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Are
we real?
How do we know if we really exist or whether we could be living in a computer
simulation, somewhat like The Matrix? The simulation argument puts forward
the view that we are almost definitely living in a computer simulation.
COOL
SCIENCE FACTS
Most people usually think of the speed of light as being really fast.
It's 671 million miles per hour. That seems tantalizingly zippy if you're
caught in traffic. However, once you think about the speed of light within
the context of our solar system, it starts to seem unimpressive.
The
largest superconducting magnet ever built - Picture
The largest superconducting magnet ever built, in the Atlas detector at
the Cern lab, has been powered up succesfully. Engineers sent a current
of 21,000 Amps round the coils. Atlas will analyse collisions in the Large
Hadron Collider (LHC), which will recreate conditions just after the Big
Bang
Guiding
an Atom Laser
One of the biggest differences between photons and atoms is that the latter
are massive particles, making gravity is a huge factor. It can be seen
as an advantage when designing new high accuracy atom interferometers
based inertial sensors, but can be a major drawback when controlling atom
laser beams.
21st
Century Technology Cracks Alchemists' Secret Recipe
A 500-year old mystery surrounding the centre-piece of the alchemists'
lab kit has been solved by UCL (University College London) and Cardiff
University archaeologists.
New
Genetic Breakthrough Rewrites the Human Genome Rules
Scientists have discovered a dramatic variation in the genetic make-up
of humans that could lead to a fundamental reappraisal of what causes
incurable diseases and could provide a greater understanding of mankind.
While
Signals Keep Firing, Memories Hold Still in the Brain
Making memories seems like a difficult proposition given that our synapses
are constantly in action. Regardless of the perpetual exchange of molecules,
our memories remain stable. According to a pair of researchers, it is
the presence of scaffolding proteins in the synapses that anchor our life
lessons within the chaos of brain activity.
Team
finds more traces of lost Amazon civilization
Katsuyoshi Sanematsu, a professor of anthropology at Rikkyo University
in Tokyo, completed an excavation in August of a massive man-made mound,
or "loma," in Bolivia's northeastern Beni state. Such mounds
mark settlements of the Mojos civilization, which is thought to have flourished
in the Amazon region for thousands of years before the Spanish.
Dietary
Supplements are Food, Not Drugs - Beware of upcoming legislation
There are two major problems with this bill. The first is that it treats
dietary supplements as drugs, not as food. Food has less stringent regulatory
requirements than drugs, yet dietary supplements tend to be even safer
than ordinary food. Supplements are nutrients in a condensed form. They
are not drugs and do not claim to be.
Rain-filled
uranium pits provided drinking water for the Navajo Indians
Rain-filled uranium pits provided drinking water for people and animals.
Then a mysterious wasting illness emerged.
Dino
Skin Preserved in Rare Fossil
For thousands of years, we've only known dinosaurs based on their bones.
That might soon change with the recent discovery of an extremely well
preserved, 67-million-year-old duck-billed dinosaur found with fossilized
skin
Japanese
Underwater Geometric Structures precedes Pyramids by 5000 years
On the sea floor he found vast geometric structures cut out of the rock.
There was evidence of stairs, and improbable angles in the stone. Efforts
to date the monument are derived from the last time the area was above
sea level, which would have been approximately 8,000-10,000 years ago
– about 3-5 millennia before Egypt's pyramids were erected.
21
Science Books That Will Prepare You For The 21st Century
These books are based on hard science but written for a wide audience.
In other words, you don't need a PhD in astrophysics to start learning.
Their writing style is engaging and the information they present is mind
blowing. It's a good list of books to check out the next time you are
in a bookstore.
World's
Rarest Big Cat Captured
In the remote forests of southeastern Russia, scientists have captured
what's believed to be the rarest big cat on Earth: a Far Eastern leopard.
Mere
Thought of Money Makes People Selfish
In a series of nine experiments, researchers found that money enhanced
people's motivation to achieve their own goals and degraded their behavior
toward others. The concept of money, they suggest, makes a person feel
more self-sufficient and thus more apt to stand alone.
Stephen
hawking's universe
Refreshing use of historical material in stephen hawking view of universe.
Cat
gives birth to puppies
Cat mates with dog... and gives birth to puppies.
Supernova
Remnant Acts as a Particle Accelerator
Instead of investing in particle accelerators here on Earth, physicists
might consider just blowing up a few stars. New images taken by the Chandra
X-Ray Observatory show how supernova remnant Cassiopeia A acts as a natural
particle accelerator, firing out cosmic rays.
Neanderthal:
99.5 Percent Human
Two of the most detailed Neanderthal DNA sequencing projects ever performed
are shedding new light on the shared evolutionary past of ourselves and
our closest extinct relative.
Nearby
Stars Come Out of Hiding
Astronomers have spotted 20 new star systems in our local solar neighborhood,
adding to rapidly growing list of known stellar residents in our galaxy.
Toilet
tied to tale of Dead Sea Scrolls ( sorry...just couldnt resist!)
One of the less sanitary aspects of life in Jesus' day has come into play
in the debate over who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls, how they lived and
how they died.
America
to regain lost paradise
When the Hetch Hetchy valley - often called the prettier twin of its famous
neighbour, Yosemite - was flooded in the 1920's, no one thought it would
be seen again. Its loss was mourned by the nascent environment movement.
Now dreams of reclaiming it are coming true.
Scientists
discover how to travel faster than the speed of light
The theory of relativity predicts that masses being accelerated should
emit 'gravitational radiation' in the same way that charged particles
(like electrons) emit electromagnetic radiation when they are accelerated.
Simply put use of gravitational wave in higher dimensions easily produce
thousand time faster speed than light.
Japanese
researchers find dolphin with 'remains of legs'
Japanese researchers said Sunday a bottlenose dolphin captured last month
has an extra set of fins that could be the remains of back legs, providing
further evidence ocean-dwelling mammals once lived on land.
God
vs. science: Can religion stand up to the test?
A growing amount of the scientific profession is experiencing what one
major researcher calls "unprecedented outrage" at perceived
insults to research and rationality, ranging from the alleged influence
of the Christian right on Bush administration science policy, to the fanatic
faith of the 9/11 terrorists, to intelligent design's ongoing claims.
Extraterrestrial
Invasion?
The British government is shockingly underprepared for an attack by extraterrestrials,
an ex-MoD man has claimed. Nick Pope, a career civil servant who spent
four years heading up the MoD's research into UFO sightings, is concerned
that credible evidence of an alien threat is being ignored and that Britain
is "wide open" to attack.
Did
Life Begin In Space?
Interstellar organic molecules suggest that Earth may have been seeded
by the cosmos.
NASA
Sees into the Eye of a Monster Storm on Saturn
NASA's Cassini spacecraft has seen something never before seen on another
planet -- a hurricane-like storm at Saturn's south pole with a well-developed
eye, ringed by towering clouds.
Expert
Says Oceans Are Turning Acidic
The world's oceans are becoming more acidic, which poses a threat to sea
life and Earth's fragile food chain, a climate expert said Thursday
The
First Photo From Space
On October 24, 1946, not long after the end of World War II and years
before the Sputnik satellite opened the space age, a group of soldiers
and scientists in the New Mexico desert saw something new and wonderful—the
first pictures of Earth as seen from space
How
The Brain Weaves A Memory
Memories of events comprise many components--including sights, sounds,
smells, and tastes. Somehow the many features of an episodic memory are
woven together into a coherent whole, and researchers have had little
understanding of how this binding takes place as the memories are processed
by the brain's memory center, the hippocampus.
New
Island Discovered in South Pacific (Photos)
The crew of the Maiken witnesses the forming of an island.
Brain
Pathway Brings Order to Visual Chaos
The world you see around you appears perfectly stationary, even though
your eyes dart back and forth two to three times every second in little
hops called saccades. For more than a century researchers have assumed
that the brain must keep track of the impulses that cause these tiny motions,
so as to subtract their effect from our visual awareness.
Sight
restored to blind mice
Man, science sure has come a long way, using retinal stem cells, cell
transplants have successfully restored vision to mice which had lost their
sight, leading to hopes people could benefit in the same way.UK scientists
treated animals which had eye damage similar to that seen in many human
eye diseases
Intelligence:
Knowns and Unknowns
A canonical introduction to the scientific study of human intelligence
by the American Psychological Association (APA). This report summarizes
the knowns and unknowns of intelligence, and the relevant studies, up
to 1995. It explores group differences in sex and ethnicity, and their
implications.
Whale-dolphin
hybrid has baby wholphin
HONOLULU - The world's only known whale-dolphin mix has given birth to
a playful female calf, officials at Sea Life Park Hawaii said Thursday
Today’s
Seawater Is Tomorrow’s Drinking Water
Researchers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied
Science today announced they have developed a new reverse osmosis membrane
that promises to reduce the cost of seawater desalination and wastewater
reclamation.
Big
Bang In Antarctica: Killer Crater Found Under Ice
Planetary scientists have found evidence of a meteor impact much larger
and earlier than the one that killed the dinosaurs -- an impact that they
believe caused the biggest mass extinction in Earth's history
The
Invisible Butterfly
Amazing pictures of the Glasswing Butterfly who habitat Central America
up to Mexico
Nanotube
Computing Breakthrough
A method for sorting nanotubes by electronic properties could make widespread
nanotube-based electronics a reality.
British
scientists grow human liver in a laboratory
British scientists have grown the world's first artificial liver from
stem cells in a breakthrough that will one day provide entire organs for
transplant.
THE MATRIX REVEALED!
Top
scientist asks: is life all just a dream?
DEEP THOUGHT, the supercomputer created by novelist Douglas Adams, got
there first, but now the astronomer royal has caught up. Professor Sir
Martin Rees is to suggest that “life, the universe and everything”
may be no more than a giant computer simulation with humans reduced to
bits of software.
Lost
city 'could rewrite history'
BBC news reports on the finding of a lost city underwater in the Gulf
of Cambay off the western coast of India that could be over 9,000 years
old.
First
Antimatter Chemistry
The Athena collaboration, an experimental group working at the CERN laboratory
in Geneva, has measured chemical reactions involving antiprotonic hydrogen,
a bound object consisting of a negatively charged antiproton paired with
a positively charged proton.
New
method edges closer to holy grail of modern chemistry
University of Chicago chemist David Mazziotti has developed a new method
for determining the behavior of electrons in atoms and molecules, a key
ingredient in predicting chemical properties and reactions.
Smallest
Genome of Living Creature Discovered
A bacterium living in special cells inside an insect has the smallest
genome of any known cellular lifeform, a new study finds. With only about
160,000 base pairs of DNA, the genome of Carsonella ruddi [image] is less
than half the size thought to be the minimum necessary for life.
Researchers
Develop Nanoparticle Sensor
New Mexico Tech researchers have developed a sensor that uses the light-emitting
properties of some nanoparticles to analyze and identify individual components
of single strands of DNA and RNA.
The
future isn’t what it used to be - The Practical Futurist
Some predictions about the future remain forever etched in history: Lord
Kelvin’s 1895 declaration that “Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible”
or Digital Equipment Corp. head Ken Olson’s 1977 statement that “There
is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.”
Relativity/Quantum
Mechanics Conflict
This article gives a very interesting perspective on what time is and
why quantum mechanics has never been successfully connected with general
and specific relativity.
Particle
decay may point to New Physics
A tiny flaw has caught the attention of physicists: the Standard Model
predicts that the B meson mixing phase should be measured at nearly the
same result using two different classes of decay modes. However, observations
of the two different decay modes gave very different values, resulting
in a large discrepancy.
Earth
has a "second moon" : Asteroid 2003 YN107
Title says it all. Interresting read.
Unpublished
Papers Reveal : Significant Research of Sir Issac Newton
Known primarily for his foundational work in math and physics, Sir Issac
Newton actually spent more time on research in alchemy, as well as its
interrelationships with science, history and religion, and its implications
for economics.
Here
Come Science's Best and Brightest: The 'Brilliant 10
This is a list of 10 scientists and researchers who have made recent and
noteworthy contributions to their field.
'Baby
Bang' experiment to create min-blackholes and open new dimensions
Deep underground on the Franco-Swiss border, someone will throw a switch
next year to start one of the most ambitious experiments in history, probing
the secrets of the universe and possibly finding new dimensions.
Random
Event Generators Predict The Future
The Global Consciousness Project (GCP), originating from Princeton, have
named these random event generators Electrogaiagrams (EGGs) and are using
them to test whether a human consciousness extends a field around the
earth which can change the results of random events.
Dark
Energy and Dark Matter The Results of Flawed Physics
There are few scientific concepts as intriguing and mysterious as dark
energy and dark matter, said to make up as much as 95% of all the energy
and matter in the universe. Even though scientists don't know what either
is and have little evidence to prove they exist, dark energy and dark
matter are two of the biggest research problems in physics.
Mayan
ruins said center of mysterious civilization.
Experts are examining the ruins of a pre-Columbian culture in an area
of Honduras where there had been no previous evidence of major indigenous
civilization.
98%
of Marijuana Eradidicated By the DEA is Not Really Marijuana
More than 98 percent of all of the marijuana plants seized by law enforcement
in the United States is feral hemp not cultivated cannabis, according
to newly released data by the Drug Enforcement Administration ’s
(DEA) Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program and the Sourcebook
of Criminal Justice Statistics.
Ambien
awakens persistent vegetative state victims
"The common sleeping pill zolpidem, sold in the US under the name
Ambien, can reverse serious brain damage and wake up patients in persistent
vegetative states"
Why
Quantum Mechanics Is Not So Weird after All
Richard Feynman's "least-action" approach to quantum physics
in effect shows that it is just classical physics constrained by a simple
mechanism. When the complicated mathematics is left aside, valuable insights
are gained
Hubble
Captures Possible Planetary System
Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have photographed one
of the smallest objects ever seen around a normal star beyond our Sun.
Weighing in at 12 times the mass of Jupiter, the object is small enough
to be a planet. The conundrum is that it's also large enough to be a brown
dwarf, a failed star...
New
Theory on Particle Spin Brings Science Closer to Quantum Computing
Physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory
have devised a potentially groundbreaking theory demonstrating how to
control the spin of particles without using superconducting magnets —
a development that could advance the field of spintronics and bring scientists
a step closer to quantum computing.
New
tallest living tree found
Beating the 370ft Stratosphere Giant is not one but three trees. The tallest
of the three new finds, a redwood named Hyperion, measures 378.1 feet.
Next in line, Helios, stands at 376.3 feet; Icarus, the third, reaches
371.2 feet.
Students
Create World's First 3D NeuroSlice Model
The NeuroSlice model will be of use to students and postgraduates new
to the neuroscience field and to clinicians as a prop for diagnostic explanations
to patients. BRAINYak's invention is the first 3D brain model using MRI
images and provides a representation of the brain in space, something
not found when using software programs and brain atlases
Dolphins
are deep thinkers
Dolphins can also use tools to solve problems. Scientists have observed
a dolphin coaxing a reluctant moray eel out of its crevice by killing
a scorpion fish and using its spiny body to poke at the eel.
Wanted:
Assistant for Stephen Hawking
Renowned astrophysicist and best-selling author Stephen Hawking has announced
he is looking for a graduate student to work for him one to two years.
The candidate can earn about £23,500 and would likely join Hawking
on his many travels abroad, according to a job posting on the university's
Web site.
Watching
a Single Thought Form in the Brain
New techniques to capture single thought processes open up new possibilities
for neuro-imaging.
Global
Project Builds Sharpest Eye on Universe
High on the driest desert on the planet, an army of international scientists
is assembling Earth's most powerful observatory to search for the answers
of the universe. When completed -- around 2011 -- ALMA's will be the largest
and most capable eye on the sky, expected to wield a resolution 10 times
sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope.
How
to defeat writer's block
It's not the fear of writing that blocks people, it's its fear of not
writing well; something quite different. Certainly ever writer has moments
of paralysis, including myself, but the way out is to properly frame what
’s going on, and writer’s block, as commonly misunderstood,
is a red herring.
10
Years of Meth Use
Here is a series of 10 photos in 10 years of what someone looks like when
using meth
The
DNA Age: Couples Cull Embryos to Halt Heritage of Cancer
A growing number of couples are screening embryos to detect a predisposition
to cancers that may or may not develop later in life.
Going
Deaf Listening To Music
Using hands-free phones, iPODS and MP3s may be cool but be warned that
you may gradually lose your hearing without realising it.
An
Island Is Born
Off the coast of Iceland on the morning of 14 November 1963, the crew
of a lone fishing trawler spotted an alarming sight. Off to the southwest
of the Ísleifur II, a column of dark smoke was rising from the
water. Once there, however, they found not a boat but a series of violent
explosions producing ash.
Want
to Improve Education? Let Kids Sleep
This controversy over early school start times is raging in hundreds of
communities today, pitting parents against unbending school bureaucracies.
Surveys of teen's parents in school districts with early start times find
that as many as 90% favor a later starting bell. Research confirms that
lack of sleep in adolescents has become a problem.
US
Scientist: World has entered a State of Dangerous Climate Change
[Reported by Diggers as Possibly Inaccurate] "We are not talking
anymore about what climate models say might happen in the future.
Gene-Altered
Flies Testify to Global Warming
Populations of fruit flies on three separate continents have independently
evolved identical gene changes within just two decades, apparently to
cope with global warming.
CERN's
Massive Physics Experiment
ATLAS (A Toroidal LHC ApparatuS ) a billion dollar detector - about the
size of a seven-story building with a height of 25 meters and 44 meters
in length and weighing some 7,000 tons - that will track billions of collisions
of electrically charged particles per second.
Images
of the Earth from Space
Beautiful
Picture of a Lagoon Nebula
The Lagoon Nebula spans about 30 light-years at an estimated distance
of 5,000 light-years toward the constellation Sagittarius.
Did
the Earth Flip Over in the Past?
Scientists have found evidence that the Earth might have flipped over
in the past, completely shifting the orientation of its poles. The theory
has been around for years; that a large mountain range or supervolcano
might unbalance the spinning Earth. Over the course of millions of years,
the Earth would change the orientation of its axis.
When
Genetically Modified Plants Go Wild
Many who closely watch how biotechnology is changing agriculture, including
those who see a valuable role for GM crops, are disturbed by what appears
to be a series of recent incidents showing lax supervision of experimental
plantings by the government and agribusinesses
An
alternative to string theory
One of the subjects we keep coming back to here at Nobel Intent is the
unification of gravity and quantum mechanics. One of the main contenders
for this has to be string theory, in which all observable properties can
be simply described as vibrations on a string or more complex structure.
Scientists
Watch Supernova in Real-Time
For the first time a star has been observed in real-time as it goes supernova
– a mind bogglingly powerful explosion as the star ends its life,
the resulting cosmic eruption briefly outshining an entire galaxy.
Pilotless
Planes To Monitor Environment
On the horizon: pilotless planes used by the military to drop bombs and
carry out reconnaissance will be flying over Britain by the end of the
decade under proposals from a government-backed project. The drones could
be used to monitor the environment, allow firefighters to spot blazes
in remote locations.
Pink
Floyd's The Dark Side Of The Moon Produces Missing Apollo 11 Footage
Peter Clifton was sitting watching television when he saw NASA was searching
for original Apollo 11 footage. He had forgotten that in 1979 he ordered
footage from The Smithsonian for use in The Dark Side of The Moon demo
film. He had all but forgotten a pristine 16-millimetre film of the moon
landing was part of his vast personal film catalogue
Backward
Sunspot
On July 31st, a tiny sunspot was born. It popped up from the sun's interior,
floated around a bit, and vanished again in a few hours. On the sun this
sort of thing happens all the time and, ordinarily, it wouldn't be worth
mentioning. But this sunspot was special: It was backward.
ALSO :::There is no proven mass to exist within any atom, as can be illustrated as scientists still struggle to grasp the inevitable, making up things likes “Higgs” and other laughable particles to explain mass dynamics. In reality all forces in the universe are purely electrical in nature, that is, a result of positive and negative charges acting against each other in one fashion or another as in the beginning. Knowing this, we can see that even our sun is not as stable as we once thought, for if we ever enter a part of our galaxy that has more or less density of plasma, we will see the sun’s energy output increase or decrease respectively. The sun’s behavior is much better explained overall if it is seen as an isodense electric capacitor, not a gravity-induced fusion furnace. READ FULL ARTICLE
The
U.S. Is Home To a Super Volcano!
Well, it seems that there are volcanoes so big, so massive, that when
they erupt it effects the climate of the entire Earth. You would have
over nine inches of ash over 1,000 miles away. The area effected by the
blast would be more than 2,000 square miles. And when this one blows,
it will be 2500 times bigger than Mt. St. Helens. And where is it?
The
monkey that could save the world
Tamarins are playing a lead role in heightening awareness among Brazilians.
Not only can the rare animals attract eco-tourists, but restoring their
habitat revives a forest which is more biologically diverse than any other
in the world, including the Amazon. One patch of Atlantic rainforest contains
more species than the whole of England.
Math
genius living in poverty
Grigory "Grisha" Perelman, the genius who won fame last week
spurning a million-dollar prize after revealing his solution for Poincare's
Conjecture. Is living with his mother in a humble flat in St Petersburg,
co-existing on her $74-a-month pension.
Ever wondered how much a cloud weighs?
How
To Make A Universe...
For many years now physicists have discussed how one might make a universe
in the laboratory. The essential idea is that the vacuum is not completely
empty but has a set of intrinsic energy levels, which can be excited.
It is this energy that drove the early inflation of the universe and continues
to accelerate the expansion of the universe today.
FDA
Says Bacteria-Eating Viruses Safe for Treating Meat
( yeah right...like we can trust the FDA!)
A mixture of six bacteria-killing viruses can be safely sprayed on meat
and poultry to combat common microbes that kill hundreds of people a year,
federal health officials said Friday. The preparation of bacteriophages
- the name is Greek for "bacteria-eater" - infects only various
strains of the Listeria bacterium and not human or plant cells.
How
Light Pushes Atoms
Unlike water, which speeds up as it passes through a small nozzle,
photons of light have less momentum at the center of a focused laser beam
What
a Sight! The Moon and Three Planets
Three planets and a crescent Moon will be putting on an ever-changing
display in our morning twilight sky this week. Anybody who looks low toward
the east-northeast about an hour before sunrise will immediately see Venus.
Mercury and Saturn join the triad of visible planets.
Contact:
What Happens if a Signal is Found
If you chanced to be among the handful of visitors wandering the lava-strewn
landscape of northeastern California on July 18, 2006, you might have
seen the preamble to what could be a very giant leap for mankind.
Fish
Out of Water: Dr. Michio Kaku
"He stretches his mind to 11 dimensions, understands what Einstein
failed to grasp, and he plans for the death of our Sun, five billion years
from now. Michio Kaku is a superhero of the incomprehensible."
Whales
Strike Out in Collisions with Ships
"Collisions between whales and ships have become a fact of life in
areas around Japan's main southwest island of Kyushu as well as the sea
that separates South Korea and Kyushu, with about a dozen incidents reported
in the past two and a half years."
How
the Brain Loses The Plasticity of Youth
A protein once thought to play a role only in the immune system could
hold a clue to one of the great puzzles of neuroscience: how do the highly
malleable and plastic brains of youth settle down into a relatively stable
adult set of neuronal connections? One way to promote new connections
in brains damaged by disease might be to target PirB.
Satellite
image of oil spill along Lebanese coast
The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER)
on NASA ’s Terra satellite took this picture of the region on August
8, 2006. In this image, the oil slick appears as a slightly darker shade
of blue on the ocean surface, and it is easier to see in the enlarged
area around Beirut at lower right. Hi res version avaialable.
Scientists
explain causes of abrupt rain storms
No two rain storms are alike. Dark clouds may form slowly throughout the
day before a drop of rain falls, and sunny days can suddenly transform
into thunderstorms. Different societies throughout history have ...
Irish
company challenges scientists to test 'free energy' technology
An
Irish company threw down the gauntlet on Friday to the worldwide scientific
community to test a technology it has developed that it claims produces
free energy.
Learn
Languages For FREE (Cantonese, Chinese, French, German...
etc)
Learn languages for free. This site is dedicated to making these language
courses freely available in an electronic format. It is an independent
effort to foster the learning of worldwide languages. Text & audio
materials used by the government to teach Cantonese, Chinese (Standard),
French, German, Greek, Portuguese, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish, & Tur
E=mc2
Explained
Albert Einstein is perhaps the most famous scientist of this century.
One of his most well-known accomplishments is the formula E=mc2. Despite
its familiarity, many people don't really understand what it means.
A
gravitational rainbow points to our planet's invisible topography.
We may not have the ins and outs of gravity pinned down yet, but the GRACE
experiment is helping us understand how gravity affects the Earth. Interesting
map of the Earth's gravity centered on the Indian Ocean.
NASA
Finds Jets Bursting From Martian Ice Cap
"Every spring brings violent eruptions to the south polar ice cap
of Mars, according to researchers interpreting new observations by NASA's
Mars Odyssey orbiter."
Research
finds 'unique human DNA'
Scientists say they have discovered a gene sequence which appears to play
a central role in giving humans their unique brain capacity. The area,
called HAR1, has undergone accelerated evolutionary change in humans and
is active during a critical stage in brain development.
MIT
Scientists Use Math to Find Oil
To find promising underground sites, they collect seismic data by using
air guns or explosives to send shock waves deep into the ground. How the
waves are reflected by underground layers provides information that sophisticated
signal-processing techniques can turn into 3-D images of the subsurface.
The MIT algorithms are well suited to the task.
Hybrid
Mutant' Found Dead in Maine
Residents are wondering if an animal found dead over the weekend may be
the mysterious creature that has mauled dogs, frightened residents and
been the subject of local legend for half a generation. The animal was
found near power lines along Route 4 on Saturday, apparently struck by
a car while chasing a cat.
Image
Gallery: What the new Solar System Looks Like
The IAU has proposed a new definition for planets that brings the tally
to 12. See them all!
Marijuana,
LSD, and Ecstacy are all safer than Alcohol and Cigarettes
[Reported by Diggers as Possibly Inaccurate] That's the conclusion of
a new report in Britain that seeks to rank the actual physical and social
harms of 20 recreational drugs. The report was commissioned by the UK's
House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee. According to
news@nature.com...
Peeking
Inside A Hydrogen Fuel Cell
In fuel cells, which actually are stacks of battery-like devices,
water is the by-product of the chemical process that uses electrons stripped
from hydrogen molecules to generate electricity. The ability to look inside
fuel cells —through their maze-like solid housing—is achieved
with cone-shaped beams of neutrons, which are ideal for the job.
Solar
system to welcome three new planets
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is planning to add three new
members to the exclusive club of large celestial objects orbiting our
Sun.
Europe's
Spacecraft To The Moon Heads Toward Final Impact
SMART-1, the successful first European spacecraft to the Moon, is now
about to end its exploration adventure, after almost sixteen months of
lunar science investigations.
New
Telescope Identifies 2300 Possible Solar Systems in Orion
Astronomers have long scrutinized the vast and layered clouds of the Orion
nebula, an industrious star-making factory visible to the naked eye in
the sword of the famous hunter constellation. Yet, Orion is still full
of secrets. A new image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope probes deep
into the clouds of dust that permeate the nebula.
Japanese
Researcher Reviving Woolly Mammoth
It isn't exactly Jurassic Park, but Japanese researchers are looking at
the possibility of using sperm from frozen animals to inseminate living
relatives. So far they've succeeded with mice —some frozen as long
as 15 years—and lead researcher Dr. Atsuo Ogura says he would like
to try experiments in larger animals
New
information about deformation of nanoscale materials
On a nanoscale, materials don't always have the same properties they would
in bulk. For example, they are often harder and stronger because, unlike
most bulk materials, a crystal that is small enough can be perfect, free
of defects, capable of achieving strength near its ideal theoretical limit.
Chinese
Govt believes Global warming behind disastrous typhoon season.
Global warming is contributing to an unusually harsh typhoon season in
China that started around a month early and has left thousands dead or
missing, government officials and experts say. "Against the backdrop
of global warming, more and more strong and unusual climatic and atmospheric
events are taking place," a Chinese official said.
The
Zombie Poison Identified as Tetrodotoxin
Clairvius Narcisse was declared dead. 18 years later, in 1980, a shuffling,
vacant-eyed man identified himself as, Clairvius. He told a fantastic
tale of being dug up from his grave, beaten to his senses, and led away
to work as a slave on a remote sugar plantation. The authentic “zombie
powder” was shown to produce a death like coma.
Dying
salt marshes puzzle scientists
New England scientists began noticing dead patches like this one near
Lieutenant Island four years ago and call it sudden wetland dieback. Ecologists
warn that saltwater marshes from Maine to Connecticut are suddenly and
inexplicably dying, leaving behind land resembling honeycombs, Swiss cheese
or an eroded desert landscape.
Physicists
make first 'molecular movie' of light
Scientists have made the first ‘molecular movie’ of the elementary
interaction between light and matter. They measured what happens on a
microscopic level when light travels through a medium in a collaborative
project involving Oxford University, the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory
in California, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Mother
Gives Birth to Cyclops (pictures)
A woman in India has given birth to a girl with one eye, no nose, and
a brain with fused hemispheres, known as cyclopia. Medical experts have
reason to believe that an experimental anti-cancer drug is the cause of
the severe deformities.
Stereo
Mission: To Create The First 3-Dimensional Model Of The Sun
Scientists
want to create the first 3-dimensional model of the sun in an effort to
protect the Earth from its most violent eruptions, which can affect everything
from GPS systems to mobile phone networks. The Stereo mission, due to
be launched next month, will map the sun's mood swings and the dangers
they pose to the solar system.
Science
Facts that People Get Wrong
Nullius in Verba. That motto, from the Royal Society coat of arms is traditionally
translated as "dont take anyone's word for it". There now follows
some miscellaneous nonsense you hear or read about from time to time.
Scientists
Gaining Clearer Picture of Comet Makeup and Origin
Scientists
are getting their best understanding yet of the makeup of comets – not
only of the materials inside these planetary building blocks, but also
of the way they could have formed around the Sun in the solar system’s
earliest years.
Molecular
DNA Switch Found to be the Same for All Life
The molecular machinery that starts
the process by which a biological cell divides into two identical daughter
cells apparently worked so well early on that evolution has conserved
it across the eons in all forms of life on Earth.
Scientists
Develop Virtual Reality System To Objectively Test Telephathy
Scientists
have designed a new system using virtual reality to test the telepathic
abilities of human volunteers at the University of Manchester
Psilocybin
Mushrooms being used in medicine again. Profound results.
NEW
YORK (AP) -- People who took an illegal drug made from mushrooms reported
profound mystical experiences that led to behavior changes lasting for
weeks -- all part of an experiment that recalls the psychedelic '60s
Towards
Frictionless Nanomachines
Two
independent groups of researchers have taken important steps in overcoming
friction in nanosized mechanical devices. Friction is a big problem in
nanosized devices because their surfaces quickly wear out and seize up.
Traditional lubricants are useless in such machines because they become
thick and sticky when confined in such tiny spaces.
Anthropologists
Discover Fossil Evidence of ' Missing Link '
"Now,
it is no longer missing," Wesselman said. "This has been the
Holy Grail of anthropology for 150 years, and we've got it. And not only
that, we've got its descendants as well -- a long line of eight or nine
species from start to finish, becoming ever more human before our eyes."
As
the World Wobbles: Measuring Shifts In The Earth's Rotation
Despite its diaphanous appearance,
the atmosphere weighs about 5,000 trillion metric tons, and its mass is
unevenly distributed. All those ridges and troughs on a weather map reflect
differences of billions of tons of gases. Scientists have long known that
as the atmosphere shifts, it influences the earth’s rotation.
360
Degree Panorama of the Moon
Now,
you can take a 360 Degree view of the moon and see what the astronauts
experienced.
14
Year old boy who sees with sound
After
retinal cancer claimed both his eyes at age three, Ben Underwood has learned
to perceive and locate objects by making a steady stream of sounds with
his tongue, then listening for the echos as they bounce off the surfaces
around him. The technique is called echolocation, and many species, most
notably bats and dolphins, use it to get around.
Drought
threatens the Amazon Basin
Extreme conditions felt for second
year running, Record sea temperatures and illegal logging blamed.
A
Protein Complex That Untangles DNA
Every
second, the cells constituting our bodies are replaced through cell division.
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have found a piece of the puzzle
of how genetic information remains intact despite this continuous exchange
of cells. Their results are presented in the latest issue of the scientific
journal Molecular Cell.
A
new look at the state of the oceans
The current condition of the oceans,
their significance as the most important resource for the world's population,
and their impact on the climate will be at the centre of discussion during
the seminar 'A new look on the ocean' at the Euroscience Open Forum. One
of the current projects is PLANKTON*NET, an online database illustrating
plankton.
Towards
Frictionless Nanomachines
Two independent groups of researchers
have taken important steps in overcoming friction in nanosized mechanical
devices. Friction is a big problem in nanosized devices because their
surfaces quickly wear out and seize up. Traditional lubricants are useless
in such machines because they become thick and sticky when confined in
such tiny spaces.
The
Strange Phenomena of Lunar Swirls
Scientists first thought these strange markings on the moon were just
oddly shaped craters. It wasn't until the 1966 Lunar Orbiter II mission
that they realized that these aren't craters, they're flat. Further study
revealed that the swirls emit a strong magnetic force field around them.
So what are they?
Connect the Quantum Dots
A new study, published today in
the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
has significant implications for the design of disease markers and the
development of chemoreceptors used in human biomedical ...
Podcast: John Gilmore talks about the politics involved in legitimate psychedelic research at a conference in the Netherlands.
Faking
it for physicists
In
a "faking it" style test, a social scientist has fooled a panel
of physicist judges into believing he was an experienced gravitational
wave physicist. \\
After
the Big Bang: Project explores seconds that shaped the universe
Kent
State faculty and graduate students are among a team of physicists who
recreated the material essence of the universe as it would have been mere
microseconds after the Big Bang -- a quark-gluon plasma.
Technology
To Access Other Dimensions Of Spacetime
The
Hyperdimensional Oscillator™ is based on the famed Teslascope ,the device
that Nikola Tesla invented to communicate with other planets. In effect
it is a transducer, capable of converting the high frequency of cosmic
rays to an energy field which can interface with the human mind. We can
use these energies for healing the human body, or simply allow them to
guide and instruct us as Tesla did. The possibilities of The Hyperdimensional
Oscillator™ are indeed limitless and our research has merely scratched
the surface of this incredible technology. Like Tesla himself, we have
been guided in our research by higher forces and channelled information
which has enabled us to build the Teslascope in miniature using 21st century
electronic componentry.
Tesla:
Master Of Lightning
10 July 2006 marks what would be
the 150th birthday of the great inventor Nikola Tesla. For those who could
make it, Tesla is immortalized as a statue at Niagara, New York depicting
the master of lighting. Tesla ’s AC became the current used throughout
the world’s electrical grids today.
The
Brave New World of Scalar Electromagnetics
"Electric power is everywhere present in unlimited quantities and
can drive the world's machinery without the need of coal, oil, gas, or
any other of the common fuels." Nikola Tesla "At
any point and at any time, one can freely and inexpensively extract enormous
EM energy flows directly from the active vacuum itself." Tom Bearden
Picture
of the Sun in three colors of ultraviolet light
Since only active regions emit
significant amounts of energetic ultraviolet light, most of the Sun appears
dark. The colorful portions glow spectacularly, pinpointing the Sun's
hottest and most violent regions.
Scientists
Question Nature's Fundamental Laws
Public confidence in the "constants" of nature may be at
an all time low. Recent research has found evidence that the value of
certain fundamental parameters, such as the speed of light or the invisible
glue that holds nuclei together, may have been different in the past.
Psilocybin
Mushrooms being used in medicine again. Profound results.
NEW YORK (AP) -- People
who took an illegal drug made from mushrooms reported profound mystical
experiences that led to behavior changes lasting for weeks -- all part
of an experiment that recalls the psychedelic '60s
Earliest
black holes bent the 'laws' of physics
Black holes in the early universe
may have circumvented a law of physics to grow rapidly to colossal size.
The finding could solve a longstanding puzzle over why such massive objects
appeared so soon after the universe began.
Growing
New Brain Cells
While the adult brain was once
thought to be a mostly static structure, scientists have discovered in
recent years that some parts of the brain continually produce neurons,
especially after injury.Recent studies have shown that many types of drugs
- antidepressants, cholesterol-lowering drugs, even Viagra - spur growth
of new neurons in the brain
Bacterial
Nanowires
When Yuri Gorby discovered that
a microbe which transforms toxic metals can sprout tiny electrically conductive
wires from its cell membrane, he reasoned this anatomical oddity and its
metal-changing physiology must be related. Bacteria will, under particular
environmental conditions sprout nanowires that can shuttle electricity
to other cells.
The
Gravity Tractors
Sooner or later, say astronomers,
an asteroid will be discovered on a collision course with Earth. Humanity
will then begin all-out planning to prevent an impact. But while there
are already plenty of ideas about how to shove asteroids out of Earth's
way, nobody knows whether any of them would work.
Rogue
Giants At Sea
Off the coast of Georgia,
early on Saturday, April 16, 2005, a giant, seven-story wave appeared
out of nowhere. It crashed into the bow, sent deck chairs flying, smashed
windows, raced as high as the 10th deck, flooded 62 cabins, injured 4
passengers and sowed widespread fear and panic.
Researchers
Enlist Proteins to 'Switch On' Heart Tissue Repair
Researchers are utilizing a protein
to “switch on” the ability to repair damaged heart tissue. By triggering
the cell-cycle signal, researchers can manipulate cells in animal models
to regenerate damaged heart tissue. If this research is someday successfully
translated to humans, it could change the approach to treating heart disease.
UFO
Research: Findings vs. Facts
"For decades now, eyes and
sky have met to witness the buzzing of our world by Unidentified Flying
Objects, termed UFOs or simply flying saucers. Extraterrestrials have
come a long way to purportedly share the friendly skies with us."
Here are some facts.
Students
Develop Sensor Network To Monitor Forest
Four college students have developed
a network of wireless sensors to monitor forests in Romania for poaching,
flooding, and fires. The application sends out alerts based on data about
the humidity, sound, temperature, and carbon monoxide levels.
Scientific
American: Why do we dream?
The questions, "Why do we
dream?" or "What is the function of dreaming?" are easy
to ask but very difficult to answer. The most honest answer is that we
do not yet know the function or functions of dreaming. This ignorance
should not be surprising because despite many theories we still do not
fully understand the full purpose of sleep.
DNA
extracted from a 43,000 year old mammoth
While not quite like Jurassic park,
Researchers where able to extract DNA from a bone from a 43,000 year old
Siberian mammoth. With this information, scientists are were able to determine
that mammoths did indeed have different color furs.
The
Quest For The Metal Library
A system of tunnels and caves beneath
Ecuador and Peru is reputed to hold an ancient treasure-house of artefacts
including two libraries, one containing inscribed metal books and the
other storing tablets of crystal.
The
Politics of Psychedelic Research
Podcast: John Gilmore talks about
the politics involved in legitimate psychedelic research at a conference
in the Netherlands.
The
Energy Of Empty Space That Isn't Zero
Lawrence Krauss, a well-known physicist
and author, recently invited a group of 21 cosmologists, experimentalists,
theorists, and particle physicists and cosmologists, to discuss some key
issues facing fundamental physics and cosmology. His conclusion: there
appears to be energy of empty space that isn't zero. This flies in the
face of all conventional wisdom in theoretical particle physics.
Think
Aliens Are Coming?
Peter Davenport, who directs the National
UFO Reporting Center, is in the process of relocating his operation from
Seattle to a rundown Cold War missile site he recently purchased in Lincoln
County. Does he know something we don't?
How
Can the Human Race Survive the Next Hundred Years?
That's the question Dr. Stephen Hawking
posed on the internet a couple of days go. So far he has received more
than 16,000 answers.
Mystery
Object Found in Supernova's Heart
More cosmic weirdness: "Embedded
in the heart of a supernova remnant 10,000 light-years away is a stellar
object the likes of which astronomers have never seen before in our galaxy."
Biggest
discovery in the history of science
Scientist
discovers the genuine dark side...
Tesla:
Lighting up the world -- again
Nikola
Tesla harnessed alternating current, invented radio technology and patented
700 inventions, including the wireless remote control and spark plugs.
He died alone of a heart attack in a New York hotel room, impoverished.
His Nobel Prize awarded to another man for an invention he had created
years earlier.
Nasa
aims to move Earth
Scientists have found an unusual way
to prevent our planet overheating: move it to a cooler spot. All you have
to do is hurtle a few comets at Earth, and its orbit will be altered.
Our world will then be sent spinning into a safer, colder part of the
solar system.
Mini
solar system could reveal hidden dimensions
A tiny, artificial
solar system could reveal hidden spatial dimensions and test alternative
theories of gravity, a new study suggests. If the system's "planets"
moved slightly differently than expected from standard gravity, it would
signal the presence of new physical phenomena.
The
Tree Of Knowledge: The Science Of Dendrochronology
In a freezing
cold room on an old wharf in Trondheim, a group of five scientists have
gathered around three dark brown logs. Each log is just under a metre
tall, and a half-metre in diameter, with growth rings – about to be covered
in white silicon –as dense as the grooves in an old vinyl record album.
Apes
that can talk on the phone
"Kanzi
and Panbanisha understand thousands of words. They use sentences, talk
on the phone, and they like to gossip. In short, they use language in
many of the same ways humans do." "Kanzi's favorite movie when
he was veryyoung was Planet of the Apes" They can understand everything
a five year old can. I don't trust where this is headed!
Scientists
create conditions under which light travels a mere 38 MPH
Light,
which travels in a vacuum at almost 300,000 kilometers per second (186,000
miles per second), takes only 8 and 1/3 minutes to journey from the Sun
to the Earth. Now a team of physicists has managed to slow the speed down
by a factor of 20 million. Yes, that's correct, a 20-million-fold reduction
in the speed of light!
Advanced
Geometry Used to Understand Musical Structure
Composers often speak of fitting chords and melodies together, as
though sounds were physical objects with geometric shape -- and now a
Princeton University musician has shown that advanced geometry actually
does offer a tool for understanding musical structure.
The
Letters Of Albert Einstein
The
last remaining trove of Albert Einstein's personal family letters is being
opened to the public this week. They had been closely held by his stepdaughter
Margot Einstein, who decreed that they remain sealed for 20 years after
her death. Some of the letters are a revelation.
Ancestor
of every living human may have lived only 2000 years ago
"That
means everybody on Earth descends from somebody who was around as recently
as the reign of Tutankhamen, maybe even during the Golden Age of ancient
Greece. There's even a chance that our last shared ancestor lived at the
time of Christ."
The
toxicity and regulation of recreational drugs.
People have sought altered states
of consciousness throughout history by both meditation and drugs. The
latter is easier and the preferred method by most. Do we continue to fight
human nature, or do we follow cultures that use more positive social means
to regulate the use of less hazardous recreational drugs.
Reason
to Believe
A leading geneticist argues that
science can lead to faith.
List
of "Lost" words in English
"Lost words" are words that
were removed from dictionary since they were assumed to be out-dated or
unfit for modern English.Here's a comprehensive list.
MIT
scientists create visionary optic fibers
In
a radical departure from conventional lens-based optics, MIT scientists
have developed a sophisticated optical system made of mesh-like webs of
light-detecting fibers.
13
things that do not make sense
A
list of 13 things that don't make any scientific sense.
100
Most Important Discoveries In Last 25 Years (Office Of Science)
For
the past two-and-a-half decades, the Office of Science at the U.S. Department
of Energy has been at the forefront of scientific discovery. We asked
our staff and colleagues to help us identify 100 or so of the most important
discoveries supported by the Office of Science.
Top
50 Blogs Written by Scientists
Weblogs
written by scientists are relatively rare, but some of them are proving
popular. Out of 46.7 million blogs indexed by the Technorati blog search
engine, five scientists' sites make it into the top 3,500.
Bizarre
neutron star is old before its time
A
neutron star that behaves like it is millions of years old but was born
just 2000 years ago has scientists scratching their heads.
The
World's First "Magnetic Levitation" Wind Turbines Unveiled in
China
Chinese
developers have unveiled the world ’s first permanent magnetic levitation
wind power generator.
How
Does a Human Brain Sift Through All of that Data?
When
neurons communicate, they send messages across a junction known as a synapse.
Synapses don't act as passive channels for the brain's messages —they
actively filter them, amplifying important messages while eliminating
background noise. New research demonstrates one mechanism by which synapses
separate the good stuff from the junk
SHOCKING
photos of Indian girl's face transplant!!
A
grass-cutting machine completely amputated her face and scalp. The machine
caught one of her braids and then pulled her head in. Her mother, who
witnessed the accident, said: "I didn't know where her face was.
Everything was peeled off."
Scientists
create conditions under which light travels a mere 38 MPH
Light,
which travels in a vacuum at almost 300,000 kilometers per second (186,000
miles per second), takes only 8 and 1/3 minutes to journey from the Sun
to the Earth. Now a team of physicists has managed to slow the speed down
by a factor of 20 million. Yes, that's correct, a 20-million-fold reduction
in the speed of light!
Amazing
Storm Pictures
Here
is a set of the amazing storm pictures taken by the storm chaser, Mike
Hollingshead in Nebraska and Kansas during the summer months of 2002 and
2004.
Liquid
electromechanical imaging on a nano-level
Scientists
have demonstrated that electromechanical imaging techniques, when operated
in a liquid environment, can provide a resolution of up to 10 times that
of the resolution when imaging in air. This discovery has important implications
for biological research and innovations in nanotechnology.
Ancestor
of every living human may have lived only 2000 years ago
"That
means everybody on Earth descends from somebody who was around as recently
as the reign of Tutankhamen, maybe even during the Golden Age of ancient
Greece. There's even a chance that our last shared ancestor lived at the
time of Christ."
Fragments
of Collosal Meteor Change Some Perceptions of Other Impacts
Usually, asteroids large enough
to create craters more than four kilometres wide are vaporised by the
high temperatures created when they hit the Earth. But recently, an international
group of scientists accidentally discovered a fragment of an asteroid
in the Morokweng crater that is believed to be a piece of the destructive,
ancient space rock.
How
many frames per second can the human eye see?
A great article explaining how
the eye percieves frames per second.
List
of "Lost" words in English
"Lost words" are words that
were removed from dictionary since they were assumed to be out-dated or
nfit for modern English.Here's a comprehensive list...
Huge
Asteroid to Fly Past Earth on July 3
An asteroid possibly as large as a half-mile or more in diameter is
rapidly approaching the Earth. It's not gonna crash into us, but the space
rock will make an exceptionally close approach to our planet early on
Monday, July 3, passing just beyond the Moon's average distance from Earth More…
Scientists
measure the 'dark matter' of the universe.
A new $300 million
observatory in Washington state is set to measure gravitational waves,
which could one day be used to discover many of the universe`s secrets.
An
Introduction to Information Theory
Information
theory is a relatively new field of mathematics that tries to characterize
what information is in quantifiable way. It's an area of math that was
almost totally obscure until not too long ago, and one which is frequently
misunderstood, even by people who mean well.
Japan
has ambitious plan to fight warming
Japan hopes to
slash greenhouse gas emissions and fight global warming with a revolutionary
plan to pump carbon dioxide into underground storage reservoirs instead
of releasing it into the atmosphere, an official said Monday.\
Stealth
Radar System Sees Through Trees, Walls -- Undetected
Ohio State University engineers have invented a radar system that
is virtually undetectable, because its signal resembles random noise.
The radar could have applications in law enforcement, the military, and
disaster rescue.
Tracking
Earth's wobbles down to the size of a cell phone
New
technologies are enabling scientists to determine precisely the extent
and causes of Earth's short-term wobbling. Like a spinning top, Earth
wobbles as it rotates on its axis. In fact, it displays many different
wobbling motions, ranging in period from a few minutes to billions of
years. Some of these are well studied, like the Chandler wobble of 433
days and the annual wobble, which together can tilt Earth's axis up to
10 meters [30 feet] from its nominal center.
Iced
marijuana tea to debut in British health food shops
British
health food shops will soon be offering customers iced cannabis tea, its
Swiss distributor said Monday.
Correlating
Space and Time
“The
method we have proposed,” says Evgeny Shchukin, “is an extension of the
well-known balanced modyning scheme.” However, unlike the standard scheme
used for measuring radiation fields, the sch