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Latest Articles: Science/Tech
Study faults partial radiation for breast cancer recurrance
Post Date: 2011-12-07 01:47:46 by Tatarewicz
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SAN ANTONIO — New research casts doubt on a popular treatment for breast cancer: A week of radiation to part of the breast instead of longer treatment to all of it. Women who were given partial radiation were twice as likely to need their breasts removed later because the cancer came back, doctors found. The treatment uses radioactive pellets briefly placed in the breast instead of radiation beamed from a machine. At least 13 percent of older patients in the U.S. get this now, and it is popular with working women. "Even women who aren't working appreciate convenience," but they may pay a price in effectiveness if too little tissue is being treated, said study leader ...
NASA Telescope Confirms Alien Planet in Habitable Zone
Post Date: 2011-12-05 14:38:27 by Eric Stratton
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NASA Telescope Confirms Alien Planet in Habitable Zone MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — NASA's planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft has confirmed the discovery of its first alien world in its host star's habitable zone — that just-right range of distances that could allow liquid water to exist — and found more than 1,000 new explanet candidates, researchers announced today (Dec. 5). The new finds bring the Kepler space telescope's total haul to 2,326 potential planets in its first 16 months of operation.These discoveries, if confirmed, would quadruple the current tally of worlds known to exist beyond our solar system, which recently topped 700. The potentially habitable ...
Gene ABCC9 determines need for extra sleep
Post Date: 2011-12-05 02:55:06 by Tatarewicz
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People who like a lie-in may now have an excuse - it is at least partly down to their genes, according to experts. Experts, who studied more than 10,000 people across Europe, found those with the gene ABCC9 need around 30 minutes more sleep per night than those without the gene. The gene is carried by one in five Europeans, they say in their study, published in Molecular Psychiatry. The researchers said the finding could help explain "sleep behaviour". Over 10,000 people took part, each reporting how long they slept and providing a blood sample for DNA analysis. People's sleep needs can differ significantly. At the extreme, Margaret Thatcher managed on four hours of ...
Turtle telepathy
Post Date: 2011-12-03 02:30:01 by Tatarewicz
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ADELAIDE: River Murray Turtle embryos can adjust their developmental rate so that all the eggs in a clutch can hatch around the same time, a new study has found. Young turtles face many challenges when they hatch and venture into the world. Synchronous hatching increases their survival chances, as predators are swamped by high numbers of prey. As a large group, hatchlings can also work together to dig their way out of the nest more easily. Scientists investigated incubation and group hatching in the River Murray Turtle, which is a species restricted to the Murray-Darling River system in southeastern Australia. Although the temperature of the nest affects the developmental rate of eggs, ...
Periodic table to welcome two new elements
Post Date: 2011-12-03 01:59:54 by Tatarewicz
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Livermorium and flerovium could soon occupy the 114 and 116 spots on the periodic table of the elements. The names for the elements, which were synthesized a decade ago, were announced Thursday by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. Years after their discovery, the super-heavy elements with atomic numbers of 114 and 116 have finally been named by their Russian and American discoverers. The elements are flerovium and livermoreium also known as Fl and Lv. Chemistry's periodic table can now welcome livermorium and flerovium, two newly named elements, which were announced Thursday (Dec. 1) by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. The new names will ...
Ions enable animals to predict earthquakes?
Post Date: 2011-12-01 02:24:40 by Tatarewicz
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Toads can 'predict earthquakes' Animals may sense chemical changes in groundwater that occur when an earthquake is about to strike. This, scientists say, could be the cause of bizarre earthquake-associated animal behaviour. Researchers began to investigate these chemical effects after seeing a colony of toads abandon its pond in L'Aquila, Italy in 2009 - days before a quake. They suggest that animal behaviour could be incorporated into earthquake forecasting. Continue reading the main story “Start Quote When you think of all of the many things that are happening to these rocks, it would be weird if the animals weren't affected in some way” Rachel Grant The ...
Herbicide Atrazine Spurs Reproductive Problems in Many Creatures
Post Date: 2011-11-30 05:47:13 by Tatarewicz
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ScienceDaily (Nov. 28, 2011) — An international team of researchers has reviewed the evidence linking exposure to atrazine -- an herbicide widely used in the U.S. and more than 60 other nations -- to reproductive problems in animals. The team found consistent patterns of reproductive dysfunction in amphibians, fish, reptiles and mammals exposed to the chemical. Atrazine is the second-most widely used herbicide in the U.S. More than 75 million pounds of it are applied to corn and other crops, and it is the most commonly detected pesticide contaminant of groundwater, surface water and rain in the U.S. The new review, compiled by 22 scientists studying atrazine in North and South ...
Walnut Trees May Not Be Able to Withstand Climate Change
Post Date: 2011-11-30 05:08:42 by Tatarewicz
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ScienceDaily (Nov. 29, 2011) — Warmer, drier summers and extreme weather events considered possible as the climate changes would be especially troublesome -- possibly fatal -- for walnut trees, according to research at Purdue University. Over five years, Douglass Jacobs, a professor of forestry and natural resources, and Martin-Michel Gauthier, a former doctoral student under Jacobs who is now a research scientist in the Ministry of Natural Resources in Quebec, studied the physiology of walnut trees, which are economically significant in Indiana for their lumber and veneer, and in other areas for their nuts. They found that the trees are especially sensitive to particular climates. ...
How the brain strings words into sentences
Post Date: 2011-11-30 04:52:52 by Tatarewicz
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— Distinct neural pathways are important for different aspects of language processing, researchers have discovered, studying patients with language impairments caused by neurodegenerative diseases. While it has long been recognized that certain areas in the brain's left hemisphere enable us to understand and produce language, scientists are still figuring out exactly how those areas divvy up the highly complex processes necessary to comprehend and produce language. Advances in brain imaging made within the last 10 years have revealed that highly complex cognitive tasks such as language processing rely not only on particular regions of the cerebral cortex, but also on the white ...
NeverWet: Nanotechnology for Your Airplane
Post Date: 2011-11-29 23:56:05 by X-15
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November 23, 2011 – How many different products would you need to use on your aircraft if you wanted it to repel water, prevent icing, stop corrosion, and make the aircraft self-cleaning? Soon, the answer could be just one: NeverWet. But don't rush to the store yet; retail spray-can products aren't expected to be available until mid-2012. In the meantime, you can see the product demonstrated in videos below of chocolate syrup leaping off of shoes and ice sliding from a metal surface. These seemingly magic coatings are the result of three years of work by a dozen scientists working for Ross Nanotechnology, a relatively new division of the 50-year-old Ross Technology ...
Study finds new ‘natural killers’ of micro bugs
Post Date: 2011-11-29 05:23:13 by Tatarewicz
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Researchers from The Australian National University have discovered a new type of cell which boosts the human body’s ability to fight off infections and life-threatening diseases. Professor Carola Vinuesa from The John Curtin School of Medical Research has found a type of cell which recognises lipid antigens, or foreign molecules, which sit on infectious bacteria which invade the body. Once recognising the lipids, the cell, called Natural killer T follicular helper (NKTfh), generates antibody responses in B cells – which are the body’s natural defence against invasion by viruses and bacteria. Professor Vinuesa said that the cell represents a non-chemical based and natural ...
'Anthrax isn't scary at all compared to this': Man-made flu virus with potential to wipe out many millions if it ever escaped is created in research lab
Post Date: 2011-11-29 04:50:32 by Tatarewicz
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A group of scientists is pushing to publish research about how they created a man-made flu virus that could potentially wipe out civilisation. The deadly virus is a genetically tweaked version of the H5N1 bird flu strain, but is far more infectious and could pass easily between millions of people at a time. The research has caused a storm of controversy and divided scientists, with some saying it should never have been carried out. Deadly: The new strain could wipe out millions of people at a time Deadly: The new strain of bird flu could wipe out millions of people at a time The current strain of H5N1 has only killed 500 people and is not contagious enough to cause a global pandemic. ...
Starfish-inspired 'soft' robot squeezes under obstacles
Post Date: 2011-11-29 01:33:51 by Tatarewicz
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A "soft" robot inspired by squid and starfish can crawl, undulate, and squeeze under obstacles. Built by a team at Harvard University, this robot has several advantages over those with treads, wheels and rigid parts - which have a limited repertoire of movements and may have trouble navigating difficult terrain. The sea creature-inspired creation was manufactured with soft materials and its motion is driven by compressed air. Details appear in the journal PNAS. Professor George Whitesides, Robert Shepherd and their colleagues from Harvard University in Cambridge, US, said the work was inspired by animals such as squid and starfish that lack hard skeletons. The ...
Alzheimer's: Deep brain stimulation 'reverses' disease
Post Date: 2011-11-28 05:06:06 by Tatarewicz
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Scientists in Canada have raised a tantalising prospect - reversing Alzheimer's disease. Brain shrinkage, declining function and memory loss had been thought to be irreversible. They used a technique known as deep brain stimulation - applying electricity directly to regions of the brain. In two patients, the brain's memory hub reversed its expected decline and actually grew. Deep brain stimulation has been used in tens of thousands of patients with Parkinson's as well as having an emerging role in Tourette's Syndrome and depression. Yet precisely how it works is still unknown. The procedure is all done under a local anaesthetic. An MRI scan identifies the target within ...
Climategate 2.0: New E-Mails Rock The Global Warming Debate
Post Date: 2011-11-26 11:38:18 by bush_is_a_moonie
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A new batch of 5,000 emails among scientists central to the assertion that humans are causing a global warming crisis were anonymously released to the public yesterday, igniting a new firestorm of controversy nearly two years to the day after similar emails ignited the Climategate scandal. Three themes are emerging from the newly released emails: (1) prominent scientists central to the global warming debate are taking measures to conceal rather than disseminate underlying data and discussions; (2) these scientists view global warming as a political “cause” rather than a balanced scientific inquiry and (3) many of these scientists frankly admit to each other that much of the ...
3-D Moon a 'roadmap' for lunar missions
Post Date: 2011-11-26 03:57:57 by Tatarewicz
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German researchers have created a stunning 3D model of the Moon, using 70,000 images from NASA. They hope it will help lay the groundwork for future manned and unmanned lunar missions. The model by the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) – Germany’s equivalent to America's NASA space agency – was created using 70,000 images from a NASA spacecraft orbiting the moon since 2009. Project scientist Frank Scholten reviewed the images pixel by pixel, figured out their exact locations and then calculated 100 billion 3D points in order to create the model. It covers 37 million square kilometres – more than 98 percent of the moon’s surface, DLR reported. The calculations, ...
Scientists find secret of limb regeneration
Post Date: 2011-11-26 01:20:49 by Tatarewicz
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Scientists at the University of Konstanz in southern Germany announced Thursday they have worked out how some animals can re-grow amputated limbs, successfully completing three decades of research. Many animals have the ability to re-grow limbs, but the undisputed champion of the art is the zebrafish, a tropical freshwater fish found in the southeastern Himalayan region. The minnow-sized fish can re-grow lost fins, organs, and heart-muscles. Scientists already knew that the tropical zebrafish somehow uses a special “retinoic acid” to rebuild its limbs, but no-one was sure exactly how this worked. Konstanz doctoral student Nicola Blum, part of a team led by researcher Gerrit ...
Andes study hints on Earth’s future
Post Date: 2011-11-26 00:35:38 by Tatarewicz
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Scientists are a step closer to predicting when and where earthquakes will occur after taking a fresh look at the formation of the Andes, which began 45 million years ago. Published today in Nature, research led by Dr Fabio Capitanio of Monash University's School of Geosciences describes a new approach to plate tectonics. It is the first model to go beyond illustrating how plates move, and explain why. Dr Capitanio said that although the theory had been applied only to one plate boundary so far, it had broader application. Understanding the forces driving tectonic plates will allow researchers to predict shifts and their consequences, including the formation of mountain ranges, ...
Less emissions from rebuilt tools
Post Date: 2011-11-25 05:00:50 by Tatarewicz
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A Curtin study has revealed re-manufactured refrigeration and air conditioning compressors produce up to 93 per cent less greenhouse gas emissions than new original equipment manufactured (OEM) compressors. Led by the Director of the Centre of Excellence in Cleaner Production, Associate Professor Michele Rosano, the research makes a case for the market development of re-manufactured compressors as a more sustainable alternative to traditional OEMs. According to A/Prof Rosano, switching to re-manufacturing would diminish the production of new OEM compressors, therefore avoiding the release of 1,590kg of CO2 emissions. “The replacement of a new OEM compressor with a re-manufactured ...
Chinooks can ease pain, research shows
Post Date: 2011-11-24 08:17:36 by Tatarewicz
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Dr. Cory Toth, left, checks reflexes of patient Val ShawLewis at Calgary's Health Sciences Building Wednesday. Photograph by: Grant Black, Calgary Herald, Calgary Herald While migraine sufferers may dread the arrival of Calgary's chinook winds, new research shows the weather event might actually help alleviate other types of pain. A neurosciences professor with the University of Calgary found that patients who suffer neuropathic pain, which can include pinched nerves, sciatica or nerve pain associated with diabetes, are 1.8 times as likely to have relief on a chinook day compared to a non-chinook day. And those who say they're feeling pain may only be feeling it as a result ...
Lies, Damn Lies and National Geographic
Post Date: 2011-11-22 12:31:26 by Ada
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I am shocked and staggered by this evening’s presentation of The Lost Bullet on National Geographic television. Sure, I expected it to be one-sided and misleading in its defense of the Warren Report concerning the murder of President Kennedy. But no, I did not think they would resort to such outrageous tactics and woefully corrupt reasoning. First, the program, which was directed by journalist Max Holland, started with a lie. That lie was that researchers, of all stripes, including conspiracy theorists, agree that only 3 shots were fired that day: one that went through Kennedy and Connally; one that blew Kennedy’s head off; and one that missed completely and nicked a bystander, ...
No such thing as empty space
Post Date: 2011-11-21 01:45:11 by Tatarewicz
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An ingenious experiment in which tiny parcels of light, or photons, are produced out of empty space has confirmed a long-standing theory that a vacuum contains quantum fluctuations of energy. In a landmark result published in the journal Nature, an international team of researchers has demonstrated for the first time a strange phenomenon known as the dynamical Casimir effect, or DCE for short. The DCE involves stimulating the vacuum to shed some of the myriad “virtual” particles that fleet in and out of existence, making them real and detectable. Moreover, the real photons produced by the DCE in their experiment collectively retain a peculiar quantum signature that ordinary ...
Neutrino experiment repeat at Cern finds same result
Post Date: 2011-11-19 12:14:39 by gengis gandhi
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Neutrino experiment repeat at Cern finds same result By Jason Palmer Science and technology reporter, BBC News Neutrinos travel through 700km of rock before reaching Gran Sasso's underground laboratories Continue reading the main story Related Stories Faster-than-light test runs again Cern mulls 'crazy' physics find Does it mean time travel is possible? The team which found that neutrinos may travel faster than light has carried out an improved version of their experiment - and confirmed the result. If confirmed by other experiments, the find could undermine one of the basic principles of modern physics. Critics of the first report in September had said that the long bunches ...
"Alps under the ice" gives clues to global warming
Post Date: 2011-11-18 01:58:25 by farmfriend
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I tell people we are at planetary historic lows for CO2 despite the recent rise but they don't always believe me. There was a nugget that caught my eye in this science piece."Alps under the ice" gives clues to global warming By Nina Chestney, Reuters Wed Nov 16, 1:09 PM EST LONDON — The mystery of how a subglacial mountain range the size of the Alps formed up to 250 million years ago has finally been solved, scientists said on Wednesday, which could help map the effects of climate change. The Gamburtsev subglacial mountains are buried 3 km below the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, the largest remaining body of ice on the planet. Experts are trying to learn more about the ...
Earth | Time Lapse View from Space, Fly Over | NASA, ISS
Post Date: 2011-11-17 23:35:20 by Flintlock
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Earth | Time Lapse View from Space, Fly Over | NASA, ISS from Michael König on Vimeo. Time lapse sequences of photographs taken by the crew of expeditions 28 & 29 onboard the International Space Station from August to October, 2011, who to my knowledge shot these pictures at an altitude of around 350 km. All credit goes to them. I intend to upload a FullHD-version presently. HD, refurbished, smoothed, retimed, denoised, deflickered, cut, etc. All in all I tried to keep the looks of the material as original as possible, avoided adjusting the colors and the like, since in my opinion the original footage itself already has an almost surreal and aestethical visual nature. ...
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