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Latest Articles: Science/Tech
Kill Your DirecPC Satellite Dish
Post Date: 2007-06-14 15:29:02 by richard9151
6 Comments
...NOW. Right now. Go on, you know you want to. The HughesNet/DirecPC lies and BS and rotten service and throttling down when you accidentally hit their daily limit, not to mention being on hold for one hour just to talk with Omar in Tent City, India as your tech rep, are enough to drive anyone over the edge. Go on. Do it. Kill the damn thing. I confess: I have an agenda here today. I hate the HughesNet/DirecPC satellite service, though I was one of its very first subscribers, back when it first started, about 12 years ago. Finally, I can get even with years of indignities and rotten service by cutting some of its revenue stream. For years, Verizon kept saying it didn't have DSL or ...
Human activities increasing carbon sequestration in forests
Post Date: 2007-06-14 12:50:51 by farmfriend
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Human activities increasing carbon sequestration in forests Contact: Beverly Law bev.law@oregonstate.edu 541-737-6111 Oregon State University CORVALLIS, Ore. – Human-caused nitrogen deposition has been indirectly “fertilizing” forests, increasing their growth and sequestering major amounts of carbon, a new study in the journal Nature suggests. The findings create a more complex view of the carbon cycle in forests, where it was already known that logging or other stand-replacement events – whether natural or not – create periods of 5-20 years when there is a net release of carbon dioxide from forests to the atmosphere, instead of sequestration as they do later ...
ZapRoot Unearthed | Monsanto Corp. for a Better America[GM Corn]
Post Date: 2007-06-14 09:36:52 by Itisa1mosttoolate
12 Comments
I would like to talk to you today about the face of evil. We have no more Hitler, no more Pol Pot. Gone are the quaint icons of evil in the last century. Today we usher in a new version of evil, for our new century. Ladies & Gentlemen, I give you a promotional video from the Monsanto Corporation . Monsanto is responsible for such great hits like, developing Agent Orange & Bovine Growth Hormone, being the largest provider of genetically modified food sources on the planet, Water Privatization, creating terminator seeds (seeds that are genetically designed to only grow once and not reproduce), and Round-Up Ready food, corn and grain that are genetically resistant to pesticides and ...
Human instruction book not so simple
Post Date: 2007-06-14 08:24:27 by Ada
3 Comments
Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An in-depth examination of the human DNA map has turned basic biology concepts upside-down and may even rewrite the book on evolution and some causes of disease, researchers said on Wednesday. They found there was far more to genetics than the genes themselves and determined there was no such thing as "junk DNA" but that some of the most useless-looking stretches of DNA may carry important information. Thirty-five teams of researchers from 80 different organizations in 11 countries teamed up to share notes on just 1 percent of the human genome. Their findings, the start of the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements or ENCODE ...
Moonlighting in solar;For chip manufacturers, wafers 'have been like gold' of late
Post Date: 2007-06-13 23:55:23 by JCHarris
2 Comments
Moonlighting in solar For chip manufacturers, wafers 'have been like gold' of late By Matt Andrejczak, MarketWatch Last Update: 12:52 PM ET Jun 13, 2007 SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Not long ago, used chip wafers were considered all but worthless, sent to landfills or recycling centers. But semiconductor makers have found a new home for the millions of wafers they exhaust each year: the emerging solar industry. Amid tight supplies of polysilicon, it's become a worthwhile side business for chip manufacturers such as Texas Instruments Inc. 'Lucrative business' These wafers "have been like gold" for the makers of chips over the past couple years, said Pat ...
Free from the Atmosphere
Post Date: 2007-06-13 15:08:23 by farmfriend
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Free from the Atmosphere Laser Guide Star System on ESO's VLT Starts Regular Science Operations An artificial, laser-fed star now shines regularly over the sky of Paranal, home of ESO's Very Large Telescope, one of the world's most advanced large ground-based telescopes. This system provides assistance for the adaptive optics instruments on the VLT and so allows astronomers to obtain images free from the blurring effect of the atmosphere, regardless of the brightness and the location on the sky of the observed target. Now that it is routinely offered by the observatory, the skies seem much sharper to astronomers. In order to counteract the blurring effect of Earth's ...
Alternative energy comes closer with advances in hydrogen fuel cell sealing technology
Post Date: 2007-06-13 10:14:36 by farmfriend
1 Comments
Alternative energy comes closer with advances in hydrogen fuel cell sealing technology Developing ceramic seal technology for solid oxide fuel cells Contact: Dr. Ian Birkby journals@azonetwork.com 61-029-999-0070 AZoNetwork Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC) have attracted major interest from research and development communities as an alternative source of power, with commercial trials already under way. In these fuel cells electricity is generated via electro-chemical reactions using hydrogen based gas and oxygen as a fuel and oxidant, respectively. Sealing these units is a critical technical issue that needs further work before they can be put into widespread commercial use. In particular ...
A Dictionary for the "9/11 Truth Movement" [Full Thread]
Post Date: 2007-06-13 08:53:36 by can of corn
58 Comments
Alloyal subject: Person who regards as sacred the creed that steel is perfectly rigid until it melts. Alternative theory: Something so wacky that even Twoofers don't give it much credence (e. g. holographic planes, pods). Beam Weapon: A currently non-existent quantum weapon that entered our dimension during a 3-hour period on 9/11/2001 and got a space woody for steel-framed buildings and five-sided buildings. Oh, and half of some automobiles. Then it winked out of existence and is not included in the 9/11 Omission Report. Bermass - a loud-mouthed conspiracy theorist. "When all he did was yell 'liar liar' over and over, I knew the guy was a bermass" bollyn (v.) - ...
NASA satellites watch as China constructs giant dam
Post Date: 2007-06-12 21:47:46 by farmfriend
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NASA satellites watch as China constructs giant dam Contact: Lynn Chandler lynn.chandler-1@nasa.gov 301-286-2806 NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Some call it the eighth wonder of world. Others say it's the next Great Wall of China. Upon completion in 2009, the Three Gorges Dam along China’s Yangtze River will be the world's largest hydroelectric power generator and one of the few man-made structures so enormous that it's actually visible to the naked eye from space. NASA's Landsat satellites have provided detailed, vivid views of the dam since construction began in 1994. The Yangtze River is the third largest river in the world, stretching more than 3,900 miles ...
New ORNL theory aims to explain recent temperature, climate extremes
Post Date: 2007-06-12 21:35:09 by farmfriend
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New ORNL theory aims to explain recent temperature, climate extremes Media Contact: Ron Walli Communications and External Relations 865.576.0226 OAK RIDGE, Tenn., June 12, 2007 — Using an ocean of data, sophisticated mathematical models and supercomputing resources, researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory are putting climate models to the test with particular focus on weather extremes. Ultimately, the new methodology developed by Auroop Ganguly and colleagues could help determine to what extent there is a connection between human activity and climate change. For now, however, researchers are concentrating on how climate models fare when compared ...
Researchers examine carbon capture and storage to combat global warming
Post Date: 2007-06-11 17:02:10 by farmfriend
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Researchers examine carbon capture and storage to combat global warming Contact: Mark Shwartz mshwartz@stanford.edu 650-723-9296 Stanford University While solar power and hybrid cars have become popular symbols of green technology, Stanford researchers are exploring another path for cutting emissions of carbon dioxide, the leading greenhouse gas that causes global warming. Carbon capture and storage, also called carbon sequestration, traps carbon dioxide after it is produced and injects it underground. The gas never enters the atmosphere. The practice could transform heavy carbon spewers, such as coal power plants, into relatively clean machines with regard to global warming. ...
The woes of Kilimanjaro: Don't blame global warming
Post Date: 2007-06-11 16:36:48 by farmfriend
2 Comments
The woes of Kilimanjaro: Don't blame global warming Contact: Vince Stricherz vinces@u.washington.edu 206-543-2580 University of Washington The "snows" of Africa's Mount Kilimanjaro inspired the title of an iconic American short story, but now its dwindling icecap is being cited as proof for human-induced global warming. However, two researchers writing in the July-August edition of American Scientist magazine say global warming has nothing to do with the decline of Kilimanjaro's ice, and using the mountain in northern Tanzania as a "poster child" for climate change is simply inaccurate. "There are dozens, if not hundreds, of photos of midlatitude ...
Oxygen trick could see organic costs tumble [Full Thread]
Post Date: 2007-06-11 12:51:04 by farmfriend
49 Comments
Oxygen trick could see organic costs tumble Contact: SCI Press Office press@soci.org 44-020-759-81548 Society of Chemical Industry A simple, cheap treatment using just oxygen could allow growers to store organic produce for longer and go a long way towards reducing the price of organic fruit and vegetables, reports Lisa Richards in Chemistry & Industry, the magazine of the SCI. Currently UK shoppers have to pay twice as much for some organic products. Organic apples, for example, are around double the price of conventionally grown apples in Sainbury’s, Waitrose and Tesco. One of the major contributing factors affecting the price is the short shelf life of organic produce. ...
Why are Chesapeake rockfish sick? [Full Thread]
Post Date: 2007-06-10 08:37:41 by HOUNDDAWG
54 Comments
Rockfish with the disease mycobacteriosis can develop lesions and have their scales destroyed. AP/KATHLEEN LANGE OXFORD, Md. -- Biologist Larry Pieper is wearing waterproof overalls and giving dozens of bass from the Chesapeake Bay a tabletop inspection. He's not surprised by what he sees -- many of them look sick. Pieper is part of Maryland's first effort this year to take a new look at a chronic wasting disease in striped bass, commonly called rockfish or stripers. Mycobacteriosis, also known as "myco" or fish handler's disease, can slowly eat away at a fish's scales. It can leave nasty lesions and kill the striped bass, the hallmark fish of the Chesapeake ...
Bees dropping like flies [Full Thread]
Post Date: 2007-06-09 22:28:41 by robin
218 Comments
Mysterious deaths of bees take broad toll As scientists try to explain why colonies are vanishing, worried beekeepers and farmers add up their losses. By Jia-Rui Chong and Thomas H. Maugh II Times Staff Writers June 10, 2007 The dead bees under Dennis vanEngelsdorp's microscope were like none he had ever seen before. He had expected to see mites or amoebas, perennial pests of bees. Instead, he found internal organs swollen with debris and strangely blackened. The bees' intestinal tracts were scarred, and their rectums were abnormally full of what appeared to be partly digested pollen. Dark marks on the sting glands were telltale signs of infection. "The more you looked, ...
Weeds Control Without Poisons [Full Thread]
Post Date: 2007-06-09 17:59:53 by richard9151
158 Comments
Charles Walters, founder and long-time editor of ACRES USA, the monthly journal of eco-agriculture, has revised and expanded his now classic text on the secrets that weeds reveal to us about our soil. For a thorough undersanding of the conditions that produce certain weeds, you simply can't find a better source than this one -- certainly not one as entertaining, as full of anecdotes and home-spun common sense. The book is a treasury of knowledge, exploring the workings of soil eco-systems through the findings of such giants as William A. Albrecht, C.J. Fenzau and Philip S. Callahan. It contains a lifetime of collected wisdom that teaches us how to udnerstand and thereby control the ...
Ultraviolet Water System
Post Date: 2007-06-09 13:44:29 by richard9151
10 Comments
Anthem, Arizona, is a town north of Phoenix founded ten years ago. It now has a population of 40,000. To ensure that it's water and wastewater are as clean as possible, the town sought to avoid chemical treatments and recently installed an ultraviolet (UV) water disinfection system. Two local golf courses are also using the UV-treated wastewater for irrigation. Two closed-chamber, medium pressure UV systems handle 7 million gallons per day of drinking water and 3 MGD of wastewater. The system, manufactured by Aquionics Inc., of Erlanger, Kentucky, reduces the towns dependence on chlorination, thereby minimizing output of chlorine by-products. It requires minimal maintenance and ...
Dirty snow may warm Arctic as much as greenhouse gases
Post Date: 2007-06-07 21:53:57 by farmfriend
1 Comments
Dirty snow may warm Arctic as much as greenhouse gases Burning cleaner fuel would brighten snow and lower temperatures Irvine, Calif., June 6, 2007 The global warming debate has focused on carbon dioxide emissions, but scientists at UC Irvine have determined that a lesser-known mechanism – dirty snow – can explain one-third or more of the Arctic warming primarily attributed to greenhouse gases. Snow becomes dirty when soot from tailpipes, smoke stacks and forest fires enters the atmosphere and falls to the ground. Soot-infused snow is darker than natural snow. Dark surfaces absorb sunlight and cause warming, while bright surfaces reflect heat back into space and cause ...
Who needs environmental monitoring?
Post Date: 2007-06-07 21:41:28 by farmfriend
0 Comments
Who needs environmental monitoring? Contact: Annie Drinkard annie@esa.org Ecological Society of America We monitor the stock market, the weather, our blood pressure. Yet environmental monitoring is often criticized as being unscientific, expensive, and wasteful. Scientists argue that environmental monitoring is a crucial part of science in the review, “Who needs environmental monitoring"” Gary Lovett (Institute of Ecosystem Studies) and colleagues from several universities and US government offices contributed to the review. The review is particularly relevant, given the budgetary constraints on current monitoring and the ongoing debate regarding the opportunities, ...
Organic Food Miles take toll on environment
Post Date: 2007-06-06 12:13:38 by farmfriend
0 Comments
Organic Food Miles take toll on environment Contact: Bev Betkowski beverly.betkowski@ualberta.ca 780-492-3808 University of Alberta Organic fruit and vegetables may be healthier for the dinner table, but not necessarily for the environment, a University of Alberta study shows. The study, conducted by a team of student researchers in the Department of Rural Economy at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, showed that the greenhouse gas emitted when the produce is transported from great distances mitigates the environmental benefits of growing the food organically. “If you’re buying ‘green’, you should consider the distance the food travels. If it’s ...
Aluminum foil lamps outshine incandescent lights
Post Date: 2007-06-05 10:32:54 by farmfriend
2 Comments
Aluminum foil lamps outshine incandescent lights Contact: James E. Kloeppel kloeppel@uiuc.edu 217-244-1073 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Researchers at the University of Illinois are developing panels of microcavity plasma lamps that may soon brighten people’s lives. The thin, lightweight panels could be used for residential and commercial lighting, and for certain types of biomedical applications. “Built of aluminum foil, sapphire and small amounts of gas, the panels are less than 1 millimeter thick, and can hang on a wall like picture frames,” said Gary Eden, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the U. of I., and ...
University of Colorado scientists gear up for Mercury mission flyby of Venus
Post Date: 2007-06-05 10:27:37 by farmfriend
3 Comments
University of Colorado scientists gear up for Mercury mission flyby of Venus Contact: William McClintock William.Mcclintock@colorado.edu 303-492-8407 University of Colorado at Boulder ~snip "This event at Venus will be a very good tune-up for our first flyby of Mercury next January," said LASP Director Daniel Baker, also a co-investigator on the MESSENGER team. "The first encounter with Mercury will be extremely valuable, as it will essentially double the amount of information we now have about the planet." A space physicist, Baker is interested in the magnetic field of Mercury and its interaction with the solar wind, including "substorms" associated with ...
NEW SCREENING METHOD TO HELP FIND BETTER BIOFUEL CROPS
Post Date: 2007-06-05 10:18:27 by farmfriend
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NEW SCREENING METHOD TO HELP FIND BETTER BIOFUEL CROPS Ames Laboratory researcher using Raman imaging to probe plant cell structure Contacts: Emily Smith , Materials Chemistry and Biomolecular Materials, (515) 294-1424 Kerry Gibson, Public Affairs, 515-294-1405 AMES, Iowa -- Skyrocketing gasoline prices and growing concern over global warming has spawned massive growth of the biofuel industry, particularly ethanol production. While corn has been the major raw material for producing ethanol, producers are looking for other more cost effective and sustainable crops and researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory are looking at a novel way to help them determine ...
Twenty-four new species found in Suriname
Post Date: 2007-06-04 19:49:45 by Zipporah
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Twenty-four new species found in Suriname June 04 2007 at 11:19PM By Deborah Zabarenko Washington - A purple fluorescent frog is one of 24 new species found in the South American highlands of Suriname, conservationists reported on Monday, warning that these creatures are threatened by illegal gold mining. The discovery of so many species outside the insect realm is extraordinary and points up the need to survey distant regions, said Leeanne Alonso of Conservation International, which led the expedition that found the new species. "When you go to these places that are so unexplored and so remote, we do tend to find new species... but most of them are insects," ...
Which ISPs Are Spying on You?
Post Date: 2007-06-03 22:04:29 by Zipporah
2 Comments
Which ISPs Are Spying on You? Ryan Singel 05.30.07 | 2:00 AM The few souls that attempt to read and understand website privacy policies know they are almost universally unintelligible and shot through with clever loopholes. But one of the most important policies to know is your internet service provider's -- the company that ferries all your traffic to and from the internet, from search queries to BitTorrent uploads, flirty IMs to porn. Wired News, with help from some readers, attempted to get real answers from the largest ...
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