Tech Scrape

Lithium sulfur promises a longer charge, and safer operation, compared to standard lithium batteries. Researchers at Stanford University have developed an electrode that can be used to make more energy-dense lithium-sulfur batteries. If issues surrounding life-cycle deterioration can be addressed, the battery could resolve performance and safety issues limiting the spread of longer-lasting batteries in hybrid and electric vehicles.

The company hopes a “smart pedal” will help defuse criticism. In the wake of a massive public-relations nightmare involving brake problems in its cars, Toyota is investigating two more reports this week of unintended acceleration in its vehicles. Both cases involved Priuses: one in Harrison, NY, that resulted in a crash, and the other on an interstate east of San Diego.

A novel optical device could ultimately be used to treat neurological disease. Researchers at Medtronic are developing a prototype neural implant that uses light to alter the behavior of neurons in the brain. The device is based on the emerging science of optogenetic neuromodulation, in which specific brain cells are genetically engineered to respond to light. Medtronic, the world’s largest manufacturer of biomedical technologies, aims to use the device to better understand how electrical therapies, currently used to treat Parkinson’s and other disorders, assuage symptoms of these diseases. Medtronic scientists say they will use the findings to improve the electrical stimulators the company already sells, but others ultimately hope to use optical therapies directly as treatments.

Rodents could be an effective model for researchers looking for new hepatitis drugs. Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have engineered a mouse with a mostly human liver by injecting human liver cells, or hepatocytes, into genetically engineered mice. Researchers say the mouse/human chimera could serve as a new model for discovering drugs for viral hepatitis, a disease that has been notoriously difficult to replicate and study in the lab. The team exposed the altered mice to hepatitis B and C viruses and, after treating the rodents with conventional drugs, found that the mice responded much like human patients.

New technology being tested could provide a noninvasive approach to treating stroke. An ultrasound device designed to produce highly focused sound waves might one day be used to break up stroke-causing blood clots in the brain without surgery or drugs. So far, the system has only been tested on clots in test tubes and animals, but researchers aim to start human tests by the end of 2011.

A system to detect brain chemicals may improve therapies for Parkinson’s and other disorders. Over the last decade, deep brain stimulation, in which an implanted electrode delivers targeted jolts of electricity, has given surgeons an entirely new way to treat challenging neurological diseases. More than 75,000 people have undergone the procedure for Parkinson’s and other disorders . But despite its success, scientists and surgeons know little about its actual effect on the brain or exactly why it works.

The project will capture CO 2 by using it to “loosen” the oil in existing wells. Could Texas, whose governor dismisses global warming and opposes climate legislation, deliver the world’s first carbon-neutral coal-fired power plant? That looks increasingly likely thanks to a $1.75 billion project in West Texas that received a signed agreement last week for a $350 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The new cells promise to be cheaper, more efficient, and even printable.

Do blogs and tweets help a company’s bottom line? An Austin-based startup thinks it has the answer.

Recombining fragments of known drugs could lead to a more robust antiviral for H1N1 and other flu variants.