Intelligence is a very difficult concept

Intelligence is a very difficult concept to define. Intellect is described as “the power of the mind to think in a logical manner and acquire knowledge” [1]. Even psychology experts have not agreed upon what this actually means [2]. Intelligence can be divided into various subcategories such as reasoning, problem solving, and memory, and so creating a consistent scale by which one can measure intelligence is quite difficult.

Scientists Use Gold Nanorods to Flag Brain Tumors

ScienceDaily (Oct. 12, 2011) — "It's not brain surgery" is a phrase often uttered to dismiss a job's difficulty, but when the task actually is removing a brain tumor, even the slightest mistake could have serious health consequences. To help surgeons in such high-pressure situations, researchers from Prof. Adam Wax's team at Duke University's Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics and Biomedical Engineering Department have proposed a way to harness the unique optical properties of gold nanoparticles to clearly distinguish a brain tumor from the healthy, and vital, tissue that surrounds it.


Current techniques for outlining brain tumors vary, but all have limitations, such as the inability to perform real-time imaging without big, expensive equipment, or the toxicity and limited lifespan of certain labeling agents. Gold nanoparticles -- which are so small that 500 of them end-to-end could fit across a human hair -- might provide a better way to flag tumorous tissue, since they are non-toxic and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

The Duke researchers synthesized gold, rod-shaped nanoparticles with varying length-to-width ratios. The different-sized particles displayed different optical properties, so by controlling the nanorods' growth the team could "tune" the particles to scatter a specific frequency of light. The researchers next joined the tuned particles to antibodies that bind to growth factor receptor proteins found in unusually high concentrations on the outside of cancer cells. When the antibodies latched on to cancer cells, the gold nanoparticles marked their presence.

The team tested the method by bathing slices of tumor-containing mouse brain in a solution of gold nanoparticles merged with antibodies. Shining the tuned frequency of light on the sample revealed bright points where the tumors lurked. The tunability of the gold nanoparticles is important, says team member Kevin Seekell, because it allows researchers to choose from a window of light frequencies that are not readily absorbed by biological tissue. It might also allow researchers to attach differently tuned nanoparticles to different antibodies, providing a way to diagnose different types of tumors based the specific surface proteins the cancer cells display. Future work by the team will also focus on developing a surgical probe that can image gold nanoparticles in a living brain, Seekell says

Tamil Nadu Local Body Election Results

 Chennai Corporation ADMK Mayor candidate Saidai Duraisamy Leads

Chennai, Oct 21: Tamil nadu local body elections took place all over tamilnadu on 17th and 19th.. Counting started today.

In Chennai Corporation ADMK mayor candidate Saidai Duraisamy leads by 2060 Votes against DMK candidate M. Subramanian.
Candidate NameVotes

S.SAIDAI DURAISAMY (AIADMK) 68,439
MA.SUBRAMANIAN (DMK) 41383
G.VELMURUGAN (DMDK) 6564
N.MANOHARAN (MDMK) 2348
A.K.MOORTHY (PMK) 2929
SAIDAI RAVI (Congress) 3055
P.G.PARAMESH BABU (BSP) 695

Col Gaddafi killed

Muammar Gaddafi is the latest in a long line of despots, tyrants and global terrorists to be captured or killed.
He died just five months after the most wanted international fugitive of the 21st Century, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, met his end.
Bin Laden survived on the run for a decade before a group of US Navy Seals burst into his hideaway and shot him dead on May 2, 2011.
Rather than a remote mountain cave, where many assumed him to be, bin laden was discovered living in a large house with members of his family in the garrison town of Abbottabad in Pakistan.
His body was flown to Afghanistan so buried at sea within 24 hours of his death.
Iraqi despot Saddam Hussein lived less well than Osama bin Laden while evading an intense manhunt for eight months following the fall of Baghdad in 2003.
Saddam was found and captured by US forces at a farm house near his former power base in Tikrit in December of that year.
He was dragged from a hole looking dishevelled having grown long straggly hair and a bushy beard.
Saddam was tried in Iraq and found guilty of crimes against humanity before being executed by hanging in December 2006.
Radovan Karadic, the former Bosnian Serb leader, remained on the run for 12 years.
During that time he worked under an alias at a private medical clinic in Belgrade before finally being arrested in 2008.
After years on the run Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military leader and accused war criminal, was captured in May this year at a house in a village in northern Serbia.
In 1989 Nicolae Ceaucescu, who ruled Romania for more two decades, died at the hands of his own people.
He was captured and put to death by firing squad, along with his wife, after a two hour trial.
In 2006 former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, known as the "Butcher of the Balkans," was found dead from a heart attack in his cell in The Hague.
He had been handed to the UN war crimes tribunal but died mid-trial.

Microring Device Could Aid in Future Optical Technologies

Microring Device

 Researchers at Purdue University and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have created a device small enough to fit on a computer chip that converts continuous laser light into numerous ultrashort pulses, a technology that might have applications in more advanced sensors, communications systems and laboratory instruments.

"These pulses repeat at very high rates, corresponding to hundreds of billions of pulses per second," said Andrew Weiner, the Scifres Family Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

The tiny "microring resonator" is about 80 micrometers, or the width of a human hair, and is fabricated from silicon nitride, which is compatible with silicon material widely used for electronics. Infrared light from a laser enters the chip through a single optical fiber and is directed by a structure called a waveguide into the microring.

The pulses have many segments corresponding to different frequencies, which are called "comb lines" because they resemble teeth on a comb when represented on a graph.

By precisely controlling the frequency combs, researchers hope to create advanced optical sensors that detect and measure hazardous materials or pollutants, ultrasensitive spectroscopy for laboratory research, and optics-based communications systems that transmit greater volumes of information with better quality while increasing bandwidth. The comb technology also has potential for a generation of high-bandwidth electrical signals with possible applications in wireless communications and radar.

The light originates from a continuous-wave laser, also called a single-frequency laser.

"This is a very common type of laser," Weiner said. "The intensity of this type of laser is constant, not pulsed. But in the microring the light is converted into a comb consisting of many frequencies with very nice equal spacing. The microring comb generator may serve as a competing technology to a special type of laser called a mode-locked laser, which generates many frequencies and short pulses. One advantage of the microrings is that they can be very small."

The laser light undergoes "nonlinear interaction" while inside the microring, generating acomb of new frequencies that is emitted out of the device through another optical fiber.

"The nonlinearity is critical to the generation of the comb," said doctoral student Fahmida Ferdous. "With the nonlinearity we obtain a comb of many frequencies, including the original one, and the rest are new ones generated in the microring."

Findings are detailed in a research paper appearing online this month in the journal Nature Photonics. The paper is scheduled for publication in the Dec. 11 issue.

Although other researchers previously have demonstrated the comb-generation technique, the team is the first to process the frequencies using "optical arbitrary waveform technology," pioneered by Purdue researchers led by Weiner. The researchers were able to control the amplitude and phase of each spectral line, learning that there are two types of combs -- "highly coherent" and "partially coherent" -- opening up new avenues to study the physics of the process.

"In future investigations, the ability to extract the phase of individual comb lines may furnish clues into the physics of the comb-generation process," Ferdous said. "Future work will include efforts to create devices that have the proper frequency for commercial applications."

The silicon-nitride device was fabricated by a team led by Houxun Miao, a researcher at NIST's Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology and the Maryland Nanocenter at the University of Maryland. Some of the work was performed at the Birck Nanotechnology Center in Purdue's Discovery Park, and experiments demonstrating short-pulse generation were performed in Purdue's School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

The effort at Purdue is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the Naval Postgraduate School.

Nano fuel Used to Generate Extreme Ultraviolet Light Pulses

 If you want to avoid spilling when you are pouring liquids in the kitchen you may appreciate a funnel. Funnels are not only useful tools in the kitchen. Light can also be efficiently concentrated with funnels. In this case, the funnels have to be about 10.000-times smaller.

An international team of scientists from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in Daejeon (South Korea), the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (MPQ) in Garching (Germany), and the Georgia State University (GSU) in Atlanta (USA) has now managed to concentrate the energy of infrared light pulses with a nano funnel and use the concentrated energy to generate extreme ultraviolet light flashes. These flashes, which repeated 75 million times per second, lasted only a few femtoseconds. The new technology can help in the future to measure the movement of electrons with the highest spatial and temporal resolution.

Light is convertible. The wavelengths composing the light can change through interactions with matter, where both the type of material and shape of the material are important for the frequency conversion. An international team of scientists from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (MPQ), and the Georgia State University (GSU) has now modified light waves with a nano funnel made out of silver. The scientists converted femtosecond laser pulses in the infrared spectral range to femtosecond light flashes in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV). Ultrashort, pulsed EUV light is used in laser physics to explore the inside of atoms and molecules. A femtosecond lasts only a millionth of a billionth of a second.

Light in the infrared (IR) can be converted to the EUV by a process known as high-harmonic generation, whereby the atoms are exposed to a strong electric field from the IR laser pulses. These fields have to be as strong as the fields holding the atom together. With these fields electrons can be extracted from the atoms and accelerated with full force back onto the atoms. Upon impact highly energetic radiation in the EUV is generated.

To reach the necessary strong electric fields for the production of EUV light, the team of scientists has now combined this scheme with a nano funnel in order to concentrate the electric field of the light. With their new technology, they were able to create a powerful EUV light source with wavelengths down to 20 nanometers. The light source exhibits a so far unreached high repetition rate: the few femtoseconds lasting EUV light flashes are repeated 75 million times per second.

The core of the experiment was a small, only a few micrometers long, slightly elliptical funnel made out of silver and filled with xenon gas. The tip of the funnel was only ca. 100 nanometers wide. The infrared light pulses were sent into the funnel entrance where they travel through towards the small exit. The electromagnetic forces of the light result in density fluctuations of the electrons on the inside of the funnel. Here, a small patch of the metal surface was positively charged, the next one negative and so on, resulting in new electromagnetic fields on the inside of the funnel, which are called surface plasmon polaritons. The surface plasmon polaritons travel towards the tip of the funnel, where the conical shape of the funnel results in a concentration of their fields. “The field on the inside of the funnel can become a few hundred times stronger than the field of the incident infrared light. This enhanced field results in the generation of EUV light in the Xe gas.”, explains Prof. Mark Stockman from GSU.

The nano funnel has yet another function. Its small opening at the exit acts as “doorman” for light wavelengths. Not every opening is passable for light. If the opening is smaller than half of a wavelength, the other side remains dark. The 100 nanometer large opening of the funnel did not allow the infrared light at 800 nm to pass. The generated EUV pulses with wavelengths down to 20 nanometers passed, however, without problems. “The funnel acts as an efficient wavelength filter: at the small opening only EUV light comes out.”, explains Prof. Seung-Woo Kim from KAIST, where the experiments were conducted.

“Due to their short wavelength and potentially short pulse duration reaching into the attosecond domain, extreme ultraviolet light pulses are an important tool for the exploration of electron dynamics in atoms, molecules and solids”, explains Seung-Woo Kim. Electrons are extremely fast, moving on attosecond timescales (an attosecond is a billionth of a billionth of a second). In order to capture a moving electron, light flashes are needed, which are shorter than the timescale of the motion. Attosecond light flashes have become a familiar tool in the exploration of electron motion. With the conventional techniques, they can only be repeated a few thousand times per second. This can change with the nano funnel. “We assume that the few femtosecond light flashes consist of trains of attosecond pulses”, argues Matthias Kling, group leader at MPQ. “With such pulse trains, we should be able to conduct experiments with attosecond time resolution at very high repetition rate.”

The repetition rate is important for e.g. the application of EUV pulses in electron spectroscopy on surfaces. Electrons repel each other by Coulomb forces. Therefore, it may be necessary to restrict the experimental conditions such that only a single electron is generated per laser shot. With low repetition rates, long data acquisition times would be required in order to achieve sufficient experimental resolution. “In order to conduct experiments with high spatial and temporal resolution within a sufficiently short time, a high repetition rate EUV source is needed”, explains Kling. The novel combination of laser technology and nanotechnology can help in the future to record movies of ultrafast electron motion on surfaces with so far unreached temporal and spatial resolution in the attosecond-nanometer domain.

Herschel Telescope Detects Oxygen Molecules in Space

PASADENA, Calif. – The Herschel Space Observatory's large telescope and state-of-the-art infrared detectors have provided the first confirmed finding of oxygen molecules in space. The molecules were discovered in the Orion star-forming complex.

Individual atoms of oxygen are common in space, particularly around massive stars. But molecular oxygen, which makes up about 20 percent of the air we breathe, has eluded astronomers until now.

"Oxygen gas was discovered in the 1770s, but it's taken us more than 230 years to finally say with certainty that this very simple molecule exists in space," said Paul Goldsmith, NASA's Herschel project scientist at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Goldsmith is lead author of a recent paper describing the findings in the Astrophysical Journal. Herschel is a European Space Agency-led mission with important NASA contributions.

Astronomers searched for the elusive molecules in space for decades using balloons, as well as ground- and space-based telescopes. The Swedish Odin telescope spotted the molecule in 2007, but the sighting could not be confirmed.

Goldsmith and his colleagues propose that oxygen is locked up in water ice that coats tiny dust grains. They think the oxygen detected by Herschel in the Orion nebula was formed after starlight warmed the icy grains, releasing water, which was converted into oxygen molecules.

"This explains where some of the oxygen might be hiding," said Goldsmith. "But we didn't find large amounts of it, and still don't understand what is so special about the spots where we find it. The universe still holds many secrets."

The researchers plan to continue their hunt for oxygen molecules in other star-forming regions.

"Oxygen is the third most common element in the universe and its molecular form must be abundant in space," said Bill Danchi, Herschel program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Herschel is proving a powerful tool to probe this unsolved mystery. The observatory gives astronomers an innovative tool to look at a whole new set of wavelengths where the tell-tale signature of oxygen may be hiding."

Herschel is a European Space Agency cornerstone mission, with science instruments provided by consortia of European institutes. NASA's Herschel Project Office is based at JPL, which contributed mission-enabling technology for two of Herschel's three science instruments. The NASA Herschel Science Center, part of the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, supports the U.S. astronomical community. Caltech manages JPL for NASA....

Motorola Mobility

Motorola Mobility (NYSE: MMI) on Tuesday announced its latest smartphone, confirming many of the rumors and spec leaks that had already begun to surround the handset.


The Motorola Droid Razr

It's called the "Droid Razr," its body is partially made of Kevlar, it has a 4.3-inch Gorilla Glass display, it's a 4G LTE device and it's headed to the Verizon Wireless Network.

Motorola touts the Droid Razr's ultra-thin, lightweight design, in keeping with the Razr line's penchant for slimline devices. However, slimness alone is becoming less and less of a truly standout attribute among phones.

"You could use adjectives like 'thinner' and 'lighter' for devices from every other vendor out there," Ramon Llamas, a senior research analyst at IDC, told TechNewsWorld.

"The only thing they might have going for them is the Kevlar," said Michael Morgan, a senior analyst at ABI Research.

The back of the device incorporates Kevlar fiber, Motorola Mobility spokesperson Christa Smith told TechNewsWorld.

Slicing Into the Droid Razr's Guts

The Droid Razr measures about 5 inches by 2.7 inches by 0.27 inches and weighs less than 4.5 ounces.

It has a Super AMOLED Advanced touchscreen measuring 4.3 inches and a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor. It offers Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity and can serve as a WiFi hotspot

The device is claimed to be the first smartphone that can stream movies and TV shows through Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) with HD resolution.

The Droid Razr has an 8 MP 1080p HD camera in the rear and a 1.3 MP front-facing camera. It can capture and play back HD video. Other features include an eGPS and eCompass.

Preloaded applications include Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Mobile Services and MotoCast, a free app from Motorola that lets users stream or download media from PCs to the phone.

The Droid Razr runs Android 2.3.5 and has a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor. It can double as a 4G LTE mobile hotspot.

The device also has remote wipe, PIN lock and government-grade encryption.

A water-repellent coating protects the device inside and out.

The Droid Razr will be available exclusively from Verizon Wireless in the United States. It will go on sale in November at US$300 with a two-year contract.

The Glory That Was Razr

Motorola appears to be trying to capitalize on the Razr brand -- the Razr was the hottest cellphone on the market when it was introduced in 2004.

However, "The Razr was great, but it came and went," IDC's Llamas said.

Motorola plans to offer the Droid Razr to every possible market.

"Droid Razr meets certain government-grade security features so is suitable for consumers, enterprises or governments concerned about the security of their device," Motorola's Smith said.

Joining the 4G Parade

"Looking at the market, I'd say the Droid Razr is an average WIMAX or LTE 4G smartphone," ABI's Morgan told TechNewsWorld.

"They've all got dual-core processors, WiFi hotspot functionality and a wide display," Morgan added. "Unfortunately, the Droid Razr's looking like another attempt at making an LTE handset."

The Droid Razr could be uncomfortably similar to the ill-fated Droid Bionic, which was unveiled in January, Morgan cautioned.

"I'm trying to see how it differs from the Bionic, which had problems," Morgan said.

Motorola "had to swop out some hardware, and had some delays," Morgan elaborated.

Whether or not the market responds favorably to the Droid Razr remains to be seen, but "this is part of the Droid line, which has been wildly successful at Verizon," IDC's Llamas pointed out.

Motorola also introduced the Motoactv device on Tuesday. This is a wristwatch-like device that tracks the owner's running and cycling activities and features music-player abilities. 

How to improve your memory

Did you know a good night's sleep can improve your test scores without you doing any extra work? And a wrongly timed chocolate bar can slow your thinking right down? Your brain's very sensitive and it constantly needs to repair itself and build new connections between the cells as you learn new things.

To do this, it needs top class nutrition, a steady supply of energy, a steady supply of oxygen, and time asleep to do all its updating.

So here's how to send your brain to the spa:

Diet

Tip 1: For general brain health, you need to eat a balanced diet, containing plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. Every other part of your body will benefit from this too.

Tip 2: Your brain needs a steady supply of energy, but it can only get this from a type of sugar called glucose. This glucose comes from the carbohydrates you eat, but only certain kinds of carbs will do. These include wholemeal bread, pasta, porridge and pulses, which take time for your body to break down, so release their glucose slowly and steadily. Chocolate, biscuits and other sugary snacks are sadly not good for your brain. They release their sugar so quickly that your brain will peak... but then quickly crash afterwards leaving you feeling less energised than before. Not recommended for any brainy work.

Tip 3: Your brain needs to be primed with oxygen. It gets this from exercise (Tip 6 below), but you also need to have a good supply of iron in your bloodstream. This iron comes from foods such as red meat, green leafy vegetables like spinach, dried fruit, fortified cereals, and pulses, including baked beans.

Tip 4: Don't skip breakfast (or lunch) – especially before an exam. Your brain will perform less well if you haven't eaten for hours. Brain scientists have shown that a student's test results are lower when they haven't eaten. But you need to eat the right thing. Again, junk food won't work. The brain needs those slow-releasing carbohydrates. Beans on toast for example has been shown to be particularly beneficial.

Read more here: Everyone needs breakfast – and girls need extra.Water

Tip 5: Don't go thirsty. Dehydration will affect your brain's performance. Don't go mad though – especially if you're about to sit an exam. Trips to the toilet will be a distraction.

Exercise

Tip 6: Your brain needs the rest of you to get moving, and pump the oxygen-rich blood it needs through every capillary. Studies show that exercise improves your memory capacity – and lack of it will make your brain age prematurely. So get on your bike! Your brain will thank you, and it helps you also to do Tip 7.

Sleep

Tip 7: Possibly the quickest and easiest treat for your brain – a great night's sleep. You get to rest, and your brain gets to repair itself and consolidate all the day's new learning. Even an hour less sleep can affect your test scores the next day. And experts say if you want to maximise your revision, you should get some sleep as quickly as possible after you've done it. Catnap, anyone?

Space mission revolution

The 1957 launch of Sputnik 1, the first Earth-orbiting satellite, sparked decades of competition in space between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Whatever the motivation, missions such as Apollo 11, Venera 9, and Cassini-Huygens have helped mankind develop an ever-widening knowledge of the Solar System and beyond.

With the end of the Cold War, competition in space exploration has increasingly given way to international collaboration.

CBI books Maran

Chennai, Oct 10 (ANI): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday conducted raids on the premises of former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran after registering a case against him in connection with the controversial Aircel-Maxis deal.

The agency also booked his brother Kalanidhi Maran, Maxis ownerT Ananda Krishnan, senior executive Ralph Marshall and three companies Aspro, Maxis and Sun TV.

It has been alleged by former Aircel Chief C Sivasankaran that Maran as a telecom minister favoured the Maxis-Group in the takeover of his company and in return investments were made by the company through Astro network in Sun TV owned by Maran family.

The CBI, in its recent status report to the Supreme Court, had said that during Maran's tenure there was "deliberate delay" to provide a letter of intent to Sivasankaran.

The CBI, in its 71-page status report about the 2G scam said that during 2004-07, when Maran was telecom minister, a Chennai base telecom promoter (Sivasankaran) was forced to sell the stake in Aircel to a Malaysian firm.

The CBI also said that there did seem to be "an element of coercion" in the manner in which Aircel was sold to Ananda Krishnan's Maxis empire.

The investigating agency said a probe into all irregularities in spectrum allocation during 2001-08 will be completed within three months.

The CBI and the Enforcement Directorate informed the apex court that they have conducted probe in seven destinations in foreign countries and tracking the money trail could take up to 18 more months.

The CBI in its report has also questioned the propriety of corporate affairs ministry as well as others to comment on the status of relationship between Loop Telecom and Essar. (ANI)

Andy Murray will play Rafael Nadal

Andy Murray will play Rafael Nadal in Sunday's final of the Japan Open after a comfortable win over David Ferrer.

The British number one beat the Spaniard 6-2 6-3 to remain on course for a second successive title after winning the Thailand Open last week.

Defending champion Nadal beat American Mardy Fish 7-5 6-1 in the last four.

Murray broke his opponent three times in total as he raced to victory in one hour 21 minutes.

Looking ahead to Sunday's final he added: "I think he's played some very good tennis the last couple of matches. He's always tough. He won here last year, so he likes the conditions."

Nadal faced a tougher task in his semi-final against world number eight Mardy Fish.

"I hope that I can play a fantastic match [tomorrow]," said the top seed.

"My opponent will be very difficult, so I have to play my best match if I want to win the tournament with the title.

"But for me, being in the final here is a very, very good result. I'm very happy about it. I'll just try to do my best and enjoy a difficult match," he added.