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Tomorrow in Brief
edited by Cindy Wagner

Silent Airplane
A streamlined design to radically reduce noise could make tomorrow's commercial aircraft easier on the ears. Not only will passengers feel more comfortable in flight, but the neighbors of busy airports, too, will be less disturbed by landings and takeoffs. The "silent plane" would be a flying-wing type of craft, with engines mounted on top to direct sound away from the ground and reduce drag. In one proposed model, the cabin would also be windowless, further absorbing noise. The "Silent" Aircraft Initiative is a collaboration between the U.K.'s Cambridge University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A prototype is expected by the end of 2006, and test models built within a decade.
Source: Cambridge-MIT Institute, University of Cambridge, 10 Miller's Yard, Mill Lane, Cambridge CB2 1RQ, United Kingdom.
Web site: www.cambridge-mit.org/research/sai/.

Displays Become Thinner, Sharper, Lighter
The displays on next-generation electronic devices will be brighter and use less power, thanks to advances in light-emitting diode technology. Coming soon to a cell phone, mp3 player, or electric shaver near you is the polymer organic light-emitting diode (P-OLED). The new displays are top-emitting rather than backlit, so they can be extremely thin. According to developers, they offer several advantages over liquid crystal displays, such as sharper picture image and graphics, higher contrast ratios, superior video response time, wider viewing angle, and a slimmer, more flexible profile, making it suitable for such applications as wearable devices.
Source: Cambridge Display Technology, Building 2020, Cambourne Business Park, Cambridge CB3 6DW, United Kingdom. Web site: www.cdtltd.co.uk.

Nano Research Targets Bad Hair
"Bad hair"--unmanageable, frizz-prone locks--is caused by friction from such everyday activities as washing, drying, brushing, combing, and fluffing. Hair plumps up on humid days, exposing even more hair surface to frizz-inducing friction. Ohio State University researchers now believe they can create a high-tech hair conditioner that reduces this friction at the nanoscale. Using an electron microscope to study hair, the researchers discovered that the protective layers of cuticle become frayed around hair that is damaged. Normal conditioners tend to stick to the cuticle edges and make the hair sticky at the nanometer scale. This observation could lead to improved formulas for conditioners, as well as to advances in other beauty products such as lipsticks and nail polish.
Source: Ohio State University, Research Communications, 1125 Kinnear Road, Columbus, Ohio 43212. Web site: www.researchnews.osu.edu.

Fungi for Your Health
Mushrooms may prove to be an even better natural source of antioxidants than fruits and vegetables, according to Penn State food scientists. Antioxidants have been shown to reduce the risk of developing chronic diseases. Portabellas, criminis, and white button mushrooms, the most commonly consumed varieties in the United States, contain the most ergothioneine, a metabolite with strong antioxidant properties that has been shown to provide cellular protection in the human body. White buttons--America's favorite mushrooms--have about 12 times more ergothioneine than wheat germ and four times more than chicken liver.
Source: Pennsylvania State University, Department of Public Information, 312 Old Main, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802. Web site www.psu.edu.

Sex Ratio Declines in Canadian Community
The last decade has seen a precipitous decline in the number of baby boys born to the Chippewas of the Aamjiwnaang First Nation in Ontario: Males now account for just 34.8% of births there. Environmental contamination is suspected as a contributing factor, since the community is adjacent to several large petrochemical, polymer, and chemical industrial plants, according to a study led by Constanze A. Mackenzie of the University of Ottawa. Other studies have found endocrine-disrupting contaminants to be behind changes in the sex ratios and reproductive abilities of fish, bird, and turtle populations. The sex ratio of a community is an indicator of its population's reproductive health; the global average for male births among humans is between 50.4% and 51.9%.
Source: Environmental Health Perspectives, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, P.O. Box 12233, MD EC-15, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709.
Web site: www.niehs.nih.gov/drcpt/ehpb/home.htm.

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