A study led by Dr. Martin Matzuk, director of the Center for Drug Discovery at Baylor, and Dr. James Bradner, assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, found that the molecule, called JQ1, inhibited the amount and quality of sperm produced by male mice. Their study was published this week in the journal Cell.

“We found that the JQ1 molecule causes a contraceptive effect in males,” said Matzuk. “If you stop the drug, there’s complete reversibility.”

The investigation into JQ1 actually began when Bradner began researching it as a possible cancer treatment. Since JQ1 is an inhibitor of a specific bromodomain proteins, Bradner contacted Matzuk to ask if JQ1 would have any effect on BRDT, a bromodomain protein involved in the process of sperm generation.

The scientists found that JQ1 did indeed block the normal process of sperm production. The molecule was also able to breach the blood-testis barrier, which is the barrier between blood vessels and the seminiferous tubules where sperm is produced. The male mice in the study mated normally, but were sterile, as the amount and quality of their sperm was low. Small molecules such as JQ1 can be used in pills similar to those used for female contraceptives.

Though Matzuk believes this research will help pave the way for a male birth control pill, he admits that JQ1 will not be the molecule used in future contraceptives. “JQ1 is not the pill for men, because it also binds other members of the bromodomain family,” Matzuk said. “However, the data is proof of principle that BRDT is an excellent target for male contraception and provides us with useful information for future drug development.”

Ready to bring the shame? I hope not, because lucky for you (this time) the bringers of awesome future technology are from Team Earth (Sweden, in fact) and the awesome they’ve brought us is a slick piece of eco-friendly technology called PowerTrekk, tomorrow’s battery charger.

And here comes the best part: PowerTrekk is a darkness-defeating fuel cell charger that runs on – ready – WATER! It runs on approximately one tablespoon of WATER! You can charge your mobile electronics with the stuff that drips out of clouds and public fountains. This brilliant piece of future “cleanly and efficiently converts hydrogen into electricity” via PowerTrekk’s Proton Exchange Membrane. That sounds intense, but all you have to do is place one fuel pack, called PowerPukk, into the the PowerTrekk and “add water to provide instant and limitless power on the go.” Watch it in action:

UH-mazing.

myFC, the company that has created this device, promotes PowerTrekk as the ideal accessory for “business professionals in developing countries who seek freedom from wall charging either because they work in remote areas (where the grid is absent) or in cities where, from time to time, the electrical grid is unreliable.” Whether you’re charging your phone, camera, or even an iPod (because when you are completely removed from electricity the first thing to worry about is what jams you need to set the mood), simply plug the device into PowerTrekk’s USB port and – presto – you’re off like a battery-charging bandit. Take a look at all of it’s gadgety wonder:

So let’s recap: No power outlet? No problem. No car battery? No problem. No spare batteries? NO. PROBLEM.

The next time you’re venturing out into the wild, whether that’s an unfamiliar city or the actual wild that you see on Discovery Channel, take a look at your communication devices and ask yourself: Which one of these cute geometry-morphs do you hope to be:

The crew shot the film with a Nokia N8 mounted to a modified 35-mm lens, to achieve a shallow depth of field. They also employed the use of a motorcycle side car, and even a RC helicopter for various scenes within the movie.

The film stars Gena Rowlands, John Scurti, Chris Maher, and Ruby Alexander. Other names affiliated with the project include Ben Lear, and Randi Zuckerberg (the older sister of Mark Zuckerberg).

According to the director’s Kickstarter page:

“The financing of Olive was done independently of any corporation. The goal now is to be the first film to not only be shot on a cell phone but to also be the first independently financed feature film on 2,000+ theaters across the United States without the backing of a Major Studio.”

The film went up on Kickstarter today, and it’s currently looking for $300,000 that will go towards distribution. You can check out Olive’s Kickstarter video below, it also includes some behind the scenes footage, and the first scene of the movie.

What do you think of Olive? Any plans to back it via Kickstarter? Tell us in the comment area below.

According to the NYT, more and more people are checking emails, tweeting, texting and updating their Facebook status, before they grab breakfast. Some, are even more addicted!

This is morning in America in the Internet age. After six to eight hours of network deprivation — also known as sleep — people are increasingly waking up and lunging for cellphones and laptops, sometimes even before swinging their legs to the floor and tending to more biologically urgent activities.

Hah!

Seriously, breakfast is the new lunchtime! It used to be that lunchtime was the best time of day to target your online advertising. There’s nothing more captive than a bored worker with company provided broadband! Now it appears that more of us are getting our fix at home, before our Cheerios, and so marketers need to adapt.

This rise in pre-breakfast internet use could help mobile marketers finally figure out how to reach their target audience. As the report suggests, iPhones and Blackberries are becoming more popular than iHop and blueberry pancakes! Consumers are packing in a lot of mobile browsing first thing in the morning–the perfect time to capture their attention!

Have you had success targeting your ads at breakfast time?

Comments

He was describing banks but according to a recent survey on customer service the cell phone companies are the lowest on the totem pole.

Politicians like to take popular decisions. So it was no great surprise to hear yesterday’s announcement from Ottawa that it will hold an auction of the wireless spectrum in May 2008. This could mean more competition and lower cellphone rates for Canadians next year. Industry Minister Jim Prentice said that about 105 megahertz of spectrum will be sold to bidders. Forty megahertz will be set aside for newcomers to the industry. Not surprisingly Telus described this as “deeply disappointing” news. I am sure that Bell and Rogers would feel the same way.

The three of them of course form an oligopoly.

An oligopoly exists when a few companies dominate an industry. This concentration often leads to collusion among manufacturers, so that prices are set by agreement rather than by the operation of the supply and demand mechanism.

Canadians pay more to use their cell phones and this is particularly so for broadband data transmission rates. Undoubtedly this has held back the development of the Mobile Web in Canada. This is particularly disastrous for an industry that should be one of Canada’s strengths.

Not surprisingly this news has been greeted with applause by many. What the oligopolists do not realize is that poor customer service creates rebels. After all as someone has suggested, bad news travels 10 times as fast as good news. Many consumers are just waiting to get the cell phone service they deserve. Any well-funded newcomer who can deliver the cell phone goods will find an army of evangelists waiting to spread the word.

Related:

News: Ottawa’s wireless auction could cut cellphone rates

News: Ottawa opens up wireless industry to more competition

Forum: Canadian Cellphone market will be opened to more competition

Blog: Bring on the Cellular Auction

Blog: Cautious Optimism With Wireless Auction Plan

Comments

Rumors have been circulating for months based on particular actions by Google, for example on some intriguing new hires. There might well be attractive economics if Google were to follow this route since clearly the Mobile Web is growing much more strongly than the regular Web.

Now Google has chosen to come out with a denial. Supposedly it will seek alliances with the established telcos. Given that different telcos often adopt a walled garden approach to their own particular offerings, this implies a multi-solution approach by Google. Google will also be accepting a smaller share of the profit pie than if it were in the driving seat. In some ways the strategy implied by the denial seems less attractive than the strategy they have now denied pursuing.

It also is somewhat unusual for a company to come out with a denial of actions rather than announcing news of actions. Why was it felt necessary to issue a denial? All in all the denial seems less credible than what is being denied. I personally think we’re more likely to be seeing a Goo-Fone or Gphone or whatever they decide to call it at some time in the not too distant future.

Comments

Information released today by Gmail reveals that there a total of five upgrades. The first is that it’s no longer necessary to scroll to the bottom of a long message to find the REPLY link. Now there’s a Reply button on top, along with a lot of other options under the little dropdown arrow.

The service also has reduced new message notifications. If someone sends a reply while you’re in the middle of reading a conversation (or replying to it), you’ll get a notification that a new message has arrived. Click UPDATE CONVERSATION to see what you’ve missed.

There’s also the addition of FORWARD ALL. When viewing a conversation, link on the right if you want to forward the entire conversation instead of just one message.

Now you can chat even when your friends are offline. If you’re chatting with a friend who goes offline, your friend will be able to see whatever you were typing the next time he or she goes online.

And lastly, Gmail is right on top of the latest moblogging technology, as this continually evolves and is pushed in the industry. Simply point your phone to gmail.com/app, download it one, and start accessing Gmail on your phone with just a click or two. Heading in the direction of video on your cellphone, you’ll be able to have all your regular account capabilities along with viewing attachments such as photos, documents, and .pdf files.

Gmail still comes with built-in Google search technology and over 2,600 megabytes of storage (and growing every day). You can keep all your important messages, files and pictures forever, use search to quickly and easily find anything you’re looking for, and make sense of it all with a new way of viewing messages as part of conversations.

There are no pop-ups or untargeted banner ads in Gmail, only small text ads. Ads and related information are relevant to your messages, so instead of being obtrusive, they may even be useful for once.

Gmail also integrates instant messaging right into the email experience, so you can stay in even better touch with your friends when you’re online. Easy, efficient and maybe even fun to use. It’s a whole new way to think about email. It’s Google’s approach to email.

And so far, it continues to be a phenomenal success!

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Tim Ritter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.