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newscientist.com

• Picking our brains: Nine neural frontiers
  The secrets of the human mind lie deep within our astonishingly intricate brains. Now neuroscientists are teasing them out
• Alien planet hunter develops a blind spot
  NASA's Kepler telescope, which is seeking planets like Earth, has developed a fault that means it sees only the equivalent of static in some regions of the sky
• Smallest superconductor promises cool electronics
  A wire just four molecules long behaves as a superconductor – suggesting it may be possible to build molecular circuits without them overheating
• Today on New Scientist: 30 March 2010
  All today's stories on newscientist.com at a glance, including: bats steering by compass and also dying of a mystery disease, why slow thinking is good and what's wrong with TV doctors
• Ian McEwan: Mr Sunshine
  His new novel, Solar, is about climate change, and he's bored by fiction that is only about emotions. But what's the sensual attraction of chemistry?
• House and Grey's Anatomy: Doctors gone bad?
  Fictional TV doctors prove ethically lax when it comes to the rules on informed consent and sex with nurses
• Brain damage skews our moral compass
  The discovery is helping to unravel how we make moral judgements – and has implications for people's fitness to serve as jurors or judges
• Why space shuttle exhaust races to the poles
  It's been a mystery why the exhaust plume from shuttle engines travels faster than expected – now we have the answer
• Is this the end of gene patenting?
  By declaring that breast cancer genes can't be patented, a US court has raised questions about all other US gene patents, says Andy Coghlan
• Record LHC collisions mark new era for physics
  Engineers at the Large Hadron Collider have smashed together beams at 7 teraelectronvolts – the start of the physics programme, says Richard Fisher

• String theory untangled
  You might finish Steven S. Gubser's engaging and entertaining The Little Book of String Theory more confused than you started it, but in the best way
• Oceanology: Robot 'gliders' swim the undersea world
  Submersibles that power themselves from sunlight and waves can navigate at sea for months at a time, gathering data
• A slow mind may nurture more creative ideas
  Scans show that people who are better at having new ideas have brains that pass information around more slowly
• A killer in the bat cave
  Something's decimating North American bats. Now biologists are racing against time to stop it
• Zoologger: Magneto-bat steers by a built-in compass
  Greater mouse-eared bats aren't satisfied with advanced sonar to help them get around: they have also learned to navigate using Earth's magnetic field
• Today on New Scientist: 29 March 2010
  All today's stories on newscientist.com at a glance, including: drugs from fatty food to plant food, offshore engineering adventures and a brazen internet fraud
• Vote science!
  Michael Brooks announces his candidacy for the UK general election on the science ticket – the man in the white lab coat
• Electronic car bugs: What drivers need to know
  Computers and other electronics now control critical systems in many cars. Has their complexity introduced new risks – and what happens when they fail?
• Hacking the planet: who decides?
  And if we're even thinking about artificially cooling Earth, science needs to test the proposals pronto
• Natural experiments: Working in the history lab
  From slavery to Napoleon, many phenomena can't be studied in the lab – but we can still do experiments, say Jared Diamond and James Robinson
• Miaow-miaow on trial: Truth or trumped-up charges?
  With the UK government rushing to ban the legal high mephedrone, our reporter sorts fact from fiction – and tries it for himself
• Sugar-rubber tyre inches closer to the road
  Bacteria and fungi have been genetically modified to feed on plant material and excrete an important component of tyre rubber
• Final space shuttle flight 'likely to be 2011'
  NASA's watchdog is pessimistic about the agency's chances of flying the last space shuttle this year, says Richard Fisher
• 'Infections found': Inside the great scareware scam
  How a pair of brazen scammers made a cool $163 million from our online security fears – and how the law finally shut them down
• Did Renaissance painters 'cheat' with optical aids?
  A 16th-century painting dubbed a Rosetta stone hints that painters used concave mirrors to project scenes that they could trace on canvas

[ more posts from newscientist.com ]

livescience.com

• Icebreaker Ships to Map Arctic Seafloor
  Map will define a country's reach into the polar ocean.
• The Most Dangerous Things in a National Park
  A bear attack in a Montana campground near Yellowstone National Park earlier this week left one man dead. But other causes of death are much more common in national parks.
• Body Rhythms and Breast Cancer
  A Virginia Tech Biologist is using funding from the NSF to investigate a possible connection between body rhythms and breast cancer. Her lab is full of frogs because she uses their eggs to study wheth…
• Monkeys Chase Flying Squirrel
  Japanese macaques went bananas when they spotted a flying squirrel, suggesting they either mistook the squirrel for a predator or were trying to impress females in the troop.
• Science Nation
  Science for the People: Surprising discoveries and fascinating researchers.
• Manhattan Heat Waves Sign of City Scorchers to Come
  Why city dwellers won't cool off when the sun goes down.
• Interactive Game Keeps Jogging Buddies In Touch
  Scientists have come up with a way to turn jogging into a game involving multiple participants.
• 3-D Brain Model Could Revolutionize Neurology
  The Whole Brain Catalog project compiles data from across the research spectrum
• Scientists Investigate Possible 'Fear Drug'
  A brain chemical involved in both learning to be afraid and curbing existing fear might one day serve as a drug to help prevent anxiety and the after-effects of trauma.
• Fishless Lake in Adirondacks Shows Signs of Recovery
  Acid rain killed the fish, but ecosystems could thrive again.

sciencedaily.com

• Oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy may protect women against brain aneurysms, study finds
  Results from a new study suggest that oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy may yield additional benefit of protecting against the formation and rupture of brain aneurysms in women.
• New cellular 'armor' developed to prevent infection by AIDS virus
  Researchers have developed a novel method of attack against the AIDS virus that involves creating a prevention system, i.e. an armor in the cells that are likely to be infected and thus impede the vir…
• Blowing in the wind: Cassini helps with dune whodunit on Saturn's moon Titan
  The answer to the mystery of dune patterns on Saturn's moon Titan did turn out to be blowing in the wind. It just wasn't from the direction many scientists expected.
• Decontaminating dangerous drywall
  A nanomaterial originally developed to fight toxic waste is now helping reduce debilitating fumes in homes with corrosive drywall.
• Some like it hot: How to heat a 'nano bathtub'
  Researchers have demonstrated the use of infrared laser light to quickly and precisely heat the water in nano bathtubs -- tiny sample containers -- for microscopy studies of the biochemistry of single…
• Male modesty not appreciated by female or male interviewers, study suggests
  A researcher who explored the consequences for men (and women) when they acted modestly in job interviews found that modest males were less liked, a sign of social backlash. Modesty was viewed as a si…
• Diet and alcohol alter epigenetics of breast cancer, study suggests
  Researchers have shown that the epigenetic profiles of breast tumors are related to patient diet and alcohol use as well as tumor size.
• Research of cell movements in developing frogs reveals new twists in human genetic disease
  Mutations in a gene known as Fritz may be responsible for causing human genetic disorders such as Bardet-Biedl syndrome, developmental biologists, human geneticists and cell biologists have found.
• Breaking the language barrier: Language translation devices for US troops tested
  In recent tests evoking visions of the universal translator on Star Trek, researchers evaluated three two-way, real-time, voice-translation devices designed to improve communications between the US mi…
• From the heart: How cells divide to form different but related muscle groups
  Using the model organism Ciona intestinalis, commonly known as the sea squirt, researchers have uncovered the origins of the second heart field in vertebrates.

• Reforestation projects capture more carbon than industrial plantations, new research reveals
  Australian scientists researching environmental restoration projects have found that the reforestation of damaged rainforests is more efficient at capturing carbon than controversial softwood monocult…
• Tools that assess bias in standardized tests are flawed, study finds
  Overturning more than 40 years of accepted practice, new research proves that the tools used to check tests of general mental ability for bias are themselves flawed. This key finding challenges relian…
• Regenerating damaged tissues: Bioscaffolds promote growth of joints in rabbits
  A team of researchers has successfully regenerated rabbit joints using a cutting-edge process to form the joint inside the body, or in vivo. Regenerative in vivo procedures are performed by stimulatin…
• Snake venom studies yield insights for development of therapies for heart disease and cancer
  Researchers seeking to learn more about stroke by studying how the body responds to toxins in snake venom are this week releasing new findings that they hope will aid in the development of therapies f…
• Unexpected viral 'fossils' found in vertebrate genomes
  Over millions of years, retroviruses, which insert their genetic material into the host genome as part of their replication, have left behind bits of their genetic material in vertebrate genomes. In a…
• Brain potentials reveal spectator effect
  The neurological responses caused by observing somebody else playing a game have been uncovered. Researchers found differing responses for neutral observers, compared to those who wished the player to…
• Researchers find new translocation; weak spots in DNA lead to genetic disease
  Pediatric researchers continue to discover recurrent translocations -- places in which two chromosomes exchange pieces of themselves, and can lead to genetic disease and disability. Originating in loc…
• Plant compound resveratrol shown to suppresses inflammation, free radicals in humans
  Resveratrol, a popular plant extract shown to prolong life in yeast and lower animals due to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, appears also to suppress inflammation in humans, based on…
• How not to blow up a molecule
  Can single-shot imaging with femtosecond x-ray pulses from powerful new free electron lasers really work, or will the beam damage the sample too quickly? Pulse length is the key. A new study reveals t…
• Resting brain activity associated with spontaneous fibromyalgia pain
  A recent study provides the first direct evidence of linkage between elevated intrinsic (resting-state) brain connectivity and spontaneous pain intensity in patients with fibromyalgia. This research s…
• Calcium supplements linked to increased risk of heart attack, study finds
  Calcium supplements, commonly taken by older people for osteoporosis, are associated with an increased risk of a heart attack, a new study finds.
• Rocks on Mars may provide link to evidence of living organisms roughly 4 billion years ago
  A new paper reveals groundbreaking research on the hydrothermal formation of Clay-Carbonate rocks in the Nili Fossae region of Mars. The findings may provide a link to evidence of living organisms on…
• Audubon's first engraving of a bird discovered
  In 1824, John James Audubon (1785-1851), the eminent American artist, created a drawing of a running grouse for use in the design for a New Jersey bank note. Although the artist mentions the drawing a…
• Most youth hockey injuries caused by accidents, not checking, study shows
  Hockey fans likely would assume that body-checking -- intentionally slamming an opponent against the boards -- causes the most injuries in youth ice hockey. But they would be wrong.
• Black carbon implicated in global warming
  Increasing the ratio of black carbon to sulfate in the atmosphere increases climate warming, suggests a new study.
• Vascular-targeted photodynamic therapy for localized prostate cancer
  NYU Langone Medical Center has begun a clinical trial offering vascular-targeted photodynamic therapy to patients with localized prostate cancer. This novel, minimally invasive procedure uses a light-…
• Cell-of-origin for human prostate cancer identified for first time
  Scientists have identified for the first time a cell-of-origin for human prostate cancer, a discovery that could result in better predictive and diagnostics tools and the development of new and more e…
• Brown dwarf found orbiting a young sun-like star
  Astronomers have imaged a very young brown dwarf, or failed star, in a tight orbit around a young nearby sun-like star. The discovery is expected to shed light on the early stages of solar system form…
• Fluorescent biosensor to aid in drug development
  Scientists have developed a new fluorescent biosensor that could aid in the development of an important class of drugs that target a crucial class of proteins called G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs…
• Chemicals are likely cause of feminization of fish present in two rivers in Alberta, Canada, researchers find
  Chemicals present in two rivers in southern Alberta are likely the cause of the feminization of fish, say researchers.
• Psychologists develop two potent new predictors of suicide risk
  Two powerful new tests developed by psychologists show great promise in predicting patients' risk of attempting suicide. The work may help clinicians overcome their reliance on self-reporting by at-ri…
• Kidney injury prevention may be possible: Watch for the warning signs
  Reduced kidney function and protein in the urine place a person at risk for kidney injury, according to a new study. The results suggest that improved recognition of these warning signs could help red…
• Key enzyme in DNA repair pathway identified
  Researchers have discovered an enzyme crucial to a type of DNA repair that also causes resistance to a class of cancer drugs most commonly used against ovarian cancer.
• Some trees 'farm' bacteria to help supply nutrients
  Some trees growing in nutrient-poor forest soil may get what they need by cultivating specific root microbes to create compounds they require. These microbes are exceptionally efficient at turning ino…
• Best hope for saving Arctic sea ice is cutting soot emissions, say researchers
  Soot from the burning of fossil fuels and solid biofuels contributes far more to global warming than has been thought, according to a new study. But, unlike carbon dioxide, soot lingers only a few wee…
• Researchers study benefits of white button mushrooms
  Scientists have conducted an animal-model and cell-culture study showing that white button mushrooms enhanced the activity of critical cells in the body's immune system.
• Migrating birds can’t control themselves
  During the spring and fall migratory seasons, sparrows become significantly less capable of resisting temptation. Researchers investigated impulse control and sleep in white-crowned sparrows during mi…
• Women in their 40s have lower mammographic tumor detectability, study finds
  The reduced effectiveness of mammographic screening in women in their 40s is primarily due to lower detectability instead of faster tumor growth rate, according to a new study.
• New pathway to Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases
  Researchers have uncovered new clues about the cause of brain cell death in neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and Huntington's diseases.
• Graphene exhibits bizarre new behavior well suited to electronic devices
  Graphene, a sheet of pure carbon, has been touted as a possible replacement for silicon-based semiconductors because of its useful electronic properties. Now, physicists have shown that graphene has a…
• Protein complex reveals molecular mechanism of innate immune response
  A team of researchers at the RIKEN Plant Science Center and the Institute of Cancer Research has uncovered details of a protein complex governing innate immune response in plants and animals, with app…
• Polarstern expedition: Autonomous underwater vehicle dives under the Arctic ice
  The Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association for the first time sent its Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) on an under-ice mission at about 79° North. The…
• Reform of primary care could reduce diagnostic errors
  Errors in diagnosis place a heavy financial burden on an already costly health-care system, and can be devastating for affected patients. Strengthening certain aspects of a new and evolving model of c…
• Nano 'pin art': Arrays are step toward mass production of nanowires
  Researchers have cultivated many thousands of nanocrystals in what looks like a pinscreen or pin art on silicon, a step toward reliable mass production of semiconductor nanowires for millionths-of-a-m…
• Reading terrorists minds about imminent attack: Brain waves correlate to guilty knowledge in mock terrorism scenarios
  Imagine technology that allows you to get inside the mind of a terrorist to know how, when and where the next attack will occur. That may not be as far-fetched as it sounds. Northwestern brain wave re…
• Reality TV, cosmetic surgey linked, says researcher
  Research suggests that teens fond of reality TV programs are more likely to join the millions who go under the knife each year. For bodies -- and minds -- still in development, these drastic decisions…
• Body of evidence: New fast, reliable method to detect gravesoil
  Finding bodies buried by someone who wanted them to stay undiscovered can be difficult. However a new technique can reliably detect biochemical changes in a decomposing cadaver.
• Emerging E. coli strain causes many antimicrobial-resistant infections in US
  A new, drug-resistant strain of E. coli is causing serious disease, according to a new study. The new strain, ST131, was a major cause of serious antimicrobial-resistant E. coli infections in the Unit…

[ more posts from sciencedaily.com ]

eurekalert.org

• UT Southwestern researchers find key step in body's ability to make red blood cells
  Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have uncovered a key step in the creation of new red blood cells in an animal study.
• Missing Puma reveals cancer conundrum
  Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researchers in Melbourne, Australia, have made a discovery that has upended scientists' understanding of programmed cell death and its role in tumor formation.
• Red blood cells have a tiny but effective protector -- microRNA
  Pediatric researchers have discovered a new biological pathway in which small segments of RNA, called microRNA, help protect red blood cells from injury caused by chemicals called free radicals. The m…
• How to detect malnutrition in patients effectively?
  Malnutrition is a common problem in patients with cancer and is associated with a poor outcome. The assessment of nutritional status and its evaluation plays an important role in tailoring nutritional…
• New 'armor' developed to avoid infection from AIDS virus
  The doors are closing on the AIDS virus. A study by the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas has developed a method of attack against the AIDS virus The method involves creating a preventi…
• New approach to Alzheimer's therapy
  Researchers from the German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases and the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat in Munich have shown that the ADAM10 protein can inhibit the formation of beta-amyloid, which i…
• New study: Tools that assess bias in standardized tests are flawed
  Overturning more than 40 years of accepted practice, new research proves that the tools used to check tests of general mental ability for bias are themselves flawed. This key finding challenges relian…
• Reality TV, cosmetic surgey linked, says Rutgers-Camden researcher
  Research by a Rutgers-Camden psychologist suggests that teens fond of reality TV programs are more likely to join the millions who go under the knife each year. For bodies -- and minds -- still in dev…
• Reading terrorists minds about imminent attack
  Imagine technology that allows you to get inside the mind of a terrorist to know how, when and where the next attack will occur. That may not be as far-fetched as it sounds. Northwestern brain wave re…
• Research of cell movements in developing frogs reveals new twists in human genetic disease
  Mutations in a gene known as Fritz may be responsible for causing human genetic disorders such as Bardet-Biedl syndrome, University of Texas at Austin developmental biologist John Wallingford and Duke…

• Some like it hot: How to heat a 'nano bathtub' the JILA way
  Researchers at JILA have demonstrated the use of infrared laser light to quickly and precisely heat the water in nano bathtubs -- tiny sample containers -- for microscopy studies of the biochemistry o…
• A potential chemotherapeutic drug to treat hepatocellular carcinoma
  A research team from China investigated the effect of galangin on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. They found that galangin mediates apoptosis through a mitochondrial pathway, and may be a potent…
• Oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy may protect women against brain aneurysms
  Results from a new study suggest that oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy may yield additional benefit of protecting against the formation and rupture of brain aneurysms in women. The…
• CD74 serves as a survival receptor on colon epithelial cells
  CD74 is a protein expressed by cells of the immune system. A research group in Israel finds that CD74 is expressed on colon epithelial cells of mice, as well as on a malignant cell line from mouse col…
• Body of evidence: New fast, reliable method to detect gravesoil
  Finding bodies buried by someone who wanted them to stay undiscovered can be difficult. However a new technique developed by scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, can relia…
• Clinical trials can be improved by managing the learning curve
  Researchers at Duke University Medical Center looked for a learning curve phenomenon in the data record of a large, multi-site clinical trial. Their findings point to ways to improve the quality of fu…
• Nano 'pin art': NIST arrays are step toward mass production of nanowires
  Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have cultivated many thousands of nanocrystals in what looks like a pinscreen or pin art on silicon, a step toward reliable mass produ…
• Breaking the language barrier: NIST tests language translation devices for US troops
  In recent tests evoking visions of the universal translator on Star Trek, NIST evaluated three two-way, real-time, voice-translation devices designed to improve communications between the US military…
• One more step on the path to quantum computers
  Researchers around the world are working on the development of quantum computers that will be vastly superior to present-day computers. Here, the strong coupling of quantum bits with light quanta play…
• Emerging E. coli strain causes many antimicrobial-resistant infections in US
  A new, drug-resistant strain of E. coli is causing serious disease, according to a new study, now available online, in the Aug. 1, 2010, issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases.
• Study finds diet and alcohol alter epigenetics of breast cancer
  Researchers from Brown University and the University of California have shown that the epigenetic profiles of breast tumors are related to patient diet and alcohol use as well as tumor size.
• Kinked nanopores slow DNA passage for easier sequencing
  In an innovation critical to improved DNA sequencing, a markedly slower transmission of DNA through nanopores has been achieved by a team led by Sandia National Laboratories researchers.
• Reforestation projects capture more carbon than industrial plantations, reveals new research
  Australian scientists researching environmental restoration projects have found that the reforestation of damaged rainforests is more efficient at capturing carbon than controversial softwood monocult…
• Do soy isoflavones boost bone health?
  Scientists already know much about the more than 200 bones that make up your body. But mysteries remain regarding the exact role that many natural compounds in foods might play in strengthening our sk…
• Vanishing bile duct syndrome secondary to anti-retroviral therapy in HIV
  Vanishing bile duct syndrome (VBDS) is an important cause of jaundice, and results from destruction of bile ducts in the liver. However, this syndrome is rare in patients with human immunodeficiency v…
• New theory of why midcontinent faults produce earthquakes
  A new theory developed at Purdue University may solve the mystery of why the New Madrid fault, which lies in the middle of the continent and not along a tectonic plate boundary, produces large earthqu…
• Effective inducing systems of hepatic differentiation from bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells
  Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent non-hematopoietic cells capable of differentiating into hepatocytes. Valproic acid (VPA), a histone deacetylase inhibitor, has recently exhibited profound…
• Pilot study supports adolescent diabetes patients through personalized text messages
  Jennifer Dyer, M.D., M.P.H., an endocrinologist at Nationwide Children's Hospital, has developed and completed a pilot study that uses weekly, customized text messages to remind adolescent diabetes pa…
• Functional magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate pancreatic cancer
  In an effort to develop new therapies for pancreatic cancer, models of this disease must be created and characterized. A recent study from United States found that advanced magnetic resonance imaging…
• 'Path of mental illness' follows path of war, 20 years after conflict ends
  Researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health assessed the geographical distribution of the long-term burden of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a region of Liberia and…
• 30 million women to benefit from health reform law
  Thirty million women will benefit from the new health reform law over the next decade, either through new or strengthened insurance coverage, according to a new report from The Commonwealth Fund. The…
• From the heart: How cells divide to form different but related muscle groups
  Using the model organism Ciona intestinalis, commonly known as the sea squirt, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have uncovered the origins of the second heart field in vertebrate…
• Transforaminal steroid injection for lumbar radicular pain proves superior to placebo
  A recent study from Australian researchers determined that transforaminal injection of steroids was a viable alternative to surgery for lumbar radicular pain due to disc herniation. Full details of th…
• Intervention effort cuts HIV incidence among female sex workers
  A team of researchers from the University of California San Diego and Mexico has found that even a modest behavioral intervention program averaging just 35 minutes can measurably reduce the incidence…
• A new ground zero for prostate cancer
  A type of prostate cell that has been largely ignored by cancer researchers can trigger malignant prostate cancer. The studies provide researchers with a new tool for exploring the genetic changes tha…
• Researchers study benefits of white button mushrooms
  Agricultural Research Service-funded scientists have conducted an animal-model and cell-culture study showing that white button mushrooms enhanced the activity of critical cells in the body's immune s…
• Discovered: Audubon's first engraving of a bird
  In 1824, John James Audubon (1785-1851), the eminent American artist, created a drawing of a running grouse for use in the design for a New Jersey bank note. Although the artist mentions the drawing a…
• Signs of reversal of Arctic cooling in some areas
  Parts of the Arctic have cooled clearly over the past century, but temperatures have been rising steeply since 1990 also there. This is the finding of a summer temperature reconstruction for the past…
• Behind the secrets of silk lie high-tech opportunities
  Tougher than a bullet-proof vest yet synonymous with beauty and luxury, silks spun by worms and spiders are a masterpiece of nature whose properties have yet to be fully replicated in the laboratory.…
• Small increases in vaccine cost can cause large gaps in protection
  Public immunization efforts may be much more sensitive than previously realized to small changes in the perceived costs or risks of vaccination, scientists at Harvard University report this week. In s…
• Study finds respiratory symptoms more reliable indicator of H1N1, not fever alone
  New research shows that individuals with mild H1N1 infection may go undetected using standard diagnostic criteria, according to a study in the August issue of the American Journal of Infection Control…
• Western diet link to ADHD
  A new study from Perth's Telethon Institute for Child Health Research shows an association between ADHD and a Western-style diet in adolescents. The research findings have just been published online i…
• Memory's master switch
  A new study led by Dr. Inna Slutsky of Tel Aviv University describes GABA (γ-Aminobutyric acid), a natural molecule that occurs in the brain, which could be the main factor in regulating how many new…
• Empa grows 'sea urchin'-shaped structures
  Empa researchers have succeeded in growing sea-urchin shaped nanostructures from minute balls of polystyrene beads using a simple electrochemical process. The spines of the sea urchin consist of zinc…
• New pathway to Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases
  Sanford-Burnham researchers uncover new clues about the cause of brain cell death in neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and Huntington's diseases.
• Brain potentials reveal spectator effect
  The neurological responses caused by observing somebody else playing a game have been uncovered. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Neuroscience found differing responses for neutral o…
• Male breast cancer in family leads to high perception of risk, low likelihood of genetic counseling
  People with a family history of male breast cancer perceive themselves to be at higher risk of developing the disease than do patients with a family history of female breast cancer; however those with…
• A leap forward in addiction awareness and control
  A study by a team of researchers at Bangor University has designed and tested two programs that help problem drinkers curb their alcohol abuse. The study shows positive results after drinkers have fol…
• Rutgers study finds male modesty a turn off for women (and men)
  A Rutgers researcher who explored the consequences for men (and women) when they acted modestly in job interviews found that modest males were less liked, a sign of social backlash. Modesty was viewed…
• Popular diabetes drugs associated with fractures in type 2 diabetic patients
  Postmenopausal women with diabetes taking thiazolidinediones (TZDS), including rosiglitazone and pioglitazone, may be at increased risk for fractures according to a new study accepted for publication…
• Rocks on Mars may provide link to evidence of living organisms roughly 4 billion years ago
  A new article in press of the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters unveils groundbreaking research on the hydrothermal formation of clay-carbonate rocks in the Nili Fossae region of Mars. The f…
• Unexpected viral 'fossils' found in vertebrate genomes
  Over millions of years, retroviruses, which insert their genetic material into the host genome as part of their replication, have left behind bits of their genetic material in vertebrate genomes. In a…
• Most youth hockey injuries caused by accidents, not checking, UB study shows
  Hockey fans likely would assume that body-checking -- intentionally slamming an opponent against the boards -- causes the most injuries in youth ice hockey. But they would be wrong.
• Kidney injury prevention may be possible: Watch for the warning signs
  Reduced kidney function and protein in the urine place a person at risk for kidney injury, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. The…
• Plant compound resveratrol shown to suppresses inflammation, free radicals in humans
  Resveratrol, a popular plant extract shown to prolong life in yeast and lower animals due to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, appears also to suppress inflammation in humans, based on…
• UCLA scientists for the first time identify a cell-of-origin for human prostate cancer
  UCLA scientists have identified for the first time a cell-of-origin for human prostate cancer, a discovery that could result in better predictive and diagnostics tools and the development of new and m…
• Ear bones reveal spawning secrets of Lake Erie walleye
  Ecologists have long believed that fish tend to return to the same river where they hatched in order to spawn. But researchers at Ohio State University have determined that the old rule doesn't always…
• New lab test could identify imatinib resistance
  Scientists in Japan may have developed a way to accurately predict those patients who will resist treatment with imatinib, which is the standard of care for chronic myeloid leukemia.
• 'White graphene' to the rescue
  Researchers in the lab of Pulickel Ajayan, Rice's Benjamin M. and Mary Greenwood Anderson Professor in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and of chemistry, have figured out how to make sheet…
• Polymer passage takes time
  Rice University researchers have created a theoretical method to calculate the time it takes long-chain polymers to pass through nano-sized pores in membranes. The researchers studied how membrane por…
• Carnegie Mellon researchers create fluorescent biosensor to aid in drug development
  Carnegie Mellon University has developed a new fluorescent biosensor that could aid in the development of an important class of drugs that target a crucial class of proteins called G protein-coupled r…
• Some trees 'farm' bacteria to help supply nutrients
  Some trees growing in nutrient-poor forest soil may get what they need by cultivating specific root microbes to create compounds they require. These microbes are exceptionally efficient at turning ino…
• Gender-bending fish on the rise in southern Alberta
  Chemicals present in two rivers in southern Alberta are likely the cause of the feminization of fish say researchers at the University of Calgary who have published results of their study in the journ…
• To make one happy, make one busy
  A new study in Psychological Science found that people who have something to do, even something pointless, are happier than people who sit idly.
• Researchers identify key enzyme in DNA repair pathway
  Researchers have discovered an enzyme crucial to a type of DNA repair that also causes resistance to a class of cancer drugs most commonly used against ovarian cancer.
• Study finds black carbon implicated in global warming
  Increasing the ratio of black carbon to sulfate in the atmosphere increases climate warming, suggests a study conducted by a University of Iowa professor and his colleagues and published in the July 2…
• The evolution of melanoma diagnosis: 25 years beyond the ABCDs
  Twenty-five years after publishing the mnemonic ABCD to facilitate the early diagnosis of melanoma, the group who came up with that moniker says early detection remains a key factor in lowering mortal…
• University of Nevada, Reno tests cutting-edge technology for underwater mapping at Tahoe basin
  A borrowed boat, a small mountain lake and the inaugural run of a half-a-million dollar state-of-the-art multi-beam sonar system made history this month with the successful high-definition mapping of…
• More frequent, more intense heat waves in store for New York
  Heat waves like those that baked the Northeast in July are likely to be more frequent and more intense in the future, with their effects amplified in densely built urban environments like Manhattan, a…
• UC Davis study finds worse mental health associated with worse pain in osteoarthritis
  How much pain osteoarthritis sufferers feel is directly related to their mental health, a new study by researchers at UC Davis School of Medicine has found. In the study, people with better mental hea…
• Highlight of the Polarstern expedition
  The Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association for the first time sent its autonomous underwater vehicle on an under-ice mission at about 79 degrees North.
• Decontaminating dangerous drywall
  A nanomaterial originally developed to fight toxic waste is now helping reduce debilitating fumes in homes with corrosive drywall.
• The thunderstone mystery
  Archeologists Olle Hemdorff og Eva Thäte at the University of Stavanger's Museum of Archaeology investigate finds of older artifacts in younger graves. They have found a pattern of great archaeologic…
• Calcium supplements play an important role in maintaining bone health
  A broad range of scientific research has demonstrated that an adequate intake of calcium plays an important role in building and maintaining optimum bone mass, and a recent meta-analysis published onl…
• Good and bad in the hands of politicians
  In laboratory tests, right- and left-handers associate positive ideas like honesty and intelligence with their dominant side of space and negative ideas with their nondominant side, says Daniel Casasa…
• If spiders and worms can do it, why can't we?
  Imagine a material that is tougher than Kelvar or steel, yet remarkably flexible. It's something you can easily find in your attic or a lingerie store. It's as instantly recognizable today as it was t…
• A breakthrough in tuberculosis research
  The key to the fate of the macrophages is the balance between two kinds of eicosanoids. Eicosanoids are molecules that contribute to the control of our immune system. The genetic code of TB bacteria e…
• UCI immunological study finds earlier way to diagnose axon and neuron degeneration in MS
  UCI immunologists have found that testing for increased levels of antibodies that inhibit energy production in neurons can detect axon and neuron degeneration in multiple sclerosis earlier than existi…
• Calcium supplements linked to increased risk of heart attack
  Calcium supplements, commonly taken by older people for osteoporosis, are associated with an increased risk of a heart attack, finds a study published on bmj.com today.
• Snake venom studies yield insights for development of therapies for heart disease and cancer
  Researchers seeking to learn more about stroke by studying how the body responds to toxins in snake venom are this week releasing new findings that they hope will aid in the development of therapies f…
• 'Linc-ing' a noncoding RNA to a central cellular pathway
  The recent discovery of more than a thousand genes known as large intergenic noncoding RNAs (or lincRNAs) opened up a new approach to understanding the function and organization of the genome. That su…
• Story tips from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, August 2010
  The following are story tips from the US Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory for August 2010.
• Ancient reptiles 'make tracks'
  A new discovery of fossilized footprints reveals when reptiles first conquered dry land.
• Mechanism uncovered behind Salmonella virulence and drug susceptibility
  Researchers have discovered a novel mechanism in Salmonella that affects is virulence and its susceptibility to antibiotics. The mechanism changes the bacteria's production of proteins in a previously…
• Researchers find new translocation; weak spots in DNA lead to genetic disease
  A pediatric research team at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia continues to discover recurrent translocations -- places in which two chromosomes exchange pieces of themselves, and can lead to ge…
• Resting brain activity associated with spontaneous fibromyalgia pain
  A recent study from researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and University of Michigan provides the first direct evidence of linkage between elevated intrinsic (resting-state) brain connectivity…
• Vitamin D deficiency linked to arterial stiffness in black teens
  Vitamin D deficiency is associated with arterial stiffness, a risk factor for heart disease and stroke, in black teens according to a new study accepted for publication in the Endocrine Society's Jour…
• Scientists post lower speed limit for cell-signaling protein assembly
  The apparently random self-assembly of molecular threads into the proteins that make the body work is far less frantic than previously thought, Michigan State University scientists say. That discovery…
• Just drop it: The one-size-fits-all approach to blood sugar control, that is
  Aggressive blood sugar control does not improve survival in diabetic patients with kidney failure, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society N…
• TNF blockers may increase the risk of malignancy in children
  The US Food and Drug Administration received reports of malignancies in children using tumor necrosis factor a (TNF) blockers, raising concerns of an associated risk and prompting an investigation. Re…
• Graphene exhibits bizarre new behavior well suited to electronic devices
  Graphene, a sheet of pure carbon, has been touted as a possible replacement for silicon-based semiconductors because of its useful electronic properties. Now, UC Berkeley physicists have shown that gr…
• Brown dwarf found orbiting a young sun-like star
  Astronomers have imaged a very young brown dwarf, or failed star, in a tight orbit around a young nearby sun-like star. The discovery is expected to shed light on the early stages of solar system form…
• Next generation sequencing establishes genetic link between two rare diseases
  Scientists have successfully used next generation sequencing to identify mutations that may cause a rare and mysterious genetic disorder. The research, published by Cell Press on July 29 in the Americ…
• Graphene under strain creates gigantic pseudo-magnetic fields
  By putting the right kind of strain onto a patch of graphene, Berkeley Lab researchers have created pseudo-magnetic fields far stronger than the strongest magnetic fields ever sustained in a laborator…
• Quality coronary bypass care can improve lives and cut costs
  A new analysis led by researchers at UCSF shows that avoiding lowest-volume hospitals and maximizing adherence to quality care processes are both effective approaches to reducing costs associated with…
• Scripps research study opens the door to new class of drugs for epileptic seizures
  A chemical compound that boosts the action of a molecule normally produced in the brain may provide the starting point for a new line of therapies for the treatment of epileptic seizures, according to…
• Super-rare 'elkhorn' coral found in Pacific
  An Australian scientist has discovered what could be the world's rarest coral in the remote North Pacific Ocean. The unique Pacific elkhorn coral was found while conducting underwater surveys of Arno…
• Intensive chemotherapy may be harmful to most older patients with acute myeloid leukemia
  The prognosis for nearly three-quarters of elderly patients on intensive chemotherapy for acute myeloid leukemia is poor, with a median survival of less than six months, according to a study published…
• Groundbreaking research from Intel Corp. demonstrated at IPR
  Groundbreaking research presented by Intel OSA topical meeting, Integrated Photonics Research, Silicon and Nano Photonics (IPR). IPR is currently being held at the Monterey Plaza Hotel in Monterey, Ca…
• Quantum fractals at the border of magnetism
  Physicists from Rice University, the Max Planck Institute and the Vienna University of Technology are reporting new results from experiments on the perplexing class of materials that includes high-tem…

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seedmagazine.com

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news.sciencemag.org

• Podcast: Orbital Gridlock, Rubber Band Physics, and More
  Do mind melds enable effective communication? How can researchers alleviate satellite traffic jams? And...
• ScienceShot: Neutrino Observatory Picks Up Cosmic Rays
  IceCube confirms uneven distribution of rays in the southern sky
• ScienceShot: Duck Penises Size up the Competition
  Ducks grow larger genitalia to outdo their rivals
• ScienceShot: How Locusts are Like Magnets
  Math helps explain how a cloud of locusts is able to suddenly shift direction
• FDA Lifts Hold on First-Ever Embryonic Stem Cell Trial
  Regulators have given a green light to the world's first approved experiment using embryonic...
• Marijuana Time Warp
  Active ingredient in cannabis disrupts the body's internal clock
• New Director Shakes Up Management of Fusion Project
  Just 2 days after becoming director-general of ITER, the international project aiming to prove...
• British Medical Council Trades One Knight for Another
  The United Kingdom's Medical Research Council has named University of Edinburgh inflammation researcher John...
• House Hearing Explores Debate Over Free Access to Journal Articles
  The fight over mandating free access to papers based on research funded by taxpayer...
• Curbing Domestic Violence in Chickens
  New research could help poultry farmers stop their hens from tearing each other to pieces

• EPA to Virginia: What Climate Conspiracy?
  A group of critics of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) decision to regulate greenhouse...
• Deadly Viruses Have Been Part of Us for Millions of Years
  Humans, zebrafish, and other vertebrates host viral fossils in their DNA
• Island Monkeys Give Clues to Origins of HIV's Ancestor
  Virus passed from monkeys to chimps about 22,000 years ago
• ScienceShot: Why Are Male Whales Humping Each Other?
  Researchers examine a curious case at a Canadian aquarium
• Tough Food Makes Coyotes Better Biters
  Pups who gnaw on bones develop shorter and thicker skulls
• After Carbon Cap Funeral, Renewables Mandate Probably Dead in Senate, Too
  With the cap-and-trade option for carbon reduction buried in the U.S. Senate at least...
• Scientists Balk at BP Recruitment Efforts, Restrictive Contracts
  Last Thursday, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) blasted BP for its chilling...
• Report: U.S. Ill Prepared to Trace Exploded Nukes
  If a terrorist group were to strike the United States with a nuclear weapon...
• NOAA Has 10 Answers to Allegations That 'Climategate' Disproves Warming
  The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a report today on 2009's climate,...
• Bat Caves Closed by Feds
  To stop the possible western spread of white-nose syndrome, the U.S. Forest Service has...

[ more posts from news.sciencemag.org ]

sciencenews.org

• Disabling cellular assassin prevents cancer
  Counterintuitive experiment may help explain why survivors are more vulnerable to other malignancies
• For ducks, penis length depends on the other guys
  Genitals grow longer with more male competition
• Dark matter eldorado
  Nearby galaxy holds record for densest concentration of mysterious mass
• Issue for the week of August 14th, 2010
  August 14, 2010 Issue of Science News
• Birth of the beat
  Music’s roots may lie in melodic exchanges between mothers and babies
• Seeking a definition
  Pitch is determined by a sound’s frequency. Notes that sit in different positions on a musical scale, called tones, have different pitches. Modern Western music, for example, combines 12 ton...
• Not just a pleasant sound
  When people use music to share stories, comfort peers or worship gods, it takes on new meaning. Music’s roles vary depending on time and place.  Bonding: Battle hymns, national...
• More than a feeling
  Emotionally evocative, yes, but music goes much deeper
• Moody tunes
  To explore the effect that music has on the mind, Science News asked researchers to share a song they enjoy and the emotion it evokes.  Ethan Ross, physicianSong: “Da...
• Your brain on music
  Music lights up almost every area of the brain, which shouldn’t be a surprise since it makes people tap their feet, encourages the recollection of vivid memories and has the potential to ligh...

• Songs from the Stone Age
  No one knows for sure whether music played a key role in human evolution or came about as a kind of ear candy. But there are several scientifically inspired proposals for the origins of music, ...
• Evidence of ancient roots
  Though early hominids may have made sweet sounds by banging sticks and stones together, the oldest distinguishable instrument dates to 40,000 years ago.  A flute made from vulture...
• Music of the hemispheres
  Playing instruments gives brains a boost
• Take two stanzas and call me in the morning
  From poets to politicians, people have long described music as medicine for the heart and soul. Now scientists are taking a literal look at such musings, investigating music as a means to allev...
• A mind for music
  Read features from the special edition Articles in A mind for music. | Go Download a PDF of the special edition Exclusive for Science News subscribers. Download | SubscribeThere are very ...

[ more posts from sciencenews.org ]

bbc.co.uk

• Giant hailstone breaks US record
  A hailstone weighing almost a kilo that fell in the state of South Dakota has been confirmed as the largest ever recovered in the USA.
• Everglades on Unesco danger list
  A UN panel adds the Florida Everglades and Madagascar's tropical rainforest to a list of world heritage sites at risk.
• BP boss scaling back oil effort
  The incoming BP chief executive has said it is time to scale back some parts of the oil spill clean-up in the Gulf of Mexico.
• Further Chile quakes 'possible'
  Land in the north of Chile is ready for another major earthquake, say researchers, adding that authorities did not act on previous warnings.
• 'Sniff code' device controls wheelchair
  Scientists develop a device that allows people with severe disabilities to control a wheelchair and communicate by sniffing.
• Hi-tech Indian water plant opens
  A desalination plant which begins operating in Madras on Saturday will provide some of the cheapest drinking water in India, backers say.
• Mammals decline in Chernobyl zone
  The largest wildlife census of its kind conducted in Chernobyl reveals evidence of mammals declining in the exclusion zone.
• Grim task of China oil clean-up
  China is struggling with an arduous clean up after the country's worst oil spill, with grim conditions for those involved.
• Rare zedonk born at US wildlife park
  A wildlife reserve in the US has a new star attraction after a donkey there gave birth to a foal with stripy legs.
• Greek dolphin park welfare row
  Animal welfare groups in Greece are calling for the closure of the country's first dolphinarium and urging schools not to visit the attraction.

• Mars rocks may contain fossilised remains of life
  Researchers identify rocks that they say could contain the fossilised remains of life on early Mars.
• X Prize for oil spill solutions
  The X Prize foundation, best known for launching the private spaceflight industry, launches a $1.4 million oil clean-up challenge.
• Galapagos off Unesco danger list
  A UN panel votes to remove the Galapagos Islands from a red list of endangered heritage sites, to protests from a leading conservation group.
• Deep blue fuels
  Russian sub searches Lake Baikal for energy reserves
• 'Ancient survivor'
  Experts find new colonies of prehistoric shrimp
• Chemicals washed into China river
  Rescue teams in north-east China are working to retrieve 3,000 barrels of chemicals washed into a major river, state media say.
• Deal finalised on fusion reactor
  The European Union and six member states have reached a deal on the experimental nuclear fusion reactor they are backing.
• Cheetah will run again in India
  The cheetah, eradicated in India by hunting nearly a century ago, will run again in the country, as three sites are earmarked for its reintroduction.
• Litter picking on the sea bed
  A team of divers - known as Neptune's Army of Rubbish Cleaners - are stepping up efforts to keep Britain's coastline clean and litter free.
• WWF sorry for Saudi Arabia insult
  Environmental group WWF apologises to Saudi Arabia after one of its workers vandalised the country's nameplate at a climate conference.
• Doomed 1848 ship found in Arctic
  Canadian archaeologists locate the wreck of HMS Investigator, a British ship abandoned in the Arctic in the 19th Century.
• Plankton declining across oceans
  The amount of plankton in the oceans has declined markedly over the last century, with warming identified as a cause.
• 'Pampered' pigs are optimistic
  Pigs feel optimistic or pessimistic about life depending on how pleasant their environment is, researchers at Newcastle University have discovered.
• Surface Gulf oil 'vanishing fast'
  Oil from BP's damaged Gulf of Mexico well has cleared from the sea surface faster than expected, scientists say, 100 days after the disaster began.
• Pampered pigs 'feel optimistic'
  Pigs feel optimistic or pessimistic about life depending on how pleasant their environment is, researchers at Newcastle University find.
• Does music make you run faster?
  Music has helped elite tri-athletes in Australia increase their endurance by 15%, researchers say.
• Dogs 'mimic movements of owners'
  Do dogs really imitate body movements of owners?
• Friends offer 'a survival boost'
  Having good friends and neighbours appears to boost survival chances by 50%, say researchers.
• Oz marsupials 'began in Americas'
  The characteristic koalas, kangaroos and wombats of Australia share a common American ancestor, according to genetic research.
• Researchers use more GM animals
  The number of UK scientific experiments involving genetically modified animals overtakes those involving normal animals for the first time.
• Adventurers to fund space travel
  Future manned space travel will be the province of private adventurers, the astronomer royal believes.
• Motherly love 'breeds confidence'
  Babies whose mothers shower them with affection are better at coping with stress when they get older, researchers say.
• China considers big rocket power
  Chinese engineers are considering a new super-powerful engine for the next generation of space rockets, say officials.
• Deep science
  Mini-sub gets to bottom of oil spill's risk to marine life
• When 1,000 particle physicists collide
  What happens when 1,000 particle physicists meet? BBC News visited the 35th International Conference on High Energy Physics (ICHEP) in Paris to find out.

[ more posts from bbc.co.uk ]

nasa.gov

• NASA Seeks Undergrads to Defy Gravity for Science and Engineering
  NASA is offering undergraduate students an opportunity to test an experiment in weightless science as part of the agency's Reduced Gravity Education Flight Program.
• NASA'S Hubble Shows Hyperfast Star Was Booted From Milky Way
  NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has detected a hypervelocity star – a rare phenomenon moving three times faster than our sun.
• NASA Finds Super Hot Planet With Unique Comet-Like Tail
  Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have confirmed the existence of a baked object that could be called a cometary planet. The gas giant planet, named HD 209458b, is orbiting so close to i…
• MESSENGER Spacecraft Reveals New Information About Mercury
  The first spacecraft designed by NASA to orbit Mercury is giving scientists a new perspective on the planet's atmosphere and evolution.
• NASA's Airborne Infrared Observatory Sees The "First Light"
  The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a joint program by NASA and the German Aerospace Center, achieved a major milestone May 26, with its first in-flight night observations.
• Spacecraft Reveals Small Solar Events Have Large Scale Effects
  NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, has allowed scientists for the first time to comprehensively view the dynamic nature of storms on the sun.
• NASA Announces Posting Of Space Exploration Workshop Charts
  Presentation charts for the opening-day briefings of NASA's Exploration Enterprise Workshop in Galveston, Texas, will be posted online at noon EDT, Monday, May 24.
• NASA'S MARS ROVERS SET SURFACE LONGEVITY RECORD; SATELLITE INTERVIEWS WITH EXPERT AVAILABLE
  NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Project will pass a historic Martian longevity record on Thursday, May 20.
• NASA Announces Live Web Streaming Of Space Exploration Workshop And Telephone Media Briefing
  NASA Announces Live Web Streaming Of Space Exploration Workshop And Telephone Media Briefing
• NASA's Webb Telescope Passes Key Mission Design Review Milestone
  NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has passed its most significant mission milestone to date, the Mission Critical Design Review.

sciam.com

• Origins: Going Back to Where the Story Really Starts (preview)
  We are always telling stories about the world, the universe, ourselves. It helps to make sense of things. But sometimes, through familiarity or neglect, we get lost. We forget where a story really sta…
• Superstar Is the Remnant of a Three-Star System Mangled by a Black Hole
  Here’s what scientists think happened, oh, about a hundred million years ago. There was this three-star system. The three linked stars were strolling through the Milky Way but got too close to the g…
• When should a scientist's data be liberated for all to see?
  When researchers make an exciting discovery, the data behind it are often closely guarded until they can be examined, developed and then revealed--at least in part--in a peer-reviewed journal with al…
• Gas-Giant Planet May Sport Cometlike Tail
  Whaddya get when you cross a planet with a comet? Well, HD 209458 b looks like a candidate. It’s a gas giant planet also called Osiris, and it’s orbiting so close to its star that some of its atmo…
• Perturbing Discovery: Does an Exoplanet's Orbital Oddity Reveal a Neighboring World?
  Astronomers are uncovering newfound planets in orbit around other stars at a meteoric rate these days. The tally of known planets outside the solar system now stands at more than 450, of which about 5…
• Luminary Lineage: Did an Ancient Supernova Trigger the Solar System's Birth?
  One star dies, another is born. The remains of the old are gathered up, at least in some small measure, to become part of the new. That is the astronomical circle of life, the reason that stars have e…
• Study shows how sunlight on Titan yields life-precursor compounds
  Titan, Saturn's largest moon, does not harbor alien life as far as anyone knows, but the prospects for extraterrestrial biology there are about as good there as anywhere else in the solar system. [Mo…
• Getting the Lead out: New Look at Apollo 17 Moon Sample Reveals Graphite Delivered by a Lunar Impactor
  Humans have not set foot on the moon since December 14, 1972, when astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt of the Apollo 17 mission departed the lunar surface to return home. Thankfully, Cernan…
• An Extra Quiet Sun
  Miami--In rough terms, the sun’s activity ebbs and flows in an 11-year cycle, with flares, coronal mass ejections, and other energetic phenomena peaking at what is called solar maximum and bottoming…
• NASA's Plan to Use Commercial Rockets Lifts Off
  Private access to space took a giant leap forward on June 4 with a successful test launch of the Falcon 9 rocket, developed and built by SpaceX, a venture headed by PayPal co-founder Elon Musk.The two…

• What can a three-legged dog teach robots about resilience?
  Anyone who's ever seen a dog move around on three limbs knows that canines are remarkably resilient creatures. Scientists are now wondering whether such adaptability could likewise be programmed into…
• Some Milky Way Stars Are Survivors of Older Galaxies
  It’s a plotline worthy of an action film--galaxies, violently torn apart, smashing into one another, leaving remnants of themselves behind billions of years later. That’s the scene that accounts f…
• How did life begin on Earth?
  LINDAU, Germany--What steps led to the origin of life on Earth? Scientists may be zeroing in on that most profound of questions. “We’ve gone a long way to showing” the processes that “set the…
• Once more into the breach for Orbital Sciences and the carbon observatory
  The Orbiting Carbon Observatory was meant to precisely measure carbon dioxide throughout Earth's atmosphere. Instead, it wound up shattering on the Pacific Ocean* near Antarctica in 2009, a victim of…
• NASA may delay final space shuttle launch until 2011
  The final planned space shuttle mission, currently slated for mid-November at the earliest, may not lift off until February 2011, according to a NASA spokesperson. [More] Space Shuttle - NASA - Space…
• Extra-Stormy Weather: Exoplanet Atmosphere Roils with Superspeed Winds
  A long-studied planet orbiting a star 150 light-years away has been given a new look, thanks to a novel method of studying extrasolar planets from Earth. [More] Extrasolar planet - Earth - Astronomy -…
• Neutrino Mass Upper Limit Estimated by Galactic Distribution
  “Six thousand billion of them are going through your body every second.” That’s physicist Lawrence Krauss on neutrinos, on the June 15th weekly Science Talk podcast. “Neutrinos are the lightes…
• Space Rock Watch: Next Generation of Near-Earth Asteroid Lookout Comes Online
  A new sentry is on guard atop the Haleakala volcano in Hawaii, scanning the skies for potentially threatening asteroids and comets. The first of four telescopes planned for the Pan-STARRS project, sho…
• Data Deluge: Texas Flood Canyon Offers Test of Hydrology Theories for Earth and Mars
  A geologic scar left by a catastrophic Texas flood in 2002 is providing an unexpected scientific benefit. A new study demonstrates how researchers can use a channel carved by floodwaters pouring over…
• Is the Universe Leaking Energy? (preview)
  Energy can neither be created nor destroyed. This principle, called conservation of energy, is one of our most cherished laws of physics. It governs every part of our lives: the heat it takes to warm…

[ more posts from sciam.com ]

blogs.discovermagazine.com

• A living world, from 370,000 km away
  In all the solar system, in all the galaxy, in all the Universe, there is but one world we know for sure harbors life. Home. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter took this picture in June 2010. From 373,0…
• Compasskirt
  I love geeks. I love clever people. I love sciencey stuff. So this fills my heart with squishiness: a skirt with rows of lights that illuminate when facing north: Make those LEDs red and every astrono…
• WHAM! Bulls-eye!
  I have a Martian mystery for you today, and one that is writ quite large and dramatically. It seems weird at first, then simple next, but when you dig deeper — literally — things get very weird in…
• Megameter chasm on an icy moon
  I know I haven’t been posting much astronomy the past few days — Comic Con, w00tstock, and "Bad Universe" have kept me hopping — so to make up for it a little bit, here’s a lovely image sent b…
• Flushed with pareidolia
  Pareidolia is the psychology term for seeing faces in random patterns. This usually gets air time due to some vaguely Christlike shape in a stain or something, but not every instance has to be religio…
• Lunar triple sunset
  I never get tired of the stunning pictures being sent to Earth from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. This one is particularly cool: It’s a little weird, isn’t it? What you’re seeing is sunset o…
• AVN now routinely getting publicly humiliated
  The Australian Vaccination Network, an antivax organization fronted by Meryl Dorey, has long been an antiscience group devoted to spreading any kind of nonsensical rhetoric they can. The good news? No…

jpl.nasa.gov

• NASA's Hibernating Mars Rover May Not Call Home
  NASA mission controllers have not heard from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit since March 22, and the rover is facing its toughest challenge yet - trying to survive the harsh Martian winter.
• NASA's ATHLETE Warms Up for High Desert Run
  ATHLETE moon rover must prove it can go the distance before it heads to the Arizona desert for field testing.
• Blowing in the Wind: Cassini Helps with Dune Whodunit
  The answer to the mystery of dune patterns on Saturn's moon Titan did turn out to be blowing in the wind.
• Martian Dust Devil Whirls Into Opportunity's View
  NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has photographed its first dust devil, a challenging feat in the area where Opportunity is working.
• GRAIL Spacecraft Takes Shape
  Engineers have conducted a fuel tank check of one of NASA's GRAIL mission spacecraft, scheduled for launch in 2011.
• Mars Curiosity Takes First Baby Steps
  Like proud parents, mission team members gathered in a gallery above a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to watch the Mars Curiosity rover roll for the first time.
• NASA Spacecraft Camera Yields Most Accurate Mars Map
  A camera aboard NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft has helped develop the most accurate global Martian map ever.
• Curiosity Rover Grows by Leaps and Bounds
  In one week, Curiosity grew by approximately 1 meter (3.5 feet) when spacecraft technicians and engineers attached the rover's neck and head (called the Remote Sensing Mast) to its body.
• Bonnie Takes Aim at an Oily Gulf
  Tropical Storm Bonnie, now a depression, rakes South Florida in this July 23 NASA infrared image, en route to a weekend run-in with the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf oil spill.
• NASA Telescope Finds Elusive Buckyballs in Space for First Time
  Astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have discovered carbon molecules, known as buckyballs, in space for the first time.

• NASA Goes Deep in Search of Extreme Environments
  NASA-funded researchers searching for extreme environments for life have discovered the world's deepest hydrothermal vent, 5,000 meters below the surface of the Caribbean.
• Cassini Sees Moon Building Giant Snowballs in Saturn Ring
  While orbiting Saturn for the last six years, NASA's Cassini spacecraft has kept a close eye on the collisions and disturbances in the gas giant's rings.
• Orbiter Puts Itself Into Standby Safe Mode
  NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter put itself into a safe standby mode, and the mission team has begun steps to resume the spacecraft's science and relay operations this week.
• Video Camera Will Show Mars Rover's Touchdown
  A downward-pointing camera on the front-left side of NASA's Curiosity rover will give adventure fans worldwide an unprecedented sense of riding a spacecraft to a landing on Mars.
• NASA's WISE Mission to Complete Extensive Sky Survey
  NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, will complete its first survey of the entire sky on July 17, 2010.
• See Beautiful Ontario Lacus: Cassini's Guided Tour
  This lake on Saturn's moon Titan turns out to be a perfect exotic vacation spot, provided you can handle subzero temperatures and enjoy soaking in liquid hydrocarbon.
• Giant Antenna Propped Up, Ready for Joint Replacement
  Workers at NASA's Deep Space Network complex in Goldstone, Calif., are making progress on a major renovation on the 70-meter-wide Mars antenna.
• Meet the Titans: Dust Disk Found Around Massive Star
  A new discovery has the potential to answer the long-standing question of how massive stars are born -- and hints at the possibility that planets could form around the galaxy's biggest bodies.
• Study Finds Amazon Storm Killed Half a Billion Trees
  In 2005, scientists saw a spike in tree deaths in the Amazon, which was attributed to drought. Now a NASA-funded study finds a single, massive thunderstorm was also to blame.
• Curiosity Spins Its Wheels
  The wheels that will touch down on Mars in 2012 are several rotations closer to spinning on the rocky trails of Mars.
• Juno Armored Up to Go to Jupiter
  NASA's Juno spacecraft, which is currently being assembled, recently received its protective shield.
• NASA and Microsoft Provide Mars 3-D Close Encounter
  NASA and Microsoft Research are bringing Mars to life with new features in the WorldWide Telescope software that provide viewers with a high-resolution 3-D map of the Red Planet.
• Heavy Metal Rock Takes Center Stage
  The European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft, with NASA instruments aboard, did a close flyby of asteroid Lutetia on Saturday, July 10.
• Saturn Propellers Reflect Solar System Origins
  Scientists using NASA's Cassini spacecraft at Saturn have stalked a new class of moons in the rings of Saturn that create distinctive propeller-shaped gaps in ring material.
• Puff, the Magic Dragon?
  A dragon-shaped cloud of dust seems to fly with the stars in a new image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (bottom). In visible light (top), the creature disappears into the mist.
• NASA to Fly Into Hurricane Research this Summer
  Three NASA aircraft will begin flights to study tropical cyclones on Aug. 15 during the agency's first major U.S.-based hurricane field campaign since 2001.
• Planck Takes It All In
  A new image from the Planck mission shows what it's been up to for the past year -- surveying the entire sky for clues to our universal origins.
• Cassini to Dive Low through Titan Atmosphere
  As American schoolchildren head out to pools for a summer splash, NASA's Cassini spacecraft will be taking its own deep plunge through the Titan atmosphere this week.
• A Closer Look at Daphnis
  NASA's Cassini spacecraft has captured the closest images of Saturn's moon Daphnis to date.
• Next Mars Rover Sports a Set of New Wheels
  A new set of spiffy wheels is now affixed to NASA's Mars rover Curiosity. Engineers added the wheels and suspension system this week, during preparations for a planned launch in late 2011.
• Man in the Moon has 'Graphite Whiskers'
  In a new analysis of a lunar sample collected by Apollo 17, researchers have detected and dated carbon on the moon in the form of graphite.
• Engineers Assess Dawn's Reaction Wheel
  Engineers are studying the reaction wheels on NASA's Dawn spacecraft after automatic sensors detected excess friction building up in one of them.
• Alex Stirs Up the Gulf
  Tropical Storm Alex, soon to be a hurricane, churns its way through the western half of the Gulf of Mexico in this NASA infrared image taken Tuesday afternoon, June 29.
• NASA Mars Rover Seeing Destination in More Detail
  A super-resolution view toward Endeavour Crater from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows discernible features in the rim of that long-term destination.
• Voyager 2 at 12,000 Days: The Super-Marathon Continues
  NASA's plucky Voyager 2 spacecraft has hit a long-haul operations milestone today -- operating continuously for 12,000 days.
• 'Hitchhiker' EPOXI: Next Stop, Comet Hartley 2
  NASA's EPOXI spacecraft hitched a ride on Earth's gravity field and is now heading toward its appointment with comet Hartley 2 this fall.
• NASA Instrument Will Identify Clues to Martian Past
  NASA's Curiosity rover, coming together for a late 2011 launch to Mars, has a newly installed component: a key onboard X-ray instrument for helping the mission achieve its goals.
• NASA Satellite Adds Carbon Dioxide to its Repertoire
  A NASA-led team has expanded the growing global armada of remote sensing satellites capable of studying carbon dioxide, the leading greenhouse gas driving changes in our climate.
• Earth to Lend Helping Hand to Comet Craft
  NASA's Deep Impact/EPOXI spacecraft will fly past Earth this Sunday, June 27.
• The Coolest Stars Come Out of the Dark
  Astronomers have uncovered what appear to be 14 of the coldest stars known in our universe.
• New Clues Suggest Wet Era on Early Mars Was Global
  Minerals in northern Mars craters seen by two orbiters suggest that a phase in Mars' early history with conditions favorable to life occurred globally, not just in the south.
• NASA Radar Images Show How Mexico Quake Deformed Earth
  NASA has released the first-ever airborne radar images of the deformation in Earth's surface caused by a major earthquake.
• Earth-like Planets May Be Ready for Their Close-Up
  Many scientists speculate that our galaxy could be full of places like Pandora from the movie Avatar -- Earth-like worlds in solar systems besides our own.
• Adios El Niño, Hello La Niña?
  The moderate El Niño of the past year has officially bowed out, leaving his cool sister, La Niña, poised to potentially take the equatorial stage.
• NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for OCO-2 Mission
  NASA has selected Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., to launch the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) mission.
• Super Swooper at Saturn's Moon
  Cassini has successfully completed its lowest pass through Titan's atmosphere.
• Cassini Getting the Lowdown on Titan This Weekend
  NASA's Cassini spacecraft will take its lowest dip through the hazy atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan in the early morning of June 21 UTC, or June 20 Pacific Time.
• Jumbo Jellyfish or Massive Star?
  Some might see a blood-red jellyfish, while others might see a pair of lips. In fact, the red-colored object in this new image from WISE is a sphere of stellar innards.
• Seventh Graders Find a Cave on Mars
  California middle school students using the camera on NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter have found lava tubes with one pit that appears to be a skylight to a cave.
• Astronomers Discover Star-Studded Galaxy Tail
  NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer has discovered a galaxy tail studded with bright knots of new stars.
• NASA Releases Kepler Data on Potential Extrasolar Planets
  NASA's Kepler Mission has released 43 days of science data on more than 156,000 stars.
• NASAJPL Facebook Fans Design Fantasy Space Vacation
  Enjoy some creative fantasy space vacation ideas from our friends on the NASAJPL Facebook page.
• NASA Demonstrates Tsunami Prediction System
  A NASA-led research team has successfully demonstrated for the first time elements of a prototype tsunami prediction system that quickly and accurately assesses large earthquakes and estimates the si…
• NASA Dryden Hosts Radar Tests for Next Mars Landing
  Engineers have finished a key step in testing the radar system for NASA's next mission to Mars, using helicopter flights at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif.
• NASA Kicks Off New Summer of Innovation Initiative
  NASA Administrator Charles Bolden kicked off the agency's new Summer of Innovation initiative today while at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calf.
• NASA and DLR Sign Agreement to Continue Grace Mission Through 2015
  NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver and German Aerospace Center Executive Board Chairman Johann-Dietrich Wörner signed an agreement to extend the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mi…
• Detailed Martian Scenes in New Images from Mars Orbiter
  Six hundred recent observations of the Mars landscape from an orbiting telescopic camera include scenes of sinuous gullies, geometrical ridges and steep cliffs.
• NASA Helps in Upcoming Asteroid Mission Homecoming
  A Japanese spacecraft will return a capsule to Earth on June 13 in a uninhabited area of South Australia. NASA scientists and engineers have played a contributing role in the mission.
• NASA's Dawn Spacecraft Fires Past Record for Speed Change
  NASA's ion-propelled Dawn spacecraft has eclipsed the record for velocity change produced by a spacecraft's engines.
• Next Stop, Titan: Looking at the Land o' Lakes
  NASA's Cassini spacecraft will be eyeing the north polar region of Saturn's moon Titan this weekend, scanning the moon's land o' lakes.
• NASA Kicks Off Student Summer of Innovation Program June 10
  NASA officially kicks off its Summer of Innovation initiative at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., on Thursday, June 10.
• NASA Rover Finds Clue to Mars' Past and Environment for Life
  Rocks examined by NASA's Spirit Mars Rover hold evidence of a wet, non-acidic ancient environment that may have been favorable for life.
• What is Consuming Hydrogen and Acetylene on Titan?
  Two new papers based on data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft scrutinize the complex chemical activity on the surface of Saturn's moon Titan.
• NASA Images Show Oil's Invasion Along Louisiana Coast
  By combining data from multiple cameras of JPL's MISR instrument on NASA's Terra satellite, scientists gain new perspectives on the spread of oil into Louisiana's fragile wetlands.
• Backwards Black Holes Might Make Bigger Jets
  Going against the grain may turn out to be a powerful move for black holes.
• NASA Spacecraft Burns for Home, Then Comet
  NASA's Deep Impact/Epoxi spacecraft successfully performed a maneuver to refine its orbit prior to an upcoming Earth flyby June 27.
• NASA Sensor Completes Initial Gulf Oil Spill Flights
  JPL's Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer instrument has completed its initial assessment of the Gulf oil spill.
• Small Near-Earth Object Probably a Rocket Part
  Scientists have determined that a small object that safely passed Earth on May 21 is more than likely an upper-stage of a rocket.
• NASA Takes to the Air With New 'Earth Venture' Research Projects
  Hurricanes, air quality and Arctic ecosystems are among the research areas to be investigated during the next five years by new NASA airborne science missions announced today.
• NASA Satellite Spots Oil at Mississippi Delta Mouth
  A new image from NASA's Terra spacecraft shows oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill lapping at the mouth of the Mississippi River delta.
• NASA Orbiter Penetrates Mysteries of Martian Ice Cap
  Data from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have helped scientists solve a pair of decades-old mysteries and provided new information about climate change on Mars.
• Astronomers Discover New Star-Forming Regions in Milky Way
  NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and radio telescopes are probing the structure of our Milky Way galaxy.
• NASA Satellites Keep Watch on Gulf Current Near Spill
  Scientists are using NASA satellite data to keep a close eye on a powerful current in the Gulf of Mexico that could carry the Gulf oil spill into the Atlantic.
• WISE Makes Progress on Its Space Rock Catalog
  NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, is busy surveying the landscape of the infrared sky, building up a catalog of cosmic specimens -- everything from distant galaxies to failed stars…
• WISE Telescope has Heart and Soul
  NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, has captured a huge mosaic of two bubbling clouds in space, known as the Heart and Soul nebulae.
• Phoenix Mars Lander is Silent, New Image Shows Damage
  NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has ended operations after repeated, unsuccessful attempts to contact the lander, and a new orbiter image shows signs of ice damage to Phoenix.
• Two Peas in an Irregular Pod
  Our sun may be an only child, but most of the stars in the galaxy are actually twins.
• NASA's MISR Provides Unique Views of Gulf Oil Slick
  New Gulf oil spill images from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer instrument on NASA's Terra spacecraft paint dramatic portraits of different aspects of the growing spill.
• Geometry Drives Selection Date for 2011 Mars Launch
  For optimal communications during arrival at Mars, NASA's Mars Science Laboratory, or Curiosity, will launch after Thanksgiving 2011 and land on Mars in August 2012.
• NASA's Mars Rovers Set Surface Longevity Record
  NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Project will pass a historic Martian longevity record on Thursday, May 20.
• New Study Finds Ocean Warmed Significantly Since 1993
  A new study co-authored by JPL’s Josh Willis finds the upper layer of Earth’s ocean has warmed significantly over the past 16 years, indicating a strong climate change signal.
• Cassini Heading to Titan after Tagging Enceladus
  Scientists rate Cassini's 10th flyby of Enceladus... a 10.
• Cassini Double Play: Enceladus and Titan
  About a month and a half after its last double flyby, NASA's Cassini spacecraft will be turning another double play this week, visiting Enceladus and Titan.
• Virtual Open House: Next Best Thing to Being Here
  Can't make it to this year's annual Open House at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory? Join our virtual event live on Ustream.tv on Saturday, May 15.
• Final Attempts to Hear from Mars Phoenix Scheduled
  From May 17 to 21, NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter will conduct a fourth and final campaign to check on whether the Phoenix Mars Lander has come back to life.
• Asteroid Caught Marching Across Tadpole Nebula
  A new infrared image from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, showcases the Tadpole nebula, and asteroids that just happened to be cruising by.
• NASA to Fund Innovative Museum Exhibits and Planetarium Shows
  Innovative planetarium shows and traveling museum exhibits are among nine projects NASA has selected to receive agency funding this year.
• Rock and Roll: Titan's Gem Tumbler
  It appears flash flooding has paved streambeds in the Xanadu region of Saturn's moon Titan with thousands of sparkling crystal balls of ice, according to scientists with NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
• NASA, JPL Assets Aiding in Oil Spill Response
  JPL instruments and personnel are among the NASA assets being used by U.S. disaster response agencies to assess the spread and impact of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
• Ancient City of Galaxies Looks Surprisingly Modern
  In a recent deep excavation, courtesy of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers unearthed what may be the most distant, primitive cluster of galaxies ever found.
• Hubble Camera Arrives in Time for JPL Open House
  The historic Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, built by JPL for NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, has arrived at JPL in advance of this weekend's annual Open House.
• Herschel Finds a Hole in Space
  The Herschel Space Observatory has made an unexpected discovery: a gaping hole in the clouds surrounding a batch of young stars.
• JPL Invites the Public to Annual Open House
  JPL invites the public to a close-up look at its past, present and future at its annual Open House on Saturday, May 15, and Sunday, May 16, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• NASA Captures Night Infrared View of Gulf Oil Spill
  A May 7 nighttime infrared image of the Gulf oil spill from an instrument on NASA's Terra spacecraft provides a different perspective on the oil slick nearing the Gulf coast.
• Herschel Gets Sneak Peak at Star Birth
  The first scientific results from the Herschel infrared space observatory are revealing previously hidden details of star formation.
• New Martian Views From Orbiting Camera Show Diversity
  New images from more than 750 recent observations of Mars by an orbiting telescopic camera testify to the diversity of landscapes there.
• NASA, JPL Websites Win Webby Awards
  Three NASA sites have won awards in the 14th Annual Webby Awards -- the leading international honor for the world's best websites.
• NASA Satellite Views Massive Gulf Oil Spill
  New NASA satellite images show the extent of the growing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
• Mars Rover Sees Distant Crater Rims on Horizon
  NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has captured a new view of the rim of Endeavour crater, the rover's destination in a multi-year traverse along the sandy Martian landscape.
• Cassini Returning Enceladus Gravity Data
  NASA's Cassini spacecraft successfully completed its 26-hour gravity observation at Saturn’s moon Enceladus this week.

[ more posts from jpl.nasa.gov ]

quasar9.blogspot.com

• New Evidence of Dark Matter from Hubble?
  The Hubble images provide further evidence that the undisturbed galaxies are enshrouded by a cushion of dark matter, which protects them from their rough-and-tumble neighbourhood.Dark matter can't be…
• Trio of Galaxies mix it up
  This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image shows three galaxies playing a game of gravitational tug-of-war that may result in the eventual demise of one of them.Located about 100 million light-years away…
• The Heart Nebula
  IC 1805: The Heart Nebula Credit & Copyright: Daniel MarquardtSprawling across almost 200 light-years, emission nebula IC 1805 is a mix of glowing interstellar gas and dark dust clouds. Its nickname i…
• Temporary Migration
  Quasar9 is temporarily migrating to Facebook________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
• Snow in Cambridge
  An unusual & rare sightCambridge covered in a blanket of white snow______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
• Centaurus A
  Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/CfA/R.Kraft et al.; Submillimeter: MPIfR/ESO/APEX/A.Weiss et al.; Optical: ESO/WFI This image of Centaurus A shows a spectacular new view of a supermassive black hole's power.J…
• Glass handblown
  Glassmaking was accidentally discovered by potters around 3000 B.C. and the technique of glass blowing was invented around 100 B.C. The first glass made in North America was in Mexico in 1535 by artis…
• Blown Glass
  Blown Glass, Jerusalem, 50 BCE by Laura Duch '98Glass is made from a mixture of sand, potash, soda, and lime or red lead. It has been called a liquid solid, because it solidifies without crystallizing…
• Happy New Year
  Congrats to Xmichra ond welcome to the 'new arrival'____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
• The Star of Bethlehem
  The Star of Bethlehem, also called the Christmas Star, is a star in Christian tradition that revealed the birth of Jesus to the magi (or wise men) and later led them to Bethlehem.According to the Gosp…

• Double Dumbbell
  The Dumbbells Credit & Copyright: Daniel López, IACThese two nebulae are cataloged as M27 (left) and M76, popularly known as The Dumbbell and the Little Dumbbell. Their popular names refer to their s…
• Starburst Galaxy NGC 1569
  Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), and A. Aloisi (STScI/ESA)Astronomers have long puzzled over why a small, nearby, isolated galaxy is pumping out new stars faster than any gala…
• The Eastern Veil Nebula
  Click on Image to Enlarge - Credit & Copyright: Paul Mortfield, Stefano CancelliI know, I know Halloween is over, but I just had to bring this one of A Spectre in the Eastern Veil over from APoD.Mena…
• Magic from Hubble
  STScI-PRC2008-37. Credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Livio (STScI)Just a couple of days after the orbiting observatory was brought back online, Hubble aimed its prime working camera, the Wide Field Planetary C…
• A Witch by Starlight
  A Witch by Starlight Credit & Copyright: Star Shadows Remote ObservatoryBy starlight this eerie visage shines in the dark, a crooked profile evoking its popular name, the Witch Head Nebula.In fact, t…
• Great Orion Nebula
  Great Orion Nebulae Credit & Copyright: Tony HallasThe Great Nebula in Orion, also known as M42, is one of the most famous nebulae in the sky. The star forming region's glowing gas clouds and hot youn…
• A Dark Pulsar in CTA1
  A Dark Pulsar in CTA 1 Credit: NASA, S. Pineault (DRAO)Previously, the CTA 1 -- supernova remnant -- revealed a compact nebula, a bent jet, and a point source expected to be a pulsar - a rotating neut…
• Bright Bolide
  Credit & Copyright: Howard Edin (Oklahoma City Astronomy Club)On September 30, a spectacular bolide or fireball meteor surprised a group of amateur astronomers enjoying dark night skies over the Oklah…
• The Circinus Galaxy
  Credit: X-ray (NASA/CXC/Columbia/F.Bauer et al);Optical (NASA/STScI/UMD/A.Wilson et al.)This composite image shows the central regions of the nearby Circinus galaxy, located about 12 million light yea…
• Overlapping Galaxies
  NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured a rare alignment between two spiral galaxies. The outer rim of a small, foreground galaxy is silhouetted in front of a larger background galaxy. Skeletal ten…
• Upside down Rainbow
  The sky is smiling @ Cambridge Evening NewsEXCEPTIONAL atmospheric conditions created a rare and stunning display in the skies above Cambridge. At 4.45pm on Sunday, a circumzenithal arc - which looks…
• Hawking -vs- Higgs
  Stephen Hawking's recent quip that it might be more interesting if the Large Hadron Collider didn't find any Higgs bosons, sets the scene for the ultimate scientific showdown.Getting upset at Stephen…
• Milky Way Road Trip
  Credit & Copyright: Tunç Tezel (TWAN) - Click on Image to Enlarge.In search of planets and the summer Milky Way. An evening road trip driving the winding road up Uludag, a mountain near Bursa, Turkey…
• Monster Galaxy
  The active galaxy NGC 1275 is also a well-known radio source (Perseus A) and a strong emitter of X-rays due to the presence of a black hole in the center of the galaxy. The behemoth also lies at the c…
• Faster than Light
  Traveling Faster Than the Speed of LightThe method is based on the Alcubierre drive, which proposes expanding the fabric of space behind a ship and shrinking space-time in front of the ship. The ship…

[ more posts from quasar9.blogspot.com ]

astroprofspage.com

• Late sunrise
  Yesterday, December 21, was the Winter Solstice here in the northern hemisphere.  On that day, the Earth was in the part of its orbit where its north pole was tilted as far away from the Sun as it wi…
• Christmas Star Parties
  I do several public star parties each year.  Overall, it probably amounts to a little more than one every two months.  Typically, I give a public talk about some topic in astronomy, and then we do v…
• LHC sets record, and we are still here.
  According to a report on Science Daily, the Large Hadron Collider has set a new energy record.  The twin beams were at an energy of 1.18 TeV, beating the 0.98 TeV energy of Fermilab’s Tevatron.  T…
• CoS 128
  I’ve been busy catching up on my classes, so I haven’t posted anything lately.  But, you can catch up on lots of great space-related blog posts at the 128th Carnival of Space, being hosted this w…
• Ares I-X Launch Photos
  It’s been a week since the Ares I-X launch, so you are probably wondering where the pictures are.  After the launch, I tried to clean up as best I could in the bathroom at the space center, and I h…
• Triboelectrification trouble
  Well, the launch did not go as hoped for this morning.  Last night, the forecast was for only about a 40% chance of the launch getting off.  This morning, when I got up to head over to the space cen…
• Ares I-X
  If everything works out OK, then NASA will launch a new rocket this coming Tuesday:  the Ares I-X.  And, if everything works right, I’ll be there to witness it! The Ares rockets and Orion crew mod…
• Electrostatic Radiation Shielding
  Clearly carrying heavy shielding to protect astronauts from radiation in space is expensive.  If you havent’ been reading my space radiation series as I’ve been posting, then you can look over th…
• Space Radiation and Humans
  As I continue my series on space radiation, the next topic that I want to address is how radiation harms space travelers.  I’ve already alluded to this in earlier posts in the series, but I wanted…
• Cosmic Rays
  Part 3 of my series on space radiation is about the radiation itself.  The term cosmic rays is generally used to describe this radiation.  Unfortunately, as often happens, the term evolved before th…

planetary.org

• JPL begins actively hailing Spirit -- but is trying to manage your expectations (an editorial)
  How's this for a heart-stopping headline? NASA's Hibernating Mars Rover May Not Call Home Spirit hasn't talked to Earth since March 22 -- so what new information could they have received that would ma…
• Update on the NASA Authorization Bill
  Yesterday, the Planetary Society issued a statement about the request that the U.S. House of Representatives suspend the rules when voting on the NASA Authorization bill, saying, in part, The future o…
• Umbra in Paradise: The July 11, 2010 Planetary Society Solar Eclipse Expedition
  by Jim Bell If you've never seen a total eclipse of the Sun, make sure to put one on your bucket list! I was fortunate enough to be able to join a group of nearly 50 members of the Planetary Society,…
• What's up in the solar system for August 2010
  It seems it'll be a relatively routine month for our solar system explorers (if one can ever consider the exploration of an entire solar system by billion-dollar artificially intelligent robots routin…
• Dawn Journal: A Year from Vesta
  Here's our monthly checkup with the Dawn mission, contributed by Marc Rayman, the mission's Project System Engineer. Thanks Marc! --ESLClick to enlarge >Marc RaymanBy Marc Rayman Dear Dawn Days of Sum…
• New crater found in LROC image from the Moon
  This news is no surprise, but I think it's the first such discovery I've heard of: the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) team has identified a new crater on the Moon, one that wasn't there wh…
• New Horizons images Jupiter again
  Although there's no details visible in the image below, it's still a pretty impressive feat. During an annual checkout of its instruments, New Horizons turned back to snap a photo of Jupiter, which it…
• Voyager at Saturn, one year later
  Here are two newly processed portraits of Saturn, showing the planet just after its equinox; the shadows of the rings are widening in a band that is slowly moving downward across the southern hemisphe…
• LightSail team learns from IKAROS successes
  by Louis Friedman While we were in New York for the International Solar Sailing Symposium last week, we held a meeting with the Japanese IKAROS team to discuss technical results and issues in our two…
• A little chuckle for your Monday morning
  This was too amusing not to post. During Friday's first roll for Curiosity, there was a lot of banter in the Ustream chat room about all the bunny-suited* engineers waving at the cameras and mugging f…

spacedaily.com

• Cassini Helps With Dune Whodunit
  Pasadena CA (SPX) Jul 30, 2010 The answer to the mystery of dune patterns on Saturn's moon Titan did turn out to be blowing in the wind. It just wasn't from the direction many scientists expected. Bas…
• Greening The Moon And Mars
  Moffett Field CA (SPX) Jul 30, 2010 Future manned missions to the Moon or Mars could use plants as bio-harvesters to extract valuable elements from the alien soils, researchers say. Now they hope to l…
• Navigation That Makes Sense Of Life's Twists And Turns
  Sydney, Australia (SPX) Jul 30, 2010 Garmin-Asus and Optus have announced a smartphone designed for those looking for a true 'all-in-one' navigation experience to help make sense of life's twists and…
• Brown Dwarf Found Orbiting A Young Sun-Like Star
  Tempe AZ (SPX) Jul 30, 2010 Astronomers have imaged a very young brown dwarf, or failed star, in a tight orbit around a young nearby sun-like star. An international team led by University of Hawaii as…
• INRIX Expands The Largest Traffic Network In Europe
  Dusseldorf, Germany (SPX) Jul 30, 2010 INRIX has announced it has expanded its European real-time traffic coverage to 18 countries making it the largest traffic network in Europe. With the launch of r…
• 'Welfare robots' to ease burden in greying Japan
  Tokyo (AFP) July 29, 2010 Robotic wheelchairs, mechanical arms and humanoid waiters are among the cutting-edge inventions on show at a robotics fair in Japan, a country whose population is ageing rapi…
• Hypatia - 4th Century Woman Astronomer
  Washington DC (SPX) Jul 29, 2010 The new movie Agora chronicles the life, challenges and death of Hypatia, a 4th Century woman astronomer whose contribution influenced and shaped modern science and ou…
• Wyle Scientist To Study Stress In Haughton-Mars Project Spaceflight Analog
  El Segundo CA (SPX) Jul 30, 2010 A remote Canadian island is being used to simulate isolated space flight conditions for a NASA-funded medical research study that could produce important information t…
• ViewRanger GPS Outdoor Navigation Tool Now Available
  New York NY (SPX) Jul 30, 2010 Augmentra has announced that its award-winning ViewRanger GPS outdoors navigation system is now available as a Smartphone app for the Apple iPhone (3g, 3gs and 4), iPad,…
• Japan experts call for robot expedition to moon
  Tokyo, Japan (AFP) July 29, 2010 An expert panel advising the Japanese government called in a report approved on Thursday for the nation to send a wheeled robot to the moon in five years and to build…

• Planetary Society Urges Debate On NASA Authorization Bill
  Pasadena CA (SPX) Jul 30, 2010 The Planetary Society has issued a statement about the request that the U.S. House of Representatives suspend the rules when voting on the NASA Authorization bill: The U…
• Rocks On Mars May Provide Link To Evidence Of Living Organisms Roughly 4 Billion Years Ago
  London, UK (SPX) Jul 30, 2010 A new article in press of the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters unveils groundbreaking research on the hydrothermal formation of Clay-Carbonate rocks in the Nil…
• Broadway sings blues over synthesizer invasion
  New York (AFP) July 29, 2010 While audiences at Broadway's West Side Story thrill to the on-stage drama, musicians in the orchestra pit are fighting a battle every bit as vicious as the Sharks-Jets ri…
• Martian Dust Devil Whirls Into Opportunity's View
  Pasadena CA (JPL) Jul 30, 2010 In its six-and-a-half years on Mars, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity had never seen a dust devil before this month, despite some systematic searches in past ye…
• James Webb Space Telescope Completes Cryogenic Mirror Test
  Huntsville AL (SPX) Jul 29, 2010 Recently, six James Webb Space Telescope beryllium mirror segments completed a series of cryogenic tests at the X-ray and Cryogenic Facility at NASA's Marshall Space F…

[ more posts from spacedaily.com ]

spaceflightnow.com

• Delta's late night launch to loft new GPS satellite
  Another Global Positioning System satellite is about to launch into space, replacing a craft more than 15 years old. Liftoff from Cape Canaveral aboard a Delta 2 rocket is scheduled for early Saturday…
• First spacewalk of mission completed successfully
  Astronauts Richard Linnehan and Garrett Reisman completed a 7-hour, 1-minute spacewalk overnight that prepare the Japanese logistics module for attachment to the space station and began assembly of a…
• Atlas 5 rocket launches from California for first time
  America's Atlas 5 rocket made its much-anticipated maiden mission from the West Coast early Thursday morning, piercing ground-hugging clouds and fog that blanketed the launch pad to send a secretive s…
• First spacewalk of mission begins tonight
  Astronauts Richard Linnehan and Garrett Reisman will press ahead with a near full-duration spacewalk this evening to prepare a Japanese logistics module for attachment to the space station and to begi…
• Mission Status Center: Atlas 5 rocket launches from California
  The inaugural launch of an Atlas 5 rocket from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base occurred as scheduled this morning, thundering skyward at 3:02 a.m. local time (6:02 a.m. EDT) carrying a classifi…
• Robot pallet experiences power-up glitch on station
  A high-tech Canadian robot, launched disassembled on large pallet, was moved from the Endeavour to a work site on the station early today. An initial attempt to route power to the pallet was not succe…
• STS-123 Mission Status Center
  Complete minute-by-minute coverage of space shuttle Endeavour's final approach and docking with the International Space Station.
• Shuttle Endeavour on course for station docking tonight
  The Endeavour astronauts are closing in on the international space station today, on track for a docking around 11:25 p.m. EDT to kick off a five-spacewalk assembly mission.
• Crew completes evening of heat shield inspections
  The astronauts unlimbered the shuttle's robot arm and inspected the ship's nose cap and wing leading edge panels with a laser scanner on the end of a 50-foot-long boom. The areas of the orbiter that e…
• Endeavour launch gallery
  This collection of images shows space shuttle Endeavour's middle-of-the-night launch Tuesday. The ship soared from pad 39A and disappeared into a low deck of clouds over the launch site a half-minute…

• Jules Verne propulsion system glitch resolved
  Two days after an electronics box cut off a quarter of a European space station resupply ship's propulsion system, controllers successfully revived the suspect command chain and tested its ability to…
• Space shuttle Endeavour roars into the night
  The space shuttle Endeavour, carrying a crew of seven, a Japanese space station module and a high-tech Canadian robot with 11-foot-long arms, vaulted into orbit early today, lighting up the pre-dawn s…
• Cassini to dive into water plume of Saturn moon
  NASA's Cassini spacecraft will make an unprecedented in your face flyby of Saturn's moon Enceladus on Wednesday, skirting along the edges of huge Old-Faithful-like geysers erupting from giant fracture…
• Mission preview: Robot, module headed for station
  Space shuttle Endeavour's flight will be a marathon five-spacewalk mission to the fast-growing international space station, delivering a Japanese module and Canadian robot. Read our comprehensive prev…
• Engineers assess problem aboard Jules Verne craft
  An electronics box on Europe's first cargo ship shut down a propulsion system command chain responsible for a quarter of the space-age delivery truck's maneuvering thrusters, officials said Sunday.
• Europe's space cargo ship embarks on maiden voyage
  A first-of-a-kind robotic space transporter with a futuristic autopilot control system journeyed into orbit early Sunday, embarking on a mission to track down the international space station using the…

[ more posts from spaceflightnow.com ]

news.nationalgeographic.com

• How Prospects Cooled for U.S. Global Warming Bill
  Political stalemate means the world’s largest historic contributor to the greenhouse gas problem faces international talks—again--without a plan. United States - Greenhouse gas - Global warming -…
• "Spacequakes" Discovered in Earth's Upper Atmosphere
  The space weather phenomenon swirls auroras and can spawn magnetic twisters that can knock out power lines, a new study says. Earth - Atmosphere of Earth - Aurora - Solar System - Astronomy
• Photos: Algae Blankets China Beaches; Dead Zone Brewing?
  Mats of green algae have covered miles of coastline in China, creating foul odors and possibly choking life underneath the waves. Algae - China - Biology - Flora and Fauna - Bacteria
• Presented By:
  
• Pictures: Human-Sacrifice Chamber Discovered in Peru
  Built for the presentation, in which prisoners' cuts filled cups with blood, an ancient chamber has emerged in Peru with burials intact. Peru - South America - Human sacrifice - Blood - Recreation
• China Oil Spill Photos: Fire, Crude, and an Inky Cleanup
  Fire, crude, and an inky cleanup mark the great China oil spill of 2010—a drop in the barrel compared to the Gulf of Mexico spill. Oil spill - Gulf of Mexico - Environment - Energy - Business
• Pictures: Huge Jets Shoot From Dam During China Floods
  China's massive Three Gorges Dam is being pushed to its limits by heavy monsoon rains that have sent water gushing through spill gates. Three Gorges Dam - Flood - Dam - Water - China
• Jumbo Squid Flash, Flail in First Ever Squid-cam Video
  Filmed away from humans for the first time, jumbo squid light up during an expedition that also found them to have superstrong bites. Squid - Proxying and Filtering - Cooking - Home - Fish and Seafood
• Space Photos This Week: Mars Bull's Eye, Sooty Stars
  Radar of a rocky desert, a Martian bull's eye, and cool mirrors feature among the week's best space pictures. Mars - Space - Technology - Solar System - Astronomy
• Alligator "Feeding Frenzy" Video Shows Teamwork
  In a new viral video a fisher boats through hundreds of hyped-up alligators. Despite their snapping, the gators show true teamwork, experts say. Alligator - Business - Fish - Arts - Stephen C. Foster…

• Critical Alaska Habitat Spared From Oil and Natural Gas Development
  The Obama administration’s first lease sale in the 87-year-old petroleum reserve on the North Slope leaves sanctuary for caribou and geese. Petroleum - Business - Energy - Oil and Gas - Alaska North…
• Global Warming "Undeniable," U.S. Government Report Says
  The past decade was the hottest on record, a government report says—part of an unmistakable upward trend. Global warming - Climate change - Environment - Federal government of the United States - Op…
• Sniff-Controlled Keyboards, Wheelchairs Invented
  A new sniff-driven controller is helping paralyzed people get moving again—and allowed a locked in patient to write letters, a new study says. Weizmann Institute of Science - Disability - Soft palat…
• Pictures: New Flying-Car Design Revealed
  The first flying car with a shot at making it to market got a new look Monday, as seen in pictures of the craft as a car, a plane—and something in-between. Flying car - Recreation - Autos - Terrafug…
• PHOTOS: Plastic-Bottle Catamaran Crosses Pacific
  Sailing a plastic bottle ship across the Pacific spotlighted the serious problem of plastic trash at sea—and showed that solutions are possible by simply thinking smarter. Pacific Ocean - Plastic -…
• Dead Sea Scrolls Mystery Solved?
  Recent finds may help reveal who wrote the seminal scrolls. For starters, they may hail from the purported home of the Ark of the Covenant. Dead Sea - Ark of the Covenant - Dead Sea scrolls - Middle E…

[ more posts from news.nationalgeographic.com ]

nasa.gov

• First Map Of Global Forest Heights Created From NASA Data
  Scientists have produced a first-of-its kind map of the height of the world's forests by combining data from three NASA satellites. The map will help scientists build an inventory of how much carbon t…
• NASA To Fly Into Hurricane Research This Summer
  Three NASA aircraft will begin flights to study tropical cyclones on Aug. 15 during the agency's first major U.S.-based hurricane field campaign since 2001.
• NASA Awards Launch Services Contract For OCO-2 Mission
  NASA has selected Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., to launch the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) mission.
• NASA Demonstrates Tsunami Prediction System
  A NASA-led research team has successfully demonstrated for the first time elements of a prototype tsunami prediction system that quickly and accurately assesses large earthquakes and estimates the siz…
• NASA And DLR Sign Agreement To Continue GRACE Mission Through 2015
  NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver and German Aerospace Center (DLR) Executive Board Chairman Johann-Dietrich Wörner signed an agreement Thursday during a bilateral meeting in Berlin to extend the…
• NASA Icebreaker Voyage To Probe Climate Change Impact On Arctic
  NASA's first dedicated oceanographic field campaign goes to sea June 15 to take an up-close look at how changing conditions in the Arctic are affecting the ocean's chemistry and ecosystems that play a…
• NASA Briefs Media About First Arctic Oceanographic Voyage
  NASA Briefs Media About First Arctic Oceanographic Voyage
• NASA's Airborne Infrared Observatory Sees The "First Light"
  The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a joint program by NASA and the German Aerospace Center, achieved a major milestone May 26, with its first in-flight night observations.
• NASA Takes To The Air With New 'Earth Venture' Research Projects
  Hurricanes, air quality, and Arctic ecosystems are among the research areas to be investigated during the next five years by new NASA airborne science missions announced today.
• NASA Awards Global Precipitation Measurement Microwave Imager
  NASA has awarded a sole source contract to Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp. of Boulder, Colo., for the Global Precipitation Measurement Microwave Imager instrument Flight Unit 2.

earthobservatory.nasa.gov

• Global Hawk, NASA's New Remote-Controlled Plane
  The Global Hawk, NASA's new remote-controlled airplane, banks for a landing over Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards Air Force Base in California at the end of a test flight on October 23, 2009.
• Llullaillaco Volcano, Argentina-Chile Border
  This detailed astronaut photo shows the summit of South America’s Llullaillaco Volcano, the highest historically active volcano in the world.
• Wembo-Nyama Feature, DR Congo
  The dark green Unia River highlights the circular structure of the Wembo-Nyama feature—a possible impact crater in the Democratic Republic of Congo—in this natural-color image from April 1, 2000.
• Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull Volcano, Iceland
  Lava fountains erupt near Eyjafjallajökull Volcano, Iceland, on March 24, 2010.
• Flooding near the Betsiboka River, Madagascar
  Acquired March 23, 2010, this natural-color image shows an agricultural area immediately south of the Betsiboka River, roughly 40 kilometers from the coast. The beige-and-green area filling most of th…
• Temperature Anomalies, Winter 2009-2010
  Northern Hemisphere winter 2009–2010 temperatures were unusually cold across much of the United States, Canada, and Europe compared to previous winters this decade, while Greenland, North Africa, an…
• Flooding in North Dakota
  A pair of false-color and natural-color images acquired March 21, 2010, show flooding in agricultural areas north of Fargo, North Dakota.
• Spring Sandstorm Scours China
  Few landmarks or topographic features are recognizable beneath a sheet of dust that covered the North China Plain on March 20, 2010.
• Houston, Texas at Night
  Taken on February 28, 2010, this astronaut photograph shows Houston at night. Different land uses appear at varying levels of brightness, with bright lights in Houston proper, and no lights in undevel…
• Kelvin Wave Renews El Niño
  A trio of globes of sea surface height anomalies shows a deep pulse of warm water—a Kelvin wave—crossing the Pacific Ocean in February 2010. Kelvin waves strengthen and maintain El Niño episodes.

realclimate.org

• Happy 35th birthday, global warming!
  Global warming is turning 35! Not only has the current spate of global warming been going on for about 35 years now, but also the term “global warming” will have its 35th anniversary next week. On…
• An icy retreat
  Guest Commentary by Dirk Notz, MPI Hamburg It’s almost routine by now: Every summer, many of those interested in climate change check again and again the latest data on sea-ice evolution in the Arct…
• The Montford Delusion
  Guest commentary by Tamino If you don’t know much about climate science, or about the details of the controversy over the “hockey stick,” then A. W. Montford’s book The Hockey Stick Illusion:…
• A Eulogy to Stephen Schneider
  We were greatly saddened to learn that our revered colleague Stephen Schneider passed away this morning. We are posting a personal account by Ben Santer of Steve’s amazing accomplishments and contri…
• Revisiting the Younger Dryas
  Younger Dryas, North Atlantic circulation, MOC, abrupt climate change, last glacial maximum
• Information levels
  Rasmus’ recent post on the greenhouse effect raised some interesting points concerning the technical level at which posts or other public communications should be written. This was a relatively tech…
• The Muir Russell report
  Muir-Russell report, climategate, climate science emails and the exoneration of the Phil Jones and the other scientists at CRU.
• A simple recipe for GHE
  According to some recent reports (e.g. PlanetArk; The Guardian), the public concern about global warming may be declining. It’s not clear whether this is actually true: a poll conducted by researche…
• Penn State reports
  The last part of the Penn State inquiry has now reported unanimously that Mike Mann did not engage in any activity that violated scientific norms. Quoting from the report conclusions, Conclusion of th…
• The uncertainty prayer
  Seen at a meeting yesterday: Grant us… The ability to reduce the uncertainties we can; The willingness to work with the uncertainties we cannot; And the scientific knowledge to know the difference.…

climateaudit.org

• Mann versus the Provincial Parrots
  Roman M and TomRude have observed an interesting letter writing campaign in which Michael Mann contests adverse opinion in provincial newspapers, accusing the letter writers of being “parrots”. To…
• Make a stick, make a stick
  NASA blogger Gavin Schmidt as part of his ongoing attempt to rehabilitate Mannian paleoclimate reconstructions, characterized here as dendro-phrenology, has drawn attention to a graphic posted up at M…
• Kola versus Yamal
  A news release on a new tree ring study here (h/t Anthony Watts) reported a reconstruction maxing out in the mid-20th century, with the characteristic late 20th century divergence problem. Their resul…
• EPA Denies Reconsideration Petitions
  The EPA, as expected, has denied the various petitions for reconsideration of their Endangerment Finding. They refer to the various “inquiries” on some points. Interesting reading here http://epa.…
• Tamino’s Trick: Mann Bites Dog
  Self-described “Hansen bulldog” Tamino, writing at NASA’s realclimate blog hosted by Hansen’s other bulldog (Gavin), wrote: As another example, Montford makes the claim that if you eliminate j…
• Radio Discussion of Holland vs Met Office
  David Holland’s adventures with Met Office dishonesty is covered in a recent article in a law journal [link] and in a radio segment here *=(h/t Bishop Hill.) Untruthful answers by the UK Met Office…
• Re-post of “Tamino and the Magic Flute”
  Tamino’s realclimate post re-states points that I’ve discussed at length in the past. Here is a re-posting of a 2008 post on Tamino that deals with most of the issues in his realclimate post. Tami…
• The Team Defends Paleo-Phrenology
  Hansen’s twin pit bulls, Tamino and Gavin, have launched into a spirited defence of Mannian paleo-phrenology at realclimate here, with a counter-discussion at Bishop Hill here. In the Muir Russell r…
• More Data Obstruction: Muir-Wood
  One of the more controversial issues in WG2 arose out of Robert Muir-Wood’s calculations on climate-related damages – Pielke Jr taking issue http://rogerpielkejr.blogspot.com/2010/02/ipcc-mystery-…
• Data Stonewalling Resumes
  Ryan O asked serial Mann coauthor, Caspar Ammann, for supporting data for Ammann et al (PNAS 2007), which was referred to in CCSP (2009c) Past Climate Variability and Change in the Arctic and at High…

eyeondna.com

• Genetic Genealogy on Faces of America
  Quite a line-up of celebrities! Eva Longoria, Meryl Streep, Mario Batali, Stephen Colbert, Malcolm Gladwell, Yo-Yo Ma, Mike Nichols, Kristi Yamaguchi, Elizabeth Alexander, Queen Noor and Louise Erdric…
• DNA Network Tweet Cloud
  FYI. I tweet about genetics and related science topics under The DNA Network Twitter account @DNAnetwork. Are you on Twitter? by Tweet Cloud
• DNA{wesome}
  That’s right, baby! via Buzzfeed
• Genetics = Real Science
  Matchmaking services are adding DNA testing to their list of offers. The DNA test analyzes HLA genes of the immune system that influence a person’s body odor. The theory is that people are attracted…
• Larry David’s DNA Test
  Larry David found out last night on Lopez Tonight that he “fails as a European” being only 63% European according to a DNA ancestry test. David seemed genuinely surprised by the remaining 37% of h…
• Lopez Tonight First Late-Night Show to Offer DNA Testing
  Now we know that claim is misleading. Maury Povich and other talk shows have been offering DNA paternity testing for years but I guess those shows are on during the daytime. In any case, Larry David o…
• American Genes Don’t Exist
  Congratulations to Meb Keflezighi of Eritrean descent, who won the New York City Marathon last Sunday and was the first American to do so since 1982! Why did I mention that he was born in Eritrea? Bec…
• Knowledge about Genetic Risk is Power or is it Fear?
  A little over two years ago, I confessed that I was “just a little scared of genetic testing.” I have two young children and almost every day I see traits in them that I’m pretty sure they inher…
• Murderer Gets Reduced Sentence Because His Genes Made Him Do It
  Hey criminals! Here’s how you get out of taking full responsibility for your dastardly actions: Fake your DNA sample Blame it on your identical twin See if you have the genes that predispose you to…
• Video: Knome’s Ari Kiirikki Speaks with Medgadget
  via Medgadget

scienceblogs.com

• Banned from HuffPo: Yet another reason why a "science section" at HuffPo is a sick joke
  Two days ago, I posted my utter contempt for the idea of a science section in that cesspit of pseudsocience, New Age woo, and quackery, The Huffington Post. Part of the reason for my scoffing at the v…
• Your Friday Dose of Woo: Living water living free
  A couple of days ago, I expressed my amusement at an e-mail sent to me by someone named Carol. The amusement came primarily from the subject matter in the e-mail, which described something called a bi…
• Don't you know you want to...thank the monkey
  I've been a staunch defender of the ethical use of animals in research over the years. However, one area of animal research that I've always thought should be held to the highest standard is primate r…
• A science section for the Huffington Post? More like a pseudoscience section! (2010 edition)
  Funny how everything old is new again, isn't it? Yes, if there's one thing I've learned over nearly six years of blogging, it's that, sooner or later, everything is recycled, and I do mean everything.…
• Dr. Snyderman, please be more careful...
  Nancy Snyderman isn't helping. At least, she wasn't helping yesterday. Don't get me wrong. I like the fact that NBC's Chief Medical Editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman is a staunch defender of vaccination. She…
• File under, "Boy, do I think you've gotten the wrong person"
  One of the odd things about blogging is the e-mail. True, I don't get anything near the quantity, quality, or sheer weirdness of the e-mail that, for example, PZ Myers, gets, but I do get my share. So…
• A nonsensical attack on Stephen Barrett
  About three weeks ago, fresh after having experienced my own attack by anti-vaccine activists who tried to get me fired, I noticed that Doctors Data was doing what cranks and crank organizations can't…
• The Tribune notices that Haley's yanked OSR#1 from the market
  On Friday, I noted an e-mail circulating around the Internet in which disgraced University of Kentucky chemist and card-carrying general in the mercury militia, Boyd Haley, announced that he was suspe…
• Cancer Treatment Centers of America, naturopathy, and "naturopathic oncology"
  Note: Parts of this post have appeared elsewhere, but not in this form. If there's one aspect of so-called alternative medicine and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is that its practitione…
• The Charles Prize for Poetry
  Here's something for the more creative types out there at The Examining Room of Dr. Charles: The first annual Charles Prize for Poetry will be awarded to the writer who submits for consideration the m…

• "Keep 'em coming"?
  Longtime readers know that I'm a bit of a World War II buff. In fact, that's how I ended up developing such a profound interest in Holocaust denial, to the point where I used to write about it rather…
• Joe Mercola's shampoo woo
  Even after having been at this skeptical medical blogging game for nearly six years, every so often I still come across woo about which I had been previously unaware. It's hard to believe, but it's tr…
• Boyd Haley finally does the right thing, but is it for the wrong reasons?
  As you may have heard, the strike is over. That doesn't mean the crisis is over, nor does it necessarily mean that I will be staying with ScienceBlogs, but I view management's response as a positive m…
• Questions requested for an anti-vaxer
  While the drama continues and interesting developments occur, I've found that I actually don't mind taking a couple of days off. Don't worry. Blogging's a bug that's gotten into me and, like PZ, I'll…
• Another one gone...
  ...this time it's Abel Pharmboy, who's now here. Please reset your bookmarks. Farewell, friend. I'll still be reading. Read the comments on this post...

[ more posts from scienceblogs.com ]

popgen-ramblings.blogspot.com

• CNV and HIV susceptibility
  Copy number at CCL3L1 is one of the genetic predictors of HIV susceptibility in humans (Gonzalez et al), with individuals with copy number higher than the population median being less susceptible. A n…
• A gut feeling about history
  A interesting article in Science on using the (mainly vertically transmitted) human pathogen bacteria Helicobacter pylori to reconstruct the peopling of the Pacific. Which I guess is a finer-scale fol…
• Chakravarti on race and kinship
  There's an interesting opinion piece at Nature by Aravinda Chakravarti. The part on populations and race covers some pretty familiar ground, but the article is obviously aimed at a more general audien…
• R Rocks
  I use R pretty much constantly, so I was pleased to see it getting some attention in the NYT (see also Mailund, Hawks, and Dechronization). There is also a followup post by the article's author here.O…
• Natural variation in Nature
  Nature has a whole slew of reviews on the current progress and prospects of mapping the genetic determinants of phenotypic variation:Association mapping in humans (here)Mapping behavioral traits in mo…
• Using admixed populations to separate cis and trans effects
  A new article by Price et al. looks at the effects of cis and trans acting variation on gene expression. A number of studies have approached the genetics of gene expression in humans by doing GWA mapp…
• A NYT Q&A session with Amy Harmon
  Just a quick link to a NYT Q&A session with Amy Harmon, who got the Pulitzer for her DNA age series. Her recent article on challenges of teaching evolution in the States has generated a lot of the que…
• Counter-intuitive results using SNP chips
  Two recent papers use of high density SNP chips to show counter intuitively that you can locate the geographic origin of a person to within a few hundred miles using only genetic data (Novembre et al.…
• hot motif
  A paper just out in Nature Genetics (Myers et al) extends what we know about how local sequence determines recombination hotspot activity (hotspots are 1-2kb regions where recombination happens far mo…
• A couple of articles on forensic DNA matches
  A freakonomics blog piece on the FBI's DNA match probabilities (via Genome-technology). There is also some interesting correspondence (1,2,3) in Nature Reviews Genetics on the reliability and use of L…

• flipping inversion
  A new paper, just out in Nature Genetics, by Zody and Jiang et al. looks at the evolutionary history of the ~1Mb 17q inversion. This inversion was first described by Stefansson et al.. Stefansson et a…
• More on right-handed snakes
  I just spotted that the author of the right-handed snakes paper, I wrote about a while ago (see here), has videos on his website of the snakes and snails in action.
• fine-scale recombination and biased gene conversion
  Two new papers mapping fine-scale recombination rates:The first ( Mancera et al , see here for a commentary from Michael Lichten) maps recombination events in yeast tetrads using very high density gen…
• Lightweight males
  Males leave more than sperm when they copulate with a female, they also leave a bunch of seminal proteins that are involved in sperm competition and sexual conflict. The problem in studying this syste…
• Happy birthday to PLoS Genetics
  Happy birthday to PLoS Genetics. There's an article giving various facts and thanks here . PLoS Genetics has quickly become a great journal for evolutionary genetics and genetics in general. I think i…
• Why do range expansions run out of steam?
  I've not posted for a while as I've been away at conferences and I'm been trying to catch up with the work I've missed. I'll try to keep my posts more regular and I hope I've not dropped off people's…
• Would a gene by any other name smell as sweet?
  I was thinking about blogging about the paper on metal tolerance evolution in Arabidopsis halleri via a cis-regulatory change (Hanikenne et al), but I see that gnxp has already done so here. So I thou…
• Sines of expansion
  Cavalli-Sforza and colleagues used Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to summarize general spatial patterns of human allele frequencies across continents into maps. They interpreted peaks in these PCA…
• Mapingp cellular susceptibility to HIV
  A really neat paper (Loeuillet et al.) in PLoS Biology identifying a candidate SNP for cellular susceptibility to the HIV-1 virus. The paper adding to our growing knowledge of the genetics of HIV susc…
• Common variants, when do we stop looking?
  Just a few thoughts on genome-wide association studies, prompted by Genetic Future's recent posts on the low returns of some genome-scans (here and the here). Now meta-analysis of combined studies wil…
• "Exons, Schmexons"
  A summary by PZ Myers of Coyne and Wray's keynote speeches on evodevo. It sounds like it would have been fun to see, particularly the dueling t-shits (one is quoted in the title of this post). I think…
• Ancient mtDNA: clocking up the mutations
  A quick post about Hay et al, which I spotted thanks to Pondering Pikaia (Nature news also has a piece on it). I think that this paper is interesting but I think there are some issues in the interpret…
• The limits of unlinked SNPs for learning about demography
  The best way to learn about demography from population genetic data is to look at multiple unlinked regions (a common theme over at the evolgen blog). The distribution of frequencies in a populations…
• Mutating males
  A short but nice article by Doris Bachtrog, looking at whether there is a faster mutation rate in males compared to females in Drosophila. Studies of a number of vertebrates have shown a faster rate o…
• parasite induced mimicry in ants
  Just a quick note to point people towards a paper (Yanoviak et al) that gives an amazing example of a parasite inducing mimicry in their host. The nematode parasite is transmitted to ant larvae via bi…

[ more posts from popgen-ramblings.blogspot.com ]

gnxp.com

• Armenian genetics
  Armenian genes: Scientist in Yerevan launches a project to reveal genetic history of the nation. The description of the science in the piece is very garbled. But, it would be nice to elucidate the gen…
• 10 questions for Peter Turchin
  Peter Turchin has appointments in ecology & evolution and mathematics at the University of Connecticut. He is the author of five books, three of which, Historical Dynamics, Secular Cycles and War and…
• Small genetic effects do not preclude drug development
  Daniel MacArthur points me to a Newsweek article on the bankruptcy of Decode Genetics. The author describes (one of) Decode's problems like this:The genetics of illness turned out to be more complex t…
• Homo erectus and EDAR?
  In Why Evolution is True, Jerry Coyne has the following parenthetical aside about population variation in morphology in H. erectus:(H. erectus from China...had shovel-shaped incisor teeth not found in…
• Low IQ correlated with cardiovascular disease?
  Second Only to Cigarette Smoking in Large Population Study:While lower intelligence scores -- as reflected by low results on written or oral tests of IQ -- have been associated with a raised risk of c…
• Jersey Shore nickname
  What's your Jersey Shore nickname? I like The Prediction for myself.
• Books & guidance
  Read More Books!:If you really want to understand any issue more complex than Brad and Angelina's marital status, there's really no substitute for a book. Not instead of blogs and newspapers and Twitt…
• Gene Expression Survey
  That time of the year. Please take the Gene Expression Survey. I'll put up the analysis and the csv file next week. I have the usual questions, but also added a few more that might seem a bit weird. T…
• Delayed childbearing & autism
  Independent and dependent contributions of advanced maternal and paternal ages to autism risk: Reports on autism and parental age have yielded conflicting results on whether mothers, fathers, or both,…
• Beautiful butterflies & localized adaptation
  Two new papers are out in PLoS Genetics which make inferences about adaptation using butterfly species which exhibit Mullerian mimicry. I'll give the author summaries instead of the abstracts.Genomic…

• Eliezer Yudkowsky & Razib Khan on bloggingheads.tv
  
• Hayek vs. Keynes
  You've probably watched the Hayek vs. Keynes rap by now:Am the only one who was a little weirded out by the incongruity of John Maynard Keynes kickin' it with the honeys in the back of the limo? It is…
• Language goes extinct, human race to follow....
  Last speaker of ancient language of Bo dies in India:Professor Anvita Abbi said that the death of Boa Sr was highly significant because one of the world's oldest languages - Bo - had come to an end...…
• Ibn Khaldun In Our Time
  Ibn Khaldun on In Our Time. Excellent program. Khaldun's assessment that the Mamluks of Egypt had developed a system of rule which was robust against the decay of asabiyyah was born out by 450 years o…
• "Synthetic associations" and sickle cell anemia
  Last week, I made a silly error in describing a problem in the sickle cell anemia example given by Dickson et al. (2010) as an empirical example of the phenomenon they call synthetic association. So a…
• Half Sigma's flawed post on DTNBP1
  A while back, Mark and I were working on a comprehensive post which would try to tally the results of the various IQ-gene studies to see what they said about racial differences. We began this quest br…
• Jersey Shore coming back
  They've been signed for $10,000 per episode the next go around. Years ago Joel floated the idea of using Reality TV to test theories in social science. Paying the cast of Jersey Shore this much is goi…
• Proud to be red
  A friend pointed me to this YouTube clip of a young red-haired man objecting to the term ginger, and the opprobrium he's been subjected to since the South Park episode Ginger Kids popularized ideas su…
• Darwin wuz wrong, part n
  A review of a new book, What Darwin Got Wrong. Co-authored by Jerry Fodor, who has been continuing his war against natural selection. I've already read Darwinian Fairytales: Selfish Genes, Errors of H…
• Peer groups & bourgeois virtues
  Self-Control and Peer Groups:However, according to a new study by Michelle vanDellen, a psychologist at the University of Georgia, self-control contains a large social component; the ability to resist…
• Race: A Social Destruction of a Biological Concept
  What is the single best reference for refuting the notion that race is only a social construct for a non-scientist? I don't know. (Suggestions welcome in the comments.) But Neven Sesardic (previously…
• Maps of white teen birthrate and abortion rates by state
  A supplement to the previous two posts. Below are maps which are shaded proportionally. Note how New York seems to be the abortion capital of the USA. Total surprise to me. Remember that these data ar…
• Red State, Blue State, Teen Birthrate, Teen Abortion rate
  A reader pointed to this post in Free Exchange:Here are the 15 states with the biggest percentage drop from 1988-2005 in the ratio of teen abortions—the percentage of teen pregnancies that ended in…
• Teen birthrates and abortion rates
  The New York Times has a new article, After Long Decline, Teenage Pregnancy Rate Rises. The graphic is OK, but it focuses on aggregate teen pregnancy rates (age group 15-19) instead of splitting it ou…
• A bold prediction: "synthetic associations" are not a panacea
  There's a bit of press surrounding the interesting result from David Goldstein's group that, in certain situations, a number of rare (defined as an allele frequency less than 5% [1]) variants influenc…

[ more posts from gnxp.com ]

johnhawks.net

• Quote: Huxley on traditions
  Thomas Henry Huxley, the first line in On the Natural History of Man-Like Apes: Ancient traditions, when tested by the severe processes of modern investigation, commonly enough fade away into mere dre…
• Photo: Les Eyzies skyline
  The statue above the Musée national de Préhistoire, in Les Eyzies-de-Tayac, France.
• Ngandong interview
  Nature News has run a nice interview with Russell Ciochon about the new excavations at Ngandong, Java. We've been excavating for 24 days without a break. The days blur together and we often lose track…
• Quote: SpongeBob on extra credit
  MRS. PUFF: Congratulations, SpongeBob, you pass! SPONGEBOB: But Mrs. Puff, I don't feel like I've really done anything. MRS. PUFF: That's how extra credit is supposed to feel!
• Questioning the "evolution of an underclass"
  A little life history theory can be a dangerous thing. Case in point: Die young, live fast: The evolution of an underclass. The article discusses correlations among longevity, health, income, and age…
• Rear mortality
  The headline is Get Out Of Your Seat Or Die, which points to a rather less dramatic EurekAlert story, Study links more time spent sitting to higher risk of death. They found that more leisure time spe…
• Malaria book
  A new book by Sonia Shah covers the history of malaria and the way it affects people today around the world: The Fever: How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years. I haven't got a copy yet, so…
• Mad Men language
  Linguist Ben Zimmer writes about 'Mad Men'-ese-- the challenge of writing for a TV show set in the 1960's without introducing anachronistic idioms. Or is that idiomatic anachronisms?
• Adopt a Neandertal
  Kyle Munkittrick of the Science Not Fiction blog argues, Yes, we should clone Neanderthals. A full response to this clearly deserves more thought than I can give right now. I'm going to keep pointing…
• Mmmm...geese....
  New York is considering a plan to eliminate 170,000 wild Canada geese: He said that politicians peppered officials from the Department of Agriculture with questions about the science and asked how man…

scienceblogs.com

• Links 7/31/10
  It's nice outside, but if you're stuck inside, here are some links for you. Science: 'Friendly bacteria' in pregnancy may prevent eczema in childhood Drug discovery in academia and NIH, a new type of…
• On Heffernan: For Me, ScienceBlogs Isn't Supposed to Be a Newspaper's Science Section
  I had been considering, over the weekend to write a navel gazing post about The State of ScienceBlogs and Its Relationship to the Mad Biologist. And then Virginia Heffernan of the NY Times wrote a quo…
• Why We Need to Vaccinate Germ Dispersal UnitsChildren: The Whooping Cough Edition
  Maryn McKenna makes a critical, yet neglected point about the recent whooping cough (pertussis) outbreaks that have been hitting California--one that emphasizes that vaccination not only protects the…
• "There. Are. Four. Lights": How Torture Became Mainstream
  In his weekend roundup, driftglass reminds us that there was a time when our mainstream pop culture villified torture and praised those who attempted to resist it: And then Fox TV's Torture Porn Show,…
• Links 7/29/10
  Some Thursday links for you. Science: The familiar Matamata, known to us all since the 1700s, and its long, fat neck (matamatas part II) Sunday Protist - Farming forams: a case of protistan agricultur…
• Doubts About the STAR Study: How Much Is Kindergarten Really Explaining?
  Since I've been writing a lot about education, I have some brief thoughts about the NY Times report by David Leonhardt about some findings from Tennessee's Project STAR which tracked the long-term out…
• Poverty and Science Education in Massachusetts
  Yesterday, I described the relationship between low-income and poor performance in English and math in Massachusetts (see the post for methodological details). Well, I've saved the worst for last--sci…
• Links 7/28/10
  Some Wednesday links for you. Science: It's more than genes, it's networks and systems Unsafe at Any Meal It's My Genome and I'll Do What I Wanna Other: License plate of the week The 5 Signs You're Ta…
• One More Reason Why One Should Wary of Stocks
  Or, for that matter, jumping into the water with financial sharks under any circumstances. The NY Times has an article about the ongoing legal trials of David H. Brooks, the chief executive and chairm…
• Poverty and Learning in Massachusetts
  I've described before how there is a significant correlation between poverty and educational performance when we use state-level data. But as I pointed out, one of the interesting things is that the r…

• Links 7/27/10
  It's hot. Damn hot. Hopefully not too hot for some links. Science: Evil weed in Baltic Sea puts marine life at risk Lost in Translation: New cognitive research suggests that language profoundly influe…
• Maybe the Sherrod Non-Scandal Will Help Put the Global Warming 'Controversy' in Context?
  Well, we can always hope. In a recent column about global warming, Paul Krugman makes this ancillary point (italics mine): Nor is this evidence tainted by scientific misbehavior. You've probably heard…
• Genetic Testing, Antibiotic Resistance, and CLSI
  So, in some quarters, there's been wailing and gnashing of teeth over the Congressional hearings about the direct-to-customer ('DTC') genetic testing industry. I've discussed why I don't think regulat…
• Links 7/26/10
  Just another manic Monday. How's about some links? Science: Can chance make you a killer? Hearing loss from iPods and other MP3 players Researchers confirm subsea Gulf oil plumes are from BP well Hero…
• "Fleeting -- Even Taunting -- Reminders..."
  The NY Times has an article about the recent revelation of a six-year archive of classified military documents (released by WikiLeaks). In it, we find this lil' tidbit: There are fleeting -- even taun…

[ more posts from scienceblogs.com ]

blisstree.com

• Weekend Catch-Up: Top 10 Blisstree Posts of Last Week
  Need better sleep, eco-friendly lunch supplies, or a fantastic popsicle recipe? We thought so. They’re all in our 10 best posts on Blisstree last week, which we present here just for you: 1. Dream C…
• Even Cooler 3-D Chalk Art: Video of the Day
  Did you like the chalk art from this morning? Well, we thought you might like to see how it’s actually made. And we also thought you might want to reconnect with your inner five-year-old and orchest…
• Cool 3-D Chalk Art: Photo of the Day
  Check out this amazing 3-D chalk art. It’s so realistic looking that it’s hard to believe that the picture is flat. Even so, we’re still tempted to check our email. Photo via Flickr user swruler…
• Danny Kaye on Art and Life
  Life is a blank canvas, and you need to throw all the paint on it you can. – Danny Kaye Post from: BlissTree Danny Kaye on Art and Life ... MorePost from: BlissTree Danny Kaye on Art and Life
• Bring Us a Dancing Swedish Policeman: Videos That Crack Us Up
  If we weren’t already enamored enough with Sweden for giving us Alexander Skarsgard and the Treehotel, this video surfaced and sealed the deal. We’d like to leave for Stockholm tonight. Where are…
• "Mad Men's" Christina Hendricks Renders Male News Anchor Speechless
  We like Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks and her healthy curves as much as the next guy. Well, okay — maybe not as much as this guy: via Vulture Post from: BlissTree Mad Men's Christina Hendricks Ren…
• Vegan Diet: Not Necessarily Healthy
  Consider the vegan diet: Vegetables. Fruits. Whole grains. Sounds super healthy. But not eating animal products doesn’t necessarily mean eating nutritiously. The Los Angeles Times profiled a vegan w…
• 10 Things We Want to Do This Weekend
  We’ve been waiting all week for these upcoming two glorious days of fun and laziness — and they’re almost here. We want to get all this stuff done this weekend, but we’ve got to be honest: We…
• What's Up With Demi and All the Cleansing?
  People! Drop what you’re doing. Demi Moore. Is. Doing. Another. Cleanse. Apparently she only lasted four days on the Master Cleanse (she’s only human, after all), but she’s on day 13 of the Clea…
• 
  Remember those high school sign-up sheets for after-school activities? Well, here’s something you can sign up for that won’t cause you any angst or embarrassment, we promise. Our new (and free) We…

scienceandreason.blogspot.com

• A New Look into the Whirlpool
  A New Look into the WhirlpoolGalaxy M51 was discovered by Charles Messier in 1773, but its outstanding spiral structure was first perceived by William Parsons (Earl of Rosse) in 1845, using his huge r…
• Selected readings 7/25/10
  Interesting reading and news items.Please leave some comments that indicate which articles you find most interesting or that identify topics you would like to read about, and I will try to include mor…
• Quasars in the very early universe
  Quasars are powered by the gravitational (potential) energy of their central supermassive black holes. However, their distinctive features – their extremely high luminosity in particular – are ver…
• Selected readings 7/13/10
  Interesting reading and news items.Please leave some comments that indicate which articles you find most interesting or that identify topics you would like to read about, and I will try to include mor…
• Starburst Cluster Shows Celestial Fireworks
  Starburst Cluster Shows Celestial Fireworks (7/6/10)Like a July 4 fireworks display, a young, glittering collection of stars looks like an aerial burst. The cluster is surrounded by clouds of interste…
• Starburst Galaxy NGC 1313
  Starburst Galaxy NGC 1313 (5/24/10)The starburst galaxy NGC 1313 is a stellar incubator delivering stars on a scale rarely seen in a single galaxy of its size. Now a striking new Gemini Observatory im…
• Clear New View of a Classic Spiral
  Clear New View of a Classic Spiral (5/19/10)The galaxy Messier 83 is located about 15 million light-years away in the constellation of Hydra (the Sea Serpent). It spans over 40 000 light-years, only 4…
• Hubble captures bubbles and baby stars
  Hubble captures bubbles and baby stars (6/22/10)The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captures a complex network of gas clouds and star clusters within our neighbouring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Clou…
• Creativity and mental illness
  The association between creativity and mental illness is sort of a cliché – but that doesn't mean there's nothing to it. Standard examples given include Vincent van Gogh, Robert Lowell, and John Na…
• Selected readings 6/13/10
  Interesting reading and news items.Please leave some comments that indicate which articles you find most interesting or that identify topics you would like to read about, and I will try to include mor…

• Selected readings 6/6/10
  Interesting reading and news items.Please leave some comments that indicate which articles you find most interesting or that identify topics you would like to read about, and I will try to include mor…
• Selected readings 5/31/10
  Interesting reading and news items.Please leave some comments that indicate which articles you find most interesting or that identify topics you would like to read about, and I will try to include mor…
• The Glow of the Lagoon Nebula
  The Glow of the Lagoon NebulaGas and dust condense, beginning the process of creating new stars in this image of Messier 8, also known as the Lagoon Nebula. Located four to five thousand light-years a…
• Soul Nebula
  Soul Nebula (4/2/10)This WISE mosaic is of the Soul Nebula (a.k.a. the Embryo Nebula, IC 1848, or W5). It is an open cluster of stars surrounded by a cloud of dust and gas over 150 light-years across…
• Where the action is in black hole jets
  The object known simply as 3C 279 is rather distinctive for several reasons, in spite of the rather unassuming name. For one thing it's an active galaxy – that is, it has a supermassive black hole a…
• Selected readings 5/8/10
  Interesting reading and news items.These items are also bookmarked at my Diigo account.The Search for Genes Leads to Unexpected PlacesDr. Marcotte and his colleagues have discovered hundreds of other…
• VISTA’s infrared view of the Cat’s Paw Nebula
  VISTA’s infrared view of the Cat’s Paw NebulaThe Cat’s Paw Nebula, NGC 6334, is a huge stellar nursery, the birthplace of hundreds of massive stars. In a magnificent new ESO image taken with the…
• Selected readings 4/28/10
  Interesting reading and news items.These items are also bookmarked at my Diigo account.Cross-discipline Effort Tracks Evolution of Human Uniqueness and Modern BehaviorA panel of scientists challenges…
• Active galaxies and supermassive black hole jets
  Most galaxies have a supermassive black hole in their center – sometimes even more than one. These black holes can have masses up to ten billion solar masses (1010 M⊙) or more. One of the largest…
• Orion's Dreamy Stars
  Orion's Dreamy Stars (4/1/10)A colony of hot, young stars is stirring up the cosmic scene in this new picture from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The image shows the Orion nebula, a happening place w…
• Winds of Change: How Black Holes May Shape Galaxies
  Winds of Change: How Black Holes May Shape Galaxies (3/3/10)This is a composite image of NGC 1068, one of the nearest and brightest galaxies containing a rapidly growing supermassive black hole. X-ray…
• Hubble snaps heavyweight of the Leo Triplet
  Hubble snaps heavyweight of the Leo Triplet (4/8/10)Hubble has snapped a spectacular view of the largest player in the Leo Triplet, a galaxy with an unusual anatomy: it displays asymmetric spiral arms…
• Selected readings 4/3/10
  Interesting reading and news items.These items are also bookmarked at my Diigo account.Out There: A Strange Zoo of Other Worlds More than 400 worlds have been found beyond the reach of our sun, and th…
• Selected readings 3/23/10
  Interesting reading and news items.These items are also bookmarked at my Diigo account.Google’s Computing Power Refines Translation ToolGoogle’s efforts to expand beyond searching the Web have met…
• Orion in a New Light
  Orion in a New Light (2/10/10)The Orion Nebula is a vast stellar nursery lying about 1350 light-years from Earth. Although the nebula is spectacular when seen through an ordinary telescope, what can b…

[ more posts from scienceandreason.blogspot.com ]

scienceblog.com

• Review of Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error by Kathryn Schulz
  I realize that I promised to post the full review of this book after it appeared in print. Apologies for a slight delay. Review of Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error by Kathryn...
• Reading terrorists minds about imminent attack
  EVANSTON, Ill. — Imagine technology that allows you to get inside the mind of a terrorist to know how, when and where the next attack will occur. That’s not nearly as far-fetched as it...
• Reality TV, cosmetic surgey linked, says Rutgers-Camden researcher
  CAMDEN — Teenage years have long been linked with a heightened concern with appearance. Some reality TV shows take full advantage and tout happiness as just a nip/tuck away. A Rutgers —...
• Some like it hot: How to heat a ‘nano bathtub’ the JILA way
  Researchers at JILA have demonstrated the use of infrared laser light to quickly and precisely heat the water in “nano bathtubs” — tiny sample containers — for microscopy...
• Breaking the language barrier: NIST tests language translation devices for US troops
  At dusk, a car stops at a checkpoint in Afghanistan. It is a tense moment for all. Because an interpreter is not available, U.S. Marines use hand gestures to ask the driver to step out of the car and.…
• Nano ‘pin art’: NIST arrays are step toward mass production of nanowires
  NIST researchers grow nanowires made of semiconductors — gallium nitride alloys — by depositing atoms layer-by-layer on a silicon crystal under high vacuum. NIST has the unusual...
• Body of evidence: New fast, reliable method to detect gravesoil
  Nothing against bloodhounds, but finding bodies buried by someone who wanted them to stay undiscovered can be difficult. However a new technique developed by scientists at the National Institute of...…
• Oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy may protect women against brain aneurysms
  (CHICAGO) — Results from a new study suggest that oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may yield additional benefit of protecting against the formation and rupture of...
• Cosmic Dust and the 2010 Lindau Nobel Meeting on Elementary Particles in Cosmology
  Background The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is of interest to astronomers because elementary particles are thought related to Big Bang cosmology through dark matter and energy in an expanding...
• Pilot study supports adolescent diabetes patients through personalized text messages
  Jennifer Dyer, MD, MPH, an endocrinologist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, has developed and completed a pilot study that uses weekly, customized text messages to remind adolescent diabetes...

scienceblogs.com

• Why We Need to Vaccinate Germ Dispersal UnitsChildren: The Whooping Cough Edition [Mike the Mad Biologist]
  Maryn McKenna makes a critical, yet neglected point about the recent whooping cough (pertussis) outbreaks that have been hitting California--one that emphasizes that vaccination not only protects the…
• Banned from HuffPo: Yet another reason why a "science section" at HuffPo is a sick joke [Respectful Insolence]
  Two days ago, I posted my utter contempt for the idea of a science section in that cesspit of pseudsocience, New Age woo, and quackery, The Huffington Post. Part of the reason for my scoffing at the v…
• Does drinking beer increase your attractiveness .... to mosquitoes? [Greg Laden's Blog]
  The anopheles mosquito, Anopheles gambiae, is the primary vector for human malaria. Mosquitoes in general, the A. gambiae included, find their prey by tracking body odor exuded from the breath and ski…
• Your Friday Dose of Woo: Living water living free [Respectful Insolence]
  A couple of days ago, I expressed my amusement at an e-mail sent to me by someone named Carol. The amusement came primarily from the subject matter in the e-mail, which described something called a bi…
• Personal genomics links [Genetic Future]
  This week was pretty hectic, so there were plenty of useful or interesting links from the personal genomics world that I didn't have time to write about in detail. Feel free to share your own suggesti…
• Should Doctors Have to Take Physics and Chemistry? [Uncertain Principles]
  The New York Times today has a story with the provocative title Getting Into Med School Without Hard Sciences, about a program at Mount Sinai that allows students to go to med school without taking th…
• Who knew the circulatory system could be cute? [The World's Fair]
  Great illustration for children, even though it may not be anatomically correct. By Peter Slight - Larger version can be found here. Seeing piece like this makes me think a wonderful art project would…
• Don't you know you want to...thank the monkey [Respectful Insolence]
  I've been a staunch defender of the ethical use of animals in research over the years. However, one area of animal research that I've always thought should be held to the highest standard is primate r…
• What Inspires Isis? [On Becoming a Domestic and Laboratory Goddess]
  I had an interesting comment appear in something I wrote earlier. This particular comment suggests that the blog traffic of yours truly has gone down, I am less popular, and my commenters and I are fa…
• Diane Lillicrap on Crane Safety [The Pump Handle]
  If you've got four minutes, go watch OSHA's video of Diane Lillicrap speaking on crane safety. Diane's son Steven Lillicrap, 21, was killed by a crane at a Missouri construction site in 2009. I wrote…

• Protecting consumers from their own genetic data will come at a cost [Genetic Future]
  (This is an edited excerpt from an op-ed piece I just wrote for Xconomy, posted here as I think it provides some nuance on my views on regulation of genetic testing that was lacking from my post last…
• A science section for the Huffington Post? More like a pseudoscience section! (2010 edition) [Respectful Insolence]
  Funny how everything old is new again, isn't it? Yes, if there's one thing I've learned over nearly six years of blogging, it's that, sooner or later, everything is recycled, and I do mean everything.…
• Dr. Snyderman, please be more careful... [Respectful Insolence]
  Nancy Snyderman isn't helping. At least, she wasn't helping yesterday. Don't get me wrong. I like the fact that NBC's Chief Medical Editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman is a staunch defender of vaccination. She…
• How Physiology was Cooler 40 Years Ago [On Becoming a Domestic and Laboratory Goddess]
  A friend of mine sent me the following video today. It is footage of renowned physiologist John Severinghaus talking about the White Mountain Research Station. As a bit of background, John Severinghau…
• The bio-future of joint replacement [Greg Laden's Blog]
  Arthritis and injury grind down millions of joints, but few get the best remedy -- real biological tissue. Kevin Stone shows a treatment that could sidestep the high costs and donor shortfall of human…
• Whooping cough, in case you were not aware... [Greg Laden's Blog]
  Whooping cough appears to be back, with a vengeance. It is now an epidemic in California. You need to know that it is serious business. Read the comments on this post...
• OSHA Publishes Long-Awaited Crane Rule [The Pump Handle]
  Earlier today, OSHA published its long-awaited final rule on cranes and derricks in construction. We've been following this rule's slow progress for two years now, since a March 2008 crane collapse at…
• Dengue in Florida [Aetiology]
  At his new digs, PalMD discusses recent news revealing the presence of dengue virus in the Florida Keys--the first appearance in the state in almost 75 years. Dengue is a mosquito-borne virus that can…
• Green our vaccines! Part II [erv]
  While poop jokes are all in good fun here in the US (and in other developed parts of the world), diarrhea really isnt all that funny for most of the planet. Dehydration due to diarrhea is the second l…
• File under, "Boy, do I think you've gotten the wrong person" [Respectful Insolence]
  One of the odd things about blogging is the e-mail. True, I don't get anything near the quantity, quality, or sheer weirdness of the e-mail that, for example, PZ Myers, gets, but I do get my share. So…

[ more posts from scienceblogs.com ]

ads.scienceheadlinenews.com

cultureofchemistry.blogspot.com

• Better Labs and Gardens: Culinary uses for a rotovap
  What kind of lab is this? An anonymous commenter came close with Biochem/Natural products isolation? It's a kitchen. The clue is on the cabinet where it says 3 TBS Sugar. Read here how chef Dave Arnol…
• A Night in the Museum
  When I was in elementary school we lived in a small town outside of Chicago. The local rec department had a terrific summer program, drop-in arts & crafts, boating lessons and field trips galore. My f…
• Better Labs and Gardens: A challenge
  I've been doing some research for home renovation projects this summer (new cabinets for the kitchen) and came across this quiz to determine your decorating style. (For the record, I don't have one!)…
• Fiat Lux 1: On Fire for Quantum Mechanics
  My sailboat's name is the Fiat Lux — let there be light in Latin — drawing from both my theological and scientific personae. I sail a Laser, an Olympic class racing dingy, which is an apt boat for…
• Warning, Dr. Smith! Warning!
  An SF fan from the moment I discovered Heinlein's Have Spacesuit -Will Travel in the minuscule public library in the small (population 2500) Midwest town I grew up in, it's probably not a surprise tha…
• Climate Change Skeptics
  Paul Krugman has a piece on climate change on his blog at the NY Times. One commenter responds:One thing they are gong [sic] to do is point out that if the ppm increase in atmospheric CO2 is solely du…
• Chemical Urban Legends: pH
  What does the p in pH stand for?The term pH has been in use for more than a century. It is a logarithmic measure of the hydrogen ion concentration ([H+]): pH = -log10[H+]. (Technically, there aren't b…
• Open Laboratory 2009
  Open Laboratory 2009 - a juried anthology of the best of the science blogosphere from last year has appeared. Edited by scicurious, it's available here. I have a piece in it - a cleaner version of thi…
• Nobel Conversations
  I vividly remember the first time I met a Nobel Prize winner. I was a graduate student in my 3rd year, and Roald Hoffman had recently won the Prize in chemistry (1981). A group of us went up with our…
• Are scientists palatable?
  In the early part of the 19th century, the word scientist had yet to be coined. As the scope of materials and phenomena that natural philosophers and historians dealt with increased, there was a growi…

• Science blogging at its best: Open Laboratory 2009
  In 2006, Bora Zivkovic brought us the first edition of Open Laboratory, a print collection of the best science blogging of the year. Now in its 4th year, the 2009 edition, guest edited by scicurious a…
• Chemistry on Holiday: Science Cookies
  'tis the season for baking on the home front. It's been mostly biologically based leavening (yeast) at my house, but some strictly chemical rising has been going on as well. For an interesting mix of…
• Unfortunate Acronyms: PUS
  When I was lecturing on lasers this week, I was surprised to discover how many of my students were unaware that laser was an acronym (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation). Science…
• Sex and the scientist
  (Cross posted at my other blog.)I am in the midst of writing an essay for Nature Chemistry - about why people are so curious about stereotypes of scientists, but seem less so about other fields. There…
• Feeling quizical?
  Pew tracks American's familiarity with the news of the day - my kids took the latest quiz (and each scored in the top quartile for adults and so were quite pleased with themselves). I played with some…
• Nobel quote
  After I won a Nobel Prize I suddenly turned into an omniscient sage, whereas formerly I was simply a workaholic.Richard Ernst, Chemistry 1991(H/T to Nature Chemistry's October editorial)Photo of Dirac…
• Quantum Mechanics on the Silver Screen: Science of Watchmen
  I drive my kids crazy when I critique dramas based on their science content. Listen to the science consultant for Watchmen (Physicist James Kakalio of University of Minnesota) talk about the quantum m…
• The pressure to preserve
  Stephen Davey, associate editor for Nature Chemistry, blogged at the Sceptical Chymist about visiting the National Archives and seeing the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of…
• Word Wraps: From the ACS meeting
  I am at the ACS meeting in Washington DC, here as press rather than chemist. It's a very different way to see the meeting. I went to a press briefing this morning - on the first phases of development…
• Chocolate Math Mystery
  My youngest and I are heading into Philadelphia tonight for a chocolate dessert feast, so it seems apt that a friend sent me this bit of mathematical magic this morning - with a plea to explain how it…
• Weird Words of Science: Azote
  I was playing Scrabble online the other day and when a z materialized on my rack near the end of the game was desperate enough to try azo. Good news, what I thought was chemist's shorthand, the dictio…
• Releasing the Tension
  My youngest son, Barnacle Boy, swims like a fish. When he was small, he could stay under water just a second longer than I though he should be able to -- I'd be ready to reach under and haul him to th…
• Sweet leads
  Sugar of Lead Poison BottleOriginally uploaded by john4kcHorror of horrors - the Romans used lead to sweeten their fruit. No wonder Rome fell! Except that I was willing to read a 1883 paper (in German…
• Sweet Stones
  I was wandering the Cape Anne historical museum this winter and noticed in a 19th century ship's medical kit a vial labeled sugar of lead. This is lead acetate, which tastes sweet -- and is reputed to…
• Anti-Archimedes
  The recipe for pulled pork called for 1/2 cup of brown sugar to be dissolved into 1 1/2 cups of apple cider vinegar. What I had in the cabinet was solid as a rock - there was no way I was packing this…

[ more posts from cultureofchemistry.blogspot.com ]

backreaction.blogspot.com

• Note from Away
  [Perimeter Institute has a monthly newsletter (not online). It regularly features pieces from PI alumni, called “Note from Away.” During my last visit at PI, I was asked to write one. Originally m…
• Detection of Dark Energy on Earth? - Improbable
  I recently came across this paperExploring the possibility of detecting dark energy in a terrestrial experiment using atom interferometryBy Martin L. Perl and Holger MuellerarXiv:1001.4061v1 [physics.…
• Physics or Philosophy?
  In a recent comment Charles has drawn my attention to an interview with Sheldon Glashow, a Viewpoint on String Theory. I'm not sure when this interview was conducted, I think it was 2003. In any case…
• Recent Distractions
  Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Part Six of ThreeAnd Another ThingBy Eoin ColferThis book will probably be totally incomprehensible if you haven't read the other parts of the tril…
• Non-Gaussianities in the CMB
  Non-Gaussianities in the temperature fluctuations of the Cosmic Microwave Background sounds like a perfect conversation topic to put your date to sleep, but if you have an interest in Cosmology or Qua…
• ESQG 2010 Conference Photo
  We just wrapped up our workshop on Experimental Search for Quantum Gravity. It was a tremendously interesting meeting, and well worth the effort of the organization. Though plagued by several problems…
• ESQG 2010 - Finally here!
  After almost a year of preparation, today is first day of our workshop on Experimental Search for Quantum Gravity that I've been organizing together with Lee Smolin and Greg Landsberg. I'm looking for…
• This and That
  You might have heard that according to the result of a new measurement the proton is some percent smaller than previously thought. Chad Orzel has an excellent post explaining what this means and doesn…
• In Praise of Black Holes
  First time I came to work on black holes was a funny story. I went to one of the senior profs at the institute asking for a topic for my master's thesis. The focus area of the institute was heavy ion…
• Blogger Bug
  Hi All,There's something seriously wrong with Blogger's comment feature. The problem is not restricted to this blog and has already been reported by many others on the help pages. As you will notice,…

• Magic
  When I was a teenager, in the library I once came across a book on curses, spells and magical potions. Since I was just in a phase of reading fantasy literature, I could not resist having a look. It w…
• Vuvuzela!
  I've won a vuvuzela! During the Soccer World Cup, our local grocery chain is running a lottery where one gets scratchcards for shopping. On one of the cards, I've scratched off exactly four vuvuzela i…
• Déjà vu
  Last week, on the workshop in Bonn, I was in for a nasty surprise. Sitting there, listening to one talk after the other about black holes, I saw pictures reappear that I had made. Four different pictu…
• The left-handed Piano
  As a left-hander, I have an early hands-on experience with the concept of chirality, or handedness: It can be quite difficult to cut a piece of paper with the left hand using standard scissors; the bl…
• Hello from Bonn
  Stefan and I, we are currently in Bonn for a workshop on Black Holes in a Violent Universe. Bonn is the former German capital and a quite charming city, though not what you'd expect from a capital. So…
• Guestpost: Marcelo Gleiser
  [A month ago, I was at a workshop at Perimeter Institute and I reported on a talk by Marcelo Gleiser. Marcelo's talk was very interesting and thought-stimulating. It touched upon very many different t…
• Closer to Truth...
  Recently, I coincidentally came across the website of a TV-show called Closer to Truth, that I frankly had never heard of before. Amazingly enough the website features a large selection of interviews…
• Interna
  The summer solstice is near and days here in Stockholm are getting longer and longer. The other day I woke up early and, looking out of the window, saw that it was dawning already. Or so I thought. Th…
• Science Metrics
  Nature has a very interesting News Feature on metrics for scientific achievement, titled Metrics: Do metrics matter? The use of scientific metrics is a recurring theme on this blog. I wrote about it m…
• Why do people get tattooed?
  Last night, I had a weird dream. A white haired man with a long beard insisted on tattooing my shoulder. I couldn't get him to drop his plans, so he started punching. I asked him what the image will b…
• Book review: From Eternity to Here by Sean Carroll
  From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of TimeBy Sean CarrollDutton Adult (January 7, 2010)Most of you will know Sean Carroll, who blogs at Cosmic Variance. Sean is a Senior Research…
• Perimeter Institute is looking for a Scientific IT specialist
  Two years ago, I organized a conference on Science in the 21st Century, focusing on topics at the intersection on science, society and information technology. (I wrote about the conference here, a sum…
• Diamonds in Earth Science
  To clarify the situation, experiments would need to push above 120 Gigapascal and 2500 Kelvin. I [...] started laboratory experiments using diamond-anvil cell, in which samples of mantle-like material…
• Impressions from the PI workshop on the Laws of Nature
  As you know, 2 weeks ago I was at Perimeter Institute for the workshop on the Laws of Nature: Their Nature and Knowability. It was a very interesting event, bringing together physicists with philosoph…
• Update on the ESQG 2010
  As previously mentioned, I am presently organizing a workshop on Experimental Search for Quantum Gravity (ESQG 2010) that will take place here at NORDITA in beautifully, endlessly sunny Stockholm, Jul…

[ more posts from backreaction.blogspot.com ]

mindhacks.com

• 2010-07-30 Spike activity
  Quick links from the past week in mind and brain news: Popular Science reports on proposals to study the obscure hallucinogen ibogain as a treatment for opiate addiction. A study on how money restrict…
• Booty calling
  Someone, somewhere, can look you straight in the eye and say "I've got a PhD in booty call research". A new study just published online in the Journal of Sex Research investigates where the booty call…
• The experiment requires that you continue
  Spanish daily El País recently published an article on psychologist Stanley Milgram which had this amazing photo of the young conformity researcher where he looks surprisingly beatnick. Sadly the pho…
• Poker face science
  The best 'poker face' is probably not a neutral expression, but a happy one, as it led to a greater number of opponent mistakes in a study just published in PLoS One. The research looked at how poker…
• Plastic punk
  Some awesome geek moves from the science of phonetics, as applied to the new wave punk classic 'Ça Plane Pour Moi' previously and falsely believed to have been sung by Plastic Bertrand. From the AV C…
• From on hayo
  An amazing passage about the use of coca among of the indigenous Kogi and Ika people of Colombia, taking from p24 of anthropologist Wade Davis' magical book on the ethnobotany of ceremonial chemicals,…
• SciFoo bound
  Mind Hacks updates may be a little hit and miss over the next week as I'm off to San Francisco for SciFoo - the Nature / Google / O'Reilly science anti-conference. Apart from conferencing I'll be slee…
• Rebranding Freud
  McSweeney's has a funny piece where Freud visits the ad agency Sterling Cooper from the Mad Men television series: FREUD: Well, as you know, we've dominated psychology for decades. But lately we've be…
• Through a monitor darkly
  An online meth house, created in virtual world Second Life, has been created, tested and found to reliably induce drug cravings in methamphetamine users - in an experimental study just published in th…
• The case of the unknown father
  Arthur Conan Doyle is famous for the creation of Sherlock Holmes but a lot less is known about his father. Practical Neurology has an interesting article about art and epilepsy which discusses Doyle s…

• How murder fell out of fashion with the rich
  Murder has become largely confined to the poor and disadvantaged whereas historical records show that in times gone past it was used equally by all levels of society. This is taken from a 1997 study c…
• A bit of all right
  An interesting point made in a new book about the psychology of being wrong, appropriately called Being Wrong by author Kathryn Schulz. Taken from The New York Times book review: Schulz begins with a…
• Stanley Milgram, the 70s TV drama
  The website for 'The Man Who Shocked the World', a biography of Stanley Milgram, is a goldmine of information about the psychologist who became famous for his obedience experiments. The little known f…
• 2010-07-23 Spike activity
  Quick links from the past week in mind and brain news: Newsweek has an excellent series on the psychology and culture of beauty. 'A single brief electrical pulse to the hippocampus caused momentary am…
• Attraction runs in the family
  The 'incest taboo' is the aversion to being sexually attracted to our own family and evolutionary psychology has suggested it is an inherited adaptation to promote genetic diversity. A brilliant study…

[ more posts from mindhacks.com ]

eskesthai.blogspot.com

• Lighting up the dark universe
  The CHASE detector. The end of the magnet (orange) can be seen on the right. Exploring our dark universe is often the domain of extreme physics. Traces of dark matter particles are searched for by hu…
• Probing the early and present Universe with Planck
  Date: 05 Jul 2010 Satellite: Planck Copyright: ESA, HFI and LFI consortia  This multi-colour all-sky image of the microwave sky has been synthesized using data spanning the full frequency range of P…
• Theory of Everything
  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Beyond the Standard Model Standard Model [show]Evidence Hierarchy problem • Dark matter Cosmological constant problem Strong CP problem Neutrino oscillation [s…
• Who Has Forgotten the Child's Question?
  Physicists theorize that the omnipresent Higgs field slows some particles to below light speed, and thus imbues them with mass. Are we there yet? How many of you with children have not heard our own c…
• A Way From Perfection- Symmetry
  Noether's Theorem For every continuous symmetry of the law of physics, there must exist a conservation law. For every conservation law, there must exist a continuous symmetry Conservation laws and sym…
• Telos (philosophy)
  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Part of a series on Aristotle Aristotelianism[show]Peripatetic school physics ethics term logic view of women view of God (unmoved mover) Corpus Aristotelicum[sh…
• Cosmic Evolution and the Powers of Ten
  Many physical quantities span vast ranges of magnitude. Figures 0.1 and 0.2 use images to indicate the range of lengths and times that are of importance in physics.http://physicalworld.org/restless_un…
• Self-organization
  Self-organizationFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Self-organization is the process where a structure or pattern appears in a system without a central authority or external element imposing it. Th…
• Virasoro algebra
  Black hole thermodynamicsFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaIn physics, black hole thermodynamics is the area of study that seeks to reconcile the laws of thermodynamics with the existence of black…
• Stephen Hawking At PI Institute
  Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, June 20, 2010 - In a public address before a packed audience at Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (PI), Prof. Stephen Hawking, PI Distinguished Research Chair, re…

• Einstein Tower
  Just wondering when the Einstein Tower was built? See:Science Park Albert Einstein Potsdam The connection to the design of the tower and the comment on pueblo design sparked familiarity with a image o…
• Quasicrystal and Information
  Consequently, a universe where time is real must be loveless. I don't like that idea.Impressions from the PI workshop on the Laws of Nature Quasicrystals are structural forms that are both ordered and…
• There Be Dragons on the Dark Matter Issue?
   I have been intrigued by the comparison of the latest reporting by Bee of Backreaction at a workshop at Perimeter Institute about the Laws of Nature: Their Nature and Knowability. Bee writes, Yester…
• The Total Field
  Conclusion:The state of mind of the observer plays a crucial role in the perception of time.Einstein SPOILER ALERT: To make a very, very long story short we discovered via Christian Shephard aka Jack�…
• Hubble Takes a Close-up View of a Reflection Nebula in Orion
  Image Credit: NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI) ABOUT THIS IMAGE:Just weeks after NASA astronauts repaired the Hubble Space Telescope in December 1999, the Hubble Heritage Project snapped thi…
• Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP)
  Blackhole substances are perhaps the most-perfect fluids in existence because they have ultra-low viscosity.No matter what you call it, though, that substance and others similar to it could be the mos…
• Boundaries are what divide us
  Change your thoughts and you change your world. Norman Vincent Peale The words seem a wise choice. This is not to support the religious right, or left,  nor to induce fear(contentions of Peale in the…
• Intelligent Life in the Universe?
  While Drake's equation is a good basis for systematic investigations of signals from extraterrestrial intelligences, I care little about the admittedly scarce possibility that we ever receive positive…
• FLOW
  oscopelabs — July 29, 2008 — Irena Salina's award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century - The World Wa…
• Solar Dynamics Observatory
  SpaceCraft The total mass of SDO at launch was 3000 kg (6620 lb); instruments 300 kg (660 lb), spacecraft 1300 kg (2870 lb), and fuel 1400 kg (3090 lb). Its overall length along the sun-pointing axis…
• Linking Experiments
  Illustration: Sandbox Studio The first round of physicsNine proposals are under consideration for the initial suite of physics experiments at DUSEL, and scientists have received $21 million in NSF fu…
• Mapping the Internet Brain and Consciousness
  Partial map of the Internet based on the January 15, 2005 data found on opte.org. Each line is drawn between two nodes, representing two IP addresses. The length of the lines are indicative of the del…
• A first look at the Earth interior from the Gran Sasso underground laboratory
  The Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS) is one of four INFN national laboratories. It is the largest underground laboratory in the world for experiments in particle physics, particle astrophysics an…
• The Law of Octaves
  Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev (also romanized Mendeleyev or Mendeleef; Russian: Дми́трий Ива́нович Менделе́ев listen (help·info)) (8 February [O.S. 27 January] 1834 – 2 Fe…
• Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay
  “You don’t see what you’re seeing until you see it,” Dr. Thurston said, “but when you do see it, it lets you see many other things.Elusive Proof, Elusive Prover: A New Mathematical Mystery T…

[ more posts from eskesthai.blogspot.com ]

guardian.co.uk

• Carole Jahme goes ape at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
  Agony aunt and 'humanzee' Carole Jahme prepares to take audiences on an evolutionary journey in her new show at the Edinburgh Festival FringeI have devised a comic science show to mark the Internation…
• All set for synthetic silk?
  Synthetic silks have a great future – if only scientists can unlock the chemistry of natural silkIt's tougher than Kevlar and stronger than steel, and no one really knows how to make it. Except spid…
• String theorist Edward Witten gives prize lecture
  The king of string theory visited London earlier this month to accept the Newton medal at the Institute of Physics. His full lecture is now onlineWe know a lot of things, but what we don't know is a l…
• Sarkozy shares his enlightenment vision with high-energy physicists
  President Nicolas Sarkozy delivered an impressive endorsement of fundamental science at the International Conference on High Energy Physics (ICHEP) yesterdayA lot happened at ICHEP today, but I'll sti…
• No need for manned spaceflight, says astronomer royal Martin Rees
  Martin Rees believes sending people into space is pointless and a waste of moneyForget manned moon bases, forget a Mars colony – most future space travellers will be robots, according to astronomer…
• Jets, neutrinos and Debussy collide at high-energy physics conference | Jon Butterworth
  Delegates at the ICHEP high-energy physics conference in Paris were entertained by a string quartet and sprays of subatomic particles called jetsICHEP now moves from the parallel to the plenary sessio…
• Science Weekly podcast: Why you should distrust your senses; restored moon landing footage; plus comics and medicine
  Before listening to this podcast, for best results we recommend you watch this short YouTube video. Daniel Simons joins us from a studio in Illinois to discuss his new book The Invisible Gorilla. We l…
• Guerilla scientists infiltrate Secret Garden Party
  Synaesthesia, Petra Boynton's intimate places, communicating with the comatose and Marcus du Sautoy all feature at this weekend's Secret Garden Party, courtesy of Guerilla Science. Zoe Cormier will be…
• Is there anywhere left for the Higgs boson to hide? | ICHEP blog
  Tantalising evidence was presented yesterday at the International Conference on High Energy Physics (ICHEP) in Paris supporting some of physicists' most cherished theories. But where was the Higgs?Ok,…
• Web-crawling computers will soon be calling the shots in science
  Within a decade, computers will be able to plough through scientific data looking for patterns and connections – then tell scientists what they should do nextMove over scientists – computers will…

• High energy physics in Paris: Jets, quarks and that damned elusive Higgs
  The International Conference on High Energy Physics is firing up in Paris, preparing to update the world on the latest insights into the fundamental laws of the universe. Physicist Jon Butterworth wil…
• Osamu Tezuka: Father of manga and scourge of the medical establishment
  Tezuka inspired a generation of manga artists and shaped the national debate about medical reform in JapanSo far in this blog series on graphic medicine I've been looking at medical comics in the west…
• Comic superhero Echo fights stereotypes of deaf people
  Unlike most of the one-dimensional deaf characters in literature, Echo (aka Maya Lopez) has a complex emotional back storyDeaf characters are often marginalised in literature. Echo the deaf superhero…
• Sound restored to mission control film shot during Apollo 11 moon landing
  A British Apollo 11 fan has painstakingly united the mission control footage with audio recorded during the moon landingWhen Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon on 20 July 1969, Nasa use…
• My favourite medical graphic novels | Cian O'Luanaigh
  Following his blogpost introducing the genre, Cian O'Luanaigh lists the best – though often harrowing – medical comics and graphic novelsBinky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary by Justin GreenThe b…

[ more posts from guardian.co.uk ]

ox.ac.uk

• Restoring a reputation
  
• Evolution's parent trap
  
• New Registrar appointed
  Professor Ewan McKendrick, currently Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education, Academic Services and University Collections), Herbert Smith Professor of English Private Law, and Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, ha…
• GB Women’s Volleyball Team cycle lap of Iffley track
  Great Britain Women’s Volleyball Team cycled a lap of the Iffley Road athletics track to raise funds for their 2012 Olympic bid on Monday (26 July).
• Eight academics made Fellows of the British Academy
  Eight Oxford University academics have been elected to a Fellowship of the British Academy, the national academy for the humanities and social sciences.
• Ashmolean shortlisted for architecture prize
  The Ashmolean Museum has been shortlisted for this year’s RIBA Stirling Prize, in recognition of its £61 million redevelopment designed by Rick Mather Architects.
• Mansfield College elects new Principal
  Baroness Helena Kennedy, one of Britain’s most distinguished lawyers, has been elected as the new Principal of Mansfield College.
• Endangered species given common names
  Ten endangered species have been given common English names, after the results of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History’s ‘Name a Species’ competition results were announced on Saturda…
• HIV's sugar coating offers new vaccine approach
  Oxford research suggests the chains of sugar molecules, or carbohydrates, that cover the outside of the highly variable HIV virus remain constant, are different from those found on human cells, and co…
• Penicillin: the Oxford story
  

• Stem cells to aid study of Parkinson’s
  A new stem cell technology is to be used by Oxford University researchers to better understand the causes of Parkinson’s disease.
• John Aubrey: a life surveyed
  
• A better way to measure global poverty
  A new poverty measure that gives a ‘multidimensional’ picture of people living in poverty is launched today, which its creators say could help target development resources more effectively.
• Ghost Forest arrives at University
  A Ghost Forest has arrived on the lawn of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History and the Pitt Rivers Museum, where it will remain for a year.
• Sun's dark matter trap
  
• Facebook and Twitter: the real winners in elections?
  A new Oxford study shows methods of electioneering and political reporting have changed for good because of Facebook and Twitter.
• Museum introduces musical audio guide
  The Bate Collection music museum has introduced an audio guide which plays only tunes recorded from the period instruments on display.
• Dr Julie Maxton to be next Royal Society Executive Director
  Dr Julie Maxton – who completes her term as Registrar on 31 January 2011 – has been appointed as the next Executive Director of the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of science.
• Public to help create largest Anglo-Saxon archive
  An Oxford academic has challenged the public to help create the world’s largest archive of online material concerned with Anglo-Saxon England.
• Proteins prove their metal
  
• Satellites see the earth move
  
• Worcester College elects new Provost
  Professor Jonathan Bate has been elected as the next Provost of Worcester College. Professor Bate will take up office in the summer of 2011 on the retirement of Mr Richard Smethurst.
• Dual national mooting victories
  University of Oxford teams from the Law Faculty have won two of the UK’s largest and most prestigious national competitions in mooting (court practice).
• Muscular problems in children with neonatal diabetes are neurological
  New research into muscular problems associated with a rare, inherited form of diabetes that affects infants early on in life could pave the way for improved treatments for the condition.
• Zoologist wins Women in Science award
  Oxford scientist Dr Dora Biro has won one of the four L’Oréal UK and Ireland Fellowships For Women in Science for 2010. The Fellowships celebrate the achievement of exceptional female scientists.
• On a virtual Moon mission
  
• South Asians have highest rate of heart disease in UK
  The burden of heart disease among ethnic minorities in the UK is revealed in a new report compiled by Oxford University researchers for the British Heart Foundation.
• Prolonged altitude training could reduce endurance
  New research suggests that athletes and footballers may want to limit the time they spend training at altitude to improve their performance.
• Smith School‘s World Forum explores low carbon mobility
  The second annual World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment is being attended by former President Mikhail Gorbachev, US Energy Secretary Steven Chu and European Commissioner Janez Potočnik.
• 12 new genes linked to type 2 diabetes
  Twelve new genes associated with type 2 diabetes have been identified in the largest study yet of the connections between differences in people’s DNA and their risk of diabetes.
• 'Name a species' competition opens
  The Oxford University Museum of Natural History is inviting the public to name endangered animal species, so far only recorded in Latin, as part of a new competition.
• Summer science exhibits on show
  Scientists from Oxford University are introducing visitors to this year’s Royal Society’s Summer Science Exhibition to the wonders of viruses and tectonic plates.
• Study suggests spending cuts cost lives
  Radical cuts to social welfare spending to reduce budget deficits could cause not just economic pain but cost lives, warns an Oxford-led study published on BMJ.com.
• Old males win sex battle
  Old roosters can still dominate the sexual pecking order even when their ability to fertilise eggs drastically declines, new Oxford University research has shown.
• Breast screening: balancing risk
  
• HGP is 10: more than just genes
  
• Honorary degrees awarded at Encaenia
  Eight leading figures from the worlds of science, the arts, law and business have received honorary degrees at Encaenia, the annual honorary degree ceremony.
• New Pro-Vice-Chancellor appointed
  Professor Nick Rawlins, Watts Professor of Psychology and Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford, has been appointed Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Development and External Affairs.
• Civic Awards presented to student volunteers
  Six students have been recognised for their commitment to improving the state of society at the inaugural Vice-Chancellor’s Civic Awards.
• HGP is 10: the gene therapy challenge
  

[ more posts from ox.ac.uk ]

blog.sciencemusings.com

• Tempestuous seas
  Somehow, during my father's first year at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, while working part-time as a trainee engineer in Chattanooga, he found the time to construct from scratch a model Sp…
• Late summer
  Our roadsides here on the Dingle Peninsula are ablaze with color. Fuchsia. Montbretia. Meadowsweet. Buttercups. Tick trefoil. Vetch.And purple loosestrife, that European native that has made itself ve…
• Getting there
  Many people keep books or magazines by their toilet, to bide the time while they are sitting on the can. I keep a daddy-long-legs. Or a mommy-long-legs.A common cellar spider, Pholcus phalangioides. T…
• Lessons
  There is a four-line poem by Yeats, called Gratitude to the Unknown Instructors:What they undertook to doThey brought to pass;All things hang like a drop of dewUpon a blade of grass.Like so many of th…
• Late one night
  Thirty years ago, in 1980, I was a young(ish) professor, with one kid at university, another about to go, and two more in the pipeline. Basically living from hand to mouth. How would we manage?One eve…
• Though summer turns to winter
  At the end of A Natural History of Love, Diane Ackerman draws an analogy between the collections of the Natural History Museum in New York, especially an exhibit of glass models of microscopic organis…
• Sunday illumination...
  ...from Anne. Click to enlarge.
• By the waters of Babylon
  In his introduction to the British edition of Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Richard Adams suggests that English nature writers are characterized by rejection of 1) technological progress an…
• The dot and the abyss
  Let's take a stroll around the neighborhood. Nearby. Not very far. Let's say 20 light-years from the Sun.A typical neighborhood, for our neck of the galaxy.About a hundred stars. If we travel to the n…
• Creation
  About this time last year I shared a couple of posts about my friend, the sculptor, John Holstead. At the time, he was working on another of his cosmic pieces, titled The Story So Far. Here is the fin…

• Speaking of God
  The theologian Paul Tillich once observed that among scientists only physicists seem capable of using the word 'God' without embarrassment. I quote the physicist Steven Weinberg, from his Dreams of a…
• Memories are made of this
  Forty-six years ago when I moved with my family to the village of North Easton, Massachusetts, I began working my way through the local Ames Free Library, an eccentric collection of books (in those da…
• Apis moralis
  When I came up to my writing studio this morning I found this wasp curled on my closed laptop. Vespula vulgaris? I'm guessing it wore itself out against the windows, trying to get out, then chose to e…
• Sunday...
  ,,,and a pic from Anne. Click to enlarge.
• Six impossible things
  It is morning. Early morning. I am sitting at my desk with my laptop open before me. The shelves are lined with books. At my elbow, the big glass windows looking out to Dingle Bay. On the sill, mornin…
• The soma and the germ
  Paul drew our attention a week or so ago to some research that appeared in the 9 July issue of Science, comparing the genome of the single-celled alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii to the 2000-cell organi…
• Bottom kill
  This business of the relief wells as a way of stopping the gusher in the Gulf. I have to admit the whole idea left me gobsmacked.First, you drop a drill string a mile deep into the ocean, then start d…
• The middle way
  Roland Merullo is a writer who lives in Western Massachusetts who has written a number of highly regarded books, novels and memoirs. He can be a bit too sweet for my taste, but Lord knows the world ca…
• The sword and the scimitar
  Just before daybreak on June 20, 1631, two ships manned by Barbary pirates and a force of Janissaries -- elite troops of the Turkish Ottoman empire -- slipped into the harbor of the fishing village of…
• Glory be
  I know I've written about this before, but so what. Some things are worth a reprise.Each summer when I arrive here in Ireland I stick a few morning glory seeds in pots on the window sill by my desk. A…
• Sunday illumination
  Another doll from Anne. Click to enlarge.
• Time and again
  Yesterday, driving home from the village along our one-lane, hedge-crowded road, they suddenly darted out onto the tarmac -- four young stoats, as sleek as otters, twisting and tumbling in frisky play…
• We are such stuff…
  Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises,Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight, and hurt not.Sometimes a thousand twangling instrumentsWill hum about mine ears, and sometimes voices,That, if I the…
• In the land of counterpane
  From our hillside here in Ireland the big triple window at the foot of the bed looks out to the south over Ventry Harbor and Dingle Bay. As I lay in bed at night the view is all sky. It is summer, of…
• And then my heart with pleasure fills...
  No, wait! It's not all green outside my window. At least not in the foreground.Daubs of color. Wild red roses. The white flowers of bramble. Purple-jeweled heather. Soon, yes, soon, the raging orange…

[ more posts from blog.sciencemusings.com ]

visions.mst.edu

• Going green
  This week, a group of high school students is on campus for Girls Go Green Camp. The camp is designed to cultivate the girls' interest in science and engineering. Here, a group of campers is learning…
• Adrenaline junkie
  Missouri S&T grad (and former formula car team member) Valarie Boatman is a performance integration engineer for General Motors and works at Milford Proving Grounds. She is responsible for testing…
• What we've been up to, research-wise
  We've been so busy chasing that S&T Solar Car Team around the Midwest during the American Solar Challenge that we've neglected to share some pretty cool research stories with you. Here's a sampling of…
• In the news: researcher explains BP's 'top kill' approach
  David A. Summers, Curators' Professor Emeritus of mining engineering, sheds light on the technology behind BP's "top kill" effort to cap the oil spill in the Gulf. Here, he's inside Missouri…
• Honoring a research pioneer
  Dr. William J. "Bill" James, professor emeritus of chemistry and co-founder of the Graduate Center for Materials Research This afternoon, the campus community gathered to honor a pioneer in…
• Springfield TV highlights S&T robot that can send 3-D images
  Recently, a robot that was built at Missouri S&T was featured on the news by a Springfield TV station. The remote-controlled robot is equipped with an infrared camera and LIDAR (light detection and ra…
• Report from the Gulf
  Aaron Croy, a recent petroleum engineering grad, is a reservoir engineer who calculates the amount of reserves in the Gulf. Right now, he's in New Orleans. Here's a report: "I can tell you that the en…
• Not your average groundbreaking ceremony
  Most groundbreaking ceremonies feature a fake little shovel as a prop, maybe a big cardboard check, and a lot of people in suits standing around waiting to have a boring photo taken. This was not the…
• A history of Arab media
  Missouri S&T's Dr. Morris Kalliny has written an interesting article on the history of Arab media for Layalina Productions. Layalina is a non-profit organization that develops and produces Arabic…
• What went wrong in West Virginia?
  Dr. David Summers discusses the West Virginia mine disaster on his popular blog, Bit Tooth Energy:The news of the death of at least 25 coal miners at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia is a re…

• What a short, strange trip it has been
  Some of us are back from Guatemala. It was an eye-opening trip. The place is very beautiful and exotic, though full of trash. (I bought my son a wallet made by an artist out of a discarded potato chip…
• Terracon donates drilling equipment on behalf of S&T's EWB chapter
  Terracon, a national engineering and consulting firm, recently donated drilling equipment to provide clean water to Honduras and other developing nations. The donation was made on behalf of Missouri S…
• News from Antigua
  Here are the names of the students who are here and a brief description of their water-related projects:Leah Glauber, Allison Sperber, Lacey Moore (pot/filter porosity)Nicole Heinley (bacteria removal…
• It's a whole other country
  We (Visions) are in Guatemala with one of Dr. Curt Elmore's geological engineering classes. I've been up since 3 a.m., so I'm just going to list some observations tonight:Guatemala City is a huge city…
• Learning in the mud
  S&T's Baja Team plans to enter two competitions this spring. Follow all the design team action at Experience This!P.S. Do you remember this video of the amphibious dune buggy from 2007?...

[ more posts from visions.mst.edu ]

tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com

• Final Report from the Lab
  After three years of experiments, TierneyLab is shutting down.
• Monday Puzzle: Thank You, John
  From next week, the Monday Puzzle moves to a new home in a new section of the online Times, under the title Numberplay. It is time, then, to take a stroll down memory lane...
• Does Obama Have the Right Stuff for Space?
  Where humans be going in space, and how should we get there?
• Monday Puzzle: Birdbath
  Will the bird slide over and land in the water, or will it stay dry? What will the final position of the moon be?
• Are Shoppers Fairer?
  Do markets and morality -- as we like to definite fairness in modern societies -- reinforce one another?
• Puzzle Holiday
  No math puzzle this week.
• Why Make the Longest Jump?
  Is becoming the first human to break the speed of sound in free fall enough reason to step off that balloon? Is making the longest jump in history worthwhile just for its own sake?
• Monday Puzzle: Building Walls Rationally
  Can you come up with a set of standard wall lengths that so that either family can build a house of the right proportion starting from any given standard wall? What is the smallest number of standard…
• Monday Puzzle: Fun on Display
  Today we have some light fun based on the standard seven-segment number display used in digital LCD and LED clocks and calculators.
• The Second Law Strikes Back
  In the field of thermodynamics, which abounds in apparent paradoxes, this is one of the most delicious paradoxes ever.

• Monday Puzzle: Some Light Number Music
  The numbers above are related to a famous person and to the heavenly body in the solar system whose orbit is shown in the figure above. Can you figure out who and what they are? Why has this puzzle be…
• Salt Wars
  The salt wars can be vicious, pitting what I call the salt reformers against skeptics who say there isn't enough evidence yet to justify public policies restricting salt levels.
• Monday Puzzle: Getting Something From Nothing
  I've found the secret of making unlimited money with a simple scheme and generate unlimited energy with my new invention, the papaya battery. Both these are based on the successful application of one…
• Biology Rappers Return
  Check out this new number by the science rappers of Stanford on how the body converts food into energy.
• Monday Puzzle: The Case of the Carnival Cups
  Should Tom take the carnie's original offer at the 4 to 1 payoff ratio? Is Tom's reasoning about the average number of guesses correct?

[ more posts from tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com ]

impactlab.com

• Was the Environmental Disaster Caused by BP’s Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Over-Hyped?
  Fire boat response crews battle the blazing remnants of the offshore oil rig Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico on April 21. The environmental damage caused by BP’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill may…
• Google Brings Current Weather Conditions to Google Earth
  Rain in Texas Google’s busted out Google Earth 5.2, and all you meteorology nuts are going to want to hear about this. The update includes current weather condition imaging such as rain and snow cov…
• New Painkiller as Strong as Morphine Developed From Snail Spit
  The marine cone snail produces a combination of chemicals in its saliva that could make a very effective painkiller. Scientists have developed a new pain-relief pill from a chemical used by sea snails…
• IBM Creates Most Comprehensive Map of the Brain to Date
  The long-distance network of the Macaque monkey brain. The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) published Tuesday a landmark paper entitled “Network architecture of the long-distan…
• Five Year Time Lapse Video of an Ant Colony in a Scanner
  ANTS in my scanner > a five years time-lapse! from françois vautier on Vimeo. François Vautier built an ant farm into a scanner, then he proceeded to scan the farm every week for five years.   The�…
• Top 10 Photos of the Week
  With Jimmie Hendrix music booming in the background, the Purple Haze Bull was an exceptionally angry animal in Pamplona, goring anyone stupid enough to get close “Some people see things that are and…
• Unexpected Viral ‘Fossils’ Found in Vertebrate Genomes
  Colorized negative stained transmission electron micrograph (TEM) depicts a number of Marburg virus virions. Over millions of years, retroviruses, which insert their genetic material into the host gen…
• Rocks on Mars May Provide Link to Evidence of Living Organisms Roughly 4 Billion Years Ago
  This image of the Centauri-Hellas Montes region was taken by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars A new article in press of the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters unveils…
• Umbrella Dryer That Uses Rainwater To Grow Plants
  Reusing Rain Water For Plants We don’t have to use umbrellas too often in my area, but when we do the floors in the house and at stores around town are very slippery thanks to all the water. If you…
• Reforming the Filibuster to Fight Climate Change
  Should the Senate still be allowed to filabuster? They may seem like two disparate topics: climate change and an archaic Senate procedural rule. But they have more in common than you might think. Than…

• BP to Rebrand Gas Stations Across US – to Amoco?
  The BP Snowjob Continues You probably haven’t seen many Amoco gas stations on the side of the road for a while. That’s because BP merged with the ‘American Oil Co.’ in the 90s, the British com…
• DIY Kitty Crack: Ultra-Potent Catnip Extract
  Gimmee More!!! In this Instructable, talbotron22 shows how to make “Kitty Crack,” an ultra-potent catnip extract containing nepetalactone, catnip’s active ingredient. One pound of catnip yielded…
• Squirrel – The Other White Meat and It’s Sustainable, Too
  The other white meat. Move over kangaroo,  horse, and nutria – there’s a new meat on the supermarket shelves at Budgens in the UK – it’s squirrel. Squirrel has been eaten in the U.S. south fo…
• Porn Industry Bites Into the New Apple iPhone
  With FaceTime videoconferencing it didn’t take long for the adult industry to develop a video-sex chat service. It’s a maxim of technology: Invent the newest gadget and the porn industry will find…
• Dutch Brewery Creates World’s Strongest Beer
  Start the Future beats the previous record holder Brewdog (pictured) by 15%. A Dutch brewer has created a 120 proof beer – or 60 per cent alcohol by volume – beating a Scottish company’s bid to…
• Fewer American’s Moving for New Jobs Could Harm an Already Struggling Recovery
  Unemployed, James Tiffany, would take a financial hit if he sold his home to move elsewhere for work. The recession is claiming yet another victim: Americans’ near-constitutional right to pick up an…
• Study: Twitter Tweets Indicate Hourly and Daily Mood Swings
  Study measured the moods of millions of people using Twitter. People are the happiest during Sunday mornings and saddest during Thursday evenings.  At least, that’s what Twitter tweets indicate.  …
• Risk of Earthquakes in the U.S. Midwest May be More Widespread Than First Thought
  Historic Charleston earthquake of 1886. The risk of earthquakes in the U.S. Midwest may be more widespread than geologists have believed, but a “big one” may be less likely at Missouri’s New Mad…
• Amazing Miniature Pencil Sculptures by Dalton Ghetti
  It took 2 1/2 years to complete his best-known work, “Alphabet.” Dalton Ghetti has found a remarkable niche in the art world. There have been artists who use pencils as part of their craft, but no…
• Willard Wigan Carves Objects The Size Of An Eye Of A Needle
  Tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny carvings! Willard Wigan has probably got some of the most stable hands of anybody on earth! Willard is an artist that carves sculptures and figures that can all fit into the eye…
• Your Boxspring Could Be Giving You Cancer By Acting As A Giant, Radiation-Emitting Antenna
  Breast cancer is more likely to occur on the left side than on the right. A Swedish study is trying to nail down the reason that cancer is 10% more likely to occur in the left breast over the right, o…
• Glenn Beck’s Gold-Investment Scam/Scheme: An Explanatory Infographic
  Jess Bachman, infographic designer extraordinaire, shares this new work which shows how Glenn Beck “uses his influence to peddle dubious information and endorse fraudulent companies, and how how tho…
• Start-up Rate Plummets as Fragile Economy Deters Entrepreneurship
  Start-up activity plummets in first half of 2010. A new survey shows that start- up activity plummeted in the first half of 2010 as would-be entrepreneurs were either scooped up by employers or scare…
• A New View Of BP Photoshopped Photos
  (©BP p.l.c) Before boat deck/After boat deck Some public relations photos recently released by BP, supposed to show the world that they are actively working on the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, wer…
• Japan’s Future Threatened by Strict Immigration Rules
  Foreigners in Japan must take a pass-or-go-home test with a success rate of less than 1 percent in order to stay. Her new country needs her, her new employer adores her, and Joyce Anne Paulino, who la…
• Use a Salt Wash to Revitalize an Old Rug
  A salt wash can bring new life to old rugs. You can find great rugs at estate sales but they’re often quite dingy. Freshen up an old rug with a simple salt wash to brighten colors and get rid of gri…
• Richest Americans You’ve Never Heard Of
  These folks are in the money! Microsoft’s (MSFT) Bill Gates, Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRK.A) Warren Buffett and Apple’s (AAPL) Steve Jobs are all household names in addition to being among the we…
• Bike Riding for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Mexico City
  Bike rides for the visually impaired and blind. In a very interesting initiative that began last January, a group of three non governmental organizations from Mexico City are organizing bike rides for…
• How Mars Could be Transformed Into the New Earth
  Mars. The most tantalizing of all planets, with mountains three times as tall as Mount Everest and canyons 2,485 miles long and four miles deep. Our next stop in our return to the stars. And possibly…
• Fallout Shelters of the Cold War Era Making a Comeback
  A 1955 photo shows the interior of an H-bomb steel shelter at an unknown location. Jason Hodge, father of four children from Barstow, Calif., says he’s “not paranoid” but he is concerned, and th…

[ more posts from impactlab.com ]

golem.ph.utexas.edu

• Azimuth
  John Baez has a new blog, called Azimuth, which is about ecological and technological issues.
• Zeta Functions: Dedekind Versus Hasse-Weil
  Some help on Hasse-Weil zeta functions, anyone?
• Ternary Factorization Systems
  Defining ternary factorization systems in terms of binary ones.
• Commutative Separable Algebras II
  More questions about commutative separable algebras, especially over the integers.
• Commutative Separable Algebras
  What are some commutative semisimple algebras that aren't separable?
• What is a Theory?
  Is a syntactically presented theory as important as its walking model?
• The Dold–Kan Theorem: Two Questions
  In Ab, many things become true.
• Grinding to a Halt?
  future of the blog
• Day on Higher Category Theory in Utrecht
  A workshop on higher category theory.
• Homological Algebra Puzzle
  What is the walking epimorphism?

• Categorification and Topological Invariants in Luminy
  We're having a Workgroup on Categorification and Topological Invariants in Luminy.
• Dutch Geometry and Quantum Theory Conference 2010
  Foruth annual conference of the Durch Geometriy And Quantum Theory Cluster.
• Inevitability in Mathematics
  When is it unavoidable that a construct be found?
• Alan Carey's 60th Birthday Conference
  This week at MPI Bonn is (or has been) taking place a conference in honor of Alan Carey's 60th birthday. on "noncommutative geometry and index theory, statistical models, geometric issues in quantum f…
• Exact Squares
  The calculus of exact squares for computing with Kan extensions isn't well-known in some circles, but it has the advantage of generalizing well to derivators and (∞,1)-categories.

[ more posts from golem.ph.utexas.edu ]

blogs.discovermagazine.com

• Good and Bad Science in Science Fiction
  Spent a day last week at the bacchanalia of imagination that is San Diego Comic-Con. Really an amazing experience, anyone who gets a chance should go at some point. My own excuse was appearing on a pa…
• Are you the center of the Universe?
  One topic which generated a lot of discussion at the Gravity and Cosmology meeting was the void model of the Universe. The basic argument is simple: the dark energy is an ugly addition to our cosmolog…
• I Wish Your Wish (Would Fall Off)
  A few weeks ago, the New York Times highlighted the work of Brazilian artist Rivane Neuenschwander. The article focused in part on her piece “I Wish Your Wish”, shown below. The conceit of the pie…
• Here comes Katla?
  Being kind of a volcano/earthquake geek, I regularly check in on the recent California earthquake records, the Kilauea activity, and, in the past couple months since the Eyjafjallajokull, the earthqua…
• Guest Post: Eugene Lim on Calculus in Haiti
  A little while back we advertised that Eugene Lim had volunteered to visit Haiti to teach in a university there over the summer, and would be reporting back about the experience. Here’s Eugene’s w…
• Hiroshima
  Last week I found myself on a tram in Hiroshima, heading to the stop “A-bomb dome”. I was surrounded by Japanese passengers, and for the first time in Japan I felt self-conscious and uncomfortable…
• How Finely-Tuned is the Universe?
  Breaking radio silence here to report on some of the actual work I’ve been able to complete: a new paper with Heywood Tam. Unitary Evolution and Cosmological Fine-Tuning Authors: Sean M. Carroll, He…
• Who are you people?
  A bunch of blogs are inviting their commenters (and, especially, lurkers) to out themselves. As it has been a couple of years since our previous de-lurking, we figured we’d join in on the fun. We kn…
• Casting aside Copernicus
  The Copernican principle is a guiding foundation of cosmology. In short, it states that we are not in a privileged place in the Universe. A “random” observer will see the same Universe that we do.…
• If Only Oil Spills Would Evaporate Like Climategate
  Even if I’m on hiatus, there’s no reason not to post links to interesting things that I would be tweeting anyway. Blogs are still much better places to have conversations, whatever the Twitter tri…

sciencebase.com

• Risky teams, forged banknotes, frost-proof frogs
  An eclectic mix of science snips from Sciencebase: Novel algorithm cuts the risks of choosing ineffectual team members – The risky business of putting together a team Counterfeit spectroscopy – Ba…
• Cialis in glass and a shortage of helium
  Science news links for July 23rd through July 26th: ACS and RSC Sustainability Alliance – The Royal Society of Chemistry and the American Chemical Society have joined forces to launch a sustainabili…
• Headhunting goes automatic for the people
  Very few people work alone in the so-called knowledge economy. Even a lowly freelance science writer has a network of editors, publishers and other associates on which they rely to get their words out…
• Sweet sensors
  Nothing new under the sun, as the bard said, and how true it is sometimes. No sooner had I posted a news article on spectroscopynow.com entitled “Sweet sense of GOD” than Santhosh Challa, a Senior…
• Just say no to sunscreen nanophobia!
  Once again we’re at a pivotal point in human development, where a novel technology might allow us to improve the lot of millions, perhaps billions of people across the globe and yet activists are in…
• Spectral science news
  These are my links for July 15th from 12:27 to 12:32: Herpes invasion – There are eight herpes viruses that cause human diseases. Depending on how they affect us, they result in oral and genital her…
• Science careers, damping and oil
  My latest editorial contribution to Materials Today and a little more oily news. Paradigms, peers, and patents – For every paradigm-shifting breakthrough in science there are a plethora of failed ex…
• Extraterrestrial molecules and the plausibility of life on earth
  Latest scientific news with a spectroscopic angle Extraterrestrial molecules – An astronomical infrared study reveals one of the most complex organic molecules yet found in the interstellar medium �…
• Molecules, materials and British science
  This is my first batch of delicious science links for this week: Dendrimersome library – A library of supramolecular materials that can form hollow vesicles with potential in therapeutic drug and ge…
• Switching off the Intute Spotlight
  These are the last physical sciences news headlines I’ll publish for the Intute (previously PSIgate) site. I’ve written for the organisation on a pretty much monthly basis for the last decade, fir…

twistedphysics.typepad.com

• the nays have it
  It's a truth secretly believed, if not universally acknowledged, that "user reviews" on Amazon rarely provide much insight into the value of the work being critiqued -- although it's often a fascinati…
• FROM THE ARCHIVES: singing sands
  In honor of Comic-Con, here's an early post from 2006 inspired by an episode of Dr. Who, about the phenomenon of singing sands. Sand: a marvelous substance! here's a classic story line in Dr. Who, in…
• pajama-, candy-, sono- and mammo-
  I got that phone call every woman over age 40 dreads. The words were somehow terribly incongruous with the Texas-accented perky voice. "Hi there. This is Tish from the Solis Womens Health Center. We f…
• father of fizz
  In honor of "Pepsipocalypse," and my own inordinate fondness for Diet Coke (which I share with Bora!, as evidenced by the photo at the end of this post, although he's partial to the sugared variety),…
• growing pains
  A few months after I started Cocktail Party Physics in 2006, I was asked to join the then-relatively-new SEED Science Blogs. It was tremendously flattering to a spanking new science blogger, and very…
• support your local science writers (and bloggers!)
  I see that Not Exactly Rocket Science guru Ed Yong is resurrecting his meme from a year or so ago, asking regular readers to introduce themselves in the comments. All the cool kids are doing it! This…
• of alchemy and iron man
  I have just returned from Minneapolis, or more accurately, nearby Bloomington, host to the annual CONvergence science fiction and fantasy convention. Technically I was there for Skepchickon 2010, one…
• FROM THE ARCHIVES: zap that fat!
  Still zero time to blog, and my co-bloggers are equally silent, so here's another blast from the past, about an awesome potential application for free electron lasers: replacing liposuction as the pro…
• FROM THE ARCHIVES: reality bites
  Brand new posts are coming down the pike, but over the weekend I was on a panel at the State of the Arts Symposium in downtown LA, part of Vision Lab, held at Los Angeles Center Studios. I wasn't quit…
• things are often not what they seem to be...
  Things are often not what they appear to be. This is a good, basic rule of life, not just one of those things you say when you don't have anything to add except a shrug. Nature had a very interesting.…

wattsupwiththat.com

• “Our Climate” iPhone app is rising fast, plus new link widget
  I am delighted to report that “Our Climate” made it to the Number 1 paid weather App position in the Canadian iTunes store (out of 570 paid weather apps)!  It took only 40 hours to get there. See…
• Gore cleared in masseuse case
  Portland police say the masseuse failed a polygraph and the DNA didn’t match. Gore’s aides made a statement: “Mr. Gore unequivocally and emphatically denied this accusation when he first learned…
• I’m honored…I think
  In the New York Times: For science that’s accessible but credible, steer clear of polarizing hatefests like atheist or eco-apocalypse blogs. Instead, check out scientificamerican.com, discovermagazi…
• Graphing Lesson Part 2 – “Crest to Crest”
  By Steve Goddard Earlier in the month I wrote an article showing the trend in Arctic ice since 2002. I took a lot of criticism from people for not measuring “crest to crest or trough to trough.“ A…
• IceCube spies unexplained pattern of cosmic rays
  by Jill Sakai, University of Wisconsin Though still under construction, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole is already delivering scientific results — including an early finding about…
• Friday Funny Bonus: Surreal Climate #3
  Josh of Cartoons by Josh writes: Another in the Surreal Climate series – in response the WUWT story about the EPA rejecting CO2 petitions I think we all know what the decent thing to do would be……
• Sunspots at high detail now available from SDO – what will this do to the sunspot count?
  Readers may recall a story on WUWT from April titled: Solar Dynamics Observatory – STUNNING first images and movies Now, SDO imagery of the sun is online. This week spaceweather.com has started usi…
• Now it’s a Phytoplanktonic panic
  Borrowing a phrase from NSIDC’s Dr. Mark Serreze, Phytoplankton are now apparently in a “Death Spiral”. See Death spiral of the oceans and the original press release about an article in Nature f…
• Friday Funny #1 – 7 of 11 10 must be bad
  Josh of cartoons by Josh writes to go along with his newest cartoons: Paragraph Updated: This week we had stories about how climate indicators show that the globe is warming. (7 or 11 depending on how…
• Frozen Tropics as La Niña takes hold
  By Steve Goddard As La Niña takes hold in South America, we are seeing something I’m not sure I have ever seen before. Temperatures in some parts of the Andes Mountains of Bolivia are forecast to a…