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Latest Articles: Science/Tech
Rare Gray Wolf Appears in Western Mass.
Post Date: 2008-03-05 19:09:25 by angle
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SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) -- When more than a dozen lambs and sheep were slaughtered on a Shelburne farm last fall, wildlife officials suspected either a wolf that had escaped from captivity or a rogue mutt on a hungry rampage. But after the culprit animal was killed and examined, they found themselves with a bigger mystery: How did a wild eastern gray wolf, an endangered species absent from the state for more than a century, find its way to western Massachusetts? Thomas J. Healy, head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Northeast regional office, said Tuesday recent DNA tests at the agency's Oregon labs confirmed it is the first gray wolf found in New England since a 1993 case ...
Climate Skeptics Roast Gore On Global Warming
Post Date: 2008-03-05 17:07:56 by farmfriend
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Climate Skeptics Roast Gore On Global Warming NEW YORK - Al Gore, who won the Nobel Peace Prize and an Oscar for his environmental advocacy, was the main target on Monday at a conference of dissident scientists skeptical of his views on global warming. Several speakers at the conference on climate change whose theme was "Global warming is not a crisis," took pot-shots at the ex-vice president and his film, "An Inconvenient Truth," which won last year's Academy Award for best documentary. "Whether we like it or not, it was extremely effective propaganda," said Timothy Ball, an environmental consultant and former climatology professor at the University of ...
Future 'quantum computers' will offer increased efficiency... and risks
Post Date: 2008-03-05 15:45:51 by farmfriend
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Contact: Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala zkotala@mail.ucf.edu 407-823-6120 University of Central Florida Future 'quantum computers' will offer increased efficiency... and risks UCF Professor makes unique discovery, may revolutionize encryption technology An unusual observation in a University of Central Florida physics lab may lead to a new generation of “Quantum Computers” that will render today’s computer and credit card encryption technology obsolete. The observations are documented this week in the online version of Nature Physics under Advance Online Publication (http://www.nature.com/nphys/index.html ). The title of UCF Professor Enrique del Barco’s paper is ...
Our Solar System isn't What it Used to be
Post Date: 2008-03-05 07:08:43 by YertleTurtle
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WASHINGTON — Move over, Copernicus. Your once-revolutionary idea — that the Earth revolves around the sun rather than the other way around — has been eclipsed. Recent years have brought a sweeping new revolution in solar system astronomy. The Earth still orbits the sun, as Copernicus declared 400 years ago, but the planetary system in the textbooks you studied is now out of date. ``The entire view of astronomy you learned in high school has changed dramatically,'' said Alan Stern, NASA's associate administrator for science. ``We're really in a new age of discovery.'' The changes go well beyond the International Astronomical Union's controversial ...
Linear Tactics in a Chaotic War
Post Date: 2008-03-05 05:54:00 by Ada
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One of several dead hands the First Generation of Modern War lays on contemporary state militaries' throats is linearity. Most state militaries both seek and expect linearity on and off the battlefield. Sometimes, this manifests itself in tactics that offer magnificent if unintentional tableaux vivants. I recall a field exercise years ago with the Second Marine Division at Camp Lejeune where, rounding a bend, we found a lieutenant had built a perfect 19th-century fortress wall across the road, complete with firing step. The division sergeant major, in whose jeep I was riding, said, "My God, it's the siege of Vicksburg!" More often, linearity manifests itself in a military ...
Opel Eco Speedster
Post Date: 2008-03-04 21:00:38 by rack42
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Opel 2 seater: 113mpg at 140mph http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvKYUM5NkWk 1.3 Liter turbocharged Diesel, 5-speed semi-auto transmission Pictures: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/02/the-opel-eco-speedster.php Of course, this is a GM vehicle. GM is notorious for producing project vehicles that they later crush, ie, physically demolish. Back in the late '60's Pontiac made a two-seater version of the Firebird. It trounced the Corvette in all aspects. It was crushed.
Poster Comment:This vehicle was run on the track shown in the video in 2005. There were comments regarding the CEO of GM that should be put out to pasture after his screwing of Chrysler; or shot.
China's Guangdong to build nation's largest off-shore wind farm
Post Date: 2008-03-04 08:34:24 by angle
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GUANGZHOU, March 3 (Xinhua) -- South China's Guangdong Province plans to build the nation's largest off-shore wind farm, in a bid to quench its power thirst. The facility, with a sea area coverage of 240 square kilometers, will be co-sponsored by the Lufeng Municipal Government and Guangdong Baolihua New Energy Stock Co.,Ltd. The plan includes a 1.25 million kilowatt wind farm, an 8 million kw supercritical power plant and a dock construction project. The facility is expected to "relieve the energy pressure and optimize the energy structure" in the booming province, local government officials said. China began to work on its second west-to-east natural gas transmission ...
'Long-life' genes found in 100-year-old humans
Post Date: 2008-03-03 17:44:41 by Tauzero
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'Long-life' genes found in 100-year-old humans 22:00 03 March 2008 NewScientist.com news service Andy Coghlan It's not quite the elixir of life, but researchers have at last identified gene variants that make people live longer. Men may miss out, as all carriers identified so far are women. They are also slightly shorter than average. "We are moving closer to understanding why some people live longer," says Nir Barzilai of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, New York, US, head of the team that identified the two gene mutations in centenarians of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. Both mutations affect the receptor for insulin-like growth factor 1 ...
Will global warming increase plant frost damage?
Post Date: 2008-03-03 01:36:52 by farmfriend
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Will global warming increase plant frost damage? Widespread damage from 2007 Eastern US spring freeze attributed to earlier warming Contact: Holly Menninger hmenninger@aibs.org 202-628-1500 American Institute of Biological Sciences Widespread damage to plants from a sudden freeze that occurred across the Eastern United States from 5 April to 9 April 2007 was made worse because it had been preceded by two weeks of unusual warmth, according to an analysis published in the March 2008 issue of BioScience. The authors of the report, Lianhong Gu and his colleagues at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and collaborators at NASA, the University of Missouri, and the National Oceanic and ...
Why a bird-brained partner causes stress
Post Date: 2008-03-02 22:54:18 by Tauzero
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Why a bird-brained partner causes stress By ROBIN DUNBAR HAVE you been struggling yet again with your partner's faults and foibles? Do you find relationships really hard work? Well, it seems you are in good company. A recent study of brain size in a wide range of birds and mammals has revealed the species with the biggest brains relative to body size are precisely those that mate monogamously. Those that live in large anonymous flocks or herds and mate promiscuously have much smaller brains. It seems living with a partner is demanding and needs a lot of brain power. The birds make it clear the real issue is maintaining strong, resilient pairbonds. Birds that mate monogamously come ...
Does faith healing really work?
Post Date: 2008-03-01 11:05:46 by gengis gandhi
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Print Health Written by Danny Penman faith_healing-1 After six years of agonising pain, Ailsa Marsh was stunned to the core when a spiritual healer managed to banish her suffering in an instant. "It was gone in the blink of an eye," says Ailsa, a 28-year-old complementary medicine student from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. "It felt as if he had put his hands inside my shoulders and turned off a tap." "Before the healing I was constantly wracked with tortuous pain. I was bed-ridden with ME and couldn't leave the house. All of my senses became hypersensitive. If somebody spoke to me it felt as if they were shouting. I couldn't bear the light so my parents hung ...
Military heat ray gun zaps 60 Minutes reporter
Post Date: 2008-03-01 06:52:10 by robin
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"You have to feel the ray gun to believe it," says 60 Minutes correspondent David Martin, speaking about a non-lethal weapon the Pentagon has developed, "and there's only one way to do that." Martin was reportedly "zapped" 17 times for this piece, demonstrating the effects, as well as the possibility that a person could reduce the impact with shields of various materials. "The gun is really an antenna which shoots out this very high-frequency radio beam that penetrates the skin to a depth of 1/64 of an inch, which is just deep enough to hit the nerves," says Martin. "And it creates this instantaneous sensation of heat which makes anyone who ...
Study Shows Bacteria Are Common in Snow
Post Date: 2008-03-01 03:41:50 by farmfriend
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Study Shows Bacteria Are Common in Snow By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, AP Fri Feb 29, 6:16 PM EST Those beautiful snowflakes drifting out of the sky may have a surprise inside — bacteria. Most snow and rain forms in chilly conditions high in the sky and atmospheric scientists have long known that, under most conditions, the moisture needs something to cling to in order to condense. Now, a new study shows a surprisingly large share of those so-called nucleators turn out to be bacteria that can affect plants. "Bacteria are by far the most active ice nuclei in nature," said Brent C. Christner, an assistant professor of biological sciences at Louisiana State University. Christner ...
Feds Want More Critical Habitat for Lynx
Post Date: 2008-03-01 03:35:56 by farmfriend
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Feds Want More Critical Habitat for Lynx By CATHERINE TSAI, AP Fri Feb 29, 6:16 PM EST Federal wildlife managers said Thursday they want to increase by more than 20-fold the amount of land designated as critical habitat for the threatened Canada lynx, to nearly 43,000 square miles in six states. Only 1,841 square miles in three national parks in Minnesota, Montana and Washington were designated as critical habitat for the long-haired mountain cat in 2006. But the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reconsidered that decision and those involving seven other species after allegations of interference from Julie MacDonald, a deputy assistant secretary of the interior. She has resigned. The ...
Study casts doubt on water on Mars surface
Post Date: 2008-03-01 02:51:07 by farmfriend
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Study casts doubt on water on Mars surface By Will Dunham, Reuters Fri Feb 29, 4:34 PM EST It made a big splash when scientists announced in 2006 that images from a NASA spacecraft indicated water apparently had flowed on the surface of Mars in the past decade but new research casts doubt on that finding. Other scientists on Friday said new images and computer simulations strongly indicate that a landslide of sand and gravel is a more likely explanation for the bright deposits in gullies previously touted as evidence of recent water flow. "We started off not thinking that we were going to debunk anything. I absolutely thought it was going to be liquid," Jon Pelletier, a ...
Particle Collider's Last Big Piece Set
Post Date: 2008-03-01 02:36:54 by farmfriend
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Particle Collider's Last Big Piece Set By ALEXANDER G. HIGGINS, AP Fri Feb 29, 8:19 PM EST Engineers on Friday fitted the last major piece into what they say will be the world's largest scientific instrument — a nuclear particle accelerator in a 17-mile tunnel under the Swiss-French border. The wheel-shaped piece of equipment, with a diameter of about 30 feet, was lowered down a 330-foot shaft and fitted with other equipment known as detectors in an underground room the size of a cathedral. "It's exciting but at the same time there is a feeling of relief," said Robert Aymar, director-general of the European Organization for Nuclear Research, as he watched. ...
Climate orthodoxy perpetrates a hoax
Post Date: 2008-02-28 20:10:46 by farmfriend
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Climate orthodoxy perpetrates a hoax Monday, February 25, 2008 GORDON FULKS Gov. Ted Kulongoski's successful purge of George Taylor -- Oregon's former state climatologist and soon-to-be former director of the Oregon Climate Service at Oregon State University -- has a clear message for scientists: agree with the governor or you too will disappear. Don't hint that man-made global warming is the greatest scientific hoax of our time. It offends the governor. Many, like Taylor, are unwilling to support political agendas at odds with good science but also too polite to play the role of the little boy in "The Emperor's New Clothes." They will quietly say, ...
Housecat's Genes Traced to the Middle East
Post Date: 2008-02-28 18:28:06 by Tauzero
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Housecat's Genes Traced to the Middle East Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News Jan. 31, 2008 -- The roots of the domesticated cat's family tree all converge in the Middle East, with many surprising ancestral twists and turns along the way, reveals a new genetic study on house kitties that included purebreds, mutts and even feral felines. The study, one of the most extensive of its kind, used 39 genetic identity markers identified in 11,100 cats. Like branches on a person's family tree, these were used to determine the heritage of today's cats. The DNA evidence adds to earlier archaeological findings and research that suggested the mother of all housecats was Middle Eastern. ...
Gene Expression Differences Affect Drug Response
Post Date: 2008-02-28 18:00:16 by Tauzero
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Gene Expression Differences Affect Drug Response Thursday, February 28, 2008; 12:00 AM THURSDAY, Feb. 28 (HealthDay News) -- People of European and African ancestry have differences in gene expression levels that affect how they respond to certain kinds of drugs and fight off specific types of infections, says a new U.S. study. Researchers studied 30 white families from Utah and 30 Yoruban families from Nigeria, and found significant variations in nearly 5 percent of the 9,156 genes they analyzed. The findings were published online in theAmerican Journal of Human Geneticsand are expected to be published in the March 7 print issue of the journal. "Our primary interest is the genes ...
A FIRE RAINBOW
Post Date: 2008-02-28 14:14:50 by farmfriend
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THIS IS A FIRE RAINBOW - THE RAREST OF ALL NATURALLY OCCURRING ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA THE PICTURE WAS CAPTURED THIS WEEK ON THE IDAHO/WASHINGTON BORDER. THE EVENT LASTED ABOUT 1 HOUR CLOUDS HAVE TO BE CIRRUS, AT LEAST 20K FEET IN THE AIR, WITH JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF ICE CRYSTALS AND THE SUN HAS TO HIT THE CLOUDS AT PRECISELY 58 DEGREES.
Nature: red in tooth & politics
Post Date: 2008-02-27 18:31:16 by farmfriend
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Nature: red in tooth & politics Peter Foster, Financial Post Published: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 The journal Nature is one of the most-cited scientific publications in the world, but a recent editorial attacking Canada's Conservative government is outrageously biased. Indeed, it could easily have been written by David "Off with their heads" Suzuki. Maybe it was. Nature's attack, published last week, suggests that while Canada's scientific researchers rank among the best in the world, "their government's track record is dismal by comparison." The editorial goes on to claim that "Science has long faced an uphill battle for recognition in ...
Blind Irishman sees with the aid of son's tooth in his eye
Post Date: 2008-02-27 18:16:07 by angle
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DUBLIN (AFP) - An Irishman blinded by an explosion two years ago has had his sight restored after doctors inserted his son's tooth in his eye, he said on Wednesday. Bob McNichol, 57, from County Mayo in the west of the country, lost his sight in a freak accident when red-hot liquid aluminium exploded at a re-cycling business in November 2005. "I thought that I was going to be blind for the rest of my life," McNichol told RTE state radio. After doctors in Ireland said there was nothing more they could do, McNichol heard about a miracle operation called Osteo-Odonto-Keratoprosthesis (OOKP) being performed by Dr Christopher Liu at the Sussex Eye Hospital in Brighton in ...
Teenage anger linked to brains: study
Post Date: 2008-02-27 18:08:59 by angle
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HONG KONG (Reuters) - Aggression in some teenage boys may be linked to overly large Amygdalas in their brains, a study by scientists in Australia and the United States has found. In an article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, they said these boys may also be unable to control their emotions because other parts of the brain that normally control strong emotions don't mature till the early 20s. "It is important for parents to bear in mind that while their teenage child looks like an adult and does very complicated work at school, parts of their brain are still developing really until the 20s," Nicholas Allen at the University of Melbourne's psychology ...
Doomsday Vault safeguards Harrow soybean seeds
Post Date: 2008-02-27 12:55:11 by Fred Mertz
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HARROW -- Soybeans grown in Harrow have been locked in the Doomsday Vault along with seeds from around the world, preserved and protected in case of disaster. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault that's been dubbed the Doomsday Vault opened Tuesday on a snowy Norwegian island in the Arctic Circle. Canada sent 5,936 seed samples representing 94 different species from the national seed bank located in Saskatoon, including 109 varieties of soybeans that were grown at the Greenhouse and Processing Crops Research Centre in Harrow. "It was grown under the sun of Ontario," Axel Diederichsen, curator and research scientist of the Plant Gene Resources of Canada Centre in Saskatoon, said ...
The cold truth about climate change
Post Date: 2008-02-26 23:38:55 by robin
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The cold truth about climate change Deniers continue to insist there's no consensus on global warming. Well, there's not. There's well-tested science and real-world observations. By Joseph Romm Feb. 27, 2008 | The more I write about global warming, the more I realize I share some things in common with the doubters and deniers who populate the blogosphere and the conservative movement. Like them, I am dubious about the process used by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to write its reports. Like them, I am skeptical of the so-called consensus on climate science as reflected in the IPCC reports. Like them, I disagree with people who say "the science ...
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