Technology Review: Bacteria Make Diesel from Biomass
Newly engineered <i>E. coli</i>  streamline the conversion of cellulose into fuel.

 

Vitamin D supplements could fight Crohn's disease

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study has found that Vitamin D, readily available in supplements or cod liver oil, can counter the effects of Crohn's disease. John White, an endocrinologist at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, led a team of scientists from McGill University and the ...

 

'Good' bacteria keep immune system primed to fight future infections

Scientists have long pondered the seeming contradiction that taking broad-spectrum antibiotics over a long period of time can lead to severe secondary bacterial infections. Now researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine may have figured out why.

 

'Nanofactories': Stopping Bacterial Infections Without Antibiotics

(PhysOrg.com) -- New research at the A. James Clark School of Engineering could prevent bacterial infections using tiny biochemical machines - nanofactories - that can confuse bacteria and stop them from spreading, without the use of antibiotics.

 

Trees retaliate when their fig wasps don't service them
Figs and fig wasps have evolved to help each other out: Fig wasps lay their eggs inside the fruit where the wasp larvae can safely develop, and in return, the wasps pollinate the figs.

 

YouTube - Dancing Inmates - Michael Jackson's This Is It

Filipino, Philippines "Dancing Inmates" from Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC), a maximum security prison, were treated to a visit ...

 

Howard Zinn, historian who challenged status quo, dies at 87 - Local News Updates - The Boston Globe

Deadly fish virus now found in all Great Lakes

(PhysOrg.com) -- A deadly fish virus - viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus - first discovered in the Northeast in 2005, has been found for the first time in Lake Superior. The virus is now in all of the Great Lakes.

 

Lost Landscapes of Detroit from the Prelinger Archives Boing Boing

Technology Review: Blogs: Potential Energy: Scientists Overcome Obstacle to Fusion
From MIT. Information on Emerging Technologies & impact on business & society

 

J. D. Salinger, Enigmatic Author of ‘The Catcher in the Rye,’ Dies at 91 - Obituary 

(Obit) - NYTimes.com

Mr. Salinger, the author of “The Catcher in the Rye,” turned his back on success and adulation.

 

Magazine Preview - The Jihadist Next Door - NYTimes.com

In his small-town Alabama high school, Omar Hammami was among the coolest, most gifted students in his class. How did he grow up to become a leader in an African terror group linked to Al Qaeda?

 

Famous Literary Drunks & Addicts - Photo Gallery, 27 Pictures - LIFE

"Always be drunk ... Get drunk militantly. Just get drunk."

 

An Appraisal - David Sarkisyan - Keeper of Moscow’s Architectural Conscience - NYTimes.com
David Sarkisyan, who died on Jan. 7, was willing to stand up to the city’s corrupt politicians and powerful developers.

 

The almond tree's secret weapon

The nectar of the almond tree produces an extraordinary and dangerous poison. This is the only known plant to have this poison in its flowers' nectar. A study carried out at the University of Haifa has revealed that bees are mysteriously drawn to the toxic substance.

 

Seabirds' movement patterns tied to what fishermen toss away

Humans and human activities have clearly altered the Earth's landscape and oceans in countless ways, often to the detriment of other plants and animals. But a new report published online on January 28th in Current Biology shows just what a tangled food web we've woven. Two species of Mediterranean seabirds ...

 

Bunch Of Phonies Mourn J.D. Salinger | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

CORNISH, NH—In this big dramatic production that didn't do anyone any good (and was pretty embarrassing, really, if you think about it), thousands upon thousands of phonies across the country mourned the death of author J.D. Salinger, who was 91 years old for crying out loud.

 

America's Vanishing Silent Spaces - Newsweek.com

Audio ecologist Gordon Hempton talks about America's vanishing quiet spaces, and how our lives can be helped by listening to the silence.

 

Zoologger: The very hungry caterpillar usurps a queen - life - 27 January 2010 - New Scientist

What sounds like a touching story of interspecies love turns out to be a genocidal tale of gluttonous excess

 

Superfast Bullet Trains Are Finally Coming to the U.S. | Magazine | Wired.com
Believe it: Bullet trains are coming. After decades of false starts, planners are finally beginning to make headway on what could become the largest, most

Desertification May Curb Global Warming in the Short Term : TreeHugger
Image credit: coda/Flickr Forests, we know, absorb CO2 which helps curb global warming. These natural carbon sinks are the basis of offset programs, climate models, and most future-looking policy. Forests also absorb and retain heat, however, and new research

Beautiful Photo Shows Wake Effects of Wind Turbines : TreeHugger

Photo: Aeolus Study Explores the Effect of Turbine Wake on Energy Production The picture above is truly an amazing photo, in my opinion. I found it on David JC MacKay's blog (he's a physicist and wrote the excellent book

 

Vital Signs - Choking Game No Mystery to Children, Oregon Study Finds - NYTimes.com

A risky pastime is more popular than once thought, researchers said.

 

Technology Review: Blogs: arXiv blog: Physicists Shrink Heat Engines by Seven Orders of Magnitude

From MIT. Information on Emerging Technologies & impact on business & society

 

Films : All - NFB

Browse the NFB film collection by title.

 

Technology Review: A New Breed of Laser TV
Laser phosphor displays promise efficiency and simple manufacturing.

 

Economic View - Will More Borrowers Walk Away From Their Mortgages? - NYTimes.com

Even if they owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth, many people feel obligated to repay their loans. But what if those borrowers walked away?

 

Technology Review: New Life for Magnetic Tape

A boost in storage density could keep tapes spinning for years.

 

Play, Then Eat: Shift May Bring Gains at School - Well Blog - NYTimes.com

A simple scheduling switch -- moving recess before lunch -- may improve children's eating habits and behavior in school.

 

Global Update - ‘Tropical’ Diseases Are Found to Be Rife in the Arctic - NYTimes.com

Aboriginal peoples in the Arctic face the kind of worm and protozoan infections that are often described as neglected ailments of the tropics.

 

Tobacco Plants Tapped to Grow Solar Cells : Discovery News

Genetically engineered viruses injected into tobacco plants trigger the plants to grow solar cells.

 

Better food makes high-latitude animals bigger
(PhysOrg.com) -- New research suggests that animals living at high latitudes grow better than their counterparts closer to the equator because higher-latitude vegetation is more nutritious. The study, published in the February issue of The American Naturalist, presents a novel explanation for Bergmann’s ...

 

Elementary school women teachers transfer their fear of doing math to girls

Female elementary school teachers who are anxious about math pass on to female students the stereotype that boys, not girls, are good at math. Girls who endorse this belief then do worse at math, research at the University of Chicago shows.

 

An average voice is beautiful, say scientists

(PhysOrg.com) -- Nobody wants to be average, so we are told, but scientists at the University of Glasgow have found that when it comes to vocal attractiveness, sounding average attracts more admirers.

 

Monarch butterflies reveal a novel way in which animals sense the Earth's magnetic field

Building on prior investigation into the biological mechanisms through which monarch butterflies are able to migrate up to 2,000 miles from eastern North America to a particular forest in Mexico each year, neurobiologists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) have linked two related ...

 

New York woman falls, rips Picasso painting - Yahoo! News

A significant Pablo Picasso painting was damaged after a woman attending art class lost her balance, fell into "The Actor" and tore it, The Metropolitan Museum of Art said.

 

Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Barry Schwartz on the paradox of choice | Video on TED.com
TED Talks Psychologist Barry Schwartz takes aim at a central tenet of western societies: freedom of choice. In Schwartz's estimation, choice has made us not freer but more paralyzed, not happier but more dissatisfied.

 

James H Kunstler dissects suburbia | Video on TED.com

TED Talks In James Howard Kunstler's view, public spaces should be inspired centers of civic life and the physical manifestation of the common good. Instead, he argues, what we have in America is a nation of places not worth caring about.

 

Mismatched alloys are a good match for thermoelectics

(PhysOrg.com) -- Using the supercomputers at NERSC, Berkeley Lab researchers demonstrated that the semiconductors known as highly mismatched alloys (HMAs) hold great promise for the future development of high performance thermoelectric devices. Thermolectics could play a key role in green energy production ...

 

In the Next Industrial Revolution, Atoms Are the New Bits | Magazine

The door of a dry-cleaner-size storefront in an industrial park in Wareham, Massachusetts, an hour south of Boston, might not look like a portal to the

 

Parasite Spreading Between Animals, Zookeepers : Discovery News

The finding suggests cross-species infections may be common in zoos.

 

Books of The Times - Demick, Hassig, Oh and Myers on Kim Jong-Il’s North Korea - Review - NYTimes.com

Three provocative new books about North Korea parse the slivers of light that escape this enigmatic and often baffling place.

 

Anthony Atala on growing new organs | Video on TED.com
TED Talks Anthony Atala's state-of-the-art lab grows human organs -- from muscles to blood vessels to bladders, and more. At TEDMED, he shows footage of his bio-engineers working with some of its sci-fi gizmos, including an oven-like bioreactor (preheat to 98.6 F) and a machine that "prints" human tissue.

Driven to Distraction - Pedestrians, Too, Are Distracted by Cellphones - Series - NYTimes.com
Cellphones make pedestrians inattentive, and emergency room records show the results.

Novelties - A Plastic Coating May Someday Make Detergent Unnecessary - NYTimes.com

A chemical coating under development could make two groups happy: environmentalists and anyone who washes dishes.

 

San Jose Journal - In San Jose’s Latino Gardens, Vegetables, Health and Savings Flourish - NYTimes.com

The fledgling effort to bring vegetable beds to San Jose, Calif., is part of a national movement to make healthy food accessible to marginalized urban neighborhoods.

 

Tensegrity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Platelet Technology success sealing water leakage: News from Brinker Technology

Brinker Technology, an Aberdeen based world leader in innovative technology for leak location and sealing, has achieved another important success using its patented Platelet Technology

 

Technology - Overview : Beacon Power Corporation

Bruce Logan Research - Microbial Fuel Cells

Curbs to ship pollution would stoke global warming, study says | Reuters

OSLO (Reuters) - Shipping is slowing climate change by spewing out sunlight-dimming pollution but a clean-up needed to safeguard human health will stoke global warming, experts said Friday.So far shipping

In Small Steps, New Approaches to Managing Disaster - NYTimes.com

Organizations like Containers to Clinics and D-Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are involving local people in developing nations in projects that include housing, energy, water, waste treatment and health care.

 

Remarkable Creatures - For Some Animals, Built-In Antifreeze Beats a Winter Coat - NYTimes.com

Many insects, and other animals, defend themselves against direct exposure to subfreezing temperatures through biochemical ingenuity.

 

A solid case of entanglement

Physicists have finally managed to demonstrate quantum entanglement of spatially separated electrons in solid state circuitry.

 

RCA's Airenergy charger converts WiFi energy to electricity
(PhysOrg.com) -- Airenergy is a gadget that can harvest free electricity from WiFi signals such as those from a wireless Internet connection, apparently with enough efficiency to make it practical for recharging devices such as mobile phones.

 

Unusual snail shell could be a model for better armor

(PhysOrg.com) -- New insights about a tiny snail that lives on the ocean floor could help scientists design better armor for soldiers and vehicles, according to MIT researchers.

 

Tillson Harrison - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Arctic permafrost leaking methane at record levels, figures show | Environment | guardian.co.uk

Experts say methane emissions from the Arctic have risen by almost one-third in just five years, and that sharply rising temperatures are to blame

 

Let Sleeping Babies Lie - Chilly Temps Build Tough Nordic Tots : TreeHugger

A gaggle of baby strollers in suburban Iceland. Scandinavia, as much of the East Coast and Northern Europe, has experienced an especially cold and snow-filled winter. Yet chilly temperatures and massive snow won't stop Scandinavian and Icelandic moms from

 

Low-tech Magazine: Wood gas vehicles: firewood in the fuel tank

During the Second World War, almost every motorised vehicle in continental Europe was converted to use firewood. Wood gas cars (also known as producer gas cars) are a not-so-elegant but surprisingly efficient and ecological alternative to their petrol (gasoline) cousins,...

 

More Men Marrying Wealthier Women - NYTimes.com
Men 30 to 44 years old are increasingly likely to marry women with more education and income than they have.

 

Ancient Egypt’s Toxic Makeup Fought Infection, Report Says - NYTimes.com

The elaborate eye makeup worn by ancient Egyptians served as a toxin that killed bacteria and helped prevent infections, according to a new report.

 

Rice responsible for Asians' alcohol flush reaction

The mutation responsible for the alcohol flush reaction, an unpleasant response to alcohol that is relatively common in people of Asian descent, may have occurred following the domestication of rice. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology traced the history of the version ...

 

New visible light photocatalyst kills bacteria, even after light turned off

In the battle against bacteria, researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a powerful new weapon - an enhanced photocatalytic disinfection process that uses visible light to destroy harmful bacteria and viruses, even in the dark.

 

Chimps dance in the face of fire

(PhysOrg.com) -- Unusual behaviors have been observed in wild chimpanzees in West Africa in the face of grass fires. The chimps did not panic or flee, and some made ritualistic displays that suggest they understand fire and do not fear it, and they may even be able to control it. Since chimpanzees are ...

 

Top 15 chemical additives in your food

We don't just want our food to taste good these days: It also has to look good. As a result, food producers use any of 14,000 laboratory-made additives to make our food appear fresher, more attractive or last longer on the shelf.

 

Undersea Internet Cables Could Detect Electromagnetic Tsunami Signals | Wired Science | Wired.com
Tsunamis may be detectable with underwater fiber-optic cables, according to a new detailed model of the electrical fields the moving water generates. The

 

200 CREATIVE AND INTERESTING INFOGRAPHICS [PICS]

Pulse 2.0 is a technology-focused news blog that covers all aspects of Web 2.0, including investments and acquisitions. Pulse 2.0 is available via daily RSS.

 

CBC News - Technology & Science - European males descend from Mideast farmers: study [via claudio]

Most men in Europe are descendants of the first farmers who migrated from the Middle East 10,000 years ago, say researchers examining the lineage of the Y chromosome.

 

Researchers take early step towards devising new antibiotics

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have made the first step towards creating a new class of antibiotics in a study published last night in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

 

Browse Documentaries | Top Documentary Films

Watch mind provoking, eyeopening, educational, controversial, free, streaming, full documentary films and movies. Find the most popular, bestselling documentaries.

 

Lower Biodiversity Means Fewer Bees - Restricted Diet Weakens Their Immune System : TreeHugger
photo: John via flickr. Another twist in the colony collapse disorder saga, courtesy the BBC. It's been known for a couple years that bee and wildflower declines tracked one another, but now researchers from France's National Institute for Agricultural

 

Technology Review: A Synchronous Clock Made of Bacteria

Such microorganisms might make environmental sensors or drug delivery systems.

 

For Some, a Warm Home Is Not a Priority - NYTimes.com

For some, living in a home without heat is the tradeoff for an atmospheric space.

 

New York Times to Charge Nonsubscribers For Unlimited Use of Its Site - NYTimes.com

Starting in early 2011, nonsubscribers who visit NYTimes.com will get a certain number of articles free every month before being asked to pay a flat fee for access.

 

USF Study Shows First Direct Evidence of Ocean Acidification

(PhysOrg.com) -- Seawater in a vast and deep section of the northeastern Pacific Ocean shows signs of increased acidity brought on by manmade carbon dioxide in the atmosphere -- a phenomenon that carries with it far-reaching ecological effects -- reports a team of researchers led by a University of ...

 

Older brains make good use of 'useless' information

A new study has found promising evidence that the older brain's weakened ability to filter out irrelevant information may actually give aging adults a memory advantage over their younger counterparts.

 

Aerobic exercise grows brain cells
(PhysOrg.com) -- Aerobic exercises such as running or jogging have long been known to be good for the health, but now new research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) has shown that it also stimulates the growth of new brain cells and improves the memory and ability ...

 

'Coffee Talk' Disappearing In Native New Yorkers

In the early 1990s, comedian Mike Myers regularly dressed up in a giant wig, gaudy fake nails and gigantic sunglasses to become Linda Richman -- a stereotypical New Yorker who had fits of feeling 'verklempt' and thought that Barbara Streisand's voice was 'like buttah.'

 

YouTube - Miracles of Moving Heavy Objects in the Past Revealed

Enjoy the techniques used by our forefathers.

 

Forget LEED and Energy Star, the Real Green Building Standard is Passivhaus (Slideshow) : TreeHugger

There are a lot of architects using passive design, but when it comes to building a truly green, healthy house, there is nothing on earth like the Passivhaus. Through careful design, quality windows and a huge amount of insulation,

 

Observatory - Coyote Tobacco Plant Switches Pollinators When Caterpillars Strike - NYTimes.com

A plant defends itself by shifting the time of its flowering, scientists found.

 

Language structure is partly determined by social structure, says psychology study

Psychologists at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Memphis have released a new study on linguistic evolution that challenges the prominent hypothesis for why languages differ throughout the world.

 

Slime design mimics Tokyo's rail system
What could human engineers possibly learn from the lowly slime mold? Reliable, cost-efficient network construction, apparently: a recent experiment suggests that Physarum polycephalum, a gelatinous fungus-like mold, might actually lead the way to improved technological systems, such as more robust computer ...

VS Ramachandran: The neurons that shaped civilization | Video on TED.com

TED Talks Neuroscientist Vilayanur Ramachandran outlines the fascinating functions of mirror neurons. Only recently discovered, these neurons allow us to learn complex social behaviors, some of which formed the foundations of human civilization as we know it.

 

Study Finds Monsanto's GMO Corn Causes Organ Damage in Mammals : TreeHugger

Photo via Daily Mail Few subjects attract more ire and debate than genetically modified foods--and Monsanto reigns over the entire industry. The very idea of genetically engineering crops has always made many queasy--and now, literally so. A breakthrough report

 

Technology Review: Google Reveals Chinese Espionage Efforts

After an attack that required staggering skill and resources, the company threatens to quit China. <br />

Self-control is contagious, study finds

(PhysOrg.com) -- Before patting yourself on the back for resisting that cookie or kicking yourself for giving in to temptation, look around. A new University of Georgia study has revealed that self-control -- or the lack thereof -- is contagious.

 

From the ancient Amazonian Indians: A modern weapon against global warming

Scientists are reporting that 'biochar' -- a material that the Amazonian Indians used to enhance soil fertility centuries ago — has potential in the modern world to help slow global climate change. Mass production of biochar could capture and sock away carbon that otherwise would wind up in the atmosphere ...

 

Romulus Whitaker: The real danger lurking in the water | Video on TED.com [via claudio]

TED Talks The gharial and king cobra are two of India's most iconic reptiles, and they're endangered because of polluted waterways. Conservationist Romulus Whitaker shows rare footage of these magnificent animals and urges us to save the rivers that sustain their lives and our own.

 

Observations: Testosterone bumps up status-seeking behavior, not aggressive risk-taking

Do those with more testosterone coursing through their bodies make riskier, more aggressive decisions? Popular culture and even rodent studies seem to have borne out this trite truism about the sex hormone , but researchers in Switzerland and the U.K. te

 

Technology Review: Inflatable Device Stops the Bleeding

A fast, efficient balloon-based system could save lives on the street and battlefield.

 

Vital Signs - Risks - Loss of Bone Mass Is Linked to Contraceptive - NYTimes.com
A new study found that some women who use Depo-Provera experience significant loss of bone density in just two years.

 

Even in New York, Some People Don’t Lock Their Doors - NYTimes.com

Even in New York, some people don’t lock their doors.

 

Modified Mobile Phone Runs on Coca-Cola

Daizi Zheng, a Chinese developer who is currently based in London, has modified a Nokia cell phone to run on Coca-Cola or any other sugary solution.

 

Proof of Life in Three Martian Rocks May Come This Year | Popular Science

NASA says advanced instruments will allow it to definitively prove whether three Martian meteorites contain evidence of life

 

Channel 4 advertising for terminally ill person to volunteer to be mummified for TV show | Mail Online

The body of the candidate selected to be embalmed could then end up being displayed in a museum. Channel 4 and Fulcrum TV are advertising for volunteers.

 

The VICE guide to Liberia Boing Boing

Crash test 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air VS. 2009 Chevrolet Malibu Boing Boing

Tiny Wasps Could Be Natural Alternative to Pesticides : TreeHugger

Photo via Science Daily Or it could be an ecological disaster, as introducing one species to combat another species often turns out to be. However, after a 'detailed' study, scientists are looking at using tiny parasitic wasps as a

 

Technology Review: Blogs: arXiv blog: The Global Shipping Network Revealed

From MIT. Information on Emerging Technologies & impact on business & society

 

New Ships Idle, Waiting for Cargo to Fill Them - NYTimes.com

Cargo shipping companies are paying now for having expanded too aggressively during the boom, analysts say.

 

Johnson and Johnson Accused of Drug Kickbacks - NYTimes.com
The company is accused paying tens of millions of dollars to Omnicare in order put more patients on its blockbuster schizophrenia drug.

 

Satellite Photos of Haiti Before and After the Earthquake | Wired Science | Wired.com

<< previous image | next image >>

 

A Cannon for Shooting Supplies into Space | Popular Science

Creating Hospitals From Thin Air : Discovery News

After a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit the capital of Haiti yesterday, I watched the aftermath unfold in the news with horror. Yet something mentioned in

 

Death, taxes and the Ig Nobel Awards Boing Boing

YouTube - Leningrad Cowboys - My Way

Nokia Balalaika Show 1994