Bees Trained as Bomb Sniffers

Inscentinel Ltd. has found a way to use honeybees as detectors in bomb-sniffing machines. The bees are first trained and then literally harnessed into a special cassette to aid in the process of biochemical molecular recognition.
Honeybees are trained to recognize particular odors (for example, minute traces of explosive compounds), and then to associate that smell with a food reward. Bees are able to recognize odors that are as faint as only a few parts per trillion in an air sample. When the bees detect the special odor, they extend their proboscis in expectation of receiving food.
Trained bees are then carefully strapped into a cartidge. A sample of air is introduced into their little chamber.
A digital camera watches the bees carefully; if the bees detect a trace of the odor that they have been trained to recognize, image recognition software will see the bees extend their proboscis in the camera image. The machine then reports a "positive" finding of that chemical substance to the human operator.
Once the bees have finished their "shift," they are returned to their hive. The company prides itself on keeping its bees happy and healthy.
Researchers seem to be finding more and more reasons to partner with insects.

Scientists Invent Gum That Won't Stick to Your Shoe

scientists have invented nonstick gum.
Clean Gum, as it is called, supposedly can be easily removed from shoes and pavement (as well as from hair, skin, and clothes). So walk down the street without fear of ruining your favorite shoes.
Results from preliminary tests, announced today at the annual BA Festival of Science held at the University of York, UK, also indicate that the gum will degrade naturally in water.
"The advantage of our Clean Gum is that it has great taste, it is easy to remove and has the potential to be environmentally degradable," said Terence Cosgrove of the University of Bristol in England and a scientist for the company, Revolymer, that created the gum.
Researchers pitted Clean Gum against commercial gums by sticking them to the pavement on local streets and seeing which gums were easier to remove. The commercial gums remained stuck to the pavement three out of four times, while in all tests, Clean Gum was removed within 24 hours by natural events.
The trick to decreasing the stickiness of the gum was to add a polymer that made it less adhesive to most of the surfaces that the chewy stuff tends to stick to.
Revolymer plans to market Clean Gum commercially and launch the product in 2008.

ANTI MATTER : Drinkable and Goes Down Easy

Antimatter is an energy drink using “spaceflight-enriched vitamin power complex”. Another product is purified water with spaceflight-enriched electrolytes. The drinks are making a big splash.An additional MEI beverage offering is Comet’s Tail Amber Ale using yeast that flew into space. It was premiered earlier this month at a popular Albuquerque brewery.
MEI has announced an ACCESS for Education program too, donating payload space on every MEI launch. Payload space will be dedicated to a full spectrum of activities ranging from K-12 inspirational experiments…to next generation commercial space demonstration payloads developed by U.S. universities.