.
If the findings hold true in humans, stem-cell transplants from mother to fetus could prime the fetus for a bone-marrow transplant from its mother—or a donor that is tissue-matched to the mother—after birth.
Diseases such as sickle cell anemia and beta thalassemia result from abnormal red blood cells and can be treated with bone-marrow transplants. But it's not always possible to find a match.   And standard bone-marrow transplants, even between tissue-matched donors, must be followed with a lifetime course of immunosuppressive drugs.

An Eyeball Camera, Now with Zoom

The burgeoning field of stretchable electronics promises to change the way we think about gadgets. Silicon chips, once confined to flat, rigid shapes, will break out of the planar mold. One experimental example is a camera, modeled after an eyeball, that features a curved array of light sensors.
Now a new design gives this curved camera a boost: the shape of the lens and of its sensor can be changed in synchrony, providing a 3.5x zoom. This provides a key piece of missing functionality for the original camera concept, says John Rogers, professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Rogers led the development of the device. "The result is a complete camera system, with tunable lens and tunable detector, capable of taking pictures," he says. Rogers and his coauthors published details of the work on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
A camera with curved sensors—analogous to the curved retina of the eye—has certain advantages over one with a flat sensor. Its field of view is wider, and overall the device can be simpler and more compact. Possible applications include cameras for surveillance, phones, endoscopic imaging, or even tiny video cameras embedded in football helmets, says Yonggang Huang, coauthor and engineering professor at Northwestern University.

New Magnets Could Solve Our Rare-Earth Problems

Stronger, lighter magnets could enter the market in the next few years, making more efficient car engines and wind turbines possible. Researchers need the new materials because today's best magnets use rare-earth metals, whose supply is becoming unreliable even as demand grows.
So researchers are now working on new types of nanostructured magnets that would use smaller amounts of rare-earth metals than standard magnets. Many hurdles remain, but GE Global Research hopes to demonstrate new magnet materials within the next two years.

Waspadai Sadisme di Film Kartun Anak-anak "Tom And Jerry"

Hampir dipastikan anak-anak di Tanah Air pernah menyaksikan serial film kartun Tom and Jerry. Tapi tahukah Anda para orang tua bahwa film yang mengangkat kisah abadi perseteruan dua makhluk kucing dan tikus berbahaya bagi anak-anak karena menyuguhkan aksi sadisme?

Ketua Pimpinan Pusat Muslimat Nahdlatul Ulama, Khofifah Indar Parawansa meminta para orangtua terutama ibu untuk mewaspadai tayangan-tayangan merusak seperti yang terdapat pada Tom and Jerry atau film lainnya. “Di sejumlah negara Eropa seperti di Perancis sudah didemo besar-besaran, tapi di Indonesia film itu masih beredar luas,” katanya kepada Republika di Jakarta, Senin (3/1).
Selain itu, ungkap Khafifah yang juga Mantan Menteri Pemberdayaan Perempuan, hal lain yang menghawatirkan terutama bagi kaum perempuan adalah kebebasan informasi dan liberalisasi pemikiran yang menyangkut tiga hal pokok yaitu human right, women right, dan reproduction right. Liberalisasi pemikiran tidak ada lagi batasan dan melanggar nilai dan moralitas.
Dia mencontohkan gaya hidup sebagaian wanita di Indonesia tidak mempersoalkan lagi seks bebas  atas dasar suka sama suka. Kebebasan ini, katanya, akan mengarah kepada tindakan pembiasaan aborsi dengan alasan women right dan reproduksi right. “Ironisnya, Amerika yang kerap disebut-sebut sebagai cerminan free seks telah melakukan gerakan kembali ke virginitas,” ujarnya.

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