Are Earth's Oceans Made Of Extraterrestrial Material?

Contrary to preconceived notions, the atmosphere and the oceans were perhaps not formed from vapors emitted during intense volcanism at the dawning of our planet. Scientists now suggest that water was not part of the Earth's initial inventory but stems from the turbulence caused in the outer solar system by giant planets. Ice-covered asteroids thus reached the Earth around one hundred million years after the birth of the planets.

You Can’t Get Whale-Penis Leather Seats After All | Autopia | Wired.com

What's the world coming to when you can get your $1.45 million bulletproof SUV with gold trim, a ridiculously expensive Vertu cellphone and three bottles of

The New Dust Bowl | Mother Jones
In the 1930s, Okies saw California's Central Valley as a Garden of Eden. Now it's dying of thirst.

 

Cornell Chronicle: Study measures nitrogen cycling in deserts

Cornell researchers have discovered that heat leads to nitrogen loss in desert soils, a finding that may require climate change models to be altered.

Technology Review: Superconductors to Wire a Smarter Grid

A superstation for connecting three independent grids could help solar and wind power.

Window Watchers in a City of Strangers - NYTimes.com

The ability to observe the private lives of strangers from the windows of our homes — and the knowledge that they can often watch us — has long been a part of city life.

2 Japanese Subs From World War II Era Are Found Off Hawaii - NYTimes.com

The vessels from the World War II era were sunk 63 years ago.

FOXP2 Speech Gene Shows Its Bossy Nature - NYTimes.com

Laboratory tests in which the chimp version of a speech gene was put into human neurons confirmed suspicions that FOXP2 is a maestro of the genome.

Doctor and Patient - Primary Care’s Image Problem - NYTimes.com
As few as 2 percent of medical students are pursuing general internal medicine, a trend that could doom efforts at universal health care.

 

A biology whodunnit: are rodents helping protect trees from fire?

Tom Parker has made an unusual find. In California forests and shrubland that burned in 2008, he has spotted Manzanita seedlings sprouting in tight clusters, suggesting that the young shrubs emerged from underground stashes of seeds. But how did they get there?

Asia Times Online :: Korea News and Korean Business and Economy, Pyongyang News

Asia Times Online. The Asia News Hub providing the latest news and analysis regarding economics, events and trends in business, economy and politics throughout Asia.

Did Texas kill an innocent man? | Democracy in America | Economist.com

Secret Math of Fly Eyes Could Overhaul Robot Vision | Wired Science | Wired.com

By turning the brain cell activity underlying fly eyesight into mathematical equations, researchers have found an ultra-efficient method for pulling motion

Not Just Hot Air | Popular Science

A relentless inventor has apparel giants rethinking the basics of insulation

Steward Advanced Materials Thiol-SAMMS | Popular Science
The toxin terminator

 

Ears Gunshot Localization System | Popular Science

Sniper finder

YouTube - Slayer - Americon

If you like this album, go get a copy when it's released on November 3rd 2009!FULL ALBUM INTERNET LEAKFrom Slayer's new 2009 album, "World Painted Blood...

Desperate climate times call for oddball measures -- latimes.com [via claudio]

If there were some kind of panic button to stop global warming, what would it look like?

Future Food Production Could Be Severely Constrained by a Lack of Phosphorus : TreeHugger

We've all heard of 'peak oil' before. But 'peak phosphorus'? Buffeted by soaring global demand and rising commodity prices, scientists are sounding the alarm that we may begin to run out of the precious element, which lacks a synthetic alternative

Economic View - At Swoopo.com, a Price for the Thrill of the Auction - NYTimes.com

I’ll raise you by a penny (and pay 60 cents for the privilege): That’s one way bidders take part in auctions at a self-described “entertainment shopping” site.

Advertising - ‘Selling Detroit’ Effort Asks Agencies to Promote City - NYTimes.com
Time Inc. is sponsoring the competition, which five agencies are participating in. Visitors to the campaigns’ Web sites will be able to vote for their favorite.

 

Scientists pinpoint origin of dissolved arsenic in Bangladesh drinking water

Researchers in MIT's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering believe they have pinpointed a pathway by which arsenic may be contaminating the drinking water in Bangladesh, a phenomenon that has puzzled scientists, world health agencies and the Bangladeshi government for nearly 30 years. The ...

Rapacious Rasberry ants march north

Poor Texas. First it was killer bees, then fire ants. Now, it's the Rasberry ants.

Deadly Leopard Seal Tries to Feed Live Penguins to Photographer (Video) : TreeHugger

Image: Screen capture from Youtube 'Bloody Hell! That's the biggest leopard seal I've ever seen!' digg_url = 'http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/11/leopard-seal-feeding-penguins-to-photographer-video.php';Leopard seals are pretty scary predators, especially if you're a penguin. But they can be friendly to other leopard seals, which is

BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | Edinburgh, East and Fife | Glowing bugs could find landmines

Bacteria that glow green in the presence of explosives could provide a safe way to find hidden landmines, scientists claim.

SF Green Festival 09 - Kijiji Creates Cool Aquaponics Systems For Kids : TreeHugger

Aquaponics has been a hot topic on TreeHugger of late. Whether you find it the coolest thing to hit urban gardening, or cruelty to fish, aquaponics are gaining popularity. Kijiji Grows demonstrated their aquaponics system at San Francisco Green

Drug Makers Raising Prices Before Reform - NYTimes.com
Critics say the industry is trying to establish a higher price base before Congress passes legislation that tries to curb drug spending in coming years.

 

Findings - A Case in Antiquities for ‘Finders Keepers’ - NYTimes.com

Do laws about the ownership of ancient artifacts help or hurt archaeology?

New insights into the life of the Maya

(PhysOrg.com) -- Ancient artifacts are almost always concerned with rich and powerful religious and political leaders, but new excavations of an ancient Maya site have unearthed a pyramid decorated with murals depicting the marketing and trading of goods by ordinary people around 1,350 years ago.

Plants prefer their kin, but crowd out competition when sharing a pot with strangers

Plants don't mind sharing space with their kin but when they're potted with strangers of the same species they start invigorating their leaves, a study by McMaster University reveals.

Tiny bubbles clean oil from water

Small amounts of oil leave a fluorescent sheen on polluted water. Oil sheen is hard to remove, even when the water is aerated with ozone or filtered through sand. Now, a University of Utah engineer has developed an inexpensive new method to remove oil sheen by repeatedly pressurizing and depressurizing ...

Plastic Boat: The Building of a High-Tech Eco-Stunt | Wired Science | Wired.com

<< previous image | next image >> Not all plastics are created equal -- and to prove it, a rakish

Algae and Light Help Injured Mice Walk Again | Magazine
In the summer of 2007, a team of Stanford graduate students dropped a mouse into a plastic basin. The mouse sniffed the floor curiously. It didn't seem to

 

Teabaggers punk'd by anti-racists who get them to cheer rant against European-American immigrants | Crooks and Liars

[Video from BlueStemPrairie, at their YouTube page.] The teabaggers are getting ready for the next round of wingnuttery against the Obama administration. It sure looks like they lost on health-care reform, but they have already been organized for

Quebec's Disney-inspired solution to flu-shot chaos - The Globe and Mail

Health official dreams up a coupon system that catches on across the province

YouTube - Drunk History vol. 4 - Featuring Paul Schneider

William Henry Harrison, our ninth president, was sixty eight years old when he was elected. He died thirty days later.Derek Waters presents: Drunk History vo...

New Ocean Carbon Sink Blooms as Antarctic Ice Retreats Rapidly : TreeHugger

photo: Wikipedia. There aren't too many good un-anticipated consequences when it comes to climate change, but here's one: Scientists from the British Antarctic Survey have discovered that in areas of open water left exposed by rapid ice melting around

Moscow Journal - An Oasis Is No Match for Bulldozers and Bureaucrats - NYTimes.com
The Soviet government’s land monopoly may have ended some two decades ago, but the ability of the authorities to give and take away territory has not, real estate experts say.

 

The Economics Of Trust - Forbes.com

Trust is about more than whether you can leave your house unlocked. It's responsible for the difference between rich and poor.

Electricity for Americans From Russia’s Old Nuclear Weapons - NYTimes.com

Fuel from dismantled nuclear bombs, including Russian ones, generates about 10 percent of America’s electricity.

Cases - Stuck by a Needle, Not by a Decision - NYTimes.com

A health care worker faced an immediate decision on her treatment after sustaining an injury while taking blood from a patient.

New Glimpses of World War II, on History and Smithsonian TV - NYTimes.com

Two documentaries featuring long-lost or overlooked film footage from World War II make their American television debuts this week and next, keyed to Veterans Day.

Carbon Nanotube Sponge Can Absorb Toxic Oils and Solvents up to 180x Its Weight! : TreeHugger

Photo: Peking University and Tsinghua University Is There Anything We CAN'T Do With Carbon Nanotubes? digg_url = 'http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/11/carbon-nanotube-sponge-toxic-oil-cleanup-180x-weight.php';Cleaning up toxic spills has always been a problem. It's hard, and it's expensive, and you have to be thorough. But things

A Conversation With Ab Klink - Dutch Health Minister Offers Views on U.S. Health Care - Interview - NYTimes.com
What has been sold as a strength of the American medical system does not look like one to the health minister from the Netherlands.

 

A pain in the neck: Researcher studies the effects of too much texting on college students

The world record for fastest text message typing is held by a 21-year old college student from Utah, but his dexterous digits could mean serious injury later on. Most adults aged 18-21 prefer texting over e-mail or phone calls, and ergonomics researchers are starting to wonder whether it's putting ...

Singularity University: Cracking the (Human) Code | Epicenter | Wired.com

The greatest mysteries yield the biggest opportunities. And for Christopher deCharms, the human brain is the most mysterious thing of all. A neuroscientist

AFP: Gun inventor, 'happy man' Kalashnikov turns 90

Q&A With Jeanne Dee, the Nomadic Family Traveler - Frugal Traveler Blog - NYTimes.com

Living off savings and investments, the Dee family - Jeanne, 57, Vince, 56, and their 9-year-old daughter - has been traveling the world and chronicling their adventures since 2006.

Technology Review: Mimicking the Building Prowess of Nature
Scientists build new materials using inspiration from complex biological forms.

 

Venus' Flower Basket - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cornell releases predator beetle to battle hemlock pest

(PhysOrg.com) -- Cornell researchers released a well-studied beetle predator to test its ability to ward off a hemlock-killing aphid-like insect.

Google Go gets going (w/ Video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- Google has introduced its new experimental programming language Go, which aims to combine speedy application development through simplified coding with high-speed program execution.

Researchers Discover Use for Carbon Dioxide in Conversion of Biomass Into Biofuel

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at Columbia University have successfully discovered a beneficial use for carbon dioxide in the conversion of organic materials, such as grass and bark, into fuel. Their findings show that if utilized on a broad scale, their technique could help significantly reduce overall ...

Review: Reporting on Pfizer drug studies fudged

(AP) -- Analysis of a dozen published studies testing possible new uses for a Pfizer Inc. epilepsy drug found that reporting of the results was often fudged, indicating the medicine worked better than internal company documents showed.

Nov. 11, 1930: Einstein Gets Ice Cold | This Day In Tech | Wired.com
1930: Albert Einstein and fellow nuclear scientist Leo Szilard receive an American patent for a new kind of refrigerator that requires no

 

With Road Trains, Highways Become Public Transportation | Autopia | Wired.com

Researchers in the European Union are using telematics to create road trains that join the benefits of carpooling with the freedom of driving

Graph compares rock music quality with US oil production 1949-2007 - Boing Boing

P.J. Tobia - Afghan Desk – Narcotecture: A Photo Tour of Kabul’s Poppy Palaces - True/Slant

Narcotecture in Afghanistan [Monocle]

Monocle looks at the building boom in the western Afghan city of Herat, where gaudy palaces are wiping out the face of the medieval city.

Microbial menagerie: Junk food binge alters community of microbes in the gut in less than a day
(PhysOrg.com) -- Switching from a low-fat, plant-based diet to one high in fat and sugar alters the collection of microbes living in the gut in less than a day, with obesity-linked microbes suddenly thriving, according to new research at the School of Medicine. The study was based on transplants of ...

 

Blackouts Plague Energy-Rich Venezuela - NYTimes.com

With his nation plagued by power failures and water shortages, President Hugo Chávez has turned to lecturing about overconsumption.

Star Trek-like Replicator? Electron Beam Device Makes Metal Parts, One Layer At A Time

A group of engineers working on a novel manufacturing technique at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., have come up with a new twist on the popular old saying about dreaming and doing: "If you can slice it, we can build it." That's because layers mean everything to the environmentally-friendly construction process called Electron Beam Freeform Fabrication, or EBF3, and its operation sounds like something straight out of science fiction.

Rent-a-Goat in Action! Clearing Brush the Way Nature Intended It : TreeHugger

Photo: Rent-a-Ruminent LLC Could goats be the past and the future? We've written many times about goats being used to replace lawnmowers and to clear brush (for example, in Arizona, in North-Carolina, and even at Google's
Mountainview HQ). Well,

Toyota Engineers New Flower Species to Absorb Emissions at Prius Factories : TreeHugger

Toyota has long faced the criticism that the process of manufacturing Priuses has a larger environmental impact than most cars. So the giant automaker came up with what's probably the most bizarre solution imaginable--Toyota genetically engineered two brand new

Green is cool, but US land changes generally are not | Science Codex
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Most land use changes occurring in the continental U.S result in raised regional surface temperatures, says a new study by scientists at the University of Maryland, Purdue University and the University of Colorado in Boulder.

 

Warren Buffett Makes a $44 Billion (!) Bet on Trains, Buys BNSF : TreeHugger

That's Quite a Nice New Toy You Got There, and It's Not Even Xmas Has the Oracle of Omaha seen the future? If so, it seems to include more trains, because Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett's investment vehicle, decided to

Flapping Wind Turbine Inspired by Bumble Bee Wings : TreeHugger

Images: Jetson Green Biomimicry is everywhere these days. It seems increasingly clear that design inspired by nature will play a great big role in our energy future. Case in point: Green Wavelength, an up-and-coming California engineering biz, has prototyped a

Prototype - Big Corporations Pool Their Green Innovations - NYTimes.com

Several major corporations are taking a hint from the open-source software movement and pooling their green innovations.

Technology Review: An App so You'll Never Forget

Adaptive-learning algorithms calculate how often people need to see information to remember it.

Findings - Ethnographic Study Looks at Gossip in the Workplace - NYTimes.com

A study at a Midwestern elementary school found the insults subtle and the conversations unpredictable.

Cases - A Life Apart, Without a Home, Friends or Regrets - NYTimes.com
A man at a homeless shelter was described as filled with thought but empty of feeling.

 

Reflective film can boost profits for apple growers

In a research report published in a recent issue of HortTechnology, scientists Ignasi Iglesias and Simó Alegre examined the effects of covering orchard floors with reflective films on fruit color, fruit quality, canopy light distribution, orchard temperature, and profitability. The experiments ...

First impressions count when making personality judgments, new research shows

First impressions do matter when it comes to communicating personality through appearance, according to new research by psychologists Laura Naumann of Sonoma State University and Sam Gosling of The University of Texas at Austin.

Lasers put a shine on metals

(PhysOrg.com) -- Polishing metal surfaces is a demanding but monotonous task, and it is difficult to find qualified young specialists. Polishing machines do not represent an adequate alternative because they cannot get to difficult parts of the surface. A new solution is provided by laser polishers.

BBC NEWS | UK | England | London | Johnson saves woman from 'oiks'

London mayor Boris Johnson rescues a woman who was being attacked by an armed group of young girls.

John Wooden on true success | Video on TED.com [via claudio]

TED Talks With profound simplicity, Coach John Wooden redefines success and urges us all to pursue the best in ourselves. In this inspiring talk he shares the advice he gave his players at UCLA, quotes poetry and remembers his father's wisdom.

Technology Review: Software Listens for Hints of Depression
A large-scale trial will test whether software can identify depressed patients.

 

Abroad - Scots Aim Lasers at Mount Rushmore and Other Landmarks - NYTimes.com

In an era of computer animation, making laser scans of old monuments may not sound special, but a Scottish team has achieved unprecedented levels of sophistication.

Study finds big air pollution impacts on local communities

Heavy traffic corridors in the cities of Long Beach and Riverside are responsible for a significant proportion of preventable childhood asthma, and the true impact of air pollution and ship emissions on the disease has likely been underestimated, according to researchers at the University of Southern ...

Hormone that affects finger length key to social behavior

The hormones, called androgens, are important in the development of masculine characteristics such as aggression and strength. It is also thought that prenatal androgens affect finger length during development in the womb. High levels of androgens, such as testosterone, increase the length of the ...

Early Life Hedged Its Bets to Survive | Wired Science | Wired.com

By forcing bacteria to evolve in ever-changing conditions, scientists have induced a behavior in which colonies formed by microbes with identical genes take

Clever fools: Why a high IQ doesn't mean you're smart - life - 02 November 2009 - New Scientist

IQ measures the brightness of our mental searchlight. But where we point it also matters

An Appraisal - Other Voyages in the Shadow of Lévi-Strauss - NYTimes.com
In 1978 I made my first reporting trip to the Brazilian Amazon, with an orange-and-white Penguin paperback edition of “Tristes Tropiques” as the only book squeezed into my gear.

 

California Water Overhaul Caps Use - NYTimes.com

Lawmakers passed bills to address a protracted drought in the biggest water overhaul since the 1960s.

What is unique in the brain of an Arabic speaker?

Literary Arabic is expressed in the brain of an Arabic speaker as a second language and not as a native language. This has been shown in a new study by Dr. Raphiq Ibrahim of the Edmond J. Safra Brain Research Center for the Study of Learning Disabilities at the University of Haifa's Department of Learning ...

Árbol del Tule - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Technology Review: Spraying on Skin Cells to Heal Burns

A new technique in burn treatment provides an alternative to skin grafts in the operating room.

Researchers hail innovative plan to save rainforest, reduce greenhouse gas emissions

An innovative proposal by the Ecuadorian government to protect an untouched, oil rich region of Amazon rainforest is a precedent-setting and potentially economically viable approach, says a team of environmental researchers from the University of Maryland, the World Resources Institute and Save America's ...

Metal-Air Battery Could Store 11 Times More Energy than Lithium-Ion
(PhysOrg.com) -- A spinoff company from Arizona State University plans to build a new battery with an energy density 11 times greater than that of lithium-ion batteries for just one-third the cost. With a $5.13 million research grant from the US Department of Energy awarded last week, Fluidic Energy ...

 

New Digital 'Electronics' Concept May Continue Moore's Law

(PhysOrg.com) -- Computers of the future could be operating not on electrons, but on tiny waves traveling through an electron 'fluid,' if a new proposal is successful. The new circuit design, recently introduced by Dr. Héctor J. De Los Santos, CTO of NanoMEMS Research, LLC, in Irvine, California, ...

Inside the Army’s Far-Out Acid Tests | Danger Room | Wired.com

Dropping acid to boost the Pentagon's psychic powers was just the start. The Men Who Stare At Goats, the upcoming movie based on Jon Ronson's non-fiction

George McKelvey "My Teenage Fallout Queen" 1964 - Boing Boing

Lake Nicaragua - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pamukkale - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Defense of Sihang Warehouse - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Technology Review: Faster Maintenance with Augmented Reality

Augmented reality helps Marine mechanics carry out repair work.

 

Technology Review: Blogs: Potential Energy: Department of Energy Funds Liquid Battery Research
From MIT. Information on Emerging Technologies & impact on business & society

 

Technology Review: Mining Fool's Gold for Solar

Cyrus Wadia is using abundant materials to grow nanocrystals for cheaper photovoltaics.

 

Vibrations Keep Water Out of Lotus Leaves - NYTimes.com

Droplets literally bounce up out of the surface in laboratory tests.

 

Basics - A Molecule of Motivation, Dopamine Excels at Its Task - NYTimes.com

A view has emerged to counter the image that a neurotransmitter is the little Bacchus of our brain.

 

Cyberwar - Secure Sources Lacking for Weapons Electronics. - Series - NYTimes.com

Trojan horses hidden in equipment circuitry could pose severe threats in a war in which communications and weaponry rely on computer technology.

 

The pain of torture can make the innocent seem guilty
The rationale behind torture is that pain will make the guilty confess, but a new study by researchers at Harvard University finds that the pain of torture can make even the innocent seem guilty.

 

Scientists discover, patent, sell waste-water tech

Sam Houston State University has applied for six federal patents, three of which have already been awarded, to protect the technology and engineering associated with a 'revolutionary' packaged wastewater treatment system invented by its scientists, and it has formed a company to further develop, market ...

 

Genes that drive you to drink (but don't make you an alcoholic)

Your genetic make up may predispose you to drink more but may not increase your genetic risk for alcoholism (alcohol dependence). Research published in the open access journal, BMC Biology, pinpoints genetic pathways and genes associated with levels of alcohol consumption but not with alcohol dependence ...

 

Researchers identify dominant chemical that attracts mosquitoes to humans

Scientists at the University of California, Davis, have identified the dominant odor naturally produced in humans and birds that attracts the blood-feeding Culex mosquitoes, which transmit West Nile virus and other life-threatening diseases.

 

Taking Earth’s Temperature With 30-Mile Thermometer | Magazine

Say researchers want to monitor the temperature of a shrinking glacier. That used to mean pulling satellite data (which gives very rough measurements) or

 

New Processor Will Feature 100 Cores | Gadget Lab | Wired.com

Forget dual-core and quad-core processors: A semiconductor company promises to pack 100 cores into a processor that can be used in applications that require

 

Clean Smells Promote Moral Behavior, Study Suggests
People are unconsciously fairer and more generous when they are in clean-smelling environments, according to new study. The research found a dramatic improvement in ethical behavior with just a few spritzes of citrus-scented Windex.

 

Slaughterhouse Live - You Be the Butcher - NYTimes.com

A new generation of carnivores is learning to butcher, and in some cases, slaughter their own animals — think of it as do-it-yourself meat.

 

YouTube - Giant Gippsland Earthworm

Filmed by Nick Hayward

 

'Culture of we' buffers genetic tendency to depression

A genetic tendency to depression is much less likely to be realized in a culture centered on collectivistic rather than individualistic values, according to a new Northwestern University study.

 

Hofling hospital experiment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Soviet War Paintings

Ohi Day - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

YouTube - Golden Age Of Video-La era dorada del video-the best video ever created

Ricky Autobahn hizo algo único. Creo una canción en la que los que cantan son todos personajes de películas o series de televisión. Lo editó de tal modo que ...

 

U.S. Public Still Unconvinced on Climate Change | Worldwatch Institute [via claudio]

Pesticide Endosulfan Ruled “Highly Toxic” | Worldwatch Institute [via claudio]

Wealth Inequality and Tuberculosis, Europe | CDC EID [via claudio]

May 2009: Paul Polman calls for global deforestation moratorium | News | Unilever Global [via claudio]

Paul Polman calls for global deforestation moratorium