The Nature of Nothingness - New Scientist

 

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Did Renaissance painters 'cheat' with optical aids? - Samuel Reich, NewScientist

"IT IS one of the most provocative suggestions in art history: did some Renaissance artists use lenses or mirrors to help them paint more accurately? Analysis of a 16th-century artwork dubbed a "Rosetta stone" for optical techniques suggests they did.

The theory that Renaissance artists used optical projection was proposed in 2000 by artist David Hockney and optical scientist Charles Falco of the University of Arizona in Tucson. Most art historians have yet to be convinced..."  - Samuel Reich, New Scientist

Link Full Text, Samuel Reich, "Did Renaissance painters cheat with optical aids?", New Scientist
Image: Lorenzo Lotto, Husband and Wife, Oil, 1523, The Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia

'DNA origami' creates map of the Americas

"A map of the Americas measuring just a few hundred nanometres across has been created out of meticulously folded strands of DNA, using a new technique for manipulating molecules dubbed "DNA origami".

The nanoscale map, which sketches out both North and South America at a staggering 200-trillionths of their actual size, aims to demonstrate the precision and complexity with which DNA can be manipulated using the approach.

According to the map's creator, Paul Rothemund at Caltech in Pasadena, US, DNA origami could prove hugely important for building future nano-devices including molecular machines and quantum computer components... "

18:23 15 March 2006 by Duncan Graham-Rowe, New Scientist

Link Full Text, newscientist.com