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Latest Articles: Science/Tech
Modern Cosmology: Science or Folktale?
Post Date: 2007-08-23 23:39:14 by rack42
2 Comments
Current cosmological theory rests on a disturbingly small number of independent observations It appears that everybody is interested in cosmology. In one anthropological study, every one of the more than 60 separate cultures examined was found to have several common characteristics, including "faith healing, luck superstitions, propitiation of supernatural beings, … and a cosmology." Apparently, to be human is to care how the physical world came to be, whether it has boundaries and what is to become of it. Modern cosmology is a highly sophisticated subject funded by governments with hundreds of millions of dollars a year. It is unquestionably interesting, but is it, even ...
Google puts universe online
Post Date: 2007-08-23 15:50:07 by robin
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Google puts universe online By Frank D. Roylance Sun reporter August 23, 2007 Imagine having millions of stars and planets at your fingertips, without spending thousands on a telescope or shivering all night under a cold, dark sky. The universe is online, available from the comfort of your computer chair. It's a feature that Google developers, in collaboration with astronomers, have added to Google Earth, the Web site that provides millions of users with bird's-eye views of their home planet. Sky at Google Earth, which made its debut in cyberspace early yesterday, turns Googlers around and aims their eyes toward the heavens, with user-friendly tools for navigating and zooming ...
Scientists drug-test whole cities
Post Date: 2007-08-23 11:39:04 by kiki
6 Comments
WASHINGTON - Researchers have figured out how to give an entire community a drug test using just a teaspoon of wastewater from a city's sewer plant. The test wouldn't be used to finger any single person as a drug user. But it would help federal law enforcement and other agencies track the spread of dangerous drugs, like methamphetamines, across the country. Oregon State University scientists tested 10 unnamed American cities for remnants of drugs, both legal and illegal, from wastewater streams. They were able to show that they could get a good snapshot of what people are taking. "It's a community urinalysis," said Caleb Banta-Green, a University of Washington drug ...
UCF physicist says Hollywood movies hurt students' understanding of science
Post Date: 2007-08-22 02:43:09 by farmfriend
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UCF physicist says Hollywood movies hurt students' understanding of science Contact: Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala zkotala@mail.ucf.edu 407-823-6120 University of Central Florida Movies such as Spiderman 2 and Speed generate excitement among audiences with their cool special effects. But they also defy the laws of physics, contributing to students’ ignorance about science. Two University of Central Florida professors show just how poorly Hollywood writers and directors understand science in an article published in the German journal “Praxis der Naturwissenschaften Physik.” Common sense may indicate that people should know the stunts in movies are just make believe, but the ...
New catalysts may create more, cheaper hydrogen
Post Date: 2007-08-22 02:25:36 by farmfriend
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New catalysts may create more, cheaper hydrogen ARGONNE, Ill. (Aug. 20, 2007) – A new class of catalysts created at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory may help scientists and engineers overcome some of the hurdles that have inhibited the production of hydrogen for use in fuel cells. Argonne chemist Michael Krumpelt and his colleagues in Argonne's Chemical Engineering Division used "single-site" catalysts based on ceria or lanthanum chromite doped with either platinum or ruthenium to boost hydrogen production at lower temperatures during reforming. "We've made significant progress in bringing the rate of reaction to where ...
STUDY: COW-POWERED FUEL CELLS GROW SMALLER, MIGHTIER
Post Date: 2007-08-22 02:23:02 by farmfriend
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STUDY: COW-POWERED FUEL CELLS GROW SMALLER, MIGHTIER COLUMBUS, Ohio – Cows could one day help to meet the rise in demand for alternative energy sources, say Ohio State University researchers that used microbe-rich fluid from a cow to generate electricity in a small fuel cell. This new microbial fuel cell is a redesign of a larger model that the researchers created a few years ago. The new cell is a quarter of the size of the original model, yet can produce about three times the power, said Hamid Rismani-Yazdi, a doctoral student in food, agricultural and biological engineering at Ohio State University. Experiments showed that it took two of the new cells to produce enough ...
Pellets of power designed to deliver hydrogen for tomorrow's vehicles
Post Date: 2007-08-22 02:14:49 by farmfriend
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Pellets of power designed to deliver hydrogen for tomorrow's vehicles New insights to be shared on use of solid ammonia borane for hydrogen storage Contact: Geoff Harvey geoffrey.harvey@pnl.gov 509-372-6083 DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory BOSTON – Hydrogen may prove to be the fuel of the future in powering the effi cient, eco-friendly fuel cell vehicles of tomorrow. Developing a method to safely store, dispense and easily “refuel” the vehicle’s storage material with hydrogen has baffl ed researchers for years. However, a new and attractive storage medium being developed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory scientists may provide the “power of ...
Roswell Confessions: New Witness Testimony
Post Date: 2007-08-21 23:00:48 by Indrid Cold
3 Comments
Lt. Jack Trowbridge talks about the discovery of material and resulting cover-up of articles recovered at Roswell in 1948. Also interviews with other vets. Click "full text" link as I can't figure out how to embed it here. Click for Full Text!
The Uneasy Relationship Between Mathematics and Cryptography
Post Date: 2007-08-21 14:30:10 by Tauzero
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The Uneasy Relationship Between Mathematics and Cryptography Neal Koblitz During the first six thousand years—until the invention of public key in the 1970s—the mathematics used in cryptography was generally not very interesting. Well into the twentieth century cryptographers had little use for any of the concepts that were at the cutting edge of mathematics. Indeed, mathematicians looking at cryptography in those years might have found justification for Paul Halmos’ infamous title “Applied Mathematics Is Bad Mathematics.” There were some exceptions. In the 1940s Alan Turing, the father of computer science, worked extensively in cryptography and, in particular, ...
Criticism of Gender Theory, and a Scientist Under Siege
Post Date: 2007-08-21 06:50:08 by Ada
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In academic feuds, as in war, there is no telling how far people will go once the shooting starts. The central figure, J. Michael Bailey, a psychologist at Northwestern University, has promoted a theory that his critics think is inaccurate, insulting and potentially damaging to transgender women. In the past few years, several prominent academics who are transgender have made a series of accusations against the psychologist, including that he committed ethics violations. A transgender woman he wrote about has accused him of a sexual impropriety, and Dr. Bailey has become a reviled figure for some in the gay and transgender communities. To many of Dr. Bailey’s peers, his story is a ...
Thermochemical process converts poultry litter into bio-oil
Post Date: 2007-08-19 16:02:02 by farmfriend
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Thermochemical process converts poultry litter into bio-oil Provides safer, more environmentally friendly solution to waste disposal Contact: Lori Greiner lgreiner@vt.edu 540-231-5863 Virginia Tech Foster Agblevor, associate professor of biological systems engineering, is leading the team of researchers in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (www.cals.vt.edu) at Virginia Tech (www.vt.edu) developing transportable pyrolysis units that will convert poultry litter into bio-oil, providing an economical disposal system while reducing environmental effects and biosecurity issues. Agblevor will present the research during the 234th American Chemical Society National Meeting in Boston ...
'We have broken speed of light'
Post Date: 2007-08-18 22:05:55 by farmfriend
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'We have broken speed of light' By Nic Fleming, Science Correspondent A pair of German physicists claim to have broken the speed of light - an achievement that would undermine our entire understanding of space and time. According to Einstein's special theory of relativity, it would require an infinite amount of energy to propel an object at more than 186,000 miles per second. However, Dr Gunter Nimtz and Dr Alfons Stahlhofen, of the University of Koblenz, say they may have breached a key tenet of that theory. The pair say they have conducted an experiment in which microwave photons - energetic packets of light - travelled "instantaneously" between a pair of prisms ...
Colbert Report:: Andrew Keen on Colbert Report: "Even the Nazis didn't put artists out of work."
Post Date: 2007-08-18 18:08:59 by Zipporah
1 Comments
Andrew Keen on The Colbert Report
Poster Comment:This commentary from Boing Boing on Keen: Andrew Keen, notorious spammer, failed Web 1.0 entrepreneur, blog-hating blogger, and luddite troll author of Cult of the Amateur, appeared on the Colbert Report last evening. It's well worth watching.
Toys 'R' Us pulls vinyl bibs as precaution against lead problems [CHINESE IMPORTS; US COMPANY]
Post Date: 2007-08-18 13:49:25 by IndieTX
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NEWARK, New Jersey (AP) -- Toys "R" Us Inc. on Friday said it was removing all vinyl baby bibs from its Toys "R" Us and Babies "R" Us stores as a precaution after two bibs made in China for one supplier showed lead levels that exceeded Toys "R" Us standards. Toys "R" Us, which operates over 1,500 stores, said the result came in testing this month of bibs supplied by Hamco Inc. and marketed under the Koala Baby, Especially for Baby and Disney Baby labels. Tests of Hamco bibs in May were within standards, Toys "R" Us said. Vinyl bibs made by other companies have been temporarily removed to avoid any confusion among customers and ...
Hurricane Dean
Post Date: 2007-08-16 20:50:00 by IndieTX
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000 WTNT44 KNHC 162031 TCDAT4 HURRICANE DEAN DISCUSSION NUMBER 14 NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL042007 500 PM EDT THU AUG 16 2007 AN AIR FORCE HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT HAS BEEN IN THE EYE OF DEAN AND THE DATA SO FAR INDICATE THAT THE MINIMUM PRESSURE HAS BEEN FLUCTUATION BETWEEN 974 AND 979 MB. MAXIMUM WINDS ARE ESTIMATED AT 85 KNOTS. THE CURRENT CONVECTIVE BANDING STRUCTURE AND THE EXPANSION OF THE UPPER-LEVEL OUTFLOW OBSERVED ON SATELLITE IMAGES SUGGEST THAT DEAN IS STRENGTHENING AT THIS TIME. DEAN IS EXPECTED TO CARRY AN UPPER-LEVEL ANTICYCLONE WITH IT...ON ITS WESTWARD TRACK ACROSS THE CARIBBEAN. THIS PATTERN IS CONDUCIVE TO STRENGTHENING. ONCE DEAN REACHES THE WESTERN ...
Dark matter mystery deepens in cosmic 'train wreck'
Post Date: 2007-08-16 18:42:07 by farmfriend
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Dark matter mystery deepens in cosmic 'train wreck' Contact: Megan Watzke mwatzke@cfa.harvard.edu 617-496-7998 Chandra X-ray Center Astronomers have discovered a chaotic scene unlike any witnessed before in a cosmic “train wreck” between giant galaxy clusters. NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and optical telescopes revealed a dark matter core that was mostly devoid of galaxies, which may pose problems for current theories of dark matter behavior. "These results challenge our understanding of the way clusters merge," said Dr. Andisheh Mahdavi of the University of Victoria, British Columbia. "Or, they possibly make us even reexamine the nature of dark ...
World's birds on death row: Race against time to save 189 species from extinction
Post Date: 2007-08-16 08:54:09 by robin
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World's birds on death row: Race against time to save 189 species from extinction The world's most ambitious bird conservation project will be launched this week amid evidence that hunting and loss of habitat has caused species to disappear at an unprecedented rate. David Randall reports Published: 12 August 2007 The biggest and most wide-ranging bird conservation programme the world has ever seen will be launched next week with the aim of saving every one of the planet's critically endangered species from extinction. The task is urgent. There are now no fewer than 189 birds in this most precipitous category – 51 more than there were just seven years ago. Scientists ...
Humans fostering forest-destroying disease
Post Date: 2007-08-15 21:26:48 by farmfriend
29 Comments
Humans fostering forest-destroying disease Contact: James Hathaway jbhathaw@uncc.edu 794-687-6675 University of North Carolina at Charlotte Enjoying your August vacation? Well, (as they say in the summer movies) there’s a killer in the woods. Its strike has been consistently quiet, sudden, and deadly. Unknowingly, we have all been playing into its hands… But put down that rock -- you personally are not in any danger. It’s the woods themselves that are getting axed and you may be an accomplice. Melodrama aside, the threat is very serious – the killer is an invasive, forest-destroying plant disease known as Sudden Oak Death. Caused by an (apparently) non-native water ...
A Report from the Global Warming Battlefield
Post Date: 2007-08-15 13:30:43 by farmfriend
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A Report from the Global Warming Battlefield By Roy Spencer : BIO| 15 Aug 2007 In case you hadn't noticed, the global warming debate has now escalated from a minor skirmish to an all-out war. Although we who are skeptical of the claim that global warming is mostly manmade have become accustomed to being the ones that take on casualties, last week was particularly brutal for those who say we have only 8 years and 5 months left to turn things around, greenhouse gas emissions-wise. I'm talking about the other side - the global warming alarmists. First, NASA's James Hansen and his group had to fix a Y2K bug that a Canadian statistician found in their processing of the ...
Palm Tree Antennas
Post Date: 2007-08-14 19:31:23 by Esso
1 Comments
Strange. If I was doing that, I'd have painted a leaf pattern on the elements to break them up. Not a lot of palm trees in NE Indiana though. Click for Full Text!
NASA to Hold Media Teleconference on Bizarre Star
Post Date: 2007-08-14 05:21:37 by Diana
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NASA to Hold Media Teleconference on Bizarre Star WASHINGTON -- Astronomers are scheduled to announce new findings about a star unlike any seen before at a media teleconference Wednesday, Aug. 15, at 1 p.m. EDT. The findings are from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer, managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The briefing participants are: - Christopher Martin, principal investigator of the Galaxy Evolution Explorer, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif. - Mark Seibert, astronomer, Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Pasadena, Calif. - Michael Shara, curator at the American Museum of Natural History and professor of ...
Dark Matter: All Wrong?
Post Date: 2007-08-13 22:13:09 by rack42
1 Comments
The mysterious dark matter that's been called on to make sense of the ways galaxies twirl through space may not exist, if an alternative theory is right. The surprising way galaxies rotate — as if they are much larger and heavier than they appear to be — has long implied to astronomers and astrophysicists that there is more matter out there holding things together than we see. That unseen and unseeable matter has fallen under the catch-all term "dark matter." These days, the most likely candidate for what makes up dark matter is some sort of weakly interacting particle that we've so far failed to detect. But there is another radically different possibility: ...
Study: IQ linked to virginity
Post Date: 2007-08-12 13:26:22 by farmfriend
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Study: IQ linked to virginity By Leslie Finlay Collegian Staff Writer Recent studies on sexual activity among adolescents and young adults show that being an "average Joe" may have benefits outside of the classroom. The studies show that female and male adolescents with an IQ score either below 70 or above 110 are more likely to be virgins. Adolescents with IQ scores ranging from 70 to 110 had the lowest probability of virginity, according to two researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The average IQ score is 90 to 110. Mariah Mantsun Cheng, a research associate, and J. Richard Udry, professor of maternal and child health and sociology, both from ...
3-inch gouge found on space shuttle's belly
Post Date: 2007-08-12 00:08:40 by IndieTX
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) -- NASA discovered a worrisome gouge on Endeavour's belly soon after the shuttle docked with the international space station Friday. The gouge was possibly caused by ice that broke off the fuel tank a minute after liftoff. The gouge -- about 3 inches square -- was spotted in photos taken by the space station crew shortly before Endeavour delivered teacher-astronaut Barbara Morgan and her six crewmates to the orbiting outpost. "What does this mean? I don't know at this point," said John Shannon, chairman of the mission management team. If the gouge is deep enough, the shuttle astronauts may have to patch it during a spacewalk, he said. On ...
Scientist: Apocalyptic California Quake Will Kill Thousands
Post Date: 2007-08-11 19:53:44 by Brian S
10 Comments
A government scientist warns a massive earthquake three centuries in the making could shake southern California hard enough to kill thousands of people and cause "billions of dollars in damage," according to news reports. A devastating quake in California's Coachella Valley usually occurs every 150 years, but its been more than 300 years since a quake shook the region. "There will be several thousand dead and billions of dollars in damage," said Lucy Jones, a seismologist at the U.S. Geological Survey, according to the Los Angeles Times. Jones, a member of the California Seismic Safety Commission presented her "apocalyptic vision" to members of the ...
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