Electromagnetically induced transparency could create a quantum internet, quantum memes

The transistor ushered the modern world of gadgets that we all love, and now optical transistors could help to bring us to the proper next generation of the internet. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics have demonstrated successful electromagnetically induced transparency, or EIT, which is effectively a way of enabling one beam of light to control another. In their experiments, researchers used a rubidium atom to indicate state, blocking a beam of light in one direction but, when a laser hit it at a perpendicular angle, turning it transparent to allow the first beam through

Space Adventures undercuts Virgin Galactic — announces $100,000 space tourism flight

Space tourism is something we here at Engadget have always been pretty fond of in theory — it is the final frontier, after all — but the prohibitive (exorbitant, extravagant, ridiculous) $200,000 price tag on a Virgin Galactic flight pretty much ended any small hopes we ever harbored of getting on one. So, would a reduction of about 50 percent be enough to get us to sign up? That’s the question that Virginia-based Space Adventures is asking

World’s first remote heart surgery completed in Leicester, UK

In the past, we’ve seen robots remove brain tumors and even transplant a kidney or two, and now a cardiologist has completed the world’s first remote heart operation at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester, UK. Using the Remote Catheter Manipulation System built by New Jersey’s Catheter Robotics, Dr. Andre Ng was able to insert electrodes attached to catheters into the heart through blood vessels in the groin.

3D printer creates ice sculptures — just add water

Paper-mache , candy , and human cells have all been seen flowing through 3D printers for custom fabrication work, but students and faculty at Canada’s McGill University have a cheaper prototyping material: plain ol’ H20. They recently modified this Fab@Home Model 1 by replacing the soft goo extruders with a temperature-controlled water delivery system, and set about making decorative ice sculptures and a large beer mug for good measure. While the academic project is officially supposed to explore “economic alternatives to intricate 3D models of architectural objects,” we’re not sure architects will want much to do with prototypes that drip..

German researchers develop biotech sensor bracelet, disposable blood lab

Biochips — flexible, disposable plastic circuits that “compute” via chemical reaction — have been nearing reality for over a decade, but for obvious reasons we don’t always pay attention. German research institute Fraunhofer IZM has just convinced us it’s high time we did. This week, the organization announced that it’s on the verge of creating a lab-on-a-chip that can diagnose deep vein thrombosis from a single drop of blood, as well as a wristband that can measure body temperature, skin moisture and electromagnetic radiation using plastic chips and sensors only micrometers thick

Magnetic waves distort the brain’s ability to make moral judgments, tell which way is north

Morality isn’t a topic discussed ’round these parts too often, but you mix in the geniuses at MIT and a boatload of magnets , and well — you’ve got us interested. According to research conducted by neuroscientists at the institution, people’s views on morality can actually be swayed by interfering with activity in a specific brain region.

NC State’s refreshable Braille display could revolutionize reading for the blind

While many in Raleigh are wondering whatever happened to the glory days of 1983, Dr. Neil Di Spigna and company are doing far more productive things at NC State . It’s no secret that the holy grail of Braille is a tactile display that could change on a whim in order to give blind viewers a way to experience richer content (and lots more of it) when reading, but not until today have we been reasonably confident that such a goal was attainable.

IBM keeps light pulse bandwagon rolling, uses ‘em for chip-to-chip communication

Lenovo loves its red mousing nipple, Apple digs its aluminum and IBM adores those light pulses. Nearly two full years after we heard this very company touting breakthroughs in science thanks to a nanophotonic switch , in flies a similar technique from Yorktown Heights that could “greatly further energy efficient computing.” As the story goes, gurus at IBM have figured out how to replace electrical signals that communicate via copper wires between computer chips with tiny silicon circuits that chat using pulses of light. The device is called a nanophotonic avalanche photodetector, and according to Dr.

Scientists to bring piezoelectrics and rubber together to form flexible, wearable energy harvester

Piezoelectrics are nothing new — though most applications, they’ve proven to be far more theoretically useful than practical. Still, the technology is starting to move in a direction that could prove more applicable to everyday situations — and a new piezo material recently developed could really get the ball moving.

Facebook app now available for Zune HD

You’ve been up nights, we know, and now Microsoft has finally ended your torment: the long-promised Facebook application is now available for download to the Zune HD.

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