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Latest Articles: Science/Tech
Tips to Avoid Government Surveillance
Post Date: 2013-06-16 02:30:27 by Tatarewicz
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Reduce the risk of snoops thumbing through your data LONDON—Phone call logs, credit card records, emails, Skype chats, Facebook message, and more: The precise nature of the NSA’s sweeping surveillance apparatus has yet to be confirmed. But given the revelations spilling out into the media recently, there hardly seems a single aspect of daily life that isn’t somehow subject to spying or surveillance by someone. Experts say there are steps anyone can take to improve privacy, but they only go so far. Using anonymity services and encryption “simply make it harder, but not impossible,” said Ashkan Soltani, an independent privacy and security researcher. ...
Memory-Boosting Chemical Identified in Mice: Cell Biologists Find Molecule Targets a Key Biological Pathway
Post Date: 2013-06-15 04:21:40 by Tatarewicz
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ScienceDaily: June 14, 2013 — Memory improved in mice injected with a small, drug-like molecule discovered by UCSF San Francisco researchers studying how cells respond to biological stress. The same biochemical pathway the molecule acts on might one day be targeted in humans to improve memory, according to the senior author of the study, Peter Walter, PhD, UCSF professor of biochemistry and biophysics and a Howard Hughes Investigator. The discovery of the molecule and the results of the subsequent memory tests in mice were published in eLife, an online scientific open-access journal, on May 28, 2013. In one memory test included in the study, normal mice were able to relocate a ...
Linux Mint 15 Cinnamon: Ready For Prime Time
Post Date: 2013-06-14 19:17:42 by James Deffenbach
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Linux Mint 15 "Olivia" is a Linux distribution based on Ubuntu Linux 13.04. Mint is intended to be easy to install and easy to use for desktop users who prefer a traditional desktop layout. It is available in for both 32 bit and 64 bit Intel architectures. It's also available with two different desktops; the MATE desktop which is a fork of the GNOME 2 series, and the Cinnamon desktop which is based on GNOME 3 and is a fork of GNOME shell to give it a more traditional desktop layout. For this review I'm running the 64 bit Cinnamon edition on my desktop PC with an Intel Core i5 2500k CPU. First Impressions Downloading the 64 bit Cinnamon Edition DVD took about 35 minutes ...
EDWARD SNOWDEN DOESN'T HAVE A BA--WHY THAT'S THE FUTURE OF THE TECH INDUSTRY HALF OF THE NATION'S SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATH WORKFORCE DOESN'T HAVE A COLLEGE DEGREE.
Post Date: 2013-06-14 12:16:29 by Ada
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This post branches off our NSA surveillance tracker, for ongoing coverage of the NSA leaks. NSA leaker Edward Snowden's formal education stopped with a GED, a fact that the New York Times' David Brooks and others have spun into a caricature of him as a loner or outsider. In fact, Snowden's lack of formal credentials made him mainstream, and maybe even the wave of the future. The Brookings Institution reported in a paper titled "The Hidden STEM Economy" that half of the nation's workers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math don't have or need a bachelor's degree. They do their work with an associate's degree or even just ...
Linux Mint 15 Cinnamon
Post Date: 2013-06-13 09:49:25 by James Deffenbach
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Even though I am just using it as a live cd at the moment and it's not on my hard drive yet, I am thoroughly impressed with Linux Mint. The Linux I had been using for years was having sound issues that I just couldn't get resolved--it would play cd's on the dvd drive but I had no sound with youtube and skype. And I am a youtube and skype junkie. While skype is not on the live cd of Linux Mint it is available for it. I downloaded the iso last night and burned it to a dvd so I have only had it going for a little while this morning but so far so good and I will probably wipe my hard drive and install this one. If you want to read more about it here is a link to The Linux Mint ...
Better way to turn ocean into fuel
Post Date: 2013-06-12 05:05:32 by Tatarewicz
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The scientists have created a flexible plastic film that acts as a catalyst to begin splitting water with low energy input. UOW scientists have developed a novel way to turn sea water into hydrogen, for a sustainable and clean fuel source. Using this method, as little as five litres of sea water per day would produce enough hydrogen to power an average-sized home and an electric car for one day. The research team at UOW’s Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science (ACES) have developed a light-assisted catalyst that requires less energy input to activate water oxidation, which is the first step in splitting water to produce hydrogen fuel. A ...
Simple Theory May Explain Mysterious Dark Matter
Post Date: 2013-06-11 22:19:18 by Tatarewicz
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ScienceDaily: June 10, 2013 — Most of the matter in the universe may be made out of particles that possess an unusual, donut-shaped electromagnetic field called an anapole. This proposal, which endows dark matter particles with a rare form of electromagnetism, has been strengthened by a detailed analysis performed by a pair of theoretical physicists at Vanderbilt University: Professor Robert Scherrer and post-doctoral fellow Chiu Man Ho. An article about the research was published online last month by the journal Physics Letters B. "There are a great many different theories about the nature of dark matter. What I like about this theory is its simplicity, uniqueness and the fact ...
More pests evolve resistance to GM crops: study
Post Date: 2013-06-10 22:08:59 by Tatarewicz
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WASHINGTON, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Five of 13 major crop pests have evolved resistance to Bt corn and cotton, crops engineered to be toxic to certain insects, as of 2010, compared with only one in 2005, a study said Monday. Researchers at the University of Arizona reported in the journal Nature Biotechnology that while the increase in resistance was expected, the main question was how fast the insects evolve resistance and why. They analyzed data from 77 studies of 13 pest species in eight countries on five continents. Three of the five cases of resistance are in the United States, where about half of the world 's Bt crop acreage is planted. The new study found that in the worst ...
Rare tree's cancer drug copied
Post Date: 2013-06-07 01:26:55 by Tatarewicz
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ScienceAlert: Molecules found in the rare Medang tree have the potential to fight cancer, but existed in such small amounts before they couldn't be studied. Image: A rare tree found in Malaysia and Borneo holds the secret to greener chemical production, according to researchers from The Australian National University (ANU). The research team, led by Professor Michael Sherburn and Dr Andrew Lawrence from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Free Radical Chemistry and Biotechnology at ANU, have created a new, environmentally friendly method to replicate molecules found in the Medang tree. These molecules, known as kingianins, have shown promise as a lead in anti-cancer drug development, ...
Catalyst Could Jump-Start E-Cars, Green Energy
Post Date: 2013-06-06 01:42:59 by Tatarewicz
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Science Daily: June 4, 2013 — Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists have designed a new type of nanostructured-carbon-based catalyst that could pave the way for reliable, economical next-generation batteries and alkaline fuel cells, providing for practical use of wind- and solar-powered electricity, as well as enhanced hybrid electric vehicles. In a paper appearing recently in Nature Communications, Los Alamos researchers Hoon T. Chung, Piotr Zelenay and Jong H. Won, the latter now at the Korea Basic Science Institute, describe a new type of nitrogen-doped carbon-nanotube catalyst. The new material has the highest oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity in alkaline media of any ...
University of Tokyo to start free online courses
Post Date: 2013-06-02 04:55:34 by Tatarewicz
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The University of Tokyo will start offering two online open courses for anyone in the world this September. The university recorded the lectures for one of the courses, about the origins of the universe, on Thursday. The University of Tokyo will offer the free courses, conducted in English, through a global open online system called 'Coursera', launched last year by professors at Stanford University in the United States.
Weatherman admits Military Dumping Chemtrails
Post Date: 2013-06-01 10:45:23 by christine
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Genetics plays role in education
Post Date: 2013-05-31 00:44:31 by Tatarewicz
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Science Alert: A worldwide consortium of medical researchers and social scientists has found tiny changes to a person's genetic sequence are associated with educational level. The study was conducted by the Social Science Genetic Association Consortium, which includes Professor Peter Visscher from The University of Queensland's (UQ) Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) and Diamantina Institute (DI). "We studied the genetic information of more than 125,000 people, looking specifically at a type of genetic variation called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)," Professor Visscher said. A SNP is one of the most common genetic changes and involves the replacement of a single ...
Pigeons Peck for Computerized Treat
Post Date: 2013-05-31 00:10:59 by Tatarewicz
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Science Daily: May 29, 2013 — Go to about any public square, and you see pigeons pecking at the ground, always in search of crumbs dropped by a passerby. While the pigeons' scavenging may seem random, new research by psychologists at the University of Iowa suggest the birds are capable of making highly intelligent choices, sometimes with problem-solving skills to match. Share This: ? The study by Edward Wasserman and colleagues centered on the "string task," a longstanding, standard test of intelligence that involves attaching a treat to one of two strings and seeing if the participant (human or animal) can reel in that treat by pulling the correct string. In this ...
Land-Based Carbon Offsets: False Hope? Forest and Soil Carbon Is Important, but Does Not Offset Fossil Fuel Emissions
Post Date: 2013-05-30 23:31:37 by Tatarewicz
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Science Daily: May 30, 2013 — Leading world climate change experts have thrown cold water on the idea that planting trees can offset carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels. Share This: 17 Professor Brendan Mackey of Griffith University Climate Change Response Program is the lead author of an international study involving researchers from Australia and the U.K. Their findings are reported in "Untangling the confusion around land carbon science and climate change mitigation policy," published in the scientific journal Nature Climate Change. "While protecting and restoring natural forests is part of the solution, the reality is that for all practical purposes fossil ...
Charge Mobile phone with formic acid?
Post Date: 2013-05-30 02:28:35 by Tatarewicz
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May 27, 2013 — Surprisingly the answer is yes. With the technology of today it is possible to use environmental friendly formic acid in fuel cell powering your mobile phone or laptop. Physicist Florian Nitze, Umeå University in Sweden, has in his thesis developed new catalysts to improve the capacity of these fuel cells. Fuel cells are different from batteries in that they require a constant source of fuel and oxygen to run. The technology is already commercially available but formic acid fuel cells still suffer from low power and lifetime. The effect of a catalyst is to reduce the energy loss and to increase the rate of the chemical reactions, which leads to a higher ...
Artificial Sweeteners May Do More Than Sweeten: It Can Affect How the Body Reacts to Glucose
Post Date: 2013-05-30 01:35:09 by Tatarewicz
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Science Daily: May 29, 2013 — Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that a popular artificial sweetener can modify how the body handles sugar. In a small study, the researchers analyzed the sweetener sucralose (Splenda®) in 17 severely obese people who do not have diabetes and don't use artificial sweeteners regularly. "Our results indicate that this artificial sweetener is not inert -- it does have an effect," said first author M. Yanina Pepino, PhD, research assistant professor of medicine. "And we need to do more studies to determine whether this observation means long-term use could be harmful." The study is ...
Thought-directed painting via computer
Post Date: 2013-05-29 06:32:17 by Tatarewicz
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Heide Pfützner, a former teacher from Leipzig, Germany, was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Motor Neurone Disease, yet she has managed to produce a series of the paintings with the aid of a new brain controlled computer. She has been trained to master the device that uses brain waves to take control of a palette of colours, shapes and brushes to produce digital artworks. Building on decades of knowledge about the meaning of the tiny electrical impulses created by the brain during thought, scientists have been able to create a computer programme which translates thoughts into electronic images. Related Articles Scientists 'hacking' into brain of ...
New Wireless Electronics Could Heal Wounds and Then Dissolve
Post Date: 2013-05-29 05:36:51 by Tatarewicz
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Wired Mag. A remote-controlled, dissolvable circuit that can power an LED. Photo: John Rogers Nestled inside a wound, a remote-controlled device perks up and begins releasing bacteria-killing heat, a form of thermal therapy that can fell even the most drug-resistant microbes. After it does its job, the electronic heater dissolves, and its biocompatible ingredients become part of the person it has helped to heal. Though not quite a reality yet, this scenario isn’t too far off. In addition to dissolvable electronics, scientists have now built a biodegradable remote-controlled, power-harvesting circuit, described May 17 in Advanced Materials, and are already testing absorbable ...
Changing Gut Bacteria Through Diet Affects Brain Function
Post Date: 2013-05-29 03:49:21 by Tatarewicz
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Science Daily May 28, 2013 — UCLA researchers now have the first evidence that bacteria ingested in food can affect brain function in humans. In an early proof-of-concept study of healthy women, they found that women who regularly consumed beneficial bacteria known as probiotics through yogurt showed altered brain function, both while in a resting state and in response to an emotion-recognition task. Share This: The study, conducted by scientists with UCLA's Gail and Gerald Oppenheimer Family Center for Neurobiology of Stress and the Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center at UCLA, appears in the June edition of the peer-reviewed journal Gastroenterology. The discovery that ...
Formula for Turning Cement Into 'Metal'
Post Date: 2013-05-28 02:42:24 by Tatarewicz
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Science Digest: May 27, 2013 — In a move that would make the Alchemists of King Arthur's time green with envy, scientists have unraveled the formula for turning liquid cement into liquid metal. This makes cement a semi-conductor and opens up its use in the profitable consumer electronics marketplace for thin films, protective coatings, and computer chips. Share This: ? "This new material has lots of applications, including as thin-film resistors used in liquid-crystal displays, basically the flat panel computer monitor that you are probably reading this from at the moment," said Chris Benmore, a physicist from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National ...
Chinese biologists find new method to improve cell reprogramming efficiency
Post Date: 2013-05-27 01:34:21 by Tatarewicz
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LONDON, May 26 (Xinhua) -- Sequential introduction of the proteins known to reprogram cells could improve the efficiency of cell reprogramming, according to a new study reported in Nature Cell Biology on Sunday. Currently, researchers use simultaneous introduction method in cell reprogramming, which introduces the proteins to reprogram cells back to a pluripotent, embryonic-like state. Chinese stem-cell biologist Pei Duanqing and colleagues from Chinese Academy of Sciences reported that the sequential introduction of reprogramming proteins outperforms simultaneous introduction. According to the report, sequential introduction leads to a greater number of cells being reprogrammed than ...
Hippocampus growth erases early childhood memories
Post Date: 2013-05-26 02:03:47 by Tatarewicz
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Neuron growth in children 'leaves no room for memories' Toddler thinking The absence of memories from our earliest years could be explained by neuron growth Related Stories Scientists 'decode' memory making The reason we struggle to recall memories from our early childhood is down to high levels of neuron production during the first years of life, say Canadian researchers. The formation of new brain cells increases the capacity for learning but also clears the mind of old memories. The findings were presented to the Canadian Association of Neuroscience. An expert at City University in London said the mouse study called into question some psychological theories. ...
The Mystery of Göbekli Tepe and Its Message to Us
Post Date: 2013-05-25 23:11:18 by HighLairEon
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The Mystery of Göbekli Tepe and Its Message to Us (snip) Questioning Accepted History Back in 1991, I had the temerity to announce that the Great Sphinx of Egypt, conventionally dated to 2500 BCE (the reign of Pharaoh Khafre), actually has its origins in the 7000 to 5000 BCE range, or possibly earlier. My announcement was done via a presentation at the October 1991 annual meeting of the Geological Society of America (this was allowed only after a formal abstract, submitted with my colleague John Anthony West, was accepted based on positive professional peer review).1 I made my case utilising scientific analyses, comparing erosion and weathering profiles around the Sphinx to the ...
Germany's SAP to hire hundreds of autistic IT experts
Post Date: 2013-05-25 04:45:57 by Tatarewicz
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Local: German tech company SAP said on Tuesday it wants to hire hundreds of people with autism to work as software testers and programmers. The search has, it said, begun for people “who think differently from others.” Rösler wants dual citizenship for IT talent (22 May 13) SAP employs over 65,000 people worldwide and by 2020 one percent of these will be autistic, it announced from its headquarters in south-western Germany. The same percent of the world that is, experts think, affected by the condition. Recruitment will start in Germany, the United States and Canada this year and is being carried out with the help of specialists from a Danish initiative that helps find ...
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