Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have developed nanocomposites that boost the capacity of lithium ion batteries by five times by hanging nanometer-sized silicon particles on trees of carbon black, which then self-assemble into porous micron-sized spheres. The resulting electrode remains stable due to the durable carbon-superstructure that prevents cracking, but benefits from the increased surface area afforded by the smaller silicon nanoparticles. (Source: http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=223800317)

Computational analysis of existing data bases can dramatically shorten the time required to discover the specific combination of new genes involved in certain biological processes, Stanford University researchers have found. The analytic methods can provide clues about where researchers should look next, such as finding new genes that play a role in developing cancers. More info: Stanford School of Medicine (Source: )

The Federal Communications Commission announced on Monday its long-awaited plan to bring broadband Internet connections to every home and business in the United States. It is aimed at raising the portion of people with high-speed Internet connections to 90 percent, from the current 65 percent, over the next decade and significantly increasing the connection speeds of homes with such service by installing thousands of miles of new fiber-optic cable and erecting many cellphone towers. The FCC's plan envisions bringing 100-megabit-per-second access to 100 million homes by 2020, as well as 1 gigabit-per-second connections to libraries and schools. (Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/16/AR2010031600008.html)

Tao Xie at General Motors has twisted and stretched a Nafion strip into three distinct shapes, and found that it will revert to each shape at the appropriate temperature. Nafion is polymer material used in some fuel cells. Previously the best shape-memory polymers were able to remember only two shapes. (Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20527515.500-shapeshifting-polymer-pulls-off-amazing-memory-tricks.html)

Researchers at Korea University in Seoul have demonstrated a prototype of a new biomonitoring system that transmits data through the body, replacing wires and minimizing the need for batteries. In a test, they transmitted data at a rate of 10 megabits per second through a person's arm, using a metal electrode coated with a flexible silicon-rich polymer. The Korean team is working with a large electronics manufacturer to develop health-monitoring networks using the new electrodes. Future versions could be embedded beneath the skin for long-term monitoring applications, such as electrocardiography (ECG) or electroencephalography (EEG). (Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18648-human-arm-transmits-broadband.html)

Researchers at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor have found that a memristor can behave uncannily like the junctions between neurons in the brain. A memristor is a resistor with a memory -- its resistance at any moment depends on the last voltage it experienced, so its behavior can be used to recall past voltages. This is analogous to the way a synapse's electrical behavior is dependent on its past activity. (Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20527515.900-electronics-missing-link-brings-neural-computing-closer.html)

This summer, Rutgers University plans to offer "Special Topics in Sociology: Singularity Studies, the first accredited college course on the Singularity and associated technologies. The three-credit summer course will feature online lectures and discussions every Monday and Wednesday evening throughout the summer and is available to students internationally. The textbook will be The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology by Ray Kurzweil, supplemented by online articles appropriate to individual lectures. The course will feature online interviews with leading futurists and technologists around the world exploring the social implications of these anticipated developments. Topics include future studies and forecasting, finance and entrepreneurship, networks and computing systems, biotechnology and informatics, nanotechnology, neuroscience and human enhancement, artificial intelligence and robotics, energy and ecological systems, and space and physical sciences. The course will be taught by a father-son team, Ben and Ted Goertzel. Ben is the Director of Applied Research for the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence and an External Research Professor at Xiamen University in China. He also heads up two startup companies, Novamente LLC and Biomind LLC, has written several books on artificial intelligence and related topics, and is an advisor to the AI & Robotics Track at Singularity University. Ted, Ben's father, is a sociology professor at Rutgers who regularly teaches a Cyberspace and Society course and is author or co-author of numerous books on sociology and science. Students and guest speakers will be recruited internationally. The sessions will be recorded and available for viewing during the semester via the Elluminate system. More info: Singularity Studies: The Future of Humanity in the Age of Superhuman Artificial Intelligence (Source: )

Twitter's Evan Williams has announced @platform, which will allow publishers to integrate Twitter deeper into their sites. Users will be able to follow a site's or columnist's feed without every having to leave the site, and publishers will be able to find more followers. (Source: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/twitter_announces_anywhere_publishers_platform.php)

In a scene out of the movie Gattaca, researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder have matched three individuals to keyboards they used, based on the genetic makeup of microbes on their skin -- their microbiome. The approach, when developed more fully, could potentially provide information where existing forensic techniques fall short, says Martin Blaser, a professor of medicine and microbiology at New York University. (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/24793/?nlid=2820&a;=f)