Inexpensive chips harvest mechanical energy to charge batteries for wireless sensors.

MicroGen Systems, a startup based in Ithaca, New York, is developing energy-harvesting chips designed to power wireless sensors like those used to monitor tire pressure and environmental conditions. The chips convert the energy from environmental vibrations into electricity that's then used to charge a small battery. The chips could eliminate the need to replace batteries in these devices, which today requires a trip to a mechanic or, for networks of sensors that are widely distributed, a lot of legwork.

The experimental therapy could ultimately serve as a seek-and-destroy treatment for metastatic cancer.

A single injection of a virus that has been genetically engineered to kill cancer cells can reliably infect tumors and leave healthy tissue unharmed, according to an early stage trial of 23 patients with metastatic cancers. The findings help lay the groundwork for a new type of cancer medicine using cancer-killing viruses.

Researchers injected different doses of the virus into patients with different types of metastatic cancers. After eight to 10 days, they biopsied tumor tissue from each patient and found that the virus was replicating itself in the tumors of seven of the eight patients who had received the highest dose, with no serious side effects.

A new study reveals the influence of large RNA molecules in controlling stem cells.

RNA molecules have long been known for their role in translating genes to proteins inside a cell, but more recently, scientists have found large numbers of RNA molecules that don't code for proteins but seem to have other cellular roles. Most research in mammals has focused on tiny RNA molecules called microRNAs, but a new study, published this week in Nature, describes the far-reaching effects of much larger and relatively unstudied RNA molecules called lincRNAs (short for large intergenic noncoding RNAs). The study identifies lincRNAs that play a role in the function of embryonic stem cells, and suggests trying to use lincRNAs to manipulate these cells to spawn other cell types.

A nanopore membrane creates faster, surer cultures for everything from hospital diagnostics to water-quality checks.

A new type of diagnostic could let hospital laboratories identify the presence of dangerous bacteria up to five times faster than conventional methods. The test could reduce unnecessary antibiotic use and provide more reliable water-quality test results. The key to the process is a membrane with nanosized pores, which enable rapid growth and identification of live organisms.

Scientists use light to direct gene expression in mice.

Results: Researchers have developed a way to control gene expression with light. In cultured cells, the timing and intensity of light controlled both how much protein the target gene produced and when the production took place. When light-controlled cells were implanted in diabetic mice, researchers were able to manipulate the animals' insulin levels.

Nanotube anodes could lead to higher-energy, faster-charging batteries for cell phones and notebooks.

Lithium-ion batteries could last longer if their electrodes stored more charge. Korean researchers have now made a new type of anode that holds three times more charge than the conventional graphite anodes used in batteries.

The new anode is made of germanium nanotubes. It charges and discharges five times faster than previously reported silicon anodes, lasts through twice as many charging cycles, and is easier to fabricate.

Adding solar cells to screens could prolong the battery life of many electronic gadgets.

Adding solar cells to liquid-crystal displays could help recover a significant amount of energy that's ordinarily wasted in powering them. Two research groups have created light filters that double as photovoltaic cells, a trick that could boost the battery life of phones and laptops.

Over 90 percent of the displays sold this year will use liquid-crystal display (LCD) technology. LCDs are, however, tremendously inefficient, converting only about 5 percent of the light produced by a backlight into a viewable image. The LCD in a notebook computer consumes one-third of its power.

A new study uses optogenetics to control beating heart cells, pointing the way toward a better pacemaker.

In the past few years optogenetics, using a combination of genetic manipulation and simple pulses of light, has made it possible to control cells in the brain with astonishing precision—altering brain activity and even behavior in animals.

Now scientists are starting to look beyond the brain as they explore the technology's potential applications. A recent study in Circulation: Arrhythmia & Electrophysiology showed how modified cells that respond to low-energy blue light can be used to stimulate heart tissue to beat.

In acquiring Innovalight, DuPont will expand its solar business and develop new ways to make solar cells.

DuPont just bought Innovalight, a company that makes silicon ink that increases the efficiency of certain types of solar cells. The acquisition will help DuPont double the size of its $1 billion solar materials business and enable it to develop ways to make cheaper, highly efficient solar cells.

DuPont is already one of the largest suppliers of solar panel materials, selling products including the silver paste used to make electrical contacts on solar cells, and polymers and resins for sealing solar cells against the elements.

An optical waveguide is an important step toward a completely new kind of computer.

A new way of controlling the path that light takes as it passes through silicon could help overcome one of the big obstacles to making an optical, rather than electronic, computer circuit. Researchers at Caltech and the University of California, San Diego, have taken a step toward a device that prevents light signals from reflecting back and causing errors in optical circuits.