This is one for those World of Warcraft gamers who can’t be bothered by things like personal hygiene. Scientists have developed clothing with special molecules that repel water and oil and also kill bacteria.

The materials were designed for the United States Air Force for use in under garments. The t-shirts and underwear can be worn for several weeks without changing.

Before you dismiss this technology as trivial you should learn of the reasons behind the development. According to Jeff Owens, one of the researchers of the technology, “During Desert Storm, most casualties were from bacterial infections-not accidents or friendly fire. We treated underwear for soldiers who tested them for several weeks and found they remained hygienic. They also helped clear up some skin complaints.”

So the self cleaning or more aptly described dirt and germ repelling under garments can …

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, has released some detailed information about a literal rocket launch in a project that has been under wraps since it’s inception over 6 years ago.

Goddard, a 50 foot tall rocket, lifted off under it’s own power, flew about 285 feet into the air and then landed less than a minute later, seemingly with out a hitch. Multiple photos and a video of the rocket launch can be found at the Blue Origin web site. The video shows the full rocket launch and landing, and there are pictures of the rocket and the event of the launch on November 13, 2006.

The Blue Origin website leads off with a pitch for engineering applicants to join the Blue Origin team. “We’re working, patiently and step-by-step, to lower the cost of spaceflight so that many people can afford to …

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have patented a possible cure for cancer that involves sugar and fat. It’s not a chocolate chip cookie, it’s a designer molecule made of sugars and fatty acids.

Researchers urged caution as the treatment has not been tested on animals or humans yet. However, researchers are optimistic for its success.

The new substance was synthesized from a combination of two molecules. The first is a short chain fatty acid known as butyrate. Butyrate, known for over two decades to restore healthy cell function, has been shown to slow the rate of cancer. However, finding a way to deliver Butyrate to cells has been a problem.

The breakthrough comes by combining butyrate with the sugar N-acetyl-D-mannosamine otherwise known as ManNAc. The hybrid molecule can infiltrate a cell with ease …

Molecules that have the peculiar characteristic of being extra sensitive to light could have wide ranging implications on the field of computing.

The Kuzyk Limit was first theorized by Washington State University Professor Mark Kuzyk in 1999. Kuzyk’s find showed how molecules interacted with light and showed the possibility of creating molecules that could be much more reactive than any material at that time.

A Chinese chemist Yuxia Zhao was the first to synthesize such a molecule at the Chinese academy of science. The molecules react up to fifty percent more than any previously known material.

The synthesized material is known as a chromophore. When light hits a chromophore it releases electrons that are bright enough to be seen. Common examples of such molecules include ingredients in paint and food coloring.

Practical uses for the technology include almost any …

This is the ATLAS Detector, home of Barrel Toroid – the largest superconducting magnet ever built. The barrel-shaped magnet provides the magnetic field for ATLAS, a particle detector at CERN1′s Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

The Barrel Toroid consists of eight precisely aligned rectangular-shaped superconducting coils measuring 5m wide, 25m long and weighing 100 tonnes. The magnet will be used in ATLAS to bend the paths of charged particles produced in collisions at the Collider.

The goal of ATLAS is to answer questions like: why particles have mass, what is the unknown 96% of the Universe made of, and why Nature prefers matter to antimatter.

The magnet was recently powered up to its nominal operating conditions on the first attempt. Still in development by over 1800 scientists from 165 universities and laboratories, the new particle accelerator is scheduled to turn on and start taking data in …