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Salt water can indeed burn when exposed to a certain kind of radio wave, a university chemist has confirmed. Rustum Roy of Pennsylvania State University verified earlier this month that the radio waves break down the water into its constituent components, allowing the resulting freed hydrogen and oxygen to catch fire.

John Kanzius of Sanibel, Florida, first happened upon the phenomenon earlier this year when running experiments with a radio frequency generator he designed to help zap cancer cells.

When he trained the radio waves on a test tube of salt water, it produced an unexpected spark, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Curious, Kanzius and colleagues decided to ignite the water with a match. The water lit and kept burning as long as it remained in the radio frequency field.

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Courtesy of National Geographic

A computer that carries out calculations using tiny bubbles instead of electricity has been developed by US researchers.

The “microfluidic” computer performs calculation by squeezing bubbles through tiny channels etched into a chip. It can perform all of the logical operations needed to make a general-purpose computer.

In practice, such a computer would be much bigger than a PC and about a thousand times slower. Nevertheless, the bubble-based computer could lead to improved microfluidic technology for chemical analysis, say its designers…read more

LONDON (Reuters) - A paralyzed man using a new brain sensor has been able to move a computer cursor, open e-mail and control a robotic device simply by thinking about doing it, a team of scientists said on Wednesday.

They believe the BrainGate sensor, which involves implanting electrodes in the brain, could offer new hope to people paralyzed by injuries or illnesses…read more

Mexico City’s UNAM University has opened the world’s largest “robotic hospital” — where medical students practice on everything from delivering a baby from a robotic dummy to injecting the arm of a plastic toddler…read more

“In an ongoing effort to stop the spread of HIV, scientists in Australia have discovered that crocodiles can fight off HIV and kill the virus. This is a major boon to medicine because the crocodile serum can also fight things that are penicillin resistant such as staphylococcus aureus.”

“For the first time ever, those who have been blind since birth will have a chance to see the world. It’s still in the early stages, but this is a giant leap forward in medical science.” From the linked BBC article: “U.S scientists have designed a bionic eye to allow blind people to see again. It comprises a computer chip that sits in the back of the individual’s eye, linked up to a mini video camera built into glasses that they wear. Images captured by the camera are beamed to the chip, which translates them into impulses that the brain can interpret.” The BBC has more…

Cousteau’s grandson has built a robotic replica of a great white shark to better observe these animals in their natural environment. The robot-slash-submarine is able to mingle with the great white, and not draw their attention, thanks to a closed-circuit pneumatic propulsion system and cleverly disguised cameras. Do not miss the nice pictures next to the Wired article.