Technology News for March 26, 2008

Now, a futuristic floor rug lights up with each footstep
Students at London South Bank University have developed an electroluminescent rug that lights up when you step on it. ANI

New logging road threatens Sumatras largest peatland forest
A new investigative report has revealed that a new logging road in Riau Province, Indonesia, extends into Sumatras largest contiguous peatland forest, threatening the region and its wildlife like the Sumatran tiger. ANI

Why happiness and suffering are related in depression
Scientists have come a step further in understanding how happiness and suffering are related in depression by finding that anticipation of reward increases activity in a region of the brain implicated in conflict in people with the blues. ANI

Satellites help map soil carbon flux
Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee have integrated soil science data with remote sensing through satellites to report soil carbon flux resulting from land management changes. ANI

Scientists move a step closer in artificially mimicking photosynthesis
Scientists have moved a step closer in artificially mimicking photosynthesis by synthesizing a stable inorganic metal oxide cluster, which enables the fast and effective oxidation of water to oxygen. ANI

Indian origin scientist develops new mechanism for micro air vehicles
A scientist of Indian origin has developed a new mechanism which would be able to power a micro air vehicle that would not be affected by light gusts of wind. ANI

Scientists sequence flourbeetles genome
The red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum, a widespread pest for dried commodities such as corn, maize, rice, and flour, has become the first beetle and the first insect pest to have its genome sequenced. ANI

Special type of MRI can identify brain cancer early
According to a new study, a special type of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can depict changes in blood volume in the brain that often precede cancerous transformation of brain tumors. ANI

Humour is at least 35,000 years old
One-liners, jokes and comic tradition is not something which developed in the New Age, says a leading scientist, who suggests that the ability to be amused by lifes inevitable surprises goes back at least 35,000 years. ANI

Living upside-down has shaped spiders to save energy
Majority of land animals evolved to use the ground as the main support for their motion. But thats not the case with spiders, as they live, feed, breed and walk in an upside-down hanging position. And now, a group of researchers have investigated this peculiar lifestyle of the predatory invertebrate animals. ANI

Tibet is No.1 lithium producer in the world
The presence of the largest lithium mine in the Tibet Autonomous Region in China, has now made Tibet the No.1 area in the world in terms of prospective lithium reserves. ANI

Climate change might leave 120 million Indian and Bangladeshi people homeless
A new report has determined that increasing climate change could lead to a major human crisis for South Asia, with more than 120 million people from India and Bangladesh likely to become homeless by the end of this century. ANI