Thursday, September 25, 2008

Browse the Artifacts of Geek History in Jay Walker's Library
Get Wired's take on technology business news and the Silicon Valley scene including IT, media, mobility, broadband, video, design, security, software, networking and internet startups on Wired.com

Thieves Are Stealing Solar Panels and Selling them - NYTimes.com
Solar power, with its promise of emissions-free renewable energy, boasts a growing number of fans. Some of them, it turns out, are thieves.

Dozen Athletes Are Donating Their Brains for Study on Concussions - NYTimes.com
A dozen athletes have agreed to donate their brains after their deaths for research into the effects of concussions.

Mediterranean Diet Declines, and Weights Rise - NYTimes.com
Associated with lower rates of heart disease and cancer, the Mediterranean diet is in retreat in its home region.

Gulf Coast Islands Rearranged After Hurricane Ike - NYTimes.com
Fragile barrier islands along the Gulf Coast are being all but obliterated by hurricanes.

Unraveling 'math dyslexia'
PhysOrg.com: Although school has been back for less than a month, it is likely that many children are already experiencing frustration and confusion in math class. Research at The University of Western Ontario in London, Canada could change the way we view math difficulties and how we assist children who face those problems.

What's the difference between a liberal and conservative?
PhysOrg.com: Political conservatives operate out of a fear of chaos and absence of order while political liberals operate out of a fear of emptiness, a new Northwestern University study soon to be published in the Journal of Research in Personality finds.

Researchers examine impact of beetle kill on Rocky Mountain weather, air quality
PhysOrg.com: Mountain pine beetles appear to be doing more than killing large swaths of forests in the Rocky Mountains. Scientists suspect they are also altering local weather patterns and air quality.

Researchers describe for first time how some bacteria kill males: They first invade the mother
PhysOrg.com: (PhysOrg.com) -- Many groups of bacteria are known as 'male killers' -- they target and kill just the males of a host species. Now, a Cornell scientist has helped describe for the first time just how certain male-killing bacteria manage to specifically kill off males of a parasitic wasp.

Recent scenes from North Korea - The Big Picture - Boston.com
The Big Picture - News Stories in Photographs from the Boston Globe

Chinese Say They're Building 'Impossible' Space Drive | Danger Room from Wired.com
Chinese researchers claim they've confirmed the theory behind an impossible space drive, and are proceeding to build a demonstration version. If they're right, this might transform the economics of satellites,

Audi Puts More 'Go' Into Stop-and-Go | Autopia from Wired.com
If police officers in Ingolstadt notice a decrease in luxury car drivers running red lights these days, we suspect it's because of a new project piloted by Audi that lets

Polar bears resort to cannibalism as Arctic ice shrinks - CNN.com
Summer is over in the northern hemisphere, but it's been another chilling season for researchers who study Arctic sea ice.

Simple device which uses electrical field could boost gas efficiency
PhysOrg.com: With the high cost of gasoline and diesel fuel impacting costs for automobiles, trucks, buses and the overall economy, a Temple University physics professor has developed a simple device which could dramatically improve fuel efficiency as much as 20 percent.

Einstein's green refrigerator making a comeback
PhysOrg.com: While almost everybody knows how Einstein revolutionized physics with his theories of relativity, many people may not know that the great scientist had a domestic side, too. Well, sort of - in 1930, Einstein and his former student Leo Szilard designed a refrigerator that required no electricity and had no moving parts. However, as refrigerator technology became more efficient, Einstein's design was nearly forgotten.

Bamboo Bike Maker Grows His Frames, Bonsai Style | Gadget Lab from Wired.com
LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Bike maker Craig Calfee has found a way to grow bicycle frames in a field, with sunlight and water. He makes them out of bamboo. It's

Google Patent Could Kill Off Cellphone Contracts | Gadget Lab from Wired.com
Google's keyword auctions redefined web advertising. Now, a patent filing reveals, the search company wants to do the same thing for wireless services. Google's patent filing describes devices, systems and

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

V10 (vawt,savonius,vertical axis,windturbine,ametek)
Here we go again, building another vawt. With this one I am hoping to get the 100 watts.
Here is how I did it.

Big Brother's cafe watches you eat
PhysOrg.com: (AP) -- At the university cafeteria, women linger longer than men over their lunch decisions. Given a choice, they tend to opt for meat labeled 'animal friendly,' while men likely will go for a new product. Cameras are watching them. From inside a control room, monitors record the customers' movements, hesitations, facial expressions, posture, weight, even their eating habits.

Preventing forest fires with tree power: Sensor system runs on electricity generated by trees
PhysOrg.com: (PhysOrg.com) -- MIT researchers and colleagues are working to find out whether energy from trees can power a network of sensors to prevent spreading forest fires. What they learn also could raise the possibility of using trees as silent sentinels along the nation's borders to detect potential threats such as smuggled radioactive materials.

Controlling light with sound: new liquid camera lens as simple as water and vibration
PhysOrg.com: New miniature image-capturing technology powered by water, sound, and surface tension could lead to smarter and lighter cameras in everything from cell phones and automobiles to autonomous robots and miniature spy planes.

How Sweden Solved Its Bank Crisis - NYTimes.com
When they faced a financial crisis similar to the United States’ in the early 1990s, Sweden took equity in the banks to protect taxpayers.

Q and A - Could Using Wind Power for New York City Affect Weather Systems? - Question - NYTimes.com
Could a plan being explored to use wind to produce a third of the power for New York City affect weather systems?

Really? - Does Grape Juice Have the Same Health Benefits as Red Wine? - Question - NYTimes.com
Many teetotalers wonder whether they can reap the cardiovascular benefits from wine’s unfermented sibling.

Gene Therapy Restores Sight | Wired Science from Wired.com
With the help of gene therapy, two people who once were blind now can see. The individuals -- their identities remain confidential -- are participants in an early-stage clinical trial

Sept. 22, 1791: Faraday Enters a World He Will Change
Get the latest in science news, including space, physics, planet earth, discoveries, NASA, satellites, and space travel from Wired.com

BBC NEWS | Americas | Russian navy sails to Venezuela
A fleet of Russian warships sets sail for joint exercises in Venezuela, unprecedented since the Cold War.

Meet Dave, the Man Who Never Takes Out the Trash - TIME
The average American throws out 1,700 lbs. of garbage a year. David Chameides has tossed out zero lbs. (Actually, he produces garbage, but he just keeps it in the house.)

SPECTRALANDBASED.COM

YouTube - How the markets really work
This is probably right.

Nvidia Chip Speeds Up Imaging for Industrial Use - NYTimes.com
The graphics processing company helps organizations analyze a vast quantity of data and do it much faster than standard computers.

Biologist Pan Wenshi Helps a Region and a Species, the Langur - NYTimes.com
By helping a Chinese village out of poverty, Pan Wenshi protects the endangered langur.

Study: Massage helps recovery at cellular level
PhysOrg.com: Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps got a massage twice a day in Beijing. His teammate, Dara Torres, had two massage therapists on stand-by. And a bunch of sedated rabbits in Ohio recently had massage performed on their legs after bouts of intense exercise.

Army Anthropologist's Controversial Culture Clash | Danger Room from Wired.com
Seven years ago, Montgomery McFate was sitting in a bar in Washington, DC, trying to figure out what to do with her life. She was an unemployed, overeducated Army wife

The 2008 Smart List: 15 People the Next President Should Listen To
Get in-depth politics and legal news coverage including online privacy, Internet security, government regulations, censorship and free speech from Wired.com.

Fake popup study sadly confirms most users are idiots

Quebec firms help clean world's water
MONTREAL - Acquisitions in the United States gave two Quebec
firms a foothold in a water-treatment technology

San Francisco Slideshows - California Academy of Sciences: Press Preview - SF Weekly

NYC Trade Center dig exposes Ice Age landscape - Yahoo! News
Crews excavating the World Trade Center site this summer for the foundations of a new skyscraper have uncovered features carved into the bedrock by glaciers about 20,000 years ago, including a 40-foot-deep pothole.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Why guys go for outta-their-league ladies - Behavior- msnbc.com
A new study confirms what women say they’ve known all along: Men, no matter how unattractive, think they’ve got a chance with a runway model.

Will This E-Reader Replace Papers? - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com

Drug Label, Maimed Patient and Crucial Test for Justices - NYTimes.com
At issue is whether plaintiffs have the right to sue when the products that hurt them had met federal standards.

Researchers disclose key advance in treating spinal cord injuries
PhysOrg.com: Researchers in Rochester, N.Y., and Colorado have shown that manipulating stem cells prior to transplantation may hold the key to overcoming a critical obstacle to using stem cell technology to repair spinal cord injuries.

Team finds genetic link between immune and nerve systems
PhysOrg.com: DURHAM, N.C. —Duke University Medical Center researchers have discovered genetic links between the nervous system and the immune system in a well-studied worm, and the findings could illuminate new approaches to human therapies.

Bright ideas lighting up Grand Central Terminal
PhysOrg.com: New York's Grand Central Terminal may be a grand old National Historic Landmark, but thanks to some modern technology, it's becoming one the most energy efficient buildings in the city.

Research pushes back history of crop development 10,000 years
PhysOrg.com: Researchers led by Dr Robin Allaby of the University of Warwick's plant research arm Warwick HRI have found evidence that genetics supports the idea that the emergence of agriculture in prehistory took much longer than originally thought.

Flabber | Weblog: Michael Moore's Slacker Uprising
Elke dag een paar bijzondere, interessante, sexy of humoristische posts.

Important Twist in Supercapacitor Research
PhysOrg.com: (PhysOrg.com) -- Car batteries as we know them today may soon be relics. Storing energy in clunky containers with limited shelf lives has plagued car makers and military engineers who need lightweight, powerful and reliable means to crank engines into life, enliven radios and operate other electronic appliances.

Products Placed: How Companies Pay Artists to Include Brands in Lyrics | Listening Post from Wired.com
Songs that refer to products and brands have been with us for years, from Simon and Garfunkel singing Mama don't take my Kodachrome away to Janis Joplin's plea for a

Off on the Great Schlep - Los Angeles Times
If you need proof that this is the most important election in a generation, get this: Jewish grandkids are flying to Florida to visit their grandparents -- without being guilted into it without being guilted into it -- to talk their elders out of voting for John McCain.

World could head for a global pandemic caused by antibiotic resistance | ZME Science
Antibiotics are agents that act against microorganisms, such as bacteria, fungi or protozoa. It's obvious that since the development of antibiotics, the world

The Real Girlfriend Experience - News - Broward-Palm Beach New Timespage 1 - Broward-Palm Beach New Times

Off the Shelf - Bacardi, the Puerto Rican Rum That Will Be Forever Cuban - NYTimes.com
Rum, revolution, romance and modern globalization come together in a pistol-packing salsa dance of modern history in “Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba: The Biography of a Cause” by Tom Gjelten.

Ping - Technology Doesn’t Dumb Us Down. It Frees Our Minds. - NYTimes.com
Over the course of human history, writing, printing, computing and Googling have only made it easier to think and communicate.

The College Issue - The Camera-Friendly, Perfectly Pixelated, Easily Downloadable Celebrity Academic - NYTimes.com
Five studies in the new world of online lecturing.

Chicago Unveils Multifaceted Plan to Curb Emissions of Heat-Trapping Gases - NYTimes.com
The blueprint would change the city’s building codes to promote energy efficiency, and it calls for installing huge solar panels at municipal properties and building alternative fueling stations.

A Professor and a Banker Bury Old Dogma on Markets - NYTimes.com
The Fed chairman and the Treasury secretary have cast aside long-held views about regulation and government involvement in private business.

Dim Lights, Big City - It’s Bottom’s Up Amid the Crash - NYTimes.com
As the market went up and down all week, so did the glasses at Harry’s, a restaurant three blocks from the New York Stock Exchange.

Busy and valuable: Bees are worth $220bln a year
PhysOrg.com: Bees and other pollinating insects are worth 153 billion euros (220 billion dollars) a year, thanks to their help in growing fruit, vegetables, oil crops, coffee, cocao and spices, a French study has found.

Water for farming | Running dry | The Economist
The world has a water shortage, not a food shortage

Technology Review: The Holes in Our Genomes
Scanning DNA for structural changes brings new insight into disease.

In Cairo, Living in Fear at a Cliff’s Sharp Edge - NYTimes.com
The true scope of what happened when a huge piece of a cliff broke off and crushed the lives below remains hidden beneath massive rocks.

globeandmail.com: HUMANITY AT RISK: ARE THE MALES GOING FIRST?
The most authoritative news in Canada featuring articles from The Globe and Mail, breaking news coverage, national news, international news, sports, weather, Report on Business.

'Friendly' bacteria protect against type 1 diabetes
PhysOrg.com: In a dramatic illustration of the potential for microbes to prevent disease, researchers at Yale University and the University of Chicago showed that mice exposed to common stomach bacteria were protected against the development of Type I diabetes.

Israel Unleashes First 'Skunk Bomb' | Danger Room from Wired.com
Possibly because of excitement over the Russia-Georgia conflict last month, little attention was given to a new development in chemical warfare – the first use by the Israeli police of

'Obey' Street Artist Churns Out 'Hope' for Obama | The Underwire from Wired.com
If you've been to any major U.S. city recently, you may have spotted a two-tone print of presidential candidate Barack Obama emblazoned with the word Hope on a bumper sticker,

Global Warming's Ecosystem Double Whammy
Plants and soils act like sponges for atmospheric carbon dioxide, but new research on the cover of this week's Nature finds that one abnormally warm year can suppress the amount of carbon dioxide taken up by some grassland ecosystems for up to two years. The findings followed a four-year study of 12-ton containerized grassland plots at Nevada's Desert Research Institute. Plots were extracted intact from the Oklahoma prairie and sealed inside four, living-room-sized environment chambers.

Posterity Post

Op-Ed Columnist - Need a Job? $17,000 an Hour. No Success Required. - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com
I’m delighted to announce that Richard Fuld, the longtime chief of Lehman Brothers, is winner of my annual award for corporate rapacity and poor corporate governance.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

There's gold in Japan's landfills - Times Online
Japan's high-tech rubbish dumps - the vast “urban mines” of landfill outside
every big city - have grown so huge that the country now ranks among the
biggest natural resource nations in the world.

P i c t u r e s: Ridiculous Tattoos Of Celebrities

ABC News: How Genes Pick Our Mates for Us
How Our Genes Pick Mates for Us

Abroad, Bailout Is Seen as a Detour From Capitalism - NYTimes.com
In rescuing A.I.G., Washington has not only turned away from decades of rhetoric about the virtues of the free market, it has also likely undercut future efforts to promote its market policies abroad.

Snip! Nearly One-Fifth of Homes Have No Landline - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com

Look, Ma, No Hardware: Cisco’s Virtual Switch - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com

Berkeley Approves City-Backed Loans for Solar Panels - NYTimes.com
The loans, offered to to property owners who install rooftop solar-power systems, would be paid off over 20 years as part of the owners’ property-tax bills.

Benchmark cyanobacterium sequenced could be cheap renewable energy source
PhysOrg.com: (PhysOrg.com) -- A team of researchers headed by biologists at Washington University in St. Louis has sequenced the genome of a unique bacterium that manages two disparate operations — photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation — in one little cell during two distinct cycles daily.

It's Faster, Cleaner and Cheaper, But Can REGINA Save Swedish Rail? | Autopia from Wired.com
Sure, Swedes end up handing half of what they earn over to the government, but look what they get in return: universal health care, sparkling cities and world-class meatballs. Sweden

PsyBlog: Why Loud Music in Bars Increases Alcohol Consumption

Crows make monkeys out of chimps in mental test - life - 17 September 2008 - New Scientist
New Caledonian crows seem to be able to use causal reasoning to solve problems, something not seen in any other non-human animal

Lost middle-class tribe's 'secret' eco-village in Wales spotted in aerial photograph taken by plane | Mail Online
For five happy years they enjoyed simple lives in their straw and mud huts. Then they were spotted by a plane and a mammoth planning row ensued.

Google and General Electric Team Up on Energy Initiatives - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com

How Wall Street Lied to Its Computers - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com

Skin Deep - Questions on the Safety of an Herbal Therapy - NYTimes.com
The health industry has questions about metals like lead, mercury or arsenic being found in ayurvedic supplements.

Rules Near for Animals’ Engineering - NYTimes.com
The Food and Drug Administration is expected on Thursday to announce proposals for regulating the meat and milk from genetically engineered animals.

You Just Can’t Kill It - NYTimes.com
Goth style endures, in high school and in high fashion, because alienation will always be chic.

Computers figuring out what words mean
PhysOrg.com: The Internet got smarter this week with the release of a semantic map that teaches computers the meanings behind words -- and gives the machines a vocabulary far larger than that of a typical US college graduate.

'Baby' fat cells may be key to treating obesity
PhysOrg.com: Immature, or 'baby,' fat cells lurk in the walls of the blood vessels that nourish fatty tissue, just waiting for excess calories to help them grow into the adult monsters responsible for packing on the extra pounds, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found in mice.

From Sugar to Gasoline
PhysOrg.com: Following independent paths of investigation, two research teams are announcing this month that they have successfully converted sugar-potentially derived from agricultural waste and non-food plants-into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and a range of other valuable chemicals.

Volvo Thinks Locusts Can Make Us Safer Drivers | Autopia from Wired.com
Volvo is determined to build an injury-proof car by 2020, and the engineers working out the bugs developing so complex a vehicle hope to include a few as well. They're

Labour costs | You're fired | The Economist
What it costs to sack a worker

Ark - a short animated film by Grzegorz Jonkajtys and Marcin Kobylecki

City uses DNA to fight dog poop | Lifestyle | Reuters
PETAH TIKVA, Israel (Reuters) - An Israeli city is using DNA analysis of dog droppings to reward and punish pet owners. Under a six-month trial program launched this week.

Seventh-grader shines with solar cell research

In Box: The Poppy Trade

Posterity Post

Ron Rivera, Potter Devoted to Clean Water, Dies at 60 - Obituary (Obit) - NYTimes.com
Mr. Rivera pioneered ceramic water filters that cut in half the incidence of diarrhea, a leading cause of death in the third world, especially among children.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Buying Tomatoes at the Birthplace of Silicon Valley - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com

British Tour Operator Shuts Down; Thousands Stranded - NYTimes.com
XL Leisure collapses under the weight of fuel prices, the latest casualty in the travel industry.

Detailed Study on Spread of H.I.V. in U.S. - NYTimes.com
A study of people newly infected with H.I.V. has confirmed that the majority of new cases occur among gay and bisexual men and that blacks are most at risk.

China Investigates Tainted Baby Formula - NYTimes.com
The Health Ministry announced an inquiry into the safety of all formulas after a death and kidney problems.

All in the Hips: Fossilized Discovery Leads Paleontologist to Find Early Whales Used Back Legs for Swimming
PhysOrg.com: (PhysOrg.com) -- The crashing of the enormous fluked tail on the surface of the ocean is a “calling card” of modern whales. Living whales have no back legs, and their front legs take the form of flippers that allow them to steer. Their special tails provide the powerful thrust necessary to move their huge bulk.

Bike Accidents Decline As Ridership Rises | Autopia from Wired.com
More bicycles on the road means more chances for drivers yakking on cell phones or gorging on McFood to hit one, right? Wrong. According to a study by researchers at

Breaker, Breaker: Peterbilt Fuel Cell Means No Idling When Idle | Autopia from Wired.com
So you're a trucker stinging from high fuel prices. You don't want to back off the hammer and double-nickel in the granny lane to save gas, nor do you want

A Listening Party for Nature | Wired Science from Wired.com
Scientists use many techniques to study natural habitats, but they rarely listen to nature. To some biologists, sounds are more than an aural accompaniment to field trips: They convey information

New cannabis-like drugs could block pain without affecting brain, says study
PhysOrg.com: A new type of drug could alleviate pain in a similar way to cannabis without affecting the brain, according to a new study published in the journal Pain on Monday 15 September.

In Digital Age, Federal Files Blip Into Oblivion - NYTimes.com
Countless government records are being lost to posterity because workers do not regularly preserve documents.

Landfill Methane Growing as Alternative Energy Source - NYTimes.com
Methane, an ozone-damaging greenhouse gas produced by landfills, is being captured and increasingly used to generate electricity and heat.

Wind-Power Politics - NYTimes.com
For years, wind-farm projects had stalled in the face of local political opposition. Then an entrepreneur named Peter Mandelstam came up with a new and energizing approach.

Spit Parties for Folks Who Want to Break Their Own DNA Code - NYTimes.com
Want your DNA mapped? Saliva-collection parties gather all the evidence.

Seeking Mates for Furred and Clawed - NYTimes.com
New software has been developed that promises faster matches and — taking a page from human dating sites — details on animals’ personalities to ease what can be a testy process.

Liberated Punks Accelerate China's Musical Evolution | Listening Post from Wired.com
From Pigface and Ministry to PiL and Killing Joke, drummer Martin Atkins has pounded the skins for some very loud punks. But he didn't realize that China's underground sound would

Newspapers Deliver Millions of 'Terror' DVDs to Subscribers -- In 'Swing States'
Top Newspaper Publishing Stories - Editor & Publisher provides newspaper industry headlines covering emerging and important news.

ISRAEL: New law hugs trees, bugs contractors | Babylon & Beyond | Los Angeles Times
Updated frequently by Los Angeles Times Middle East correspondents in Baghdad, Jerusalem, Cairo and Beirut, Babylon & Beyond is a collection of news, insights, photos and videos from the most volatile region on the planet.

movie #32 | what the movie? | quiz | guess the title by the snapshot
Guess the title of a movie just by looking at a snapshot. Register to upload movie stills yourself and compete with others.

3M Launches First Pocket Projector
PhysOrg.com: 3M will launch their MPro110 mini projector later this month. With its composite video input, you can use it for presentations, playing games, or watching movies. You can even connect you iPod to the projector and watch movies on a table or wall.

Herpes drug inhibits HIV in patients infected with both viruses
PhysOrg.com: Researchers at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), McGill University and other institutions have discovered how a simple antiviral drug developed decades ago suppresses HIV in patients who are also infected with herpes. Their study was published in the Sept. 11 issue of the journal Cell Host and Microbe.

First 3-D processor runs at 1.4 Ghz on new architecture
PhysOrg.com: (PhysOrg.com) -- The next major advance in computer processors will likely be the move from today's two-dimensional chips to three-dimensional circuits, and the first three-dimensional synchronization circuitry is now running at 1.4 gigahertz at the University of Rochester.

This Land - On an Infested River, Battling Invaders Eye to Eye - Series - NYTimes.com
The Illinois River is full of Asian carp, a ravenous, rapidly multiplying invasive species, that shoots out of the water as if shot from a cannon when a ship passes through.

Algal Jet Fuel One Big Step Closer to Reality | Autopia from Wired.com
Commercial airlines won't stop using petroleum anytime soon, but a California startup says it has produced the world's first microbial-derived jet fuel, and independent tests show it behaves just like

Pentagon Researcher Unveils Warcraft Terror Plot | Danger Room from Wired.com
The American military and intelligence communities are increasingly worried that would-be bin Ladens might gather in a virtual world, to plan a real-life attack. But the spies haven't given many

Home-Brewed Biodiesel Goes Prime-Time
Get the latest in science news, including space, physics, planet earth, discoveries, NASA, satellites, and space travel from Wired.com

Terrorism Fear Could Create Psychosomatic Epidemic, Feds Warn | Threat Level from Wired.com
Americans' fear of a terrorism could create a mass outbreak of a psychosomatic illness -- even in the absence of any real attack -- -- creating a fake epidemic that

Top 10 Future Skyscrapers Under Construction - Skyscraper Construction - Popular Mechanics
From shortest to tallest, here are our 10 favorite skyscrapers under construction whose radical designs and eco-friendly architecture make up for a lack of height.

Did evolution come before life? - life - 15 September 2008 - New Scientist
A crude form of natural selection may have primed the primordial soup for life, as interacting molecules formed ever better chemical replicators

YouTube - The Front Fell Off
Hilarious video! An Australian Senator is interviewed regarding an oil spill that resulted in 20,000 tons of oil being dumped into the ocean.

Basics - Gut Instinct’s Surprising Role in Math - NYTimes.com
New studies suggest that two number systems, one that is innate for many animals and one that is uniquely human, may be profoundly related.

Weather History Recorded at Mohonk House Offers Insight Into Global Warming - NYTimes.com
Conditions and observations recorded for 112 years at a New York resort offer hints of the effects of global warming.

Flabber | Weblog: Nader for president, of the animal kingdom
Elke dag een paar bijzondere, interessante, sexy of humoristische posts.

Scientists harness power of worms to treat arthritis
PhysOrg.com: (PhysOrg.com) -- Glasgow scientists are aiming to harness a substance secreted by parasitic tropical worms to help them find a more effective treatment for inflammatory types of arthritis. A team of scientists at the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde plan to take advantage of the anti-inflammatory properties of a large molecule secreted by parasitic filarial nematode worm, called ES-62.

Biotron
Western's newest engineering addition

New carbon nanomaterial shows promise of storing large quantities of renewable electrical energy
PhysOrg.com: Engineers and scientists at The University of Texas at Austin have achieved a breakthrough in the use of a one-atom thick structure called 'graphene' as a new carbon-based material for storing electrical charge in ultracapacitor devices, perhaps paving the way for the massive installation of renewable energies such as wind and solar power.

Flickr Photo Download: Banksy Cleans Up - Cave Painting
Flickr is almost certainly the best online photo management and sharing application in the world. Show off your favorite photos and videos to the world, securely and privately show content to your friends and family, or blog the photos and videos you take with a cameraphone.

YouTube - How Khilafah was destroyed (Rajab Campaign, HT Australia)
Maybe they should get the whole Sunni - Shite thing worked out, then move on to the Caliphate

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Why drunks forget the embarrassing things they do - Telegraph
The reason why people forget the embarrassing things they do when they are drunk has been discovered.

PS3 fab-to-lab, Part 1: Build Linux lab equipment from a Sony PLAYSTATION 3
How do you take the Cell Broadband Engine (Cell/B.E.) processor from an off-the-shelf Sony PLAYSTATION 3 (PS3) and use it to construct a piece of Linux-based laboratory equipment (in essence, taking the Cell/B.E. from fab to hab to lab)? In this series, Lewin Edwards shows you how to go from game console to simple audio-bandwidth spectrum analyzer and function generator. First up, uncover the design intent of the project and then make a close inspection of the details of the user interface implementation as you start a journey to generate and analyze signals on the Cell/B.E. processor.

Melting ice caps could suck carbon from atmosphere - earth - 10 September 2008 - New Scientist Environment
As the Arctic ice melts, it could leave a new habitat for phytoplankton, which would soak up some of the world's carbon dioxide

Concrete-jet 'printers' to build houses, Moonbases in hours | The Register

Cameras for Capturing the Primordial Fire: A Look Inside the Large Hadron Collider - New York Times
Scientists are putting the final touches on a 17-mile long particle accelerator that will smash protons together in an attempt to create forces and particles that existed shortly after the Big Bang and rarely, if ever, today.

Prefab Sheds - Modernism in Miniature - NYTimes.com
Tiny, high-style prefabricated sheds have become popular recently as an alternative to trading up in a housing slump.

Clinical trial for new tuberculosis vaccine
PhysOrg.com: Since Monday of this week, the new vaccine 'VPM1002' has entered the clinical phase I trial in Neuss, Germany, where it is being tested for safety on voluntary subjects. VPM1002 is based on a vaccine that has been in use since 1921, and has been genetically engineered to prevent infection with tuberculosis bacteria much more effectively than its predecessor.

Superconductivity can induce magnetism
PhysOrg.com: When an electrical current passes through a wire it emanates heat – a principle that's found in toasters and incandescent light bulbs. Some materials, at low temperatures, violate this law and carry current without any heat loss. But this seemingly trivial property, superconductivity, is now at the forefront of our understanding of physics.

ChaCha (search engine) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Researchers find racial bias in virtual worlds - Internet - iTnews Australia
Real-world behaviours and racial biases could carry forward into virtual worlds such as Second Life, social psychologists say.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Fusion power seeks super steels
Scientists say an understanding of how the Twin Towers collapsed will help them develop the materials needed to build fusion reactors.

Superstitions evolved to help us survive - being-human - 10 September 2008 - New Scientist
Biologists show that it can pay to falsely link cause and effect if it helps us to spot danger signs in the environment

The death of OPEC - Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money

Compost Heap Bacteria Could Provide 10% Of UK Transport Fuel Needs
Bacteria found in compost heaps able to convert waste plant fiber into ethanol could eventually provide up 10% of the UK's transport fuel needs, according to new research.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

advertising - Europe Takes Aim at Sexual Stereotypes in Ads - NYTimes.com
Putting men in gray business suits and women in aprons sends a demeaning message, a European Parliament report says.

Thrift Shops Thriving, but Running Low on Stock - NYTimes.com
The same economic woes that are sending buyers to thrift stores way are causing donors to hand over fewer items, so that many stores are running low on inventory.

Stem Cells Might Lead to Red Blood Cells for Transfusions - NYTimes.com
Besides curing illness and disease, embryonic stem cells may serve to make red blood cells for transfusions.

Study Links Age of Fathers and Bipolar Disease in Offspring - NYTimes.com
Paternal age seems to be tied to the likelihood of having children who develop bipolar disorder as adults, a large study reports.

Down Canyons and Up Cliffs, a Study of Rock Art in the Southwest - NYTimes.com
Ekkehart Malotki, a retired linguistics professor, prefers outdoor adventures discovering rock art to books.

Oil-eating microbes give clue to ancient energy source
PhysOrg.com: Microbes that break down oil and petroleum are more diverse than we thought, suggesting hydrocarbons were used as an energy source early in Earth's history, scientists heard today at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn meeting being held this week at Trinity College, Dublin. These microbes can change the composition of oil and natural gas and can even control the release of some greenhouse gases. Understanding the role of microbes in consuming hydrocarbons may therefore help us access their role in the natural control of climate change.

Silent streams? Escalating endangerment for North American freshwater fish
PhysOrg.com: Nearly 40 percent of fish species in North American streams, rivers and lakes are now in jeopardy, according to the most detailed evaluation of the conservation status of freshwater fishes in the last 20 years.

Tribal war drove human evolution of aggression
PhysOrg.com: Wars are costly in terms of lives and resources – so why have we fought them throughout human history? In modern times, states may fight wars for a number of complex reasons. But in the past, most tribal wars were fought for the most basic resources: goods, territory, and women.

Findings - As External Barriers Disappear, Internal Gender Gaps Widen - NYTimes.com
The personality gap among the genders seems to be widening in modern society.

Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys Tries Out the Challenging Business of Independent Films - NYTimes.com
Adam Yauch, the Beastie Boy known as MCA, is pursuing his cinematic interests with a new division of his company, Oscilloscope.

Friendly Invaders - NYTimes.com
New research suggests that exotic species, instead of causing extinctions, may actually aid diversity.

Gandhi Pills? Psychiatrist Argues for Moral Performance Enhancers | Wired Science from Wired.com
Could the right drug make you a better person? A British psychiatrist raises and argues for that possibility in a new paper in a prominent psychiatry journal. In fact, he

The 65 mpg Ford the U.S. Can't Have
Ford's Fiesta ECOnetic gets an astonishing 65 mpg, but the carmaker can't afford to sell it in the U.S.

Looking for Love In All the Right Alleles | Wired Science from Wired.com
Salsa dancing, moonlit walks, fireside chats and human leukocyte antigen: Welcome to the genetically romantic age. Swiss startup company GenePartner is offering to evaluate singles and couples according to the

Invertebrate Astronauts Make Space History | Wired Science from Wired.com
It's one small step for Tardigrada, and one giant leap for the animal kingdom: The toughest creature on Earth has survived a trip into space. Except for a few hardy

Ten things you don’t know about the Earth | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine
Astronomy | Look up, look down, look out, look around.--- Yes, "It Can Happen"Good advice from the 70s progressive band. Look around you. Unless you're one of the

Wide-Ranging Ethics Scandal Emerges at Interior Dept. - NYTimes.com
The department’s inspector general found wrongdoing including allegations of financial self-dealing, cocaine use and sexual misconduct.

Moscow Journal - Wary of Protests, Russia Puts Few Limits on Smoking - NYTimes.com
Even as it tries to forestall a sharp drop in the population with campaigns that promote family life and a higher birthrate, Russia has barely invested in anti-tobacco ads and education.

Switched-on new nanotechnology paints for hospitals could kill superbugs
PhysOrg.com: New nanotechnology paints for walls, ceilings, and surfaces could be used to kill hospital superbugs when fluorescent lights are switched on, scientists heard today at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn meeting being held this week at Trinity College, Dublin.

Giant honeybees use Mexican waves to repel predatory wasps
PhysOrg.com: The phenomenon of 'shimmering' in giant honeybees, in which hundreds—or even thousands—of individual honeybees flip their abdomens upwards within a split-second to produce a Mexican Wave-like pattern across the bee nest, has received much interest but both its precise mode of action and its purpose have long remained a mystery.

Diesel Volvo DRIVe Gets 53 MPG, and We Can't Have One | Autopia from Wired.com
Pity the owners of vintage Volvos. Though their trusty 1983 240 DLs have outlasted every car in the faculty parking lot, miles per gallon has replaced the sixth digit of

YouTube - Matt Damon Rips Sarah Palin
"CBS News RAW": Actor Matt Damon criticizes Alaska governor Sarah Palin, citing her inexperience in national politics and comparing her candidacy t...

Internet specialists see 'clouds' gathering
PhysOrg.com: Making use of all the knowledge online is a huge challenge that may be solved by cloud computing, which researchers say is the next logical step for the Internet.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Metrics - Guccis or Gadgets? - NYTimes.com
When you have some extra cash padding your wallet, do you reach for the latest jeans or the sleekest new music player? Much of that decision, it seems, depends on where you live.

Unboxed - When Academia Puts Profit Ahead of Wonder - NYTimes.com
The University Small Business Patent Procedures Act is under increasing scrutiny by swelling ranks of critics, who charge that it has distorted the fundamental mission of universities.

Living Together - In Studies of Virtual Twins, Nature Wins Again - NYTimes.com
When parents pursue several ways to have a child, the stage is set for virtual twins, genetic strangers who share an environment from an early point in life.

Assessing the Value of Small Wind Turbines - NYTimes.com
Interest for wind turbines small enough to mount on a roof is spreading from coast to coast, even though their installation is hardly ever recouped in electricity savings.

Observatory - Marijuana Ingredient May Fight Bacteria - NYTimes.com
Researchers have discovered that the main active ingredient in marijuana shows promise as an antibacterial agent.

For the Brain, Remembering Is Like Reliving - NYTimes.com
For the first time, scientists have recorded individual brain cells fetching a spontaneous memory.

The Food Chain - Russia’s Collective Farms - Hot Capitalist Property - Series - NYTimes.com
As food prices soar, the improbable business of buying and reforming collective farms has attracted financiers.

Solar energy can meet all the world's energy demands: expert
PhysOrg.com: The world must speed up the deployment of solar power as it has the potential to meet all the world's energy needs, the chairman of an industry gathering which wrapped up Friday in Spain said.

How plants fine tune their natural chemical defenses
PhysOrg.com: Even closely related plants produce their own natural chemical cocktails, each set uniquely adapted to the individual plant's specific habitat. Comparing anti-fungals produced by tobacco and henbane, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies discovered that only a few mutations in a key enzyme are enough to shift the whole output to an entirely new product mixture. Making fewer changes led to a mixture of henbane and tobacco-specific molecules and even so-called 'chemical hybrids,' explaining how plants can tinker with their natural chemical factories and adjust their product line to a changing environment without shutting down intracellular chemical factories completely.

UN says eat less meat to curb global warming | Environment | The Observer
Top expert's advice on diet change to save environment likely to provoke strong reaction from food industry

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Europe Pulls Ahead of U.S. in Physics | Newsweek International Edition | Newsweek.com
The Large Hadron Collider is a symptom of America's decline in particle physics and, some fear, in science overall.

Rotor Ship - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Prions jump species barrier : Nature News
Nature - the world's best science and medicine on your desktop

Here They Are, Science's 10 Most Beautiful Experiments - New York Times

A Brownstone Becomes an Ivory Tower, and New York City Is the Campus - NYTimes.com
An elite undergraduate program of the City University of New York is being taught for the first time this fall in a majestic four-story brownstone on the Upper West Side.

Google’s Search Goes Out to Sea - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com

New E-Newspaper Reader Echoes Look of the Paper - NYTimes.com
Plastic Logic will introduce publicly on Monday its version of an electronic newspaper reader: a lightweight plastic screen that mimics the look -- but not the feel -- of a printed newspaper.

'Omnivorous engine' hopes to run on many fuels
PhysOrg.com: (PhysOrg.com) -- The 'omnivorous engine' is no picky eater. Gasoline? Down the hatch. Ethanol? Butanol? It'll slurp those up too. The creators of the omnivorous engine, engineers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, seek to fashion an engine that can run on just about any type of spark-ignited fuel.

Top 10 Amazing Physics Videos | Wired Science from Wired.com
Tesla coils, superconductors, and hilarious music videos are great reasons to be excited about physics. Here are some of our favorites.

Biologists on the Verge of Creating New Form of Life | Wired Science from Wired.com
A team of biologists and chemists is closing in on bringing non-living matter to life. It's not as Frankensteinian as it sounds. Instead, a lab led by Jack Szostak, a

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5 Real World Criminals Who Were Certified Super-Villains | Cracked.com
5 Real World Criminals Who Were Certified Super-Villains. Sure they were evil, but they were also crazy.

How memories are made, and recalled
PhysOrg.com: What makes a memory? Single cells in the brain, for one thing. For the first time, scientists at UCLA and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel have recorded individual brain cells in the act of calling up a memory, thus revealing where in the brain a specific memory is stored, and how it is able to recreate it.