New system to give better planet data

Researchers at the Rochester Institute of Technology and MIT are developing a new generation of light detection and ranging (Lidar) technology to map planetary bodies in more detail than ever before, says Technology Review.

These maps could help further our goals to explore outer space by providing more data about the geography and topography of the planet so that landing sites can be selected for future missions. The advanced Lidar system could also be used to analyse the atmosphere on other planets to find out critical information about biohazards, wind speed, and temperature.

Lidar works on a similar principle to radar, but through the use of lasers rather than radio waves. The laser is shot at an object, and the time delay between the pulse and the reflection is measured in order to accurately gauge the distance. The advantages of Lidar over radar are twofold: Lidar can be used to measure smaller objects, and it works on a greater variety of materials.

StatoilHydro has decided to build the world's first full-scale floating wind turbine, Hywind, and test it over a two-year period offshore Karmoy, says Statoilhydro.com.

The company is investing approximately 400 million Norwegian krone. Start-up is planned for autumn 2009.

The project combines known technology in an innovative way. A 2.3 MW wind turbine is attached to the top of a so-called Spar buoy, a solution familiar from production platforms and offshore loading buoys.

New approaches to modelling the brain could improve electrical-stimulation therapies, reveals Technology Review.

The same type of modelling used by meteorologists to forecast the weather could help scientists design better electrical-stimulation therapies for the brain. These therapies, which involve sending small jolts of electricity to specific neural targets, are currently in use for both Parkinson's and epilepsy, two neurological diseases in which drugs have had limited success.

Scientists theorise that electrical stimulation blocks abnormal electrical patterns that arise with different diseases, but little is known about how these devices actually work. As use of this technology grows, it is becoming increasingly important for scientists to develop more precise ways to target aberrant brain activity while leaving normal neural communication intact.