The Lumpen Proletarian

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.