Popular Science App Integrates Augmented Reality

Popular Science has released a new app for the iPhone and iPad and also for Android, and this particular app, PopSci Interactive, is designed to help augment, not replace, the hardcopy edition of the magazine. The app is designed to work with the June issue, which is the magazine's annual "Invention Awards" issue (shown to the right). By hovering the iPhone, iPad, or Android smartphone's camera over the text of the magazine interviews, the device should begin streaming video of those interviews.

Note that this requires a camera, so it doesn't work with first generation iPads (like the one I own).

What do people think of this way of integrating technology into the magazine? Has anyone gotten their hands on the June 2012 issue to try it out yet? Is this the wave of the future or just a cool gimmick (or both)?

View the original article here

Popular Science App Integrates Augmented Reality

Popular Science has released a new app for the iPhone and iPad and also for Android, and this particular app, PopSci Interactive, is designed to help augment, not replace, the hardcopy edition of the magazine. The app is designed to work with the June issue, which is the magazine's annual "Invention Awards" issue (shown to the right). By hovering the iPhone, iPad, or Android smartphone's camera over the text of the magazine interviews, the device should begin streaming video of those interviews.

Note that this requires a camera, so it doesn't work with first generation iPads (like the one I own).

What do people think of this way of integrating technology into the magazine? Has anyone gotten their hands on the June 2012 issue to try it out yet? Is this the wave of the future or just a cool gimmick (or both)?

View the original article here

Two scientific articles on graphene-based sensors prove popular in the research community

The first article is on creating a glucose detector by combining graphene with a glucose-sensing enzyme and chitosan. Because graphene has a high surface-to-volume ratio and excellent electron conductivity, the researchers immobilized enzymes in graphene/chitosan nanocomposite film and demonstrated the excellent sensitivity and stability for measuring glucose. This article, in Biosensors and Bioelectronics in 2009, has been cited 128 times, and is in the list of most-cite articles of the journal.

In another popular article, the authors reviewed graphene-based sensors. They covered the fundamental science, including how electrons move between the graphene electrode and the enzyme without mediators. They also discuss graphene-based electrodes for detecting dopamine and other biomolecules for industrial and clinical uses. Scientists have cited the paper 123 times, and it was the second most accessed article in Wiley's Electroanalysis in February 2012.

More information: Shao Y, J et al.  2010.  "Graphene Based Electrochemical Sensors and Biosensors: A Review."  Electroanalysis 22(10):1027-1036.  doi:10.1002/elan.200900571

Kang X, et al.  2009.  "Glucose Oxidase-Graphene-Chitosan Modified Electrode for Direct Electrochemistry and Glucose Sensing."  Biosensors and Bioelectronics 25(4):901-905.  doi:10.1016/j.bios.2009.09.004

Provided by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (news : web)

View the original article here