The Lumpen Proletarian

Bees recognize human faces using feature configuration
Martin Giurfa from the University of Toulouse, France, and Adrian Dyer from Monash University, Australia, have shown that bees can be trained to recognize human faces, so long as the insects are tricked into thinking that the faces are oddly shaped flowers. The insects use the arrangement of facial features to recognize and distinguish one face from another. The Franco-Australian collaboration publishes its discovery on Jan. 29, 2010, in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

Not-so-standard safety features - The Globe and Mail

From pop-up hoods to thermal-imaging systems, auto makers get innovative to keep pedestrians safe

 

Technology Review: Flexible Sheets Capture Energy from Movement

Material could charge portable electronics with every step.

 

Results of Study on Cellphone Use Surprise Researchers - Wheels Blog - NYTimes.com

So, if fewer people use cellphones while driving, that will reduce accidents, right? Nope.

 

Self-healing polymer 'starfish' prolong lifetime of automotive oils

Researchers have created self-healing polymers that could extend the lifetime of automotive oils. These polymers are suitable to add to lubricants and could maintain the physical properties of engine oils for longer, they claim helping engine efficiency. Biological materials, such as skin, self heal ...

 

Class size, number of rivals fuels competiveness

(PhysOrg.com) -- Class size or the number of rivals in any competitive situation matters, according to University of Michigan research showing students are more willing to try hard as the number of competitors decreases.

 

Nonlinear thinker: Making sense of previously insoluble problems
If an airplane is cruising along and raises the flaps on its wings a degree or two, it will tilt upward. If it raises the flaps twice as much, it will tilt upward about twice as much. But if it tilts upward too far — generally more than 15 degrees — the airflow over the wings becomes chaotic, and anything ...

 

Peering inside an artificial sun

(PhysOrg.com) -- After more than five decades of research, a major milestone toward the harnessing of fusion power is expected within the next year or two. This milestone, known as 'fusion ignition,' should take place at an experimental facility built for that purpose in California. Known as the National ...

 

Fiery European Festivals - The Big Picture - Boston.com

The Big Picture - News Stories in Photographs from the Boston Globe

 

Cigarettes May Cause Infections | Wired Science | Wired.com

The tobacco in cigarettes hosts a bacterial bonanza — literally hundreds of different germs, including those responsible for many human illnesses, a new

 

Sundrop Fuels Looks To Combine Sun Wood Chips For Gas - Business News - Portfolio.com

Sundrop Fuels believes it can combine wood chips with sun power to make gasoline and diesel fuel.

 

Focusing 192 lasers on one little target

Hair and mushrooms create a recipe for cleaning up oily beaches - SFGate
A group of guerrilla volunteers is cleaning oil from San Francisco's beaches using an unorthodox, albeit totally organic, method: human hair and mushrooms.Using mats made of hair, they are absorbing

 

Cornish Journal - A Recluse? Well, Not to J.D. Salinger's Neighbors - NYTimes.com

To the residents of Cornish, N.H., J. D. Salinger was not a recluse. He was a townsperson — just a guy called Jerry.

 

In Portland, Going Green and Growing Vertical in a Bid for Energy Savings - NYTimes.com

The federal government plans to plant a bold vertical garden with “vegetative fins” that will grow more than 200 feet high on the western façade of the main federal building.

 

Unboxed - Advances in Sensor-Based Computing Bring ‘Smart Dust’ Closer - NYTimes.com

Some ambitious projects in sensor research offer a glimpse of where this fledgling field may be headed.

 

Levitating magnet may yield new approach to clean energy

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new experiment that reproduces the magnetic fields of the Earth and other planets has yielded its first significant results. The findings confirm that its unique approach has some potential to be developed as a new way of creating a power-producing plant based on nuclear fusion -- ...

 

The population crash | Fred Pearce | World news | The Guardian

Across Europe, we are having fewer babies. In many places, such as the deserted town of Hoyerswerda in east Germany, the falling birth rate is already taking its toll

 

Genetically Modified Forest Planned for U.S. Southeast: Scientific American
International Paper and MeadWestvaco are planning to transform plantation forests of the southeastern U.S. by replacing native pine with genetically engineered eucalyptus

 

Basics - Abstract Thoughts Prompt Literal Physical Responses - NYTimes.com

Researchers have found that the body embodies abstractions the best way it knows how: physically.

 

Ecologists discover forests are growing faster

Speed is not a word typically associated with trees; they can take centuries to grow. However, a new study to be published the week of Feb. 1 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has found evidence that forests in the Eastern United States are growing faster than they have in the past ...

 

New adhesive device could let humans walk on walls

Could humans one day walk on walls, like Spider-Man? A palm-sized device invented at Cornell that uses water surface tension as an adhesive bond just might make it possible.

 

Students failing because of Twitter, texting - Canada - Canoe.ca

Canada and International News

 

Foamy Invention Could Save Energy and Lives | LiveScience

An engineer has devised a brand new material that can save energy and lives.

 

Barefoot running: How humans ran comfortably and safely before the invention of shoes
Scientists have found that those who run barefoot, or in minimal footwear, tend to avoid "heel-striking," and instead land on the ball of the foot or the middle of the foot. In so doing, these runners use the architecture of the foot and leg and some clever Newtonian physics to avoid hurtful and potentially damaging impacts, equivalent to two to three times body weight, that shod heel-strikers repeatedly experience.

 

Gustave (crocodile) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Portuguese cork gets wings as stoppers war rages on | Reuters

LISBON (Reuters) - Making cork fly is easy, just pop a bottle of bubbly. But imagine a plane with wings largely made of pressed cork soaring through the skies. From aircraft in the sky to the microscopic

 

In China Underworld, Hacking for Fun and Profit - NYTimes.com

A young hacker let a reporter into his world of trolling for information that may one day be worth money.

 

Spray-on liquid glass is about to revolutionize almost everything

(PhysOrg.com) -- Spray-on liquid glass is transparent, non-toxic, and can protect virtually any surface against almost any damage from hazards such as water, UV radiation, dirt, heat, and bacterial infections. The coating is also flexible and breathable, which makes it suitable for use on an enormous ...

 

Mass drug overdose – none dead - health - 01 February 2010 - New Scientist

Hundreds of volunteers attempt to overdose on homeopathic remedies, without ill effects

 

Could Cars Have Caused the Mortgage Meltdown? | Autopia | Wired.com
In yet another analysis of the causes behind the current financial crisis, it turns out that vehicle ownership and a lack of access to public transportation

 

Gone with the wind: Tubes are whisking samples across hospital - Office of Communications & Public Affairs - Stanford University School of Medicine

Eco-friendly way of decomposing BPA-containing plastic

Just as cooking helps people digest food, pretreating polycarbonate plastic -- source of a huge environmental headache because of its bisphenol A content -- may be the key to disposing of the waste in an eco-friendly way, scientists have found.

 

For Scots, a Scourge Unleashed by a Bottle - NYTimes.com

Buckfast has emerged as a symbol of Scotland’s entrenched drinking problems at a time when it is urgently debating how to address them.

 

Europe Takes Its Own Path Toward Economic Recovery - NYTimes.com

European firms have been more willing than their U.S. counterparts to accept lower-profits and productivity in the short-term to preserve jobs.

 

Here's looking at dew: spiders snare water from the air
Fog-catching nets which provide precious water in rain-starved parts of the world may be poised for a high-tech upgrade thanks to the spider.

 

Everywhere in a Flash: The Quantum Physics of Photosynthesis | Wired Science | Wired.com

By hitting single molecules with quadrillionth-of-a-second laser pulses, scientists have revealed the quantum physics underlying photosynthesis, the

 

French Using Sewage to Heat Their Swimming Pools : TreeHugger

When water from the shower, dishwasher, or washing-machine is drained into the sewer-pipes, it's not just a waste of water, but a waste of the energy used to heat that water. In fact, the water in city pipes averages

 

High-tech aerogels wrap homes with insulation | Green Tech - CNET News

Aspen Aerogels is selling aerogels--a high-tech insulating material used in oil and gas pipelines and in aerospace--to retrofit older homes to be more energy efficient. Read this blog post by Martin LaMonica on Green Tech.

 

BrightFarm Systems Designs World's First Sustainable Rooftop Greenhouse Integrated On An Affordable Housing Development, South Bronx, NY - BrightFarm Systems - pitchengine.com

BrightFarm designs 1st #sustainable rooftop greenhouse integrated on affordable housing dev, S Bronx #greenbuilding

 

Technology Review: "Melting" Drywall Keeps Rooms Cool

Developers think these phase-change materials could reduce the need for air-conditioning.

 

Technology Review: Brain Imaging Lets Vegetative Patient Communicate
The surprising new research is likely to challenge our notions of consciousness.

 

Technology Review: Biofuels from Saltwater Crops

A research project will make jet fuel without wasting fresh water or farmland.

 

Generation B - Fatherhood Late in Life? Priceless - NYTimes.com

An older fathers’ group enjoys the ability to control their time in a way they never could as young men.

 

On College Campuses, a Shortage of Men - NYTimes.com

When women outnumber men at a college, dating culture is skewed.

 

Undercover Boss - TV Pilot - Review - NYTimes.com

Google Earth dives into oceans and WW II

Google Earth mapping service is letting people use the Internet to dive into the world's oceans or see the ruin that World War II bombings rained on European cities.

 

Unmanned U.S. frigates to stalk submarines (w/ Video)
(PhysOrg.com) -- In the U.S. the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is planning to introduce unmanned frigates for long missions shadowing diesel-electric submarines.

 

High achievers more likely to be bipolar

(PhysOrg.com) -- The Greek philosopher Aristotle once said 'there is no great genius without a mixture of madness,' and now there is some scientific evidence that there is a link between mania and high IQ and creativity, since a study of over 700,000 subjects showed those who scored the highest grades ...

 

Leaves Show Looped Networks May Be Better Than Branched | Wired Science | Wired.com

Tree branches have inspired efficient transit networks, but a new study finds inspiration in leaves. The curvy, connected leaf veins found in some plants

 

Electric Charge Can Change Freezing Point of Water | Wired Science | Wired.com

A watched pot never boils, but an electrically charged pot sometimes freezes. A study in the Feb. 5 Science reports that water can freeze at different

 

Shanghai's Crackdown on... Pajamas Boing Boing

Science of gun duels Boing Boing

Born Poor? | Santa Fe Reporter

Santa Fe economist Samuel Bowles says you better get used to it