New dental nanocomposite materials are of paramount importance in dentistry due to their suitable physical and mechanical properties.

A colorless and endurable dental nanocomposite material has been produced in the Medical Engineering School of Amir Kabir University of Technology.
The project manager said that these dental nanocomposite materials are of paramount importance in dentistry due to their suitable physical and mechanical properties, as well as beauty and having no side effect and ease of application, Mehr News Agency said.
Seyyed Shahabeddin Moser Sasa’ani, master of medical engineering, noted that these nanocomposite materials are mostly used for fillings.
“In usual methods for baking the nanocomposite materials the ordinary methods such as halogen lamps are used. The time required for baking is much higher compared with the present method,“ he added.
In another development, the cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) apparatus was produced by a company situated in Khorasan Science and Technology Park in Mashhad.
It is for the first time in Iran that such equipment is domestically produced and it costs much lower in comparison with foreign equipment.
The project ranked first in the Sixth Ferdowsi Scientific and Research Festival in the field of medical engineering projects.
CPR is an emergency procedure involving chest compressions (pressing down on the chest) and artificial respiration.

Stanford researchers have found a way to use silicon nanowires to reinvent the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power laptops, iPods, video cameras, cellphones, and countless other devices.
The new version, developed through research led by Yi Cui, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, produces 10 times the amount of electricity of existing lithium-ion, known as Li-ion, batteries, ScienceDaily reported.
A laptop that now runs on battery for two hours could operate for 20 hours, a boon to ocean-hopping business travelers.
“It’s not a small improvement,“ Cui said. “It’s a revolutionary development.“
The greatly expanded storage capacity could make Li-ion batteries attractive to electric car manufacturers. Cui suggested that they could also be used in homes or offices to store electricity generated by rooftop solar panels.
“Given the mature infrastructure behind silicon, this new technology can be pushed to real life quickly,“ Cui said.
The electrical storage capacity of a Li-ion battery is limited by how much lithium can be held in the battery’s anode, which is typically made of carbon. Silicon has a much higher capacity than carbon, but also has a drawback.
Silicon placed in a battery swells as it absorbs positively charged lithium atoms during charging, then shrinks during use (i.e., when playing your iPod) as the lithium is drawn out of the silicon.
This expand/shrink cycle typically causes the silicon (often in the form of particles or a thin film) to pulverize, degrading the performance of the battery.
Cui’s battery gets around this problem with nanotechnology. The lithium is stored in a forest of tiny silicon nanowires, each with a diameter one-thousandth the thickness of a sheet of paper. The nanowires inflate four times their normal size as they soak up lithium. But, unlike other silicon shapes, they do not fracture.
Research on silicon in batteries began three decades ago. Candace Chan, a graduate student of Cui, explained, “The people kind of gave up on it because the capacity wasn’t high enough and the cycle life wasn’t good enough. And it was just because of the shape they were using. It was just too big, and they couldn’t undergo the volume changes.“
Then, along came silicon nanowires. “We just kind of put them together,“ Chan said.
For their experiments, Chan grew the nanowires on a stainless steel substrate, providing an excellent electrical connection. “It was a fantastic moment when Candace told me it was working,“ Cui said.

In 1609, Galileo used a primitive telescope to discover spots on the Sun, craters and peaks on the surface of the Moon.

The United Nations has proclaimed 2009 to be the International Year of Astronomy to mark the 400th anniversary of observations by Galileo that revolutionized understanding of the cosmos, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) said here on Dec. 20.
According to AFP, the initiative, to be hosted by the IAU and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), was approved by the UN in response to a request by Italy, where the great astronomer was born, it said.
Ninety-nine countries and 14 organizations have so far signed up to participate in the scheme, which will seek to promote public involvement in skywatching, especially by the young.
“IYA 2009 will highlight global cooperation for peaceful purposes--the search for our cosmic origin and our common heritage which connect all citizens of planet Earth,“ the IAU added.
In 1609, Galileo used a primitive telescope to discover spots on the Sun, craters and peaks on the surface of the Moon and satellites orbiting Jupiter.
His findings confirmed Copernicus’s theory that the planets orbited the Sun rather than the Earth, but he incurred the wrath of the Roman Catholic Church by going against its doctrine of celestial mechanics.
Galileo was convicted of heresy by the Inquisition and was forced to recant his findings to avoid being burned at the stake. He spent the last eight years of his life under house arrest.
In 1992, Pope John Paul II, after a 13-year investigation, said the Church had erred but argued that 17th-century theologians were working with the best knowledge available to them at the time.

A new study tested the effects of a wound dressing created with hair follicular cells. The findings reveal that skin substitutes using living hair cells can increase wound healing.
Researchers applied the technique to wound surfaces on mice. Subjects that were administered this biological dressing produced two times better wound closure than the control set, according to ScienceDaily.
The technique not only provides the proper environment for cell attachment and growth, but also serves as an effective biodressing to keep wounds moist and maintain structural strength during healing.
“This technique shows promise as a biological dressing that is not only efficient and strong but also can be produced with less time and effort,“ says Jung Chul Kim, lead author of the study.
The use of skin substitutes for wound healing has suffered setbacks in recent years due to the expensive price.
However, this method of wound dressing improves early-stage wound healing and reduces the time between preparation and patient use.

The overall winner was the robot arm developed by Fanuc.

A robotic firefighter and a walking android have been trumped by an industrial mechanical arm to win a Japanese government-run competition.
The advanced assembly-line robotic arms, made by industry specialist Fanuc, won Robot of the Year, according to BBC.
The arms have been built for accurately sorting items on conveyor belts use in the food and drug industries.
The awards, set up in 2006 to promote robotics, have previously honored a furry seal for use by the elderly.
Paro, as the robot mammal was known, was fitted with sensors beneath its fur and whiskers that allow it to respond to petting and was developed for use in nursing homes.
The awards were set up by the government to capitalize on Japan’s expertise in robotics research. This year’s prize was announced at a ceremony in Tokyo.
Entries included both industrial and academic research tools. Amongst the 80 finalists was the educational Mindstorms software and robot parts made by Danish toy-maker Lego.
The kits, which allow children to build robots, were co-developed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and are often used as a research tool.
Another academic collaboration selected for the competition was a robot called Eve, designed by researchers at Nagoya University.
The machine consists of a transparent body packed with intertwining rubber tubing and is designed to help doctors hone their skills for surgery on blood vessels.
If users are too enthusiastic when using catheter in the simulated blood vessels the robot yelps: “That doesn’t feel good.“
Other finalists included a 60 centimeter (24 inch) tall humanoid walking and dancing robot developed by Fujitsu and used by researchers at Nasa amongst others to aid research into artificial intelligence.
Machinery-maker Komatsu also showed off its fire-extinguishing robot tank that can be remotely controlled. The machine can spray 5,000 liters (1,300 gallons) of water up to 100 meters (110 yards) and can also be used as a bomb disposal unit.
But the overall winner was a range of three robotic arms developed by Fanuc robots, selected for its practicality.
The articulated limbs use a camera to analyze objects moving on a conveyor belt and a suction cup to pick them up.
They have been designed for us in the food and pharmaceutical industry where precision and cleanliness are paramount.

It’s scary being a little, tasty squirrel, but some species of the rodents have come up with an intimidating camouflage--snake smells.
According to Reuters, California ground squirrels and rock squirrels chew up rattlesnake skin and smear it on their fur to mask their scent, a team at the University of California Davis reported.
“They’re turning the tables on the snake,“ Donald Owings, a professor of psychology who helped lead the research, said in a statement.
Barbara Clucas, a graduate student in animal behavior, watched ground squirrels and rock squirrels chewing up pieces of skin shed by snakes and then licking their fur.
The scent probably helps to mask the squirrel’s own scent, especially when the animals are asleep in their burrows, they wrote in the journal Animal Behavior.

Men are naturally more comedic than women because of the male hormone testosterone, an expert claims.
According to BBC, men make more gags than women and their jokes tend to be more aggressive, Professor Sam Shuster, of Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, says.
The unicycling doctor observed how the genders reacted to his amusing hobby.
Women tended to make encouraging, praising comments, while men jeered. The most aggressive were young men, he told the British Medical Journal.
Previous findings have suggested women and men differ in how they use and appreciate humor.
Women tend to tell fewer jokes than men and male comedians outnumber female ones.
Research suggests men are more likely to use humor aggressively by making others the butt of the joke.
And aggression--generally considered to be a more masculine trait--has been linked by some to testosterone exposure in the womb.
Professor Shuster believes humor develops from aggression caused by male hormones.
He documented the reaction of over 400 individuals to his unicycling antics through the streets of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Almost half of people responded verbally--more being men. Very few of the women made comic or snide remarks, while 75 percent of the men attempted comedy--mostly shouting out “Lost your wheel?“, for example.
Often the men’s comments were mocking and intended as a put-down. Young men in cars were particularly aggressive--they lowered their windows and shouted abusively.
This type of behavior decreased among older men however, who tended to offer more admiring comments, much like the women.
“The idea that unicycling is intrinsically funny does not explain the findings,“ said Professor Shuster.
The simplest explanation, he says, is the effect of male hormones such as testosterone.
“The difference between the men and women was absolutely remarkable and consistent,“ said Professor Shuster.
“At 11-13 years, the boys began to get really aggressive. Into puberty, the aggression became more marked, then it changed into a form of joke. The men were snide.“
The initial aggressive intent seems to become channeled into a more subtle and sophisticated joke, so the aggression is hidden by wit, explained Professor Shuster.

Exposure to secondhand smoke in early infancy can boost a child’s risk of developing allergies, Swedish researchers say.
A team at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, analyzed questionnaires filled out by the parents of more than 4,000 families, HealthDay reported.
The parents filled out the questionnaires when their children were ages two months, 12 months, 2 years and 4 years.
In addition, the researchers collected blood samples from more than 2,500 children at the age of 4 to check for the presence of immunoglobulin E (IgE), which is released by the immune system in response to allergens. High levels of IgE indicate sensitization to allergens.
About 8 percent of the mother smoked throughout their pregnancy, and about 12 percent smoked during part of their pregnancy, but the researchers found no evidence that smoking during pregnancy affected a child’s risk of becoming sensitized to certain allergens.
About 20 percent of parents smoked after their baby was born, and about 4 percent of the children were exposed to secondhand smoke from both parents.
Overall, 25 percent of the children had high IgE levels by the time they were 4 years old, with 15 percent allergic to inhaled allergens, 16 percent allergic to food allergens, and 7 percent allergic to both types of allergens.
Compared to children of nonsmokers, children exposed to secondhand smoke during early infancy were almost twice as likely to be allergic to inhaled allergens, such as pet dander, and about 50 percent more likely to have food allergies.