Tractor Beams might be a reality: the idea is be based on negative radiation pressure, using just light. In order to drag an object, negative pressure is needed. Previous ideas implemented gravitational pressure, heating air or inducing electrical or magnetic charges in objects. The latest proposal implements pressure differences created by light. This is already used in experiments as optical tweezers and can be used for making "tractor beams" thanks to unusual materials with negative refractive index. The mechanism depends on light that has group velocity and phase velocity travelling in opposite directions, which are able to create negative pressure. The applications can also span into the medical field, where it can be implemented in lung surgery as suction device.
Fuel cell runs on brain power: the very idea under The Matrix movie might be right after all. Of course, with its limits. Scientists at MIT have developed an implantable fuel cell that generates electricity from the cerebrospinal fluid around the brain through glucose oxidation. This cell, unfortunately, with its hundreds of microwatts produced would not be able to power an electrical device through our body, but it can be a first step to more powerful machine being able to allow paralized patients to regain control of their arm and legs. The cell, which looks like a computer chip, strips electrons off the glucose and uses them to generate electricity.
Fracking can cause Earthquakes: the National Research Council reports that fracking is linked to an increase in earthquakes magnitude and can even anticipate earthquakes which were due at a later time. The practice of fracking consist in pumping pressurised water and chemicals into cracks in the terrain and can create conducts to oil or gas reservoir. Shall we stop fracking then? Not really, as it is not the practice of fracking itself which causes the increase quakes chance, but the fact that the wastewater is stored into deep sandstone or other formations for permanent disposal, instead that on the surface. Most troubling, the committee found that there is no set of industry best practice in the operation, which might complicate the action of establishing rules on it.
Change in exoplanet atmosphere: an international team of astronomers detected an abrupt change in an exoplanet atmosphere, using data from Hubble telescope. This exoplanet has been named HD 189733b and it was discovered in 2010 and classified as a gas giant bigger than Jupiter with an orbit very close to its sun, making it just a bit more than 2 Earth days. This incandescent fast ball of gas has been recently discovered to lose part of its atmosphere at rates of a thousand of tons a second! This was due to a solar flare, which due to the proximity of the planet made this catastrophic change to happen! The planet will still be a gas giant, since that much loss in gas is like a blow of wind for such big planets, but it was the first time we detected such a phenomenon and it is interesting to study planets with sudden changes in their atmosphere.
Chinese crew in space: for the first time in history, on June 17 the Chinese launched and docked a crewed capsule in space. It is only the third nation being able to do that (US and Russia being ahead). This is a fantastic progress for Chinese space exploration and surely means that money and effort have been put to achieve it, and will be in the future. On the other side, Chinese effort in space exploration can be a worrying sign of a race similar to the one between US and Russia during the cold war. There is no doubt that it brings innovation, but space was becoming a peaceful target, especially with the construction of the ISS. It is good to know that there is another country being able to perform manned missions into space, especially now that cuts in NASA budget are killing most of the space missions in the US. Hopefully, China will be collaborative to space exploration with other nations, rather than an adversary.
